• BMB Reports
• /
• v.44 no.7
• /
• pp.458-461
• /
• 2011

Enteropeptidase is a serine protease secreted by the pancreas and converts inactive trypsinogen to active trypsin. Enteropeptidase cleaves the C-terminal end of the substrate recognition sequence Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Lys ($D_4K$). The assay for enteropeptidase has utilized $GD_4K$-conjugated 2-naphthylamine ($GD_4K$-NA) as a fluorogenic probe over the last 30 years. However, no other $D_4K$-conjugated fluorogenic substrates of enteropeptidase have been reported. Furthermore, naphthalene is known as carcinogenic to humans. In this study, we used shift in the emission spectrum of $GD_4K$-conjugated 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin ($GD_4K$-AMC) as a fluorogenic method to measure enteropeptidase activity. The kinetic analysis revealed that enteropeptidase has a $K_M$ of 0.025 mM and a $k_{cat}$ of 65 $sec^{-1}$ for $GD_4K$-AMC, whereas it has a $K_M$ of 0.5 to 0.6 mM and a $k_{cat}$ of 25 $sec^{-1}$ for $GD_4K$-NA. The optimum pH of $GD_4K$-AMC hydrolysis was pH 8.0. Our data indicate that $GD_4K$-AMC is more suitable as a substrate for enteropeptidase than $GD_4K$-NA.