Arthrobacteria are producers of proteolytic enzymes. Optimal cultivation conditions were determined for Arthrobacter luteus and the mineral composition of the culture medium providing active synthesis of proteinase was optimized. The proteinase was isolated from the culture liquid of Arthrobacter luteus using preparative ion-exchange chromatography on a carboxyl cation exchange resin KMT. The enzyme was homogeneous according to gel chromatography on Sephadex G-200 and had a molecular weight of 24 kD. The fibrinolytic activity of the proteinase is comparable with that of trypsin.