Purification, Characterization of L-Methioninase from Candida tropicalis, and Its Application as an Anticancer

The aim of the present study is to purify L-methioninase from Candida tropicalis 34.19-fold with 27.98% recovery after ion exchange chromatography followed by gel filtration. The purified enzyme revealed a single band on SDS-PAGE gel with a molecular weight of 46 KDa. Its optimum temperature was 45 to 55 and thermal stability was 55°C for 15 min. The enzyme had optimum pH at 6.5 and stability at a pH range of 5.5 to 7.0 for 24 hr. The maximum activity was observed with substrate concentration of 30 µM and Km was 0.5 mM. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by Cd(+2) and Cu(+2) while it was enhanced by Na(+), Ni(+2), and Mg(+2) at 10 mM while Ca(+2) had slight activation at 20 mM. In addition, the potential application of the L-methioninase as an anticancer agent against various types of tumor cell lines is discussed.