PARTIAL CHARACTERISATION AND THERAPEUTIC APPLICATION OF PROTEASE FROM A FUNGAL SPECIES

Proteases find wide application in textile, leather, food and pharmaceutical industries. Also this enzyme has considerable therapeutic importance in treating inflammation, digestive and vascular conditions. A protease obtained from a fungal isolate, Aspergillus niger, was tested for clinical application. The microorganism was cultivated on a starch-casein medium. The proteolytic activity was assayed with casein substrate using Folin-Ciocalteus method having tyrosine standard. The enzyme was precipitated using 50% ammonium sulphate. Inhibition studies on EDTA, phenyl methyl sulphonyl fluoride, dithiothreitol and pepstatin A revealed that the enzyme is an acid protease. The precipitated protease exhibited significant dehairing, destaining, declotting activites on Wistar rat model. The enzyme showed prominent anti-inflammatory activity and results were compared using diclofenac sodium.