A serine protease inhibitor from the anemone Radianthus macrodactylus: Isolation and physicochemical characteristics

Abstract

A serine protease inhibitor with a molecular mass of 6106 +/- 2Da (designated as InhVJ) was isolated from the tropical anemone Radianthus macrodactylus by a combination of liquid chromatography methods. The molecule of InhVJ consists of 57 amino acid residues, has three disulfide bonds, and contains no Met or Trp residues. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the inhibitor (19 aa residues) was established. It was shown that this fragment has a high degree of homology with the N-terminal amino acid sequences of serine protease inhibitors from other anemone species, reptiles, and mammals. The spatial organization of the inhibitor at the levels of tertiary and secondary structures was studied by the methods of UV and CD spectroscopy. The specific and molar absorption coefficients of InhVJ were determined. The percentage of canonical secondary structure elements in the polypeptide was calculated. The inhibitor has a highly ordered tertiary structure and belongs to mixed alpha/beta or alpha + beta polypeptides. It was established that InhVJ is highly specific toward trypsin (Ki 2.49 x 10(-9) M) and alpha-chymotrypsin (Ki 2.17 x 10(-8) M) and does not inhibit other proteases, such as thrombin, kallikrein, and papain. The inhibitor InhVJ was assigned to the family of the Kunitz inhibitor according to its physicochemical properties.