Recombinant Human Proprotein Convertase 7/PCSK7 Protein, CF

The human PCSK7 gene encodes proprotein convertase 1 (PC7), which is also known as PC8 and lymphoma PC (1, 2). As a serine protease of the furin/PC family, the deduced amino acid sequence of human PC7 consists of a signal peptide (residues 1 to 37), a propeptide (residue 38 to 141), and a mature chain (residues 142 to 785) that consists of extracellular (residues 142 to 667), transmembrane (residues 668 to 688) and cytoplasmic (residues 689 to 785) domains. Autocatalytic processing results in the removal of the propeptide, which confers potent inhibitory activity toward the enzyme (3-5). The purified recombinant human PCSK7 corresponds to the extracellular domain of the mature chain with a 10X His tag at the N-terminus. However, it may also contain the propeptide, as suggested by the N-terminal sequencing results. Thermolysin treatment increases its activity, which may be due to degradation of the propeptide by thermolysin.