Enterococcus faecalis BRCA-5, which produces a fibrinolytic enzyme, was screened from a fermented-soybean sauce. The enzyme was purified from culture broth of E. faecalis BRCA-5 using the ammonium sulfate fraction and phenyl sepharose 6 Fast Flow chro...
Enterococcus faecalis BRCA-5, which produces a fibrinolytic enzyme, was screened from a fermented-soybean sauce. The enzyme was purified from culture broth of E. faecalis BRCA-5 using the ammonium sulfate fraction and phenyl sepharose 6 Fast Flow chromatgraphy. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the purified enzyme, named tempase, was found to have a molecular weight of 38 kDa. The enzyme displayed a very broad optimal pH and its pI value was 4.8. Tempase was easily inhibited by metal-chelating agents, but not by serine protease inhibitors, suggesting that the enzyme belongs to a member of metalloenzyme family. Among several human plasma proteins tested as possible substrates for the protease reaction, the tempase hydrolyzed specifically fibrin and fibrinogen without affecting other proteins such as serum albumin, plasminogen, plasmin, thrombin and urokinase. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of 19 residues, Val - Gly - Ser - Glu - Val - Thr - Leu - Lys - Asn - Ser - Phe - Gln - Val - Ala, had 98% homology with that of coccolysin(EC 3.4.24.30). The mature protein-coding region was amplifed by PCR and cloned into the pET22b vector, and the resulting plasmid was used to transform BL21(DE3) Escherichia coli cell. The gene encoding this tempase was cloned and sequenced. Culture of the transformants at 37℃ led to the overexpression of an insoluble and inactive 38 kDa protein after 1.0 mM IPTG induciton./