Isolation and amino-terminal sequence analysis of a new pancreatic trypsinogen of the African lungfish Protopterus aethiopicus

The purification and characterization of three pancreatic trypsinogens A1, A2, and A3, from the African lungfish, Protopterus aethiopicus, is reported. These zymogens are activated by trypsin, by enterokinase, by an acid protease from Aspergillus oryzae, and by autoactivation. The three trypsinogens contain the same amino-terminal amino acid sequence, beginning with the activation peptide Leu-Pro-Leu-Glu-Asp-Asp-Lys-. Like the activation peptide of the previously characterized trypsinogen B [Reeck, G. R., & Neurath, H. (1972) Biochemistry 11, 503] of the same organism, it lacks the tetraaspartyl sequence characteristic of other vertebrate trypsinogens. Two of the corresponding lungfish trypsins were found to have identical amino-terminal sequences for at least 27 residues. These data suggest that the three enzymes are allelic variants. In contrast, the amino acid sequences differ sufficiently from that of trypsinogen B of the same organism to indicate that trypsinogens A and B are the products of different gene loci.