New world monkey pepsinogens A and C, and prochymosins. Purification, characterization of enzymatic properties, cDNA cloning, and molecular evolution.
Pepsinogens A and C, and prochymosin were purified from four species of adult New World monkeys, namely, common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus), and capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). The occurrence of prochymosin was quite unique since this zymogen is known to be neonate-specific and, in primates, it has been thought that the prochymosin gene is not functional. No multiple form has been detected for any type of pepsinogen except that two pepsinogen-A isozymogens were identified in capuchin monkey. Pepsins A and C, and chymosin hydrolyzed hemoglobin optimally at pH 2-2.5 with maximal activities of about 20, 30, and 15 units/mg protein. Pepsins A were inhibited in the presence of an equimolar amount of pepstatin, and chymosins and pepsins C needed 5- and 100-fold molar excesses of pepstatin for complete inhibition, respectively. Hydrolysis of insulin B chain occurred first at the Leu15-Tyr16 bond in the case of pepsins A and chymosins, and at either the Leu15-Tyr16 or Tyr16-Leu17 bond in the case of pepsins C. The presence of different types of pepsins might be advantageous to New World monkeys for the efficient digestion of a variety of foods. Molecular cloning of cDNAs for three types of pepsinogens from common marmoset was achieved. A phylogenetic tree of pepsinogens based on the nucleotide sequence showed that common marmoset diverged from the ancestral primate about 40 million years ago.
Kageyama
T
T
Center for Human Evolution Modeling Research, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan. kageyama@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002427:Cebidae / Q000235:genetics*; D012085:Chymosin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020116:Pepsinogen A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D020115:Pepsinogen C / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D020115:Pepsinogen C; D020116:Pepsinogen A; C032443:prorennin; D012085:Chymosin