Intrinsic Evolutionary Constraints on Protease Structure, Enzyme

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Intrinsic Evolutionary Constraints on Protease Structure, Enzyme Intrinsic evolutionary constraints on protease PNAS PLUS structure, enzyme acylation, and the identity of the catalytic triad Andrew R. Buller and Craig A. Townsend1 Departments of Biophysics and Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD 21218 Edited by David Baker, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, and approved January 11, 2013 (received for review December 6, 2012) The study of proteolysis lies at the heart of our understanding of enzyme evolution remain unanswered. Because evolution oper- biocatalysis, enzyme evolution, and drug development. To un- ates through random forces, rationalizing why a particular out- derstand the degree of natural variation in protease active sites, come occurs is a difficult challenge. For example, the hydroxyl we systematically evaluated simple active site features from all nucleophile of a Ser protease was swapped for the thiol of Cys at serine, cysteine and threonine proteases of independent lineage. least twice in evolutionary history (9). However, there is not This convergent evolutionary analysis revealed several interre- a single example of Thr naturally substituting for Ser in the lated and previously unrecognized relationships. The reactive protease catalytic triad, despite its greater chemical similarity rotamer of the nucleophile determines which neighboring amide (9). Instead, the Thr proteases generate their N-terminal nu- can be used in the local oxyanion hole. Each rotamer–oxyanion cleophile through a posttranslational modification: cis-autopro- hole combination limits the location of the moiety facilitating pro- teolysis (10, 11). These facts constitute clear evidence that there ton transfer and, combined together, fixes the stereochemistry of is a strong selective pressure against Thr in the catalytic triad that catalysis. All proteases that use an acyl-enzyme mechanism natu- is somehow relieved by cis-autoproteolysis. Because the catalytic rally divide into two classes according to which face of the peptide triad is the principal system through which enzymatic rate ac- substrate is attacked during catalysis. We show that each class is celeration has been studied, the inability to rationalize the evo- subject to unique structural constraints that have governed the lutionary selection of the catalytic nucleophile is a fundamental BIOCHEMISTRY convergent evolution of enzyme structure. Using this framework, weakness in our understanding of biocatalysis. Motivated by this we show that the γ-methyl of Thr causes an intrinsic steric clash simple, yet unexplained structure–function relationship, we sought that precludes its use as the nucleophile in the traditional catalytic to answer the question: How do the chemical and structural con- triad. This constraint is released upon autoproteolysis and we pro- straints of proteolysis combine to shape the evolution of a protease pose a molecular basis for the increased enzymatic efficiency in- active site? troduced by the γ-methyl of Thr. Finally, we identify several Two strategies can be undertaken to probe the properties of classes of natural products whose mode of action is sensitive to diverse catalytic architectures. The first is the contemporary ex- the division according to the face of attack identified here. This perimental approach whereby all parameters of interest in an analysis of protease structure and function unifies 50 y of bioca- active site are systematically varied and analyzed in silico for talysis research, providing a framework for the continued study of catalytic viability. This technique was used by Smith et al. to show enzyme evolution and the development of inhibitors with in- that the catalytic triad of esterases adopts a consensus geometry creased selectivity. that minimizes reorganization during the multistep mechanism (12). Computational explorations are unsurpassed in their detail peptidase | antibiotic stereochemistry | N-terminal nucleophile and broad applicability, but hindered by their need to explicitly anticipate the structural and mechanistic diversity generated he acceleration of chemical reactions is essential to all bio- through natural selection. We elected to pursue an alternative Tchemistry. The generation of reactive species by enzymes is strategy to elucidate the constraints that guide active site evo- tightly controlled and limited by the chemical makeup of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids. In isolation, no protein residue har- Significance bors a strong nucleophile at physiological pH. Rather, enzymatic activity arises after protein folding introduces cooperative in- The structure–function relationship of proteases is central to teractions that selectively amplify the reactivity of their otherwise our understanding of biochemistry. Nature has evolved at least weakly active functional groups. The preeminent system through 23 independent solutions to this problem, using an acylation which this phenomenon has been studied is the Ser-His-Asp mechanism. We examined the structures of these proteases, catalytic triad of the Ser proteases (1). Several distinct molecular using a new framework to characterize the geometric rela- strategies have been identified that contribute to rate enhance- tionships within each active site. This analysis revealed the ment. Substrate binding increases the local concentration of orientation of the base determines the stereochemistry of ca- interacting species, general acids and bases facilitate proton talysis and elucidated why threonine does not substitute for transfer, and a high-energy step can be split into multiple lower- serine in the catalytic triad. These observations explain how energy steps (2). These distinct molecular strategies may be the absolute stereostructures of natural protease inhibitors unified through the formalism of transition-state theory (3) and prevent off-target inhibition and serve as boundary conditions the idea that the active site is electrostatically preorganized for to enzyme design. transition-state stabilization (4, 5). Although the biophysics of rate acceleration are intricate and sensitive to even minor struc- Author contributions: A.R.B. and C.A.T. designed research; A.R.B. performed research; tural perturbations, evolution has converged on a catalytic triad A.R.B. and C.A.T. analyzed data; and A.R.B. and C.A.T. wrote the paper. (or diad) with a reactive Ser, Cys, or Thr nucleophile more than The authors declare no conflict of interest. 25 separate times to facilitate central biochemical reactions such This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. as hydrolysis (6), transacylation (7), and phosphorylation (8). 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. Our understanding of biochemistry has progressed into an This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. increasingly complex picture but many basic questions about 1073/pnas.1221050110/-/DCSupplemental. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1221050110 PNAS | Published online February 4, 2013 | E653–E661 Downloaded by guest on September 27, 2021 lution that is not computational, but observational. Studying the the energetics of hydrolysis are different from enzyme acylation, large set of naturally occurring structures limits analyses to coarser they share many structural constraints. As is shown in this in- features, but greatly increases the universality of the results. This vestigation, it is sufficient to consider only the acylation step of the technique requires only a diverse set of enzyme structures and reaction, as displayed in Fig. 1, to rationalize much of the ob- a rudimentary understanding of organic and biochemistry. By servable convergent evolution of proteases. recognizing the constraints imposed by bond geometries and Evolution has selected for many different residues to activate steric clashes, it is easy to compare the potential catalytic archi- the nucleophile, but the cooperative interactions that engender tectures for a given reaction. reactivity are effectively “tuned” differently for each individual Results from the veritable explosion of gene sequencing and enzyme. This principle was first tested by the chemical swapping protein structure determination have identified at least 23 folds of the hydroxyl nucleophile of subtilisin for a thiol and observing related through convergent evolution that support proteolysis loss of proteolytic activity (16, 17). More exhaustive studies using through an acyl-enzyme intermediate (9). We cross-compared site-directed mutagenesis of both subtilisin and trypsin showed the active site architecture among these “analogous” enzymes that alteration of any component of the catalytic triad results in (13), each of which has been optimized for catalysis through a large decrease in enzyme efficiency (18, 19). Interestingly, the → natural selection, to interrogate the entire known structural di- Ser Thr variant of trypsin created a worse enzyme than simul- versity that supports efficient proteolysis. We first identified key taneously mutating all three residues of the catalytic triad. parameters that define active site architecture, such as the ori- Conversely, when the N-terminal Thr nucleophile of the pro- β entation of substrate binding, the φ, ψ angles of the nucleophile, teasome -subunit was mutated to Ser, there was a reduction in and the stereochemistry of catalysis. Analysis of all Ser, Cys, and its catalytic power (20). The juxtaposition of these results and the γ Thr proteases of independent lineage showed they were all inability to rationalize the opposite effects
