Limited proteolysis of the beta-hexosaminidase precursor in a cell-free system.

Pulse-chase experiments had shown that @-hexosaminidase was synthesized in cultured human fibroblasts in precursor form and that during maturation of the enzyme the a-chains were converted from Mr = 67,000 to 54,000 and the /&chains from M, = 63,000 to 29,000 plus smaller fragments, probably through an intermediate form of M, = 52,