Enzymes for the cleavage of the anchoring region of surface proteins from gram - positive bacteria

摘要

An enzyme which cleaves at the sequence LPXTGX (SEQ ID NO:1) of the surface proteins of gram positive bacteria is provided. The enzyme was isolated from a group A Streptococcus. In addition, a method of detecting the enzyme, a method of isolating the enzyme, and methods of inhibiting the enzyme are disclosed. The figure is a schematic illustrating the positioning of the surface protein in the bacterial membrane, and the cleavage step which leads to infective bacteria.