Isolation and properties of a multicatalytic proteinase complex from Xenopus laevis skin secretion.

A multicatalytic proteinase complex present in the skin secretion of Xenopus laevis was purified and its enzymatic activity towards natural and synthetic peptides was investigated. We identified three activities: i) a C-terminal deamidation enzyme activity which exhibited selectivity for the Asp-Phe-NH2 and Phe-Leu-NH2 motifs of cerulein, minigastrin Leu-enkephalinamide, (des-Tyr1)Leu-enkephalinamide and diaminobenzylthiocyanate-DVDERDVRGFASFLNH2 (DABTC-DR8kermit); ii) an endopeptidase activity that cleaves peptide bonds on the carboxyl side of hydrophobic amino acid residues such as Tyr-Gly of LHRH, Ile-Ala of PGLa and Leu-Ala of buccalin; iii) an enzyme activity that cleaves peptide bonds at the dibasic sites of peptides of the dynorphin family. The molecular weight determined by Sephacryl S-400 molecular sieve filtration indicated an M(r) about 600 kDa. The activities characterized here exhibit an optimal pH of about 7.4. The activities of the multicatalytic complex were differentially inhibited by the classical inhibitors of proteases.