Purification and characterization of a puromycin-hydrolyzing enzyme from blasticidin S-producing Streptomyces morookaensis.

Blasticidin S-producing Streptomyces morookaensis JCM4673 produces an enzyme which inactivates puromycin (PM) by hydrolyzing an amide linkage between its aminonucleoside and O-methyl-L-tyrosine moieties [Nishimura et al. (1995) FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 132, 95-100]. In this study, we purified to homogeneity the enzyme from the cell-free extracts of S. morookaensis. The molecular weight of PM-hydrolyzing enzyme, estimated by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration, was 68 and 66 kDa, respectively, suggesting that this protein is monomeric. The PM-hydrolyzing activity was strongly inhibited by Zn2+, Fe2+, Cu2+, Hg2+, and N-bromosuccinimide, but was stimulated by DTT. The optimum pH and temperature for PM-hydrolyzing activity were 8.0 and 45 degrees C, respectively. Several L-aminoacyl-beta-naphthylamides were good substrates for the enzyme, suggesting that the PM-inactivating enzyme has an aminopeptidase activity. The N-terminal sequence of the first 14 amino acids (Val-Ser-Thr-Ala-Pro-Tyr-Gly-Ala-Trp-Gln-Ser-Pro-Ile-Asp) of the enzyme showed no significant homology with any published hydrolase sequences.