A new highly specific and soluble protease for precise removal of N-terminal purification tags

The affinity purification tags have significantly enhanced the ease of purification of many proteins. After purification, it is necessary to remove the affinity purification tag for many applications. Several specific proteases have been developed for tag removal, but none yet has both, a desirable cleavage specificity and high solubility. Here we describe the design and characterization of a novel protease, which we have named Con1, which exhibits desirable cleavage specificity and high solubility. We present a detailed analysis of the kinetic properties of Con1, along with demonstrating its ability to remove purification tags from different proteins.