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provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Volume 21, number 1 FEBS LETTERS March 1972

THE SEQUENCE OF THE CARBOXYTERMINAL NONHELICAL CROSS LINK REGION OF THE al CHAIN OF CALF SKIN

J. RAUTERBERG, P. FIETZEK, F. REXRODT, U. BECKER, M. STARK and K. KUHN Max-Planck-lnstitut fiir Eiweiss- und Lederforschung. Abteilung Kiihn, D-8 Miinchen 2, Schillerstrasse 46, W. Germany

Received 6 December 197 1

1. Introduction by centrifugation for 30 min at 15,000 g (rotor GSA) in an RC-2 Sorvall centrifuge. The supernatant was The collagen molecule terminates at both ends in dialysed against 0.06 M sodium acetate buffer pH 4.8. regions endowed with particular properties. These The arl chains were isolated on carboxy methyl regions cannot participate in the triple helical con- cellulose as described earlier [ Ill. formation since does not occupy every third position as in the central areas of the molecule. The 2.2. Preparation of al-CB6 terminal regions contain residues usually con- The al-chains were cleaved with CNBr and then verted into cw-amino-adipic-semialdehyde by lysine crl-CB6 was isolated using the procedure described oxidase [ 11 . Allysine is the essential participant in earlier [5] with the following modification. After the crosslinking reaction [2,3]. Structure and func- digestion, CNBr was removed by desalting on Bio- tion of the N-terminal region have been determined Gel P-2 (100-200 mesh) in acetic acid. The peptide some time ago [4-91. In addition, Stark et al. [lo] mixture was lyophilized, then fractionated on Bio- reported the isolation and characterization of the Gel A-l 5 m, 200-400 mesh, equilibrated with 1 M nonhelical peptide of the C-terminal end of the al - CaClz -0.05 M Tris, pH 7.5 (column dimensions chain of calf skin collagen. 3.6 X 120 cm, elution rate 50 ml/hr). The fractions The amino acid sequence of this peptide is re- comprising al-CB6 were combined, desalted and ported in the present paper. It was isolated from a rechromatographed on Bio-Gel P-l 50, as described chymotryptic digest of the C-terminal cyanogen earlier [5]. bromide peptide al-CB6. The sequence was estab- lished applying automated Edman degradation to 2.3. Preparation of al-CB6-C3 the whole peptide and manual Edman-dansyl-tech- Digestion of cwl-CB6 with chymotrypsin was nique to fragments obtained by proteolytic cleavage. carried out as described earlier [lo] . The chymo- tryptic peptides were separated on Bio-Gel P-4 (see fig. 1). al-CB6-C3LvS and C3*ld were rechromato- 2. Materials and methods graphed on Bio-Gel P-10 (200-400 mesh) in 0.05 M sodium acetate buffer pH 4.5 (column dimensions 2.1. Starting material 2.7 X 110 cm; flow rate 26 ml/hr). Further purifi- The middle layer of fresh calf skin (900 g) was cation of cul -CB6-C3*ld was achieved by chromato- ground in an electric meat grinder and extracted for graphy on phosphocellulose at pH 3.6 in 0.001 M 2 hr at room temp (22-24”) with 1500 ml urea sodium acetate using a linear gradient from O-O.2 M (final cont. 8 M). The insoluble material was removed NaCl over a total vol of 200 ml (column dimension 7 X 1.8 cm, flow rate 80 ml/hr). North-Holland Publishing Company - Amsterdam 75 Volume 21. number 1 FEBS LETTERS March 1972

08

180 2M) 3w Loo 500 ml EFFLUENT

Fig. 1. Molecular sieve chromatography on Bio-Gel P-4 of the chymotryptic digest oil-CB6.60 mg were applied and eluted with 0.1 M acetic acid at room temp. Column dimensions: 2.5 X 104 cm, elution rate 30 ml/hr.

