Dispase I has been used in a study to assess the effect of amniotic membrane on wound size in the early stages of the healing process. Dispase I has also been used in a study to investigate a dityrosine-based substrate for a protease assay.
Biochem/physiol Actions
Dispase? II is a neutral protease that hydrolyzes the N-terminal peptide bonds of non-polar amino acid residues. It may be used for separating many tissues and cells grown in vitro. The enzyme is very gentle and does not damage cell membranes. It can also be used to prevent clumping in suspension cultures. This protease cleaves fibronectin and type IV collagen, but not laminin, type V collagen, serum albumin, or transferrin. Dispase? II is specific for the cleavage of Leucine-Phenylalanine bonds. Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Fe2+, Fe3+ and Al3+ activate the enzyme. EDTA, EGTA, Hg2+ and other heavy metals inhibit the enzyme activity. The enzyme contains 1g-atom of zinc per g-mol of purified enzyme. If this zinc component is removed by chelating agents such as EDTA or EGTA, an inactive apoenzyme is obtained. The enzyme is not inhibited by serum.
