Overexpression of aprE2, a Fibrinolytic Enzyme Gene from Bacillus subtilis CH3-5, in Escherichia coli and the Properties of AprE2

The aprE2 gene with its prosequence from Bacillus subtilis CH3-5 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) by using plasmid pET26b(+). After IPTG induction, active and mature AprE2 was produced when cells were grown at $20^{\circ}C$, whereas inactive and insoluble enzyme was produced in a large amount when cells were grown at $37^{\circ}C$. The insoluble fraction was resuspended with 6 M guanidine-HCl and dialyzed against 2 M Tris-HCl (pH 7.0) or 0.5 M sodium acetate (pH 7.0) buffer. Then active AprE2 was regenerated and purified by a Ni-NTA column. Purified AprE2 from the soluble fraction had a specific activity of $1,069.4{\pm}42.4U/mg$ protein, higher than that from the renatured insoluble fraction. However, more active AprE2 was obtained by renaturation of the insoluble fraction. AprE2 was most stable at pH 7 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively. The fibrinolytic activity of AprE2 was inhibited by PMSF, but not by EDTA and metal ions. AprE2 degraded $A{\alpha}$ and $B{\beta}$ chains of fibrinogen quickly, but not the ${\gamma}$-chain. AprE2 exhibited the highest specificity for N-succinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-pNA. The $K_m$ and $k_{cat}/K_m$ of AprE2 was 0.56 mM and $3.10{\times}10^4S^{-1}M^{-1}$, respectively.