Structure of the penicillin acylase gene from Escherichia coli: a periplasmic enzyme that undergoes multiple proteolytic processing.

Penicillin acylase is processed from a 90-kD precursor through the cleavage of a leader peptide and two further endopeptidase cleavages to yield an enzyme that contains a 22-kD (or 23-kD) and a 65-kD subunit. The endopeptidase cleavages require an intact carboxy terminus. This type of processing appears to be unique for a prokaryotic enzyme, having its most closely related analog in the synthesis and processing of preproinsulin and other eukaryotic hormones.