Isolation and Characterization of a Highly Specific Serine Endopeptidase from an Oral Strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis
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Jonathan L. Moon
Abstract
Infection by Staphylococcus epidermidis, an opportunistic pathogen, has become a major problem due to the increased use of implanted medical devices and the growing number of patients who are therapeutically or infectiously immunosuppressed. These infections appear to proceed via modulation of the coagulation and complement systems. In this communication we describe the purification and characterization of a novel extracellular proteinase from an oral strain of S. epidermidis that can degrade fibrinogen, complement protein C5, and several other proteins. This proteinase has a strong preference for cleavage after glutamic acid residues, but not after aspartic acid. The S. epidermidis enzyme may be a multifunctional protein which not only provides this organism with both the ability to evade the complement defense system and to dysregulate the coagulation cascade, but also supplies nutrients for its growth through the degradation of Glurich proteins.
Copyright © 2001 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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- Functional Genomics in HIV-1 Virus Replication: Protein-Protein Interactions as a Basis for Recruiting the Host Cell Machinery for Viral Propagation
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- Enhanced Gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase Expression and Superoxide Production in Mpv17-/-Glomerulosclerosis Mice
- Juvenile Hormone Binding Protein and Transferrin from Galleria mellonella Share a Similar Structural Motif
- Analysis of Structural Signals Conferring Localisation of Pig OST48 to the Endoplasmic Reticulum
- Identification and Crystallisation of a Heat- and Protease-Stable Fragment of the Bacteriophage T4 Short Tail Fibre
- Insulin Resistance Induced by Loop Diuretics and Hyperosmolarity in Perfused Rat Liver
- Singlet Molecular Oxygen Triggers the soxRS Regulon of Escherichia coli
- The Extracellular Signal-Regulated Protein Kinases Erk1/Erk2 Stimulate Expression and Biological Activity of the Transcriptional Regulator Egr-1
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- Complement Factor I Is Upregulated in Rat Hepatocytes by Interleukin-6 But Not by Interferon-γ , Interleukin-1β or Tumor Necrosis Factor-α
- Isolation and Characterization of a Highly Specific Serine Endopeptidase from an Oral Strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis
