Search

Glutathione homoeostasis is critical to plant life and its adaptation to stress. The γ-glutamyl cycle of glutathione biosynthesis and degradation plays a pre-eminent role in glutathione homoeostasis. The genes encoding two enzymatic steps of glutathione degradation, the γ-glutamyl cyclotransferase (GGCT; acting on γ-glutamyl amino acids) and the Cys-Gly dipeptidase, have, however, lacked identification. We have investigated the family of GGCTs in Arabidopsis thaliana . We show through in vivo functional assays in yeast that all three members of the ChaC/GCG subfamily show significant activity towards glutathione but no detectable activity towards γ-glutamyl methionine. Biochemical characterization of the purified recombinant enzymes GGCT2;2 and GGCT2;3 further confirmed that they act specifically to degrade glutathione to yield 5-oxoproline and Cys-Gly peptide and show no significant activity towards γ-glutamyl cysteine. The K m for glutathione was 1.7 and 4.96 mM for GGCT2;2 and GGCT2;3 respectively and was physiologically relevant. Evaluation of representative members of other subfamilies indicates the absence of GGCTs from plants showing significant activity towards γ-glutamyl-amino acids as envisaged in the classical γ-glutamyl cycle. To identify the Cys-Gly peptidase, we evaluated leucine aminopeptidases (LAPs) as candidate enzymes. The cytosolic AtLAP1 ( A. thaliana leucine aminopeptidase 1) and the putative chloroplastic AtLAP3 displayed activity towards Cys-Gly peptide through in vivo functional assays in yeast. Biochemical characterization of the in vitro purified hexameric AtLAP1 enzyme revealed a K m for Cys-Gly of 1.3 mM that was physiologically relevant and indicated that AtLAP1 represents a cytosolic Cys-Gly peptidase activity of A. thaliana . The studies provide new insights into the functioning of the γ-glutamyl cycle in plants.

Dipeptidyl peptidases 8 and 9 have been identified as gene members of the S9b family of dipeptidyl peptidases. In the present paper, we report the characterization of recombinant dipeptidyl peptidases 8 and 9 using the baculovirus expression system. We have found that only the full-length variants of the two proteins can be expressed as active peptidases, which are 882 and 892 amino acids in length for dipeptidyl peptidase 8 and 9 respectively. We show further that the purified proteins are active dimers and that they show similar Michaelis–Menten kinetics and substrate specificity. Both cleave the peptide hormones glucagon-like peptide-1, glucagon-like peptide-2, neuropeptide Y and peptide YY with marked kinetic differences compared with dipeptidyl peptidase IV. Inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidases IV, 8 and 9 using the well-known dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor valine pyrrolidide resulted in similar Ki values, indicating that this inhibitor is non-selective for any of the three dipeptidyl peptidases.

Recombinant plant-type asparaginases from the cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC (Pasteur culture collection) 6803 and Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, from Escherichia coli and from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana were expressed in E. coli with either an N-terminal or a C-terminal His tag, and purified. Although each of the four enzymes is encoded by a single gene, their mature forms consist of two protein subunits that are generated by autoproteolytic cleavage of the primary translation products at the Gly—Thr bond within the sequence GTI/VG. The enzymes not only deamidated asparagine but also hydrolysed a range of isoaspartyl dipeptides. As various isoaspartyl peptides are known to arise from proteolytic degradation of post-translationally altered proteins containing isoaspartyl residues, and from depolymerization of the cyanobacterial reserve polymer multi-l-arginyl-poly-l-aspartic acid (cyanophycin), plant-type asparaginases may not only function in asparagine catabolism but also in the final steps of protein and cyanophycin degradation. The properties of these enzymes are compared with those of the sequence-related glycosylasparaginases.