Recommended publications
  • The Secretory Proprotein Convertase Neural Apoptosis-Regulated Convertase 1 (NARC-1): Liver Regeneration and Neuronal Differentiation
    The secretory proprotein convertase neural apoptosis-regulated convertase 1 (NARC-1): Liver regeneration and neuronal differentiation Nabil G. Seidah*†, Suzanne Benjannet*, Louise Wickham*, Jadwiga Marcinkiewicz*, Ste´phanie Be´langer Jasmin‡, Stefano Stifani‡, Ajoy Basak§, Annik Prat*, and Michel Chre´ tien§ *Laboratory of Biochemical Neuroendocrinology, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, 110 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, QC, H2W 1R7 Canada; ‡Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4 Canada; and §Regional Protein Chemistry Center and Diseases of Aging Unit, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus, 725 Parkdale Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4E9 Canada Edited by Donald F. Steiner, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and approved December 5, 2002 (received for review September 10, 2002) Seven secretory mammalian kexin-like subtilases have been iden- LP251 (Eli Lilly, patent no. WO 02͞14358 A2) recently cloned tified that cleave a variety of precursor proteins at monobasic and by two pharmaceutical companies. NARC-1 was identified via dibasic residues. The recently characterized pyrolysin-like subtilase the cloning of cDNAs up-regulated after apoptosis induced by SKI-1 cleaves proproteins at nonbasic residues. In this work we serum deprivation in primary cerebellar neurons, whereas LP251 describe the properties of a proteinase K-like subtilase, neural was discovered via global cloning of secretory proteins. Aside apoptosis-regulated convertase 1 (NARC-1), representing the ninth from the fact that NARC-1 mRNA is expressed in liver ϾϾ member of the secretory subtilase family. Biosynthetic and micro- testis Ͼ kidney and that the gene localizes to human chromo- sequencing analyses of WT and mutant enzyme revealed that some 1p33-p34.3, no information is available on NARC-1 ac- human and mouse pro-NARC-1 are autocatalytically and intramo- tivity, cleavage specificity, cellular and tissue expression, and lecularly processed into NARC-1 at the (Y,I)VV(V,L)(L,M)2 motif, a biological function.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Evidence for Gliadin Antibodies As Causative Agents in Schizophrenia
    1 Evidence for gliadin antibodies as causative agents in schizophrenia. C.J.Carter PolygenicPathways, 20 Upper Maze Hill, Saint-Leonard’s on Sea, East Sussex, TN37 0LG [email protected] Tel: 0044 (0)1424 422201 I have no fax Abstract Antibodies to gliadin, a component of gluten, have frequently been reported in schizophrenia patients, and in some cases remission has been noted following the instigation of a gluten free diet. Gliadin is a highly immunogenic protein, and B cell epitopes along its entire immunogenic length are homologous to the products of numerous proteins relevant to schizophrenia (p = 0.012 to 3e-25). These include members of the DISC1 interactome, of glutamate, dopamine and neuregulin signalling networks, and of pathways involved in plasticity, dendritic growth or myelination. Antibodies to gliadin are likely to cross react with these key proteins, as has already been observed with synapsin 1 and calreticulin. Gliadin may thus be a causative agent in schizophrenia, under certain genetic and immunological conditions, producing its effects via antibody mediated knockdown of multiple proteins relevant to the disease process. Because of such homology, an autoimmune response may be sustained by the human antigens that resemble gliadin itself, a scenario supported by many reports of immune activation both in the brain and in lymphocytes in schizophrenia. Gluten free diets and removal of such antibodies may be of therapeutic benefit in certain cases of schizophrenia. 2 Introduction A number of studies from China, Norway, and the USA have reported the presence of gliadin antibodies in schizophrenia 1-5. Gliadin is a component of gluten, intolerance to which is implicated in coeliac disease 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Structure of SARS-Cov-2 Main Protease in the Apo State Reveals the 2 Inactive Conformation 3
