title: Role of the COOH-terminal pro-sequence of aqualysin I (a heat-stable serine protease) in its extracellular secretion by Thermus thermophilus.
abstract: Aqualysin I is a subtilisin-type serine protease secreted into the medium by Thermus aquaticus YT-1. Thermus thermophilus cells harboring a plasmid for the aqualysin I precursor secreted pro-aqualysin I with the C-terminal pro-sequence into the culture medium, and the precursor was then processed to the mature enzyme during the cultivation. However, the extracellular levels of aqualysin I in T. thermophilus cells harboring plasmids for deletion mutants as to the C-terminal pro-sequence were about 10-20% in comparison with the level of wild-type. Only the mature enzyme could be detected in the medium, while pro-aqualysin I with the C-terminal pro-sequence could not. These results suggest that the C-terminal pro-sequence of aqualysin I plays an important role in the extracellular secretion of aqualysin I.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C055102:aqualysin I