Membrane dipeptidase (MDP; EC 3.4.13.19) enzymic activity that was inhibited by cilastatin has been detected on the surface of 3T3-L1 cells. On differentiation of the cells from fibroblasts to adipocytes the activity of MDP increased 12-fold. Immunoelectrophoretic blot analysis indicated that on adipogenesis the increase in the amount of MDP preceded the appearance of GLUT-4. MDP on 3T3-L1 adipocytes was anchored in the bilayer by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) moiety as evidenced by its release into the medium in a hydrophilic form on treatment of the cells with bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and the appearance of the inositol 1,2-cyclic monophosphate cross-reacting determinant. Incubation of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with either insulin or the sulphonylurea glimepiride led to a rapid concentration- and time-dependent release of MDP from the cell surface. The hydrophilic form of MDP released from the cells on stimulation with insulin was recognized by antibodies against the inositol 1,2-cyclic monophosphate cross-reacting determinant, indicating that it had been generated by cleavage of its GPI anchor through the action of a phospholipase C.

Incubation of pig kidney microvillar membranes with Bacillus thuringiensis or Staphylococcus aureus phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) resulted in the release of a number of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored hydrolases, including alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1), amino-peptidase P (EC 3.4.11.9), membrane dipeptidase (EC 3.4.13.19), 5′-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) and trehalase (EC 3.2.1.28). Of these five ectoenzymes only for membrane dipeptidase was there a significant (approx. 100%) increase in enzymic activity upon release from the membrane. Maximal activation occurred at a PI-PLC concentration 10-fold less than that required for maximal release. In contrast solubilization of the membranes with n-octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside had no effect on the enzymic activity of membrane dipeptidase. A competitive e.l.i.s.a. with a polyclonal antiserum to membrane dipeptidase indicated that the increase in enzymic activity was not due to an increase in the amount of membrane dipeptidase protein. Although PI-PLC cleaved the GPI anchor of the affinity-purified amphipathic form of pig membrane dipeptidase there was no concurrent increase in enzymic activity. In the absence of PI-PLC, membrane dipeptidase in the microvillar membranes hydrolysed Gly-D-Phe with a Km of 0.77 mM and a Vmax. of 602 nmol/min per mg of protein. However, in the presence of a concentration of PI-PLC which caused maximal release from the membrane and maximal activation of membrane dipeptidase the Km was decreased to 0.07 mM while the Vmax. remained essentially unchanged at 624 nmol/min per mg of protein. Overall these results suggest that cleavage by PI-PLC of the GPI anchor on membrane dipeptidase may relax conformational constraints on the active site of the enzyme which exist when it is anchored in the lipid bilayer, thus resulting in an increase in the affinity of the active site for substrate.

Distinct anion transport processes have been identified in the mammalian renal proximal tubule, but none of the responsible proteins or genes have been isolated. A 43 kDa rabbit microvillus membrane protein that is immunologically related to the erythroid anion exchanger (band 3) was a candidate for a renal anion transporter. To examine the structural relationship with band 3, we cloned cDNAs encoding the 43 kDa protein. The 43 kDa band-3-like protein was purified, and a novel sequence of 24 amino acids was obtained from the N-terminus. Degenerate oligonucleotides were synthesized based on this sequence, and the polymerase chain reaction with single-sided specificity was used to amplify and clone a 1330 bp cDNA from rabbit renal cortex. Additional overlapping 272 bp and 1123 bp cDNAs were obtained by synthesizing and screening a rabbit renal cortical cDNA library. The composite sequence was 1483 bp, terminated with (A)16, and was similar in size to the principal transcript expressed in rabbit renal cortex. The single long open reading frame was predicted to encode a protein composed of 410 amino acids with a molecular mass of 45,193 Da; 15 amino acids predicted to reside at the N-terminus were absent in the mature protein and may constitute a signal peptide. There was only limited sequence similarity with human erythroid band 3. Rather, the sequence was highly similar to microsomal dipeptidase, including the presence of a signal peptide and a consensus sequence for covalent linkage to glycosylphosphatidylinositol. In summary, the 43 kDa protein from rabbit renal cortex that is recognized by a monospecific antibody to erythroid band 3 is most likely a microvillus membrane dipeptidase.