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.092171; this version posted May 13, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease in the apo state reveals the 2 inactive conformation 3 4 Xuelan Zhoua,1, Fangling Zhongb,c,1, Cheng Lind,e, Xiaohui Hua, Yan Zhangf, Bing Xiongg, 5 Xiushan Yinh,i, Jinheng Fuj, Wei Heb, Jingjing Duank, Yang Ful, Huan Zhoum, Qisheng Wang 6 m,*, Jian Li b,c,*, Jin Zhanga,* 7 8 a School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330031, China. 9 b College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000, Jiangxi, 10 PR, China. 11 c Laboratory of Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, 12 Ministry of Education, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou 341000, PR China 13 d Shenzhen Crystalo Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518118, China 14 e Jiangxi Jmerry Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, 341000, China. 15 f The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330031, China 16 g Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese 17 Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road , Shanghai 201203 , China. 18 h Applied Biology Laboratory, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, 110142, 19 Shenyang, China 20 i Biotech & Biomedicine Science (Jiangxi)Co. Ltd, Ganzhou, 341000, China 21 j Jiangxi-OAI Joint
    [Show full text]
  • NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Biochemistry
    NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Biochemistry. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 June 23. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptPublished NIH-PA Author Manuscript in final edited NIH-PA Author Manuscript form as: Biochemistry. 2009 June 23; 48(24): 5731±5737. doi:10.1021/bi9003099. Neisseria gonorrhoeae Penicillin-Binding Protein 3 Demonstrates a Pronounced Preference for Nε-Acylated Substrates† Sridhar Peddi‡,§, Robert A. Nicholas∥, and William G. Gutheil‡,* ‡Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5005 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64110. ∥Department of Pharmacology, CB#7365, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7365. Abstract Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are bacterial enzymes involved in the final stages of cell wall biosynthesis, and are the lethal targets of β-lactam antibiotics. Despite their importance, their roles in cell wall biosynthesis remain enigmatic. A series of eight substrates, based on variation of the pentapeptide Boc-L-Ala-γ-D-Glu-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala, were synthesized to test specificity for three features of PBP substrates: 1) the presence or absence of an Nε-acyl group, 2) the presence of D- IsoGln in place of γ-D-Glu, and 3) the presence or absence of the N-terminal L-Ala residue. The capacity of these peptides to serve as substrates for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) PBP3 was assessed. NG PBP3 demonstrated good catalytic efficiency (2.5 × 105 M−1sec−1) with the best of these substrates, with a pronounced preference (50-fold) for Nε-acylated substrates over Nε-nonacylated substrates. This observation suggests that NG PBP3 is specific for the ∼D-Ala-D-Ala moiety of pentapeptides engaged in cross-links in the bacterial cell wall, such that NG PBP3 would act after transpeptidase-catalyzed reactions generate the acylated amino group required for its specificity.
    [Show full text]
  • Chymotrypsin-Like Peptidases in Insects
    Chymotrypsin-like peptidases in insects Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) Fachbereich Biologie/Chemie der Universität Osnabrück vorgelegt von Gunnar Bröhan Osnabrück, Mai 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS I Table of contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Serine endopeptidases 1 1.2. The structure of S1A chymotrypsin-like peptidases 2 1.3. Catalytic mechanism of chymotrypsin-like peptidases 6 1.4. Insect chymotrypsin-like peptidases 9 1.4.1. Chymotrypsin-like peptidases in insect immunity 9 1.4.2. Role of chymotrypsin-like peptidases in digestion 14 1.4.3. Involvement of chymotrypsin-like peptidases in molt 16 1.5. Objective of the work 18 2. Material and Methods 20 2.1. Material 20 2.1.1. Culture Media 20 2.1.2. Insects 20 2.2. Molecular biological methods 20 2.2.1. Tissue preparations for total RNA isolation 20 2.2.2. Total RNA isolation 21 2.2.3. Reverse transcription 21 2.2.4. Quantification of nucleic acids 21 2.2.5. Chemical competent Escherichia coli 21 2.2.6. Ligation and transformation in E. coli 21 2.2.7. Preparation of plasmid DNA 22 2.2.8. Restriction enzyme digestion of DNA 22 2.2.9. DNA gel-electrophoresis and DNA isolation 22 2.2.10. Polymerase-chain-reaction based methods 23 2.2.10.1. RACE-PCR 23 2.2.10.2. Quantitative Realtime PCR 23 2.2.10.3. Megaprimer PCR 24 2.2.11. Cloning of insect CTLPs 25 2.2.12. Syntheses of Digoxigenin-labeled DNA and RNA probes 26 2.2.13.
