Nucleic acid molecules encoding autoactivating type I pancreatic proelastase proteins

A nucleic acid molecule encoding an autoactivating type I pancreatic proelastase protein, wherein the autoactivating type I pancreatic proelastase protein comprises an amino acid sequence which is at least 90% identical to a reference amino acid sequence consisting of SEQ ID NO:73 linked at its C-terminus to the N-terminus of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein the first thirteen amino acids of the reference amino acid sequence are P10-P9-P8-P7-P6-P5-P4-P3-P2-P1-P1′-P2′-P3′;

• and wherein
• (a) the amino acid residues at the P10-P5 and P1′-P3′ positions are each independently selected from any natural amino acid;
• (b) the amino acid residue at the P4 position is any natural amino acid except glycine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, or arginine;
• (c) the amino acid residue at the P3 position is any natural amino acid except proline or glycine;
• (d) the amino acid residue at the P2 position is proline, alanine, leucine, isoleucine, glycine, valine, histidine, or threonine;
• and
• (e) the amino acid residue at the P1 position is alanine, leucine, valine, isoleucine, or serine.