A new protocol for measuring cellular uptake of dipeptides was developed in which the problem of peptide hydrolysis is obviated by introduction into the cell suspension of a membrane-permeant peptidase inhibitor. The uptake of unlabelled dipeptide is readily monitored so long as some analytical technique is available for measuring the intracellular peptide concentration; in this study we used n.m.r. spectroscopy. Using this protocol, we demonstrated that dipeptide uptake by human erythrocytes occurs by simple diffusion through the lipid bilayer and not via a high-capacity protein-mediated transport system. Substantiating evidence includes demonstration that: (a) the fluxes are slow compared with known protein-mediated transport processes in human erythrocytes; (b) the uptake is not stereospecific; (c) the uptake does not display saturation kinetics; (d) the fluxes are significantly enhanced by butanol; (e) a distinct correlation exists between the size-corrected permeability coefficients of the dipeptides and their calculated n-octanol/water partition coefficients. It is calculated that under normal physiological conditions the diffusive fluxes of circulating plasma peptides into human erythrocytes are too small for these cells to play a significant role in dipeptide catabolism.

Renal dipeptidase (EC 3.4.13.11) has been purified from human kidney cortex by affinity chromatography on cilastatin-Sepharose following solubilization with either n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside or bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC). Phase separation in Triton X-114 revealed that the detergent-solubilized form was amphipathic and retained the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane anchor whereas the phospholipase solubilized form was hydrophilic. Both forms of the enzyme existed as a disulphide-linked dimer of two identical subunits of Mr 59,000 each. The glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor of purified human renal dipeptidase was hydrolysed by a range of bacterial PI-PLCs and by a plasma phospholipase D. Mild acid treatment and nitrous acid deamination of the hydrophilic form revealed that the cross-reacting determinant, characteristic of the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor, was due exclusively to the inositol 1,2-cyclic phosphate ring epitope. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the amphipathic and hydrophilic forms were identical, locating the membrane anchor at the C-terminus. The N-terminal sequence of human renal dipeptidase showed a high degree of similarity with that of the pig enzyme, and enzymic deglycosylation revealed that the difference in size of renal dipeptidase between these two species is due almost entirely to differences in the extent of N-linked glycosylation.

A significant number of cell-surface proteins m anchored in the plasma membrane by covalently attached glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol(glycolipid) and to date over 100 examples have been described from many stages of eukaryotic evolution [reviewed in 131. As well as having an N-terminal signal sequence to direct the protein to the ER, glycolipid-anchored proteins also have encoded in their cDNA a C-terminal hydrophobic region of amino acids. This sequence is believed to hold the nascent protein in the membrane prior to anchor addition and is cleaved off posttranslationally with concomitant addition of the glycolipid anchor. Anchor attachment occurs on the terminal residue present after cleavage which may be one of six small side-chain residues (Ala, Asn, Asp, Cys, Gly or, most commonly, Ser) [ 11. It has also recently been shown that a depe of specificity, again for small amino acids, exists in the two adjacent C-terminal amino acid positions, in particular the residue next but one to the attachment residue may only be Ala, Gly or Ser [3]. Here we report the determination of the site of glycolipid anchor attachment of porcine membrane dipeptidase(dehydropeptidase-I; EC3.4.13.11).

The mechanism of degradation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase from rabbit muscle by the lysosomal proteinase cathepsin B was determined. Treatment of aldolase with cathepsin B destroys up to 90% of activity with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate as substrate, but activity with fructose 1-phosphate is slightly increased. Cathepsin L, another lysosomal thiol proteinase, and papain are also potent inactivators of aldolase, whereas inactivation is not caused by cathepsins D or H even at high concentrations, or by cathepsin B inhibited by leupeptin or iodoacetate. The cathepsin-B-treated aldolase shows no detectable change in subunit molecular weight, oligomer molecular weight or subunit interactions. Cathepsin B cleaves dipeptides from the C-terminus of th aldolase subunits. Four dipeptides are released sequentially: Ala-Tyr, Asn-His, Ile-Ser and Leu-Phe, and a maximum of five additional dipeptides may be released. There are indications that this peptidyldipeptidase activity of cathepsin B may be an important aspect of its action on protein substrates generally.

