Piperastatin A, a new selective serine carboxypeptidase inhibitor produced by actinomycete. I. Taxonomy, production, isolation and biological activities.

Piperastatin A (structure, N-formyl-allo Ile-Thr-Leu-Val-Pip-Leu-Pip, Pip = hexahydropyridadine-3-carboxylic acid; molecular weight, 809), a new inhibitor of serine carboxypeptidase was discovered in the fermentation broth of Streptomyces lavendofoliae MJ908-WF13. It was purified by activated charcoal chromatography, YMC gel ODS-A chromatograpy and centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) by monitoring its inhibitory activity against carboxypeptidase Y (CP Y), and finally obtained as colourless needles. Piperastatin A is a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme with K-i = 52 +/- 6.2 nM. Piperastatin A is a highly specific inhibitor of the serine carboxypeptidases, CP-Y and platelet deamidase with little effect on related enzymes, has no antimicrobial activity and has low toxicity.