2419 Journal of Cell and Tissue Research Vol. 10(3) 2419-2422 (2010) ISSN: 0974 - 0910 (Available online at www.tcrjournals.com) Original Article ALKALINE PROTEASE FROM MAGGOTS: A LIKELY SOURCE OF INDUSTRIAL ENZYME RAIMI, O. G., 1,3 KAPPO, M. A., 2 FAJANA, O. O., 3 OKU, S. N. 3 AND ADENIJI, M. A. 3 1 Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences University of Dundee, DD1 5EH, Scotland, UK. 2 Protein Structure/Function Research Group, Department of Biotechnology, University of Western Cape, Belville 7535, South Africa. 3 Department of Biochemistry, Lagos State University, Ojo P.O Box 0001 LASU, Lagos Nigeria. E. mail: wale.raimi@gmail.com Received: November 29, 2010; Accepted: December 10, 2010 Abstract: A protease enzyme was isolated from maggots, developed from chicken and fish remains. The enzyme was purified by gel filtration on sephadex G-75 followed by ion-exchange chromatography using DEAE- cellulose and was partially characterized. Enzymes activity was found to be 1.87 mmol/unit and 13.34 mmol/unit after each purification stage respectively using casein as substrate. Optimum temperature and pH was 45 °C and 11 respectively. The enzyme has a K m of 0.11 mM and V max of 1.21 mmol/min for casein. Key words: Alkaline proteases, Maggot, Industrial enzymes INTRODUCTION Proteases are the single class of enzymes, which occupy a pivotal position with respect to their application in both physiological and commercial fields [1]. They catalyze the cleavage of peptide bonds in other proteins [1]. Proteases represent one of the largest groups of industrial enzymes and account for about 60 % of the world wide sale of enzymes [2, 3]. Proteases are physiologically necessary for living organisms as such they are ubiquitous being found in a wide diversity of sources such as plants, animals and micro-organisms [4]. Proteases have a large variety of application mainly in the detergent and food industries. Proteases are also envisaged to have extensive application in leather treatment and in several bioremediation processes. All detergent proteases currently used in the market are serine proteases from Bacillus strains. Fungal alkaline proteases are advantageous due to the ease of down stream processing to prepare a microbe-free enzyme. An alkaline protease from Conidiobolus coronatus was found to be compatible with commercial detergent used in India [5] and retained 43 % of its activity at 50 ° C for 50 min. in the presence of Ca 2+ (25 mM) and glycine (0.001 mM) [6]. The use of enzymes in the leather industry as alternative to chemicals has proved successful in improving leather quality and in reducing environmental pollution [7]. Proteases have been routinely used for various purposes such as cheese making, baking, preparation of soy hydrolysates and meat tenderization. The major application of proteases in the dairy industry is in the manufacture of cheese [2]. The wide diversity and specificity of proteases are used to a great advantage in developing effective therapeutic agents. Oral administration of proteases from Aspergillus Oryzae has been used as a digestive aid to correct certain lytic enzymes deficiency syndromes. Alkaline proteases from Conidiotolus coronatus were found to be able to replace trypsin in animal cell culture [8]. Maggots are larval forms of housefly, they are whitish in colour and feed on rottening matter [9]. They feed mainly by a process of extracorporeal digestion. They have a pair of mandible and hooks, which they use to assist in locomotion and provide attachment to the ?