Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: EC:3.4.24.55 (
PTR
)
433
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum degrades
hemoglobin
in its acidic food vacuole for use as a major nutrient source. A novel metallopeptidase activity, falcilysin, was purified from food vacuoles and characterized. Falcilysin appears to function downstream of the aspartic proteases plasmepsins I and II and the cysteine protease falcipain in the
hemoglobin
proteolytic pathway. It is unable to cleave
hemoglobin
or denatured globin but readily destroys peptide fragments of
hemoglobin
. Falcilysin cleavage sites along the alpha and beta chains of
hemoglobin
are polar in character, with charged residues located in the P1 and/or P4' positions. In contrast, plasmepsins I and II and falcipain prefer hydrophobic residues around the scissile bond. The gene encoding falcilysin has been cloned. Its coding sequence exhibits features characteristic of clan ME family M16 metallopeptidases, including an "inverted" HXXEH active site motif. Falcilysin shares primary structural features with M16 family members such as insulysin, mitochondrial processing peptidase, nardilysin, and
pitrilysin
as well as with data base hypothetical proteins that are potential M16 family members. The characterization of falcilysin increases our understanding of
hemoglobin
catabolism in P. falciparum and the unusual M16 family of metallopeptidases.
...
PMID:Identification and characterization of falcilysin, a metallopeptidase involved in hemoglobin catabolism within the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. 1054 84
