Purification and Characterization of Collagenase Produced by Staphylococcus aureus JJ-11 Isolated from the Human Skin

A bacterial strain, identified as Staphylococcus aureus JJ-11, producing collagenase was isolated out of 40 persons having skin troubles. S. aureus JJ-11 produced collagenase optimally in the media containing 1.5%(w/v) gelatin, 1%(w/v) yeast extract, 0.4%(w/v) , 0.005%(w/v) at for 18 hrs. The collagenase produced by Staphylococcus aureus JJ-11 was purified at 6.66-folds purity through application of chromatography with Amberlite IRA-900 and Sephacryl S-300 HR columns. The molecular weight of the partially purified enzyme was estimated to be 62 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The protein exhibited optimum enzymatic activity at pH 7.0, and showed a stable activity at pH 4-8. The optimum temperature for collagenase was at , and activity was maintained upto . The enzyme activity was slightly elevated in the presence of divalents such as, However, the activity was inhibited in the presence of . The inhibition of activity by O-phenanthroline and EDTA suggested that the enzyme may contain metal which is required for activity. The enzyme showed the highest activity when insoluble collagen (type I) was, used as a substrate.