The Journal of Biochemistry
Online ISSN : 1756-2651
Print ISSN : 0021-924X
Tachyplesins Isolated from Hemocytes of Southeast Asian Horseshoe Crabs (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus gigas):Identification of a New Tachyplesin, Tachyplesin III, and a Processing Intermediate of Its Precursor
Tatsushi MutaTamiji FujimotoHiroshi NakajimaSadaaki Iwanaga
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

1990 Volume 108 Issue 2 Pages 261-266

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Abstract

Tachyplesins and their analogs are antimicrobial peptides composed of 17 or 18 amino acid residues present abundantly in acid extracts of hemocyte debris of horseshoe crabs. We purified here tachyplesin isopeptides from hemocytes of two species of Southeast Asian horseshoe crabs, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus gigas, and determined their amino acid sequences. The major tachyplesin isolated from both species was identified, respectively, as tachyplesin I, which had previously been found in hemocytes of the Japanese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus). The yield from both species was very high (more than 70 mg per 100 g wet weight of hemocytes), i.e., comparable with that from T. tridentatus. In addition to tachyplesin I, a new tachyplesin isopeptide, named tachyplesin III, was also isolated from T. gigas hemocytes, in which an arginine replaced the 15th lysine of tachyplesin I. The carboxyl-terminal residue of the isolated tachyplesins I and III was confirmed, respectively, to be an arginine α-amide by chemical analysis. Furthermore, a tachyplesin peptide derivative with a carboxyl-terminal extension of glycine-lysine was newly found in the hemocytes of C. rotundicauda. It appeared to be an intermediate derived from a tachyplesin precursor during processing to the mature form.

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© The Japanese Biochemical Society
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