Purification and characterization of hatching enzyme from flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

Genomic and phylogenetic analysis of choriolysins, and biological activity of hatching liquid in the flatfish Senegalese sole

The hatching enzymes or choriolysins are key proteases in fish life cycle controlling the release of larvae to surrounding environment that have been suggested as target for novel biotechnological uses. Due to the large amounts of eggs released by the flatfish Solea senegalensis, during the spawning season, the hatching liquid properties and choriolysin-encoding genes were investigated in this species. A genomic analysis identified four putative genes referred to as SseHCEa, SseHCEb, SseLCE and SseHE. The phylogenetic analysis classified these paralogs into two clades, the clade I containing SseHCE paralogs and the clade II containing two well-supported subclades named as HE and LCE. The two SseHCE paralogs were intron-less and both genes were tandemly arrayed very close in the genome. The synteny and gene rearrangement identified in the flatfish lineage indicated that the duplication of these two paralogs occurred recently and they are under divergent evolution. The genes SseHE and SseLCE were structured in 8 exons and 7 introns and the synteny was conserved in teleosts. Expression studies confirmed that the four genes were expressed in the hatching gland cells and they migrate co-ordinately from the head to around the yolk sac close to the hatch with specific temporal and intensity expression profiles. Although the mRNA levels of the four genes peaked in the hours previous to larval hatching, the SseHCE and SseLCE paralogs kept a longer expression than SseHE after hatching. These expression patterns were consistent even when larvae were incubated at different temperatures that modified hatching times. The analysis of hatching-liquid using SDS-PAGE and zymography analyses of hatching liquid identified a major band of expected choriolysin size. The optimal pH for protease activity was 8.5 and inhibition assays using EDTA demonstrated that most of the activity in the hatching liquid was due to metalloproteases with Ca²⁺ ions acting as the most effective metal to restore the activity. All these data provide new clues about the choriolysin evolution and function in flatfish with impact in the aquaculture and the blue cosmetic industry.

Characterization of a novel hatching enzyme purified from starfish Asterina pectinifera

Hatching enzyme is a protease which can degrade the membrane of egg. In this study, a hatching enzyme was purified from starfish (Asterina pectinifera) with 6.34 fold of purification rate, 5.04 % of yield, and 73.87 U/mg of specific activity. The molecular weight of starfish hatching enzyme was 86 kDa, which was reduced to 62 kDa after removal of N-linked oligosaccharides. The optimal pH and temperature of the hatching enzyme activity were pH 7.0 and 40 °C, respectively, while those of stability were pH 8 and 20 °C. The kinetic parameters, V_max, K_m, K_cat and K_cat/K_m values were 0.197 U/ml, 0.289 mg/ml, 112.57 s⁻¹, and 389.52 ml/mg s, respectively. Zn²⁺ increased the enzyme activity by 167.28 %, while EDTA, TPCK, TGCK, leupeptin, PMSF, and TLCK decreased. In addition, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Cu²⁺ did not affect the enzyme activity. The starfish hatching enzyme activity pretreated with EDTA was recovered by Zn²⁺. Therefore, the starfish hatching enzyme was classified as a serine-zinc protease.

A novel hatching enzyme from starfish Asterias amurensis: purification, characterization, and cleavage specificity

Hatching enzyme (HE) is of importance to degrade egg membrane to let the larvae be free. HE was purified and characterized from starfish blastula. The specific activity and the purification ratio of the purified HE with 110.9 kDa of molecular weight were 449.62 U/mg and 7.42-fold, respectively. Its optimal pH and temperature for activity were pH 8.0 and 30 °C, respectively. This enzyme was relatively stable in the range of pH 4.0-6.0 and 30-40 °C. This enzyme was inhibited by ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid, and also done moderately by Leupeptin, tosyl-lysine chloromethyl ketone, tosyl-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone, and phenyl-methanesulfonyl fluoride. Zn(2+) ion activated HE activity strongly and recovered the EDTA-pretreated activity more than did Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and Cu(2+). Based on the results above, the starfish HE was classified as a zinc metallo- and trypsin-like serine protease. The values of Km, Vmax, and Kcat of the starfish HE on dimethyl casein were 0.31 mg/ml, 0.17 U/ml, and 122.70 s(-1), respectively, whereas 1.09 mg/ml, 0.12 U/ml, and 771.98 s(-1) on type I collagen. Therefore, the starfish HE could be a potential cosmeceutical because of its strong cleavage specificity on type I collagen.

Purification and characterization of hatching enzyme from brine shrimp Artemia salina

By using Artemia chorion as a specific substrate, the hatching enzyme from Artemia salina (AHE) was purified by gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography, and characterized biochemically and enzymatically in this study. It was found that the AHE had a molecular weight of 82.2 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and often contained 73.3 kDa molecules in preparation. The AHE had obvious choriolytic activity, which was optimal at pH 7.0 and a temperature of 408C. The Km value of the AHE for dimethyl casein was 8.20 mg/ml. The AHE activity was almost completely inhibited by soybean trypsin inhibitor and p-amidinophenyl methane sulfonyl fluoride hydrochloride, greatly inhibited by N-tosyl-L-lysyl chloromethyl ketone, phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, and lima bean trypsin inhibitor, slightly inhibited by pepstatin, N-tosyl-L-phenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone, leupeptin, N-ethylmaleimide, and iodoacetamide, and not inhibited by chymostatin and bestatin. All these results imply that AHE is most probably a trypsin-type serine protease. Besides of these, AHE was also sensitive to EDTA and Zn21. Combined with the results that the EDTA-pre-treated HE activity could be perfectly recovered by Zn21, it is indicated that AHE might be also a kind of Zn-metalloprotease.