Isolation, purification, and properties of aminopeptidase H from skeletal muscle of the lizard Agama stellio stellio.

Aminopeptidase H was isolated and purified from fresh skeletal muscle of the lizard Agama stellio stellio by ammonium sulfate fractionation and successive chromatographies on DEAE-cellulose, Ultrogel AcA-34, activated thiol-Sepharose 4B, phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B, and DEAE-cellulose again. This is the first report of the isolation of aminopeptidase H from a reptile. The purified enzyme migrated as a single band on SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight of the enzyme was 48 kD by SDS-PAGE and 384 kD on Ultrogel AcA-34 column chromatography. The optimum pH for hydrolysis of L-leucine beta-naphthylamide (Leu-Nap) was 7.8. The Km values for the hydrolysis of Leu-Nap and Nalpha-benzoyl-DL-arginine beta-naphthylamide (BzArg-Nap) were 0.48 and 0.99 mM, respectively. These activities were strongly inhibited by iodoacetic acid and leupeptin but were not affected by EDTA, pepstatin, bestatin, or phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. The enzyme has been shown not to hydrolyze proteins such as hemoglobin, BSA, myofibrillar proteins, and sarcoplasmic proteins.