    [Show full text]
  • Part One Amino Acids As Building Blocks
    Part One Amino Acids as Building Blocks Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins in Organic Chemistry. Vol.3 – Building Blocks, Catalysis and Coupling Chemistry. Edited by Andrew B. Hughes Copyright Ó 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN: 978-3-527-32102-5 j3 1 Amino Acid Biosynthesis Emily J. Parker and Andrew J. Pratt 1.1 Introduction The ribosomal synthesis of proteins utilizes a family of 20 a-amino acids that are universally coded by the translation machinery; in addition, two further a-amino acids, selenocysteine and pyrrolysine, are now believed to be incorporated into proteins via ribosomal synthesis in some organisms. More than 300 other amino acid residues have been identified in proteins, but most are of restricted distribution and produced via post-translational modification of the ubiquitous protein amino acids [1]. The ribosomally encoded a-amino acids described here ultimately derive from a-keto acids by a process corresponding to reductive amination. The most important biosynthetic distinction relates to whether appropriate carbon skeletons are pre-existing in basic metabolism or whether they have to be synthesized de novo and this division underpins the structure of this chapter. There are a small number of a-keto acids ubiquitously found in core metabolism, notably pyruvate (and a related 3-phosphoglycerate derivative from glycolysis), together with two components of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), oxaloacetate and a-ketoglutarate (a-KG). These building blocks ultimately provide the carbon skeletons for unbranched a-amino acids of three, four, and five carbons, respectively. a-Amino acids with shorter (glycine) or longer (lysine and pyrrolysine) straight chains are made by alternative pathways depending on the available raw materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Mechanistic Insights Into the Inhibition of Prostate Specific Antigen by [Beta
    proteins STRUCTURE O FUNCTION O BIOINFORMATICS Mechanistic insights into the inhibition of prostate specific antigen by b-lactam class compounds Pratap Singh,1,2* Simon A. Williams,2 Meha H. Shah,3 Thomas Lectka,3 Gareth J. Pritchard,4 John T. Isaacs,2 and Samuel R. Denmeade1,2 1 Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 2 Chemical Therapeutics Program, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231 3 Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 4 Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom ABSTRACT for the effect of stereochemistry of the lactam ring on the in- hibitory potency was elucidated through docking of b-lactam Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is a biomarker used in the enantiomers. As a validation of our docking methodology, diagnosis of prostate cancer and to monitor therapeutic two novel enantiomers were synthesized and evaluated for response. However, its precise role in prostate carcinogenesis their inhibitory potency using fluorogenic substrate based ac- and metastasis remains largely unknown. A number of stud- tivity assays. Additionally, cis enantiomers of eight b-lactam ies arguing in the favor of an active role of PSA in prostate compounds reported in a previous study were docked and cancer development and progression have implicated this their GOLD scores
    [Show full text]
  • Molecular Markers of Serine Protease Evolution
    The EMBO Journal Vol. 20 No. 12 pp. 3036±3045, 2001 Molecular markers of serine protease evolution Maxwell M.Krem and Enrico Di Cera1 ment and specialization of the catalytic architecture should correspond to signi®cant evolutionary transitions in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, Box 8231, St Louis, history of protease clans. Evolutionary markers encoun- MO 63110-1093, USA tered in the sequences contributing to the catalytic apparatus would thus give an account of the history of 1Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected] an enzyme family or clan and provide for comparative analysis with other families and clans. Therefore, the use The evolutionary history of serine proteases can be of sequence markers associated with active site structure accounted for by highly conserved amino acids that generates a model for protease evolution with broad form crucial structural and chemical elements of applicability and potential for extension to other classes of the catalytic apparatus. These residues display non- enzymes. random dichotomies in either amino acid choice or The ®rst report of a sequence marker associated with serine codon usage and serve as discrete markers for active site chemistry was the observation that both AGY tracking changes in the active site environment and and TCN codons were used to encode active site serines in supporting structures. These markers categorize a variety of enzyme families (Brenner, 1988). Since serine proteases of the chymotrypsin-like, subtilisin- AGY®TCN interconversion is an uncommon event, it like and a/b-hydrolase fold clans according to phylo- was reasoned that enzymes within the same family genetic lineages, and indicate the relative ages and utilizing different active site codons belonged to different order of appearance of those lineages.
