Proteinase K

Proteinase K: An Enzyme for Everyone

Posted on by Gary Kobs
protein expression purification and analysis

We recently posted a blog about Proteinase K, a serine protease that exhibits broad cleavage activity produced by the fungus Tritirachium album Limber. It cleaves peptide bonds adjacent to the carboxylic group of aliphatic and aromatic amino acids and is useful for general digestion of protein in biological samples. In that previous blog we focused on its use to remove RNase and DNase activities. However, the stability of Proteinase K in urea and SDS and its ability to digest native proteins make it useful for a variety of applications. Here we provide a brief list of peer-reviewed citations that demonstrate the use of proteinase K in DNA and RNA purification, protein digestion in FFPE tissue samples, chromatin precipitation assays, and proteinase K protection assays:

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ProK: An Old ‘Pro’ That is Still In The Game

Posted on by Nives Kovacevic
Proteinase K Ribbon Structure ImageSource=RCSB PDB; StructureID=4b5l; DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.2210/pdb4b5l/pdb;
Proteinase K Ribbon Structure ImageSource=RCSB PDB; StructureID=4b5l; DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.2210/pdb4b5l/pdb;

If you enter any molecular lab asking to borrow some Proteinase K, lab members are likely to answer: “I know we have it. Let me see where it is”. Sometimes the enzyme will be found to have expired. The lab may also have struggled with power outages or freezer malfunctions in the past. But the lab still decides to keep the enzyme. One may rightly ask – why do labs hang on to Proteinase K even when it has been stored under sub-standard conditions?

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