A novel two-step enzyme-linked assay for aminopeptidase W is described and validated by comparison with other assays. L-alpha-Glutamyl-L-tryptophan (Glu-Trp) is a favoured substrate for this enzyme. With the use of glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.2) in a second step, the assay measured the release of free glutamate from L-alpha-glutamyl-L-tryptophan by the increase in NADH fluorescence. In the presence of 5 mM-1,10-phenanthroline and 50 microM-cilastatin the contribution of other membrane peptidases, in particular aminopeptidases N and A and microsomal dipeptidase in kidney, was very small. Residual cytosolic activities hydrolysing Glu-Trp were sensitive to inhibition by 2.5 mM-N-ethylmaleimide. The activity of aminopeptidase W was unaffected by these inhibitors. There was good correlation between the fluorimetric assay and those in which the free tryptophan released by kidney membrane fractions was determined by h.p.l.c. or the aminopeptidase W was measured immunoradiometrically with a monoclonal antibody.

Human kidney prolinase, assayed with Pro-Ala, and non-specific dipeptidase, assayed with Gly-Leu, were purified by using DEAE-cellulose, gel-filtration, metal-ion-chelate, hydrophobic and adsorption chromatography and chromatofocusing. Both enzymes gave single peaks of activity that were congruent and the ratio of their activities was constant throughout the purification. Gel filtration indicated an Mr of 100 000 and chromatofocusing a pI of 5.4. Ni2+-chelate chromatography demonstrated the presence of exposed histidine residues on the enzyme and was an effective separative procedure. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of the final preparation showed the two enzyme activities to be coincident. Both enzyme activities decayed at the same rate at 53 degrees C and were inhibited to the same extent by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate. Of six non-specific dipeptidase substrates tested Gly-Leu gave the highest activity, and of six prolinase substrates Pro-Leu had the highest activity. Gly-Leu was hydrolysed at double the rate of Pro-Leu. Pro-Ala was a competitive inhibitor of activity towards Gly-Leu, and Gly-Leu was a competitive inhibitor of activity towards Pro-Ala. Mixed-substrate studies strongly suggested that Gly-Leu and Pro-Ala were hydrolysed at a common active site. The data are consistent with prolinase and non-specific dipeptidase activity in human kidney being due to a single enzyme.

SUMMARY 1. A comparative study has been made of glycyl-L-leucine hydrolase activity in the soluble and particulate fractions of intestinal mucosa from monkey, guinea-pig, rabbit and rat. The specific activity of the soluble enzyme is very high in monkey and guineapig, and lower in rabbit and rat. The particulate enzymes from all the four species show low specific activities and form l-lO% of the total activity. 2. The pH optima in all cases lie in the range 74-78. The K,,, values of the substrate were similar for both soluble and particulate enzyme from monkey and guinea-pig, but in the rabbit and rat the K,,, value with the particulate enzyme was higher than with the soluble enzyme. 3. The particulate enzyme activity in all cases was the highest in the distal regions of the intestine, whereas the soluble enzyme showed maximal activity in the proximal and middle regions. Subcellular fractionation procedures have shown that intestinal dipeptidase activity is present predominantly in the soluble fraction of the small intestinal mucosa (Peters, 1970; Robinson, 1963). The particulate fractions in general contain less than 10% of the total activity, and in the guinea-pig (Peters, 1970) this activity is confined almost entirely to the brush border fraction. It has been suggested that dipeptide hydrolases in the brush border and soluble fraction of small intestine are distinct enzymes. This suggestion was based on the differences in heat inactivation, sensitivity to p-hydroxymercuribenzoate and electrophoretic mobilities between the soluble and brush border enzymes (Fottrell, Keane & Harley, 1972; Kim, Birtwhistle & Kim, 1972). In the present paper we report the differences in the distribution of the soluble and particulate glycyl-L-leucine hydrolase activities along the length of the intestine of four species : monkey (Macaca radiata), rabbit, guinea-pig and rat. Glycyl-L-leucine hydrolase was chosen for