    [Show full text]
  • Part I Principles of Enzyme Catalysis
    j1 Part I Principles of Enzyme Catalysis Enzyme Catalysis in Organic Synthesis, Third Edition. Edited by Karlheinz Drauz, Harald Groger,€ and Oliver May. Ó 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Published 2012 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. j3 1 Introduction – Principles and Historical Landmarks of Enzyme Catalysis in Organic Synthesis Harald Gr€oger and Yasuhisa Asano 1.1 General Remarks Enzyme catalysis in organic synthesis – behind this term stands a technology that today is widely recognized as a first choice opportunity in the preparation of a wide range of chemical compounds. Notably, this is true not only for academic syntheses but also for industrial-scale applications [1]. For numerous molecules the synthetic routes based on enzyme catalysis have turned out to be competitive (and often superior!) compared with classic chemicalaswellaschemocatalyticsynthetic approaches. Thus, enzymatic catalysis is increasingly recognized by organic chemists in both academia and industry as an attractive synthetic tool besides the traditional organic disciplines such as classic synthesis, metal catalysis, and organocatalysis [2]. By means of enzymes a broad range of transformations relevant in organic chemistry can be catalyzed, including, for example, redox reactions, carbon–carbon bond forming reactions, and hydrolytic reactions. Nonetheless, for a long time enzyme catalysis was not realized as a first choice option in organic synthesis. Organic chemists did not use enzymes as catalysts for their envisioned syntheses because of observed (or assumed) disadvantages such as narrow substrate range, limited stability of enzymes under organic reaction conditions, low efficiency when using wild-type strains, and diluted substrate and product solutions, thus leading to non-satisfactory volumetric productivities.
    [Show full text]
  • Ubiquitin-Mediated Proteolysis the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2004 Is
    Advanced information on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 6 October 2004 Information Department, P.O. Box 50005, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 8 673 95 00, Fax: +46 8 15 56 70, E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.kva.se Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2004 is shared between three scientists who have made fundamental discoveries concerning how cells regulate the breakdown of intracellular proteins with extreme specificity as to target, time and space. Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose together discovered ubiquitin- mediated proteolysis, a process where an enzyme system tags unwanted proteins with many molecules of the 76-amino acid residue protein ubiquitin. The tagged proteins are then transported to the proteasome, a large multisubunit protease complex, where they are degraded. Numerous cellular processes regulated by ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis include the cell cycle, DNA repair and transcription, protein quality control and the immune response. Defects in this proteolysis have a causal role in many human diseases, including a variety of cancers. Fig. 1 Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and its many biological functions 2 Introduction Eukaryotic cells, from yeast to human, contain some 6000 to 30000 protein-encoding genes and at least as many proteins. While much attention and research had been devoted to how proteins are synthesized, the reverse process, i.e. how proteins are degraded, long received little attention. A pioneer in this field was Schoenheimer, who in 1942 published results from isotope tracer techniques indicating that proteins in animals are continuously synthesized and degraded and therefore are in a dynamic state (Schoenheimer, 1942).
