Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.24.27 (thermolysin)
 1,894 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fourteen natural products, known to inhibit other proteins of the Zincin-like fold class, were screened for inhibition of the Zincin-like fold metalloprotease thermolysin using mass spectrometry. Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry was successful in identifying actinonin, a known inhibitor of astacin and stromelysin, to be an inhibitor of thermolysin. Molecular modelling studies have shown that specificity within the Zincin-like fold is determined by Protein Fold Topology.
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PMID:Identifying common metalloprotease inhibitors by protein fold types using Fourier transform mass spectrometry. 1793 32

The metalloprotease (Mpl) of Listeria monocytogenes is a thermolysin-like protease that mediates the maturation of a broad-range phospholipase C, whose function contributes to the ability of this food-borne bacterial pathogen to survive intracellularly. Mpl is made as a proprotein that undergoes maturation by proteolytic cleavage of a large N-terminal prodomain. In this study, we identified the N terminus of mature Mpl and generated Mpl catalytic mutants to investigate the mechanism of Mpl maturation. We observed that Mpl activity was a prerequisite for maturation, suggesting a mechanism of autocatalysis. Furthermore, using a strain of L. monocytogenes expressing both the wild-type form and a catalytic mutant form of Mpl simultaneously, we determined that in vivo maturation of Mpl occurs exclusively by an intramolecular autocatalysis mechanism.
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PMID:The metalloprotease of Listeria monocytogenes is activated by intramolecular autocatalysis. 1796 68

The major opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus utilizes the human fibrinolytic system for invasion and spread via plasmin(ogen) binding and non-proteolytic activation. Because S. aureus secretes several proteases recently proposed as virulence factors, we explored whether these enzymes could add to the activation of the host's fibrinolytic system. Exposure of human pro-urokinase [pro-uPA (where uPA is urokinase-type plasminogen activator)] to conditioned growth media from staphylococcal reference strains results in an EDTA-sensitive conversion of the single-chain zymogen into its two-chain active form, an activity not observed in an aureolysin-deficient strain. Using purified aureolysin, we verified the capacity of this thermolysin-like metalloprotease to activate pro-uPA, with a 2.6 x 10(3) M(-1) x s(-1) catalytic efficiency. Moreover, activation also occurs in the presence of human plasma, as well as in conditioned growth media from clinical isolates. Finally, we establish that aureolysin (i) converts plasminogen into angiostatin and mini-plasminogen, the latter retaining its capacity to be activated by uPA and to hydrolyse fibrin, (ii) degrades the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and (iii) abrogates the inhibitory activity of alpha(2)-antiplasmin. Altogether, we propose that, in parallel with the staphylokinase-dependent activation of plasminogen, aureolysin may contribute significantly to the activation of the fibrinolytic system by S. aureus, and thus may promote bacterial spread and invasion.
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PMID:The human fibrinolytic system is a target for the staphylococcal metalloprotease aureolysin. 1797 26

Enzymes involved in sexual differentiation and fertilization of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum represent potential targets for transmission blocking strategies. Parasite proteases are putatively involved in several steps during fertilization, but the types of proteases, their targets and modes of action remain hitherto unknown. We investigated the involvement of proteases in gametogenesis via exflagellation and immunofluorescence assays, using a variety of commercially available as well as newly designed protease inhibitors. The assays revealed a blockade of microgamete formation by the cysteine/serine protease inhibitors TLCK and TPCK. The serine protease inhibitor PMSF, the falcipain-targeting inhibitor RV112D, and the aspartic protease inhibitor EPNP also significantly decreased formation of microgametes. The metalloprotease inhibitor 1,10-phenanthroline, on the other hand, inhibited exflagellation by interfering with microgamete motility. Furthermore, EPNP reduced the activation of male and female gametocytes. Our data point to a major involvement of serine proteases and a non-thermolysin-like zinc metalloprotease in microgametocyte exflagellation.
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PMID:Effect of protease inhibitors on exflagellation in Plasmodium falciparum. 1824 65

