Purification and characterization of tyrosinase from walnut leaves (Juglans regia)

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is a type-3 copper enzyme catalyzing the oxidation of phenolic compounds to their quinone derivates, which are further converted to melanin, a ubiquitous pigment in living organisms. In this study a plant originated tyrosinase was isolated from walnut leaves (Juglans regia) and biochemically characterized. It was possible to isolate and purify the enzyme by means of an aqueous two-phase extraction method followed by chromatographic purification and identification. Interestingly, the enzyme showed a rather high monophenolase activity considering that the main part of plant PPOs with some exceptions solely possess diphenolase activity. The average molecular mass of 39,047 Da (Asp(101)→Arg(445)) was determined very accurately by high resolution mass spectrometry. This proteolytically activated tyrosinase species was identified as a polyphenol oxidase corresponding to the known jrPPO1 sequence by peptide sequencing applying nanoUHPLC-ESI-MS/MS. The polypeptide backbone with sequence coverage of 96% was determined to start from Asp(101) and not to exceed Arg(445).