Vibrio vulnificus, an opportunistic human pathogen, produces a 45-kDa zinc metalloprotease (V. vulnificus protease; VVP) as an important virulence determinant. VVP injected intradermally into the dorsal skin causes the hemorrhagic damage through specific degradation of type IV collage in the vascular basement membrane. The N-terminal 35-kDa polypeptide (VVP-N), the catalytic domain, also evoked the hemorrhagic skin reaction within minutes. However, the hemorrhagic activity of VVP-N was one-third of that of VVP. Besides, the proteolytic activity of VVP-N toward the reconstituted basement membrane or type IV collagen was found to be about 50 % of VVP. VVP-N, like VVP, was quickly inactivated by an equimolar amount Of alpha (2)-macroglobulin, a broad-spectrum plasma protease inhibitor, These findings indicate that the C-terminal 10-kDa polypeptide, the substrate-binding domain mediating the effective binding to protein substrates, functions to augment the hemorrhagic reaction of VVP. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.