A. Beauvais et al., BIOCHEMICAL AND ANTIGENIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW DIPEPTIDYL-PEPTIDASE ISOLATED FROM ASPERGILLUS-FUMIGATUS, The Journal of biological chemistry, 272(10), 1997, pp. 6238-6244
A novel dipeptidyl-peptidase (DPP V) was purified from the culture med
ium of Aspergillus fumgatus. This is the first report of a secreted di
peptidyl-peptidase. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 88 kDa and cont
ained approximately 9 kDa of N-linked carbohydrate, The expression and
secretion of dipeptidyl-peptidase varied with the growth conditions;
maximal intra- and extracellular levels were detected when the culture
medium contained only proteins or protein hydrolysates in the absence
of sugars. The gene of DPP V was cloned and showed significant sequen
ce homology to other eukaryotic dipeptidyl-peptidase genes. Unlike the
other dipeptidyl-peptidases, which are all intracellular, DPP V conta
ined a signal peptide. Like the genes of other dipeptidyl-peptidases,
that of DPP V displayed the consensus sequences of the catalytic site
of the nonclassical serine proteases, The biochemical properties of na
tive and recombinant DPP V obtained in Pichia pastoris were unique and
were characterized by a substrate specificity limited to the hydrolys
is of X-Ala, Ris-Ser, and Ser-Tyr dipeptides at a neutral pH optimum.
In addition, we showed that DPP V is identical to one of the two major
antigens used for the diagnosis of aspergillosis.