Structural and functional analysis of broad pH and thermal stable protease from Penicillium aurantiogriseum URM 4622

Abstract This study aimed to better characterize a recently purified stable extracellular alkaline peptidase produced by Penicillium aurantiogriseum (URM 4622) through fluorescence spectroscopy, far-UV circular dichroism, kinetic and thermodynamic models to understand its’ structure-activity and denaturation. Fluorescence data showed that changing pH leads to tryptophan residues exposure to more hydrophilic environments at optimum activity pH 9.0 and 10.0. When thermally treated, it displayed less unfolding at these pH values, along with 4-fold less photoproducts formation than at neutral pH. Different pH CD spectra showed more β-sheet (21.5–43.0%) than α-helix (1–6.2%). At pH9.0, more than 2-fold higher α-helix content than any other pH. The melting temperature (T m) was observed between 50 and 60 °C at all pH studied, with lower T m at pH 9.0–11.0 (54.9–50.3 °C). The protease displayed two phase transition, with two energies of denaturation, and a 4-fold higher thermal stability (ΔH°m) than reports for other microorganism’s proteases. An irreversible folding transition occurs between 50 and 60 °C. It displayed energies of denaturation suggesting higher thermal stability than reported for other microorganism’s proteases. These results help elucidating the applicability of this new stable protease.