    [Show full text]
  • Carboxypeptidase N (Kininase I) (Kdnins/Anaphylatoxins/Kallikrein/Proteases/Carboxypeptidase B) YEHUDA LEVIN*T, RANDAL A
    Proc. NatL Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 79, pp. 4618-4622, August 1982 Biochemistry Isolation and characterization of the subunits of human plasma carboxypeptidase N (kininase I) (kdnins/anaphylatoxins/kallikrein/proteases/carboxypeptidase B) YEHUDA LEVIN*t, RANDAL A. SKIDGEL*, AND ERVIN G. ERDOS*t§ Departments of *Pharmacology and UInternal Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75235 Communicated by P. Kusch, May 13, 1982 ABSTRACT Carboxypeptidase N (kininase I, arginine car- MATERIALS AND METHODS boxypeptidase; EC 3.4.17.3) cleaves COOH-terminal basic amino the Parkland Me- acids of kinins, anaphylatoxins, and other peptides. The tetra- Outdated human plasma was obtained from meric enzyme of Mr 280,000 was purified from.human plasma by morial Hospital blood bank (Dallas, TX). Hippurylargininic acid ion-exchange and arginine-Sepharose affinity chromatography. (Vega Biochemicals, Tucson, AZ), bradykinin (Bachem Fine Treatment with 3 M guanidine dissociated the enzyme into sub- Chemicals, Torrance, CA), guanidine'HCI (Chemalog, South units of 83,000 and 48,000 molecular weight, which were sepa- Plainfield, NJ), trypsin (Worthington, Freehold, NJ), and hu- rated and purified by gel filtration or affinity chromatography. man plasmin [Committee on Thrombolytic Agents (CTA) Stan- When tested with hippurylarginine, hippurylargininic acid, ben- dard, 10 units/ml, the American National'Red Cross] were used zoylalanyllysine, or bradyldkini the Mr 48,000 subunit was as ac- as received. Human urinary kallikrein was donated by H. Fritz tive as the intact enzyme-and was easily distinguished from human (Munich, Federal Republic of Germany) and human plasma pancreatic carboxypeptidase B (EC 3.4.17.2).
    [Show full text]
  • Secreted Metalloproteinase ADAMTS-3 Inactivates Reelin
    The Journal of Neuroscience, March 22, 2017 • 37(12):3181–3191 • 3181 Cellular/Molecular Secreted Metalloproteinase ADAMTS-3 Inactivates Reelin Himari Ogino,1* Arisa Hisanaga,1* XTakao Kohno,1 Yuta Kondo,1 Kyoko Okumura,1 Takana Kamei,1 Tempei Sato,2 Hiroshi Asahara,2 Hitomi Tsuiji,1 Masaki Fukata,3 and Mitsuharu Hattori1 1Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Aichi 467-8603, Japan, 2Department of Systems BioMedicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan, and 3Division of Membrane Physiology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787, Japan The secreted glycoprotein Reelin regulates embryonic brain development and adult brain functions. It has been suggested that reduced Reelin activity contributes to the pathogenesis of several neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease; however, noninvasive methods that can upregulate Reelin activity in vivo have yet to be developed. We previously found that the proteolytic cleavage of Reelin within Reelin repeat 3 (N-t site) abolishes Reelin activity in vitro, but it remains controversial as to whether this effect occurs in vivo. Here we partially purified the enzyme that mediates the N-t cleavage of Reelin from the culture supernatant of cerebral cortical neurons. This enzyme was identified as a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs-3 (ADAMTS-3). Recombinant ADAMTS-3 cleaved Reelin at the N-t site. ADAMTS-3 was expressed in excitatory neurons in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus.
    [Show full text]