Peptic digestion of bovine hemoglobin yields a fragment with antibacterial activity. This peptide was purified to homogeneity by a two-step procedure including anion exchange chromatography and preparative reversed-phase HPLC. Mass determination and fragmentation indicated that this peptide corresponded to the 1^23 fragment of the K K chain of hemoglobin. The minimum inhibitory concentration and mode of action of this peptide towards Micrococcus luteus strain A270 were determined. Hemolytic assay, interaction with liposomes, and study of its structure in solution were also performed. ß

The kinetics of the alpha (1-23) peptide, which is the first anti-bacterial peptide to be isolated from a haemoglobin hydrolysate, was studied in the course of peptic hydrolysis at pH 4.5 and 23 degrees C in an homogeneous-phase system. A one-step reversed-phase HPLC coupled with photodiode array detector method was applied to identify and isolate this anti-bacterial peptide. The kinetics of peptide appearance were investigated in acetate buffer alone and in urea as a haemoglobin-denaturing agent. Two different mechanisms, 'one-by-one' for native haemoglobin hydrolysis and 'zipper' for denatured haemoglobin hydrolysis, were observed. Whatever the haemoglobin state, native or denatured, and whatever the hydrolytic mechanism, one-by-one or zipper, the anti-bacterial alpha (1-23) peptide is a transient peptide. To prepare the alpha (1-23) peptide it is suitable to hydrolyse haemoglobin in the presence of urea at a corrected degree of hydrolysis (DH(c)) of 13.5%. The amount of peptide produced in the presence of urea was twice as high as for the hydrolysis of native haemoglobin. The yields of alpha (1-23) peptide with respect to haemoglobin at the optimal DH(c) values were 55 and 25% respectively.

Hydrolysis of bovine haemoglobin by the V8 protease from Staphylococcus aureus (EC 3.4.21.19) was studied in the presence of SDS in a homogeneous-phase and in a solid-phase system. In both cases, hydrolyses were performed at 37 degrees C, in 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 6.0, containing 0.1% SDS. Solid-phase hydrolyses were carried out with haemoglobin adsorbed on a negatively charged hydrophobic support, namely Amberlyst 15Wet (Rohm and Haas). The peptides were isolated from the hydrolysates by reverse-phase HPLC and analysed for their amino acid composition on a Waters Pico-Tag column, confirmed by second-order derivative spectrometry or by MS. A peptide map of the hydrolysates was drawn up, and numerous new cleavages in haemoglobin chains were observed, especially after Asp. This study showed that SDS permitted a dramatic improvement in the hydrolysis of whole haemoglobin by V8 protease in both homogeneous-phase and solid phase systems after adsorption of haemoglobin on to an anionic support. Moreover, in the heterogeneous phase, all the theoretical cleavage sites of V8 protease, Asp as well as Glu bonds, were hydrolysed, except for four sites which were resistant owing to strong interactions with the support. These results led to us obtain two haemopoietic peptides, namely peptide alpha (Leu(76)-Pro-Gly-Ala-Leu-Ser-Glu(82)) and peptide beta (Lys(94)-Leu-His-Val-Asp-Pro-Glu(100)). These active peptides have never before been prepared from bovine haemoglobin, and they may have great potentialities in biotechnology.

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