Thermolysins constitute a family of secreted bacterial metalloproteases expressed, among others, by several pathogens. Strains of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius isolated from diseased dogs and judged as protease-positive, by skim milk agar plate culture, were investigated for protease content. No proteolytic activity was detected when the bacteria were grown in regular liquid media. Unexpectedly, supplementation of the medium with calcium ions resulted in expression of a metalloprotease and profound changes in the profile of extracellular proteins. On the basis of homology to other staphylococcal metalloproteases, the nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding this protease (Pst) and its flanking regions was determined. The full-length pst codes for a protein with an open reading frame of 505 amino acids. The internal region contains the HEXXH catalytic domain that is conserved in members of the thermolysin family. Regardless of the presence of calcium in the medium, the expression of the protease gene was of the same intensity. This suggests that regulation of the metalloprotease production by calcium ions is at a post-transcriptional level. Isolates of S. pseudintermedius exhibit a proteolytic phenotype due to the metalloprotease expression, however only in presence of calcium ions, which most probably stabilize the structure of the protease.
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PMID:A novel member of the thermolysin family, cloning and biochemical characterization of metalloprotease from Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. 1876 37

Botulinum neurotoxin serotype A is the most lethal of all known toxins. Here, we report the crystal structure, along with SAR data, of the zinc metalloprotease domain of BoNT/A bound to a potent peptidomimetic inhibitor (K(i)=41 nM) that resembles the local sequence of the SNAP-25 substrate. Surprisingly, the inhibitor adopts a helical conformation around the cleavage site, in contrast to the extended conformation of the native substrate. The backbone of the inhibitor's P1 residue displaces the putative catalytic water molecule and concomitantly interacts with the "proton shuttle" E224. This mechanism of inhibition is aided by residue contacts in the conserved S1' pocket of the substrate binding cleft and by the induction of new hydrophobic pockets, which are not present in the apo form, especially for the P2' residue of the inhibitor. Our inhibitor is specific for BoNT/A as it does not inhibit other BoNT serotypes or thermolysin.
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PMID:A potent peptidomimetic inhibitor of botulinum neurotoxin serotype A has a very different conformation than SNAP-25 substrate. 1894 Jun 13

Small-insert metagenomic libraries from four samples were constructed by a topoisomerase-based and a T4 DNA ligase-based approach. Direct comparison of both approaches revealed that application of the topoisomerase-based method resulted in a higher number of insert-containing clones per microg of environmental DNA used for cloning and a larger average insert size. Subsequently, the constructed libraries were partially screened for the presence of genes conferring proteolytic activity. The function-driven screen was based on the ability of the library-containing Escherichia coli clones to form halos on skim milk-containing agar plates. The screening of 80,000 E. coli clones yielded four positive clones. Two of the plasmids (pTW2 and pTW3) recovered from positive clones conferred strong proteolytic activity and were studied further. Analysis of the entire insert sequences of pTW2 (28,113 bp) and pTW3 (19,956 bp) suggested that the DNA fragments were derived from members of the genus Xanthomonas. Each of the plasmids harbored one gene (2,589 bp) encoding a metalloprotease (mprA, pTW2; mprB, pTW3). Sequence and biochemical analyses revealed that MprA and MprB are similar extracellular proteases belonging to the M4 family of metallopeptidases (thermolysin-like family). Both enzymes possessed a unique modular structure and consisted of four regions: the signal sequence, the N-terminal proregion, the protease region, and the C-terminal extension. The architecture of the latter region, which was characterized by the presence of two prepeptidase C-terminal domains and one proprotein convertase P domain, is novel for bacterial metalloproteases. Studies with derivatives of MprA and MprB revealed that the C-terminal extension is not essential for protease activity. The optimum pH and temperature of both proteases were 8.0 and 65 degrees C, respectively, when casein was used as substrate.
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PMID:Isolation and characterization of metalloproteases with a novel domain structure by construction and screening of metagenomic libraries. 1921 12

