Biomaterial Database

Purification and characterization of a protease from Pseudomonas pseudomallei. 1994

M M Sexton, and A L Jones, and W Chaowagul, and D E Woods

Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary Health Sciences Centre, Canada.

Pseudomonas pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a glanders-like disease of humans and animals. The pathogenesis of melioidosis is not well understood, and the role of various extracellular enzymes produced by P. pseudomallei in the development of this disease is not known. The present studies were designed to purify and characterize an extracellular protease produced by P. pseudomallei isolates and to test the hypothesis that this protease may play a role in melioidosis. The protease was present in culture supernatants as an enzyme with a molecular weight of 36,000 that was optimally active at 60 degrees C and at pH 8.0. The P. pseudomallei protease was shown to be a metalloenzyme requiring iron for maximal activity, and activity was inhibited in the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (150 mM). Antibodies directed against an alkaline protease produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa cross-reacted with the P. pseudomallei protease. These data indicate that the P. pseudomallei protease belongs to the family of alkaline proteases sensitive to metal chelators. Purified P. pseudomallei protease was capable of digesting a variety of eucaryotic protein substrates including immunoglobulins. A P. pseudomallei strain deficient in protease production was shown to be less virulent than the parental strain in an animal model of lung infection. These data suggest that this protease may be a significant pathogenic determinant in infections caused by P. pseudomallei.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007501	Iron	A metallic element with atomic symbol Fe, atomic number 26, and atomic weight 55.85. It is an essential constituent of HEMOGLOBINS; CYTOCHROMES; and IRON-BINDING PROTEINS. It plays a role in cellular redox reactions and in the transport of OXYGEN.	Iron-56,Iron 56
D008168	Lung	Either of the pair of organs occupying the cavity of the thorax that effect the aeration of the blood.	Lungs
D008171	Lung Diseases	Pathological processes involving any part of the LUNG.	Pulmonary Diseases,Disease, Pulmonary,Diseases, Pulmonary,Pulmonary Disease,Disease, Lung,Diseases, Lung,Lung Disease
D008297	Male		Males
D008554	Melioidosis	A disease of humans and animals that resembles GLANDERS. It is caused by BURKHOLDERIA PSEUDOMALLEI and may range from a dormant infection to a condition that causes multiple abscesses, PNEUMONIA and BACTEREMIA.	Whitmore's Disease,Burkholderia pseudomallei Infection,Burkholderia pseudomallei Infections,Disease, Whitmore's,Infection, Burkholderia pseudomallei,Melioidoses,Whitmore Disease
D008666	Metalloendopeptidases	ENDOPEPTIDASES which use a metal such as ZINC in the catalytic mechanism.	Metallo-Endoproteinases,Metalloendopeptidase
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D008970	Molecular Weight	The sum of the weight of all the atoms in a molecule.	Molecular Weights,Weight, Molecular,Weights, Molecular
D011480	Protease Inhibitors	Compounds which inhibit or antagonize biosynthesis or actions of proteases (ENDOPEPTIDASES).	Antiprotease,Endopeptidase Inhibitor,Endopeptidase Inhibitors,Peptidase Inhibitor,Peptidase Inhibitors,Peptide Hydrolase Inhibitor,Peptide Hydrolase Inhibitors,Peptide Peptidohydrolase Inhibitor,Peptide Peptidohydrolase Inhibitors,Protease Antagonist,Protease Antagonists,Antiproteases,Protease Inhibitor,Antagonist, Protease,Antagonists, Protease,Hydrolase Inhibitor, Peptide,Hydrolase Inhibitors, Peptide,Inhibitor, Endopeptidase,Inhibitor, Peptidase,Inhibitor, Peptide Hydrolase,Inhibitor, Peptide Peptidohydrolase,Inhibitor, Protease,Inhibitors, Endopeptidase,Inhibitors, Peptidase,Inhibitors, Peptide Hydrolase,Inhibitors, Peptide Peptidohydrolase,Inhibitors, Protease,Peptidohydrolase Inhibitor, Peptide,Peptidohydrolase Inhibitors, Peptide
D002614	Chelating Agents	Chemicals that bind to and remove ions from solutions. Many chelating agents function through the formation of COORDINATION COMPLEXES with METALS.	Chelating Agent,Chelator,Complexons,Metal Antagonists,Chelators,Metal Chelating Agents,Agent, Chelating,Agents, Chelating,Agents, Metal Chelating,Antagonists, Metal,Chelating Agents, Metal