Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative pathogenic bacterium, which is associated with peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. It is urgent to discover novel drug targets for appropriate antimicrobial agents against this human pathogen. In bacteria, peptide deformylase (PDF) catalyzes the removal of a formyl group from the N-termini of nascent polypeptides. Due to its essentiality and absence in mammalian cells, PDF has been considered as an attractive target for the discovery of novel antibiotics. In this work, a new PDF gene (def) from H. pylori strain SS1 was cloned, expressed, and purified in Escherichia coli system. Sequence alignment shows that H. pylori PDF (HpPDF) shares about 40% identity to E. coli PDF (EcPDF). The enzymatic properties of HpPDF demonstrate its relatively high activity toward formyl-Met-Ala-Ser, with K-cat of 3.4 s(-1) K-m of 1.7 mM, and K-cat/K-m of 2000 M-1 s(-1). HpPDF enzyme appears to be fully active at pH between 8.0 and 9.0, and temperature 50degreesC. The enzyme activity of Co2+-containing HpPDF is apparently higher than that of Zn2+-containing HpPDF. This present work thereby supplies a potential platform that facilitates the discovery of novel HpPDF inhibitors and further of possible antimicrobial agents against H. pylori. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.