1. Glucose absorption, water absorption and dipeptide hydrolase activities have been determined in isolated rat small intestine at 1, 3, 5 and 21 days after a single intraperitoneal injection of 5-fluorouracil. 2. Absorption rates and enzyme activities were elevated 1 day after treatment, but were reduced to 40% of control values at 3 and 5 days. Changes were seen regardless of whether absorption was expressed per unit length or per unit dry weight of intestine. 3. There were highly significant positive correlations between glucose or water absorption rates and peptidase activities, especially in proximal jejunum. The most significant correlation was observed between water absorption rate and jejunal l-Leu-Gly hydrolase activity. 4. Malabsorption may account for some of the gastrointestinal side effects associated with treatment with 5-fluorouracil. Enzyme measurements may be useful as an index of intestinal function.

Renal dipeptidase (EC 3.4.13.11) has been solubilized from pig kidney microvillar membranes with n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside and then purified by affinity chromatography on cilastatin-Sepharose. The enzyme exists as a disulphide-linked dimer of two identical subunits of Mr 45,000 each. The purified dipeptidase partitioned into the detergent-rich phase upon phase separation in Triton X-114 and reconstituted into liposomes consistent with the presence of the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane anchor. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the amphipathic, detergent-solubilized, form of renal dipeptidase was identical with that of the hydrophilic, phospholipase-solubilized, form, locating the membrane anchor at the C-terminus of the protein. The glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor of both purified and microvillar membrane renal dipeptidase was a substrate for an activity in pig plasma which displayed properties similar to those of a previously described phospholipase D. The cross-reacting determinant of the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor was generated by incubation of purified renal dipeptidase with bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase c, whereas the anchor-degrading activity in plasma failed to generate this determinant.

The first description of a saturable iminodipeptide transport system present in human erythrocytes is given. The 1H-n.m.r. spectra of glycyl-L-proline and those of free glycine and L-proline are significantly different. This enabled the non-invasive monitoring by 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy of the hydrolysis of the dipeptide in human erythrocytes and their lysates. The concentration-dependence of the rate of glycyl-L-proline hydrolysis by haemolysates was described by the Michaelis-Menten expression with Km = 14.1 +/- 2.4 mmol/litre and Vmax. = 130 +/- 10 mmol/h per litre of cell water. At concentrations of the dipeptide that saturated prolidase, hydrolysis of glycyl-L-proline by whole cells was approximately 130 times slower than by lysates. This rate difference indicated that transport is the rate-determining step in peptide hydrolysis by whole cells, and thus the concentration-dependence of the transport rate was determined. The membrane transport system was found to be saturable and could be described by the Michaelis-Menten expression with Kt = 4.7 +/- 0.4 mmol/litre and Vmax. = 0.997 +/- 0.026 mmol/h per litre of cell water. Numerical integration of a consistent set of differential rate equations that described a minimal model of the coupled transport-hydrolysis system successfully described prolonged time courses of peptide hydrolysis by whole cells. The simulations showed very low steady-state levels of dipeptide in the erythrocyte and very small lag periods (less than 5 min) in the progress curve describing the appearance of free amino acid inside the cells. The rates of transport of glycyl-L-proline into erythrocytes and kidney proximal-tubular epithelium were compared and the possible importance of erythrocyte prolidase in whole-body prolyl-peptide turnover is discussed.

