Comparison of aminopeptidase activities in four strains of mutans group oral streptococci.

In this study, native cells of Streptococcus mutans VA-29R and Streptococcus rattus FA-1 displayed significantly higher aminopeptidase activity than did cells of Streptococcus cricetus AHT or Streptococcus sobrinus 6715 toward the nitroanilide derivatives of leucine, alanine, methionine, arginine, and lysine. These differences in cellular aminopeptidase activity led us to investigate the subcellular localization of the aminopeptidase in these mutans group streptococci. Following conversion of native cells to protoplasts by treatment with lysozyme, most of the aminopeptidase activity detected in the native-cell preparations remained associated with the intact protoplasts. After lysis of protoplasts and differential centrifugation, most of the total cellular aminopeptidase activity was recovered with the cytoplasmic fraction. Membrane-associated aminopeptidases represented only minor activities in these mutans group streptococci. Although the four strains showed no differences with respect to a predominant cytoplasmic localization for the aminopeptidase activities, the levels of activity in the cytoplasmic fractions from S. cricetus AHT and S. sobrinus 6715 were significantly lower than those measurable in the corresponding fractions from S. mutans VA-29R and S. rattus FA-1. These results support the conclusion that the differences in aminopeptidase activity expressed by these streptococci reflect quantitative differences rather than differences in enzyme subcellular localization.