Abstract
A novel enzyme, which was named Nα-benzyloxycarbonyl amino acid urethane hydrolase, was purified from a cell-free extract of Streptococcus faecalis R ATCC 8043, using Nα-benzyloxycarbonyl glycine as substrate. The enzyme was purified 1300-fold with an activity yield of 8%. The purified enzyme was homogeneous by disc electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the native enzyme is about 220,000 by gel filtration, and a molecular weight of 32,000 was determined for the reduced and denatured enzyme by gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. The isoelectric point was 4.48. The enzyme was inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoate. The presence of divalent cations (i.e., Co2+ or Zn2+) is essential for its activity.