Purification and characterization of iron-cofactored superoxide dismutase from Enteromorpha linza

Abstract

A superoxide dismutase was purified from Enteromorpha linza using a simple and safe procedure, which comprised phosphate buffer extraction, ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography on Q-sepharose column, and gel filtration chromatography on Superdex 200 10/300GL. The E. linza superoxide dismutase (ElSOD) was purified 103.6-fold, and a yield of 19.1% and a specific activity of 1 750 U/mg protein were obtained. The SDS-PAGE exhibited ElSOD a single band near 23 kDa and the gel filtration study showed ElSOD’s molecular weight is near 46 kDa in nondenatured condition, indicating it’s a homodimeric protein. El SOD is an iron-cofactored superoxide dismutase (Fe-SOD) because it was inhibited by hydrogen peroxide, insensitive to potassium cyanide. The optimal temperature for its maximal enzyme activity was 35°C, and it still had 29.8% relative activity at 0°C, then ElSOD can be classified as a cold-adapted enzyme. ElSOD was stable when temperature was below 40°C or the pH was within the range of 5–10. The first 11 N-terminal amino acids of ElSOD were ALELKAPPYEL, comparison of its N-terminal sequence with other Fe-SOD N-terminal sequences at the same position suggests it is possibly a chloroplastic Fe-SOD.