EN
Two serine proteinase inhibitors (ELTII and ELT1II) have been isolated from mature seeds of Echinocystis lobata by ammonium sulfate fractionation, methanol precipitation, ion exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography on immobilized anhydrotrypsin and HPLC. ELTI I and ELTI II consist of 33 and 29 amino-acid residues, respectively. The primary structures of these inhibitors are as follows: ELTI I KEEQRVCPRILMRCKRDSDCLAQCTCQQSGFCG ELTI II RVCPRILMRCKRDSDCLAQCTCQQSGFCG The inhibitors show sequence similarity with the squash inhibitor family. ELTI I differs from ELTI II only by the presence of the NH2-terminal tetrapeptide Lys- -Glu-Glu-Gln. The association constants (Ka) of F.LTI I and ELTI II with bovine-trypsin were determined to be 6.6 x 1010 M -1 and 3.1 x 1011 M -1, whereas the association constants of these inhibitors with cathepsin G were 1.2 x 107 M -1 and 1.1 x 107 M -1, respectively.