Enzymatic hydrolysis of alpha- and beta-oligo(L-aspartic acid)s by poly(aspartic acid) hydrolases-1 and 2 from Sphingomonas sp. KT-1

The enzymatic hydrolysis of alpha- and beta-oligo(L-aspartic acid)s by PAA hydrolase-1 and PAA hydrolase-2 (purified from Sphingomonas sp. KT-1) was performed to elucidate the mechanism of the microbial degradation by Sphingomonas sp. KT-1 of the thermally synthesized alpha,beta-poly(D,L-aspartic acid) (tPAA). GPC analysis of the hydrolyzed products of alpha- and beta-tetra(L-aspartic acid)s by PAA hydrolase-1 has showed that PAA hydrolase-1 is capable of hydrolyzing only the specific amide bonds between beta-aspartic acid units. The RP-HPLC analysis of the enzymatic hydrolysis of beta-oligo(L-aspartic acid)s (4 and 5 mers) by PAA hydrolase-1 has suggested that the enzymatic hydrolysis of beta-oligo(L-aspartic acid)s occurs via an endo-mode cleavage. In contrast, PAA hydrolase-2 hydrolyzed both alpha- and beta-oligo(L-aspartic acid)s via an exo-mode cleavage to yield L-aspartic acid as a final product. A kinetic study on the enzymatic hydrolysis of alpha-oligo(L-aspartic acid)s (3 to 7 mers) by PAA hydrolase-2 has indicated that Km values are almost independent of the number of monomer units in oligomers of 4 to 7 mers, while that Vmax values are markedly dependent on the chain length and show a maximum value at 5 mer.