by adding acetic acid. The digest was lyophilized and

5 10 then fractionated on Bio-Gel P-4 (see fig. 2). : Asp-Leu-Ser-Phe-Leu-Pro-GlN-Pro-G1N-GlN-Gl~-Lye- +--+4+4--+-+-+4---,444 < > Tl 2.5. Treatment of all-CB6 with carboxypeptidase B C T 3 mg ol-CB6 in 1.4 ml of 0.2 M ethylmorpholin 'SJ, 1 20 acetate, pH 8.5, were incubated at 37” with 0.12 mg Ala-His-Asp-Gly-Gly-Arq-Tyr-Tyr. -+ --+ carboxypeptidase B (Worthington, COBDFP), dis- -7 -77 L-L < solved in 0.1 ml 10% LiCl. The digestion was terminated T2 -‘T3r by adding acetic acid. The sample was lyophilized and C 3b directly applied to the amino acid analyser (model BC Fig. 2. Amino actd sequence of alCB6C3. T = trypsin clea- 200 Bio-Cal Instruments, Munich). vagc; C = chymotryptic cleavage. The tryptic peptides are in- dicated. -automated Edman degradation, - = manual 2.6. Sequence determination Edman degradation, - = carboxypeptidase digestion. Automated Edman degradation was performed in a Beckman Sequencer, model 890 (Beckman Instru- 2.4. Tryptic digestion of a1-CB6-C3LYs ments, Palo Alto, Calif.). Three runs were carried The digestion with trypsin (2 X tryst., Worthing- out, using the Quadrol single cleavage or the dimethyl- ton) was carried out in 0.2 M NH,HCO, containing allylamine programme supplied by Beckman Instru- 10e3 M CaCl, at pH 7.8 for 4 hr, at 37”. The weight ments. Between 400 and 600 nmoles of peptides were ratio of substrate to enzyme was 50: 1. The trypsin used. In order to prevent cyclization of glutamine, was pretreated with TPCK (( 1-tosylamido-2-phenyl) the vacuum and drying steps after adding heptafluoro- ethyl chloromethyl ketone). Digestion was terminated butyric acid (cleavage step) were shortened. The

76 Volume 21, number 1 FEBS LETTERS March 1972

Table 1 Amino acid composition of al-CB6C3 and its fragments. Results are given as residues per peptide.

Aspartic acid 2 (2.0) 1 (1.0) 1 j1.1) l(l.l) 1 (0.9) 1 (0.6) Ghttamic acid 4 (3.7) 4 (3.5) _ 3 (3.2) 3 (3.2) _ Glycine 2 (2.3) 2 (2.5) _ 2 (2.5) 1fl.l) _ l(1.0) 2 (2.0) 2 (2.2) _ 2 (1.7) l(1.5) - _ 2 Phenylalaninr I(1.0) l(l.l) _ 1 (1.0) _ 1 (0.9) Lysine 1 (0.9) 1 (0.9) _ 1 1 (0.9) _ 1 (1.0)

Total 21 6 13 6 2

manual Dansyl-Edman degradation was performed as adjacent peptide al-CB6C2. The amino acid se- described by Gray [ 121. quence of the 113 residues long (rl-CB6-C 1 is known The PTH derivatives (from the sequencer) were [ 161, and the sequence of crl -CB6-C2 containing 82 identified by gas-liquid (GLC) or thin layer chromato- amino acids is under investigation. The carboxytermi- graphy (TLC). GLC was performed in the Beckman nal cul -CB6-C3 exists in a lysine and an aldehyde GC-4.5 instrument (Beckman Instruments, Palo Alto, form. In the latter, the lysine residue is converted to Calif.) using 10% SP 400 as liquid phase. TLC was the aldehyde allysine. The minor fraction C3beluting performed on silica gel plates (DC Fertigplatten after the salt, contains a hexapeptide. The amino acid F2.54) from Merck, Darmstadt, Germany, using the composition of C3 and C3b is given in table 1. H and D system of Edman [ 131. The dansyl-amino The amino acid sequence of o 1-CB6-C3LvS is de- acids were identified by TLC on polyamide plates picted in fig. 2. The residues 1 to 14 and residue 17 F 1700 from Schleicher and Schiill (Dassel, Germany), were elucidated by automated Edman degradation. using the systems described by Wood and Wang [14]. However, when (II1 -CB6-C3A1d was sequenced the PTH TLC of peptide T3 was performed on silica gel G derivative of residue 13 could not be detected. The (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) using butanol-pyridir- sequence of the remaining section was elucidated acetic acid-water (60:20:6:24). after tryptic digestion of c~l-CB6-C3~y~. Three pep- The amino acid analyses were performed as de- tides were obtained by separation on Bio-Gel P-4 scribed earlier [S] . For detection of lysine derived (fig. 3), and their ammo acid compositions are given cu-amino-adipic-semialdehyde the samples were treated in table 1. Peptide T 1 was easily identified as resi- with performic acid as described by Moore [ 151. By dues 1 to 13 by its amino acid composition. The ad- this procedure, allysine is oxidised to a-amino adipic jacent hexapeptide T 2 was sequenced manually acid which can be detected on the amino acid analyser. (fig. 2), and T 3 was identified as tyrosyl-tyrosine as follows. After acid hydrolysis only tyrosine was found in the amino acid analysis. However, when the same 3. Results peptide was applied to the amino acid analyser with- out hydrolysis, no amino acid could be detected. By Fig. 1 shows the separation on Bio-Gel P-4 of the TLC T 3 showed the same Rf value as the synthetic chymotryptic peptides from (wl-CB6. The first large tyrosyl-tyrosine and could clearly be distinguished peak contains the amino terminal crl-CB6-Cl and the from free tyrosine. Confirmation of the sequence

77 Volume 2 1, number 1 FEBS LETTERS March 1972

a E 0.5 4 N 04.. Tl T3

1 J 100 150 200 250 300 ml EFFLUENT

I:ig. 3. Molecular sieve chromatography on Bio-Gel P-4 of the tryptic digest of al-CB6C3. The column (1.6 X 95 cm) was eluted with 0.1 M acetic acid at room temp. Elution rate was 12 ml/hr.