Cytochrome f was isolated from the brown alga Alaria esculenta and the amino acid sequence was determined. The native haemoprotein has a molecular weight of 9800 and consists of a single polypeptide chain of 86 amino acid residues with a haem group bonded to cysteine residues at positions 14 and 17. The N-terminus is not acetylated and no methylated lysines were found. Sequences of three other algal cytochromes f were compared with that of Alaria and 22 out of 92 positions were common to the four sequences. One-half of these conserved sites occur between positions 49 and 63. Detailed evidence for the amino acid sequence of Alaria cytochrome has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50048 (6 pages) at the British Library (Lending Division), Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem. J. (1975) 145, 5.

Renal dipeptidase (EC 3.4.13.11) was solubilized from pig kidney microvillar membranes with bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and then purified by affinity chromatography on cilastatin-Sepharose. The enzyme was apparently homogeneous on SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis with an Mr of 47,000. Immunohistochemical analysis of the distribution of the dipeptidase showed it to be concentrated in the brush-border region of the proximal tubules in close association with endopeptidase-24.11) (EC 3.4.24.11). The purified dipeptidase was shown to contain 1 mol of inositol/mol and to possess the cross-reacting determinant characteristic of the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane-anchoring domain. The glycoprotein nature of renal dipeptidase was confirmed by chemical and enzymic deglycosylation. These results establish renal dipeptidase as a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored ectoenzyme of the microvillar membrane.

1. Though mucosal uptake of peptides plays an important part in protein absorption, little is known about the site of maximal absorption of peptides in the small intestine. This paper reports an investigation of the characteristics of absorption and hydrolysis of l-methionyl-l-methionine (Met-Met) and glycylglycine (Gly-Gly) by tied loops along the length of the small intestine of the rat, and those of absorption of the equivalent l-methionine (Met) and glycine (Gly). 2. Absorption of Met-Met, or a mixture of Met-Met and Met, was maximal in the proximal half of the small intestine, whereas absorption of Met was maximal in the distal half. Absorption of Met-Met was greater than that of the equivalent Met, especially in the proximal small intestine. In most sites, absorption of a mixture of Met-Met and Met was not significantly different from that of the equivalent Met-Met. Absorption of Met was not increased by raising its concentration from 100 to 200 μmol/ml, but addition of Met-Met (50 μmol/ml) produced a large increase in absorption, indicating that absorption of Met from Met-Met is independent of that from free Met. During absorption of Met-Met, large amounts of free Met appeared in the intestinal lumen. Most of this resulted from intralumen hydrolysis. The hydrolytic ability of mucosal homogenates was several times greater than that required to hydrolyse the Met-Met disappearing from the lumen during absorption. 3. The sites of maximal absorption of Gly-Gly, Gly and a mixture of Gly-Gly and Gly, were all in the proximal half of the intestine near the mid-point. Absorption of Gly-Gly was greater than that of the equivalent Gly, especially in the proximal sites. In several sites, there was no significant difference between absorption of a mixture of Gly-Gly and Gly and that of the equivalent Gly-Gly. During absorption of Gly-Gly, the amounts of free Gly appearing in the lumen were small except in the two most distal sites. Most of the free Gly resulted from back-diffusion from the mucosa. The hydrolytic ability of mucosal homogenates was barely adequate to hydrolyse the Gly-Gly disappearing from the lumen during absorption. 4. The results suggest that there is no real discrepancy between the site of maximal absorption of protein digestion products from tied loops of small intestine and that of their absorption in the intact animal. They indicate that absorption of Met and Met-Met involves independent mechanisms, and confirm previous evidence that the capacity of the intestine to absorb mixtures of peptides and amino acids is greater than its capacity to absorb amino acids alone.