PAP (pancreatitis-associated protein) is a 16 kDa lectin-like protein, which becomes robustly up-regulated in the pancreatic juice during acute pancreatitis. Trypsin cleaves the N-terminus of PAP, which in turn forms insoluble fibrils. PAP and its paralogue, the pancreatic stone protein, induce bacterial aggregation and, more recently, PAP was shown to bind to the peptidoglycan of Gram-positive bacteria and exert a direct bactericidal effect. However, the role of N-terminal processing in the antibacterial function of PAP has remained unclear. In the present study, we demonstrate that N-terminal cleavage of PAP by trypsin at the Arg37-Ile38 peptide bond or by elastase at the Ser35-Ala36 peptide bond is a prerequisite for binding to the peptidoglycan of the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. The tryptic site in PAP was also efficiently cleaved by nprE (extracellular neutral metalloprotease) secreted from B. subtilis. Trypsin-mediated processing of PAP resulted in the formation of the characteristic insoluble PAP species, whereas elastase-processed PAP remained soluble. N-terminally processed PAP induced rapid aggregation of B. subtilis without significant bacterial killing. The bacteria-aggregating activities of trypsin-processed and elastase-processed PAP were comparable. In contrast with previous reports, the Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacterium was not aggregated. We conclude that N-terminal processing is necessary for the peptidoglycan binding and bacteria-aggregating activity of PAP and that trypsin-processed and elastase-processed forms are functionally equivalent. The observations also extend the complement of proteases capable of PAP processing, which now includes trypsins, pancreatic elastases and bacterial zinc metalloproteases of the thermolysin type.
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PMID:Proteolytic activation of human pancreatitis-associated protein is required for peptidoglycan binding and bacterial aggregation. 1925 8

The ability of protealysin, a thermolysin-like metallopeptidase from Serratia proteamaculans 94, to cleave actin and matrix metalloprotease MMP2 is reported. In globular actin, protealysin and S. proteamaculans 94 cell extracts are shown to hydrolyze the Gly42-Val43 peptide bond within the DNase-binding loop and the Gly63-Ile64 and Thr66-Ile67 peptide bonds within the nucleotide cleft of the molecule. At enzyme/substrate mass ratio of 1 : 50 and below, a 36 kDa-fragment produced by the cleavage between Gly42 and Val43 was virtually resistant to further breakdown. Judging from the results of zymography, protealysin transforms proMMP2 into a 66 kDa polypeptide characteristic of mature MMP2, indicating that protealysin can activate MMP2. Upon incubation of S. proteamaculans 94 with human larynx carcinoma Hep-2 cells intracellular bacteria were detected in about 10% of Hep-2 cells, this being the first evidence for invasion of eukaryotic cells with bacteria of this species. Thus, S. proteamaculans 94 turned out to be one more bacterial strain in which synthesis of actin-specific metalloprotease is coupled with bacterial invasion. These results are consistent with the idea of the actinase activity of bacterial metalloproteases being a factor that may promote bacterial invasion of eukaryotic cells.
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PMID:Probing for actinase activity of protealysin. 1964 70

Vibrio tubiashii, a pathogen of shellfish larvae and juveniles, produces several extracellular products. Here, we document that culture supernatants of several marine Vibrio species showed toxicity to oyster larvae. Treatment of these supernatants with EDTA not only severely diminished proteolytic activities, but also dramatically reduced toxicity to the larvae. Culture supernatants of metalloprotease-deficient mutants of V. tubiashii, V. cholerae, and V. splendidus were impaired in their ability to cause larval death compared to the wild type strains. Culture supernatants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, known to contain several secreted proteases, showed virtually no toxicity to oyster larvae. Purified V. tubiashii protease A (VtpA), but not the prototype metalloprotease, thermolysin from Bacillus thermoproteolyticus, was highly toxic to the larvae. In addition, toxicity of purified VtpA was much greater for 6-d-old oyster larvae than for 16-d-old larvae. Together, these results indicated that culture supernatants of a variety of Vibrio species are highly toxic to oyster larvae and that the production of a metalloprotease is required for this effect. We propose that there are, as yet uncharacterized, specific substrates contained in larval tissue that are degraded by VtpA as well as certain homologous metalloproteases produced by other marine Vibrio species which, in turn, may contribute to vibriosis.
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PMID:Virulence of metalloproteases produced by Vibrio species on Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas larvae. 1969 72


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