Potent debriding ability of collagenolytic protease isolated from the hepatopancreas of the king crab Paralithodes camtschatica.

The debriding activity of the protease complex produced from the hepatopancreas of the king crab Paralithodes camtschatica was evaluated in vivo. The results clearly showed that the crab preparation had a high debriding ability. Individual proteases were isolated chromatographically from the crab complex to compare their debriding activities. All the purified proteases were active in vivo. The most active component of the complex was the isozyme C of crab collagenolytic protease, a member of the chymotrypsin-like protease class.