19921 was obtained by digestion of al-CB6 with or for the following reasons. When a carboxypeptidase B. After 6 hr incubation, 1.6 moles glutamine-containing peptide is subjected to Edman of tyrosine and 0.8 moles of arginine were obtained degradation, some of the glutamine is always de- per mole of peptide. The residue in position 15 could aminated during the conversion. In addition, there not be identified either by the automated or manual is some overlap from one degradation step to the Edman degradation. On the other hand, both (rl-CB6- next. C3 and T 2 contained one histidine residue which Sequence studies on crl-CB6-C2 now in progress could not be placed in the sequence. Therefore, his- have demonstrated glycine to occupy every third tidine could be located in position 15. This conclusion position. This suggests that crl-CB6-C3 contains the was supported by the existence of C3b (table l), whole nonhelical C-terminal region [ 181. which covers residues 16-2 1 and contained no his- Comparative studies on the intermolecular cross tidine. This peptide is probably the result of chymo- links of from different species suggest that tryptic cleavage of the His-Asp. other collagens contain similar nonhelical regions at their C-terminal ends. Further studies now in progress are necessary to confirm this. 4. Discussion Parallel to these studies the sequence of the N- terminal cross link region of the calf clll chain has Due to lability of certain bonds in the region of also been elucidated [ 191 This is the first instance the (~1 chain under investigation, special experimental in which the structure of both the N-terminal as attention was required. For instance, the nonhelical well as the C-terminal region of an al-chain has been peptide C3 is partially lost during normal extraction completely determined. with neutral salts or citrate buffer, possibly due to the action of proteolytic enzymes present in connec- tive tissue. However, when skin was extracted with Acknowledgements the strongly denaturing agent 8 M urea, breakage of C3 could be prevented. Furthermore, the peptide This work was supported by the Deutsche For- ol-CB6 from salt- or acid-extracted collagen always schungsgemeinschaft, SFB 5 1, and by the Arbeits- appears in several forms, predominantly as cx1 -CB6” gemeinschaft Industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen. and 01-cB6~. The former contains 1 tyrosine less, We wish to thank Dr. E. Wiinsch for supplying the and the latter contains 16 amino acids less than synthetic tyrosyl-tyrosine, Miss I. Langer, W. Wohland crl-CB6 obtained from urea extracted collagen [5, and 1. Kell for their excellent technical assistance. 171 In contrast, the N-terminal region is obtained unimpaired. Residue 12 is shown as Glx, because in this parti- cular case we could not distinguish between glutamine

78 Volume 21, number 1 FEBS LETTERS March 1972

References [ 101 M. Stark, J. Rauterberg and K. Kuhn, FEBS Letters 13 (1971) 101. [ 11 S.R. Pinnell and G.R. Martin, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. (111 K.A. Piez, E.A. Eigner and M.S. Lewis, 61 (1968) 708. 2 (1963) 58. [2] P. Bornstein, A.H. Kang and K.A. Piez, Proc. Natl. Acad. [ 12 J W.R. Gray and J.F. Smith, Analyt. Biochem. 33 (1970) Sci. U.S. 55 (1966) 417. 36. [3] P. Bornstein and K.A. Piez, Biochemistry 5 (1966) [13] P. Edman, in: Protein Sequence Determination, ed. 3450. Saul B. Needleman (Springer VerJag, Berlin, Heidel- [4] A.H. Kang, P. Bornstein and K.A. Piez, Biochemistry berg, New York, 1970). 6 (1967) 788. [ 141 K.R. Wood and K. Wang, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 133 [5 1 A.H. Kang and J. Gross, Biochemistry 9 (1970) 796. (1967) 369. [6] E.M. Click and P. Bornstein, Biochem. J. 9 (1970) 1151 S. Moore, J. Biol. Chem. 238 (1963) 235. 4699. (161 K. von der Mark, P. Wendt, F. Rexrodt and K. Kiihn, [7] P. Bornstein and R. Nesse, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. FEBS Letters 11 (1970) 105. 138 (1970) 443. [ 17 j U. Becker, R. Timpl and K. Kuhn, in preparation. [8] J. Rauterberg and K. Kuhn, European J. Biochem. 19 1181 P. Fiatzek, F. Rexrodt, P. Wendt, M. Stark and K. Kuhn, (1971) 398. unpublished results. [9] F.H. Epstein, R.D. Scott, E.J. Miller and K.A. Piez, J. 1191 J. Rauterberg, R. Timpl, H. Furthmayr and K. Kuhn, Biol. Chem. 246 (1971) 1718. in preparation.

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