Anti-Tumor Effects of a Newly Cloned Serine Protease from the Marine Annelid, <i>Arenicola cristata</i>

Abstract

We cloned a new serine protease gene from the marine annelid,Arenicola cristataby rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The full-length cDNA of 901bp contained an open reading frame of 774bp encoding 258 amino acids. Sequence analysis of the deduced amino acids indicated that this protease belonged to serine protease family and contained highly conserved sequence GDSGGP. An expression vector, harboring the mature peptide ofArenicola cristataprotease, was constructed and transformed intoE.coli. The purified recombinant protein could inhibit proliferation of cancer cells in a dose-dependant way and induce apoptosis. These results indicated that the recombinant protease ofArenicola cristata, as a new member of serine protease family, might be valuable in developing anti-tumor agents.