It is now well established that mammalian tissues contain an enzyme system that can desulphate L-serine 0-sulphate both in vivo (Tudball, 1962) and in vitro (Dodgson & Tudball, 1961). Information about the precise nature of the system is very limited and it is still not clear whether a simple hydrolase is involved. However, the localization of the enzyme system in the high-speed supernatant fractions of tissue homogenates shows that it cannot be identified with any of the known mammalian sulphatase enzymes. To obtain further information on this desulphating system, studies have been extended to include simple peptides containing sulphated L-serine residues. The present paper deals with the preparation and the metabolism in the rat of glycyl-L-serine 0[35S]-sulphate. A preliminary account of some of this work has already been published (Noda, Tudball & Dodgson, 1963).

1. A highly active and electrophoretically homogeneous dipeptidase was purified from the soluble extracts of monkey small-intestinal mucosa. 2. By gel-filtration studies the molecular weight of the enzyme was found to be 107000. It is composed of two identical, subunits of molecular weight 54000. 3. A paper-chromatographic method of dipeptidase assay was developed to overcome some of the difficulties encountered in the generally used spectrophotometric procedure. By using this method, the Km and k0 values of a few substrates were determined. 4. The substrate specificity of the enzyme was investigated in great detail with substrates of a wide range of possible structural types. The enzyme hydrolyses a very large proportion of the range of dipeptides tested. This enzyme, which exhibits such a wide range of action, has been termed the ‘master’ dipeptidase of the intestine. Glycylglycine, glycyl-l-proline, glycyl-l-histidine, l-prolylglycine and some of the arginine- and aspartic acid-containing dipeptides were not substrates and are possibly hydrolysed by other peptidases. These results therefore suggest that in the intestine the number of dipeptidases is rather limited. 5. In the light of these findings, the implications on the role of dipeptidases in intestinal peptide transport are discussed.

A dipeptide hydrolase from the brush border of guinea-pig intestinal mucosa was purified. The enzyme resembles another dipeptide hydrolase isolated from the cytosol fraction of intestinal mucosa. Studies on the binding of cytosol peptide hydrolase to brush-border membranes indicate that the enzyme found in the brush border may be a cytoplasmic contaminant.

Recent technical advances in the isolation of human lymphocytes have made it possible to obtain preparations enriched in Bor T-cells (Wybran, 1973; Pellegrino et al., 1976). This in turn facilitates studies on the comparative enzymology of Band T-lymphocytes, which may be relevant to some leukaemic states. Studies on lysosomal enzymes, including acid phosphatase, /3-glucuronidase (Meusers et al., 1976) and N-acetyl-8-glucosaminidase (Crockard et al., 1979) in Band T-cell-enriched fractions have already been carried out. Haschen & King (1966) found increased activities of the cytoplasmic enzyme N-glycyl-L-leucine dipeptidase (EC 3.4.13.1) in leucocytes from patients with chronic lymphatic leukaemia. The purpose of the present investigation was to measure the same activity in the fractionated lymphocytes and also to improve the assay by using a radioactive substrate, [2-3H] N-glycyl-L-leucine, since cellular constituents interfere with assays using ninhydrin. The substrate preparation was obtained as fallows: glycine, containing [2-)Hlglycine as tracer, at a final specific radioactivity of 2 mCi/mmol was converted into the N-benzyloxycarbony1 derivative and L-leucine to its benzyl ester. After condensation with l-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (Aldrich Chemicals Ltd. Gillingham, U.K.) both blocking groups were removed simultaneously from the conjugate (1.71 g) by hydrogenation with a Pd/charcoal catalyst (170mg). The yield in each of the first three steps was over 9096 and the final yield was over 57%. Cells (1 x 10’-2.5 x lo’) were homogenized in 0.25 M-sucrose (0.5ml) at OOC. Insoluble proteins were removed by centrifugation at 100OOOg. The cell extract was diluted with 0.25 M-sucrose. Assay mixtures contained diluted cell extract (1OOpl) and a solution (1OOpl) of dipeptide in 0.06 M-KH,PO,/ K,HPO, buffer, pH 8.1, containing 0.25 M-sucrose. Portions