A soluble ATP-dependent system for protein degradation from murine erythroleukemia cells. Evidence for a protease which requires ATP hydrolysis but not ubiquitin

A soluble ATP-dependent system for protein degradation has been demonstrated in reticulocyte lysates, but not in extracts of nucleated cells. We report that extracts of undifferentiated murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells contain a labile ATP-stimulated proteolytic system. The addition of ATP to MEL cell extracts at alkaline pH enhances degradation of endogenous cell proteins and various radiolabeled exogenous polypeptides from 2-15-fold. Nonhydrolyzable ATP analogs had no effect. In reticulocytes, one role of ATP in proteolysis is for ubiquitin conjugation to protein substrates. MEL cells also contain ubiquitin and extracts can conjugate 125I-ubiquitin to cell proteins; however, this process in MEL cells seems unrelated to protein breakdown. After removal of ubiquitin from these extracts by DEAE- or gel chromatography, the stimulation of proteolysis by ATP was maintained and readdition of purified ubiquitin had no further effect. In addition, these extracts degraded in an ATP-dependent fashion casein whose amino groups were blocked and could not be conjugated to ubiquitin. After gel filtration or DEAE-chromatography of the MEL cell extracts (unlike those from reticulocytes), we isolated a high molecular weight (600,000) ATP-dependent proteolytic activity, which exhibits many of the properties of energy-dependent proteolysis seen in crude cell extracts. For example, both the protease and crude extracts are inhibited by hemin and N-ethylmaleimide and both hydrolyze casein, globin, and lysozyme rapidly and denatured albumin relatively slowly. The protease, like the crude extracts, is also stimulated by UTP, CTP, and GTP, although not as effectively as ATP. Also, nonhydrolyzable ATP analogs and pyrophosphate do not stimulate the protease. Thus, some mammalian cells contain a cytosolic proteolytic pathway that appears independent of ubiquitin and involves and ATP-dependent protease, probably similar to that found in Escherichia coli or mitochondria.     

Identification of a ubiquitin- and ATP-dependent protein degradation pathway in rat cerebral cortex.

To investigate the existence of a ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation system in the brain, the proteolytic activity of the cerebral cortex was examined. The soluble extract of rat cerebral cortex degraded 125I-radiolabeled lysozyme in an ATP-dependent manner. The ATP-dependent proteolysis was suppressed with iodoacetamide, which inhibits ubiquitin conjugation, and was abolished by blocking of the amino residues of lysozyme. These results suggest the participation of ubiquitination in the proteolytic activity. An ATP-dependent 125I-ubiquitin-conjugating activity was detected in fraction II from the cerebral cortex. The presence of ATP-dependent proteolytic activity which acted preferentially on ubiquitinated lysozyme was demonstrated, using ubiquitin-125I-lysozyme conjugates as a substrate. The proteinase had a molecular mass of 1500 kDa and displayed nucleotide dependence and sensitivity to various proteinase inhibitors similar to those of the 26S proteinase complex found in reticulocytes. Dialysis of the soluble fraction caused a decrease in the proteolytic activity of ATP-dependent and preferential for ubiquitin-lysozyme conjugates and a reciprocal increase in the ATP-independent free 125I-lysozyme-degrading activity which was scarcely detected before dialysis. The former ATP-dependent proteolytic activity may play a physiological role in the brain.     

Rabbit red blood cell hexokinase. Decay mechanism during reticulocyte maturation

In rabbit reticulocytes, the hexokinase (EC 2.7.1.1)-specific activity is 4-5 times that of corresponding mature red cells. Immunoprecipitation of hexokinase by a polyclonal antibody made in vitro shows that this maturation-dependent hexokinase decay is not due to accumulation of inactive enzyme molecules but to degradation of hexokinase. A cell-free system derived from rabbit reticulocytes, but not mature erythrocytes, was found to catalyze the decay of hexokinae activity and the degradation of 125I-labeled enzyme. This degradation is ATP-dependent and requires both ubiquitin and a proteolytic fraction retained by DEAE-cellulose. Maximum ATP-dependent degradation was obtained at pH 7.5 in the presence of MgATP. MgGTP could replace MgATP with a relative stimulation of 0.90. 125I-Hexokinase incubated with reticulocyte extract in the presence of ATP forms high molecular weight aggregates that reach a steady-state concentration in 1 h, whereas the degradation of the enzyme is linear up to 8 h, suggesting that the formation of protein aggregates precedes enzyme catabolism. These aggregates are stable upon boiling in 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 3% mercaptoethanol and probably represent an intermediate step in the enzyme degradation with hexokinase and other proteins covalently conjugate to ubiquitin. That hexokinase could be conjugated to ubiquitin was shown by the formation of 125I-ubiquitin-hexokinase complexes in the presence of ATP and the enzymes of the ubiquitin-protein ligase system. Thus, the decay of hexokinase during reticulocyte maturation is ATP- and ubiquitin-dependent and suggests a new physiological role for the energy-dependent degradation system of reticulocytes.     

Ubiquitin-calmodulin conjugating activity from cardiac muscle

Enzyme activity capable of covalently linking ubiquitin to bovine calmodulin in an ATP-dependent manner has been detected in rabbit cardiac muscle demonstrating that this enzyme occurs not only in reticulocytes but also in other tissues and possibly all tissues and cells which contain calmodulin as intracellular Ca2+-acceptor protein. This is of special interest since a ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic activity could previously not be detected in cardiac muscle. The name ubiquityl-calmodulin synthetase [uCaM-synthetase, ubiquityl:calmodulin ligase (EC 6.3.?.?)] is therefore suggested for this enzyme. In crude cardiac muscle extracts uCaM-Synthetase displays a specific activity of 93 nUnits/mg in comparison to reticulocyte lysate with 270 nUnits/mg as measured by the fluphenazine-Sepharose affinity adsorbent test (FP-test). Analysis of the ubiquitination product (125I-uCaM) by polyacrylamide electrophoresis in the presence of SDS followed by autoradiography reveals a major double band with molecular masses of 27 and 29 kDa (mono-ubiquitination products) respectively. In addition two novel minor bands (17 and 20 kDa) of smaller molecular mass than the monoubiquitination products were detected. These are probably proteolytic breakdown products of uCaM. A model is suggested for a specific function of this synthetase in the Ca2+-dependent breakdown of calmodulin in vertebrate (eukaryotic) cells.     

ATP-stimulated degradation of endogenous proteins in cell-free extracts of BHK 21/C13 fibroblasts. A key role for the proteinase, macropain, in the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of short-lived proteins.

Baby hamster kidney (BHK) 21/C13 cell proteins, labeled with [35S]methionine, [14C]leucine or [3H]leucine in intact cells, were degraded in soluble, cell-free extracts by an ATP-stimulated process. The stimulatory effect of ATP appeared to require ATP hydrolysis and was mediated to a large extent by ubiquitin. Although the cell extracts contained endogenous ubiquitin, supplementation with exogenous ubiquitin increased ATP-dependent proteolysis by up to 2-fold. Furthermore, antibodies against the E1 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme specifically inhibited both conjugation of [125I]ubiquitin to endogenous proteins and ATP/ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. Addition of purified E1 to antibody-treated extracts restored conjugation and proteolysis. Proteins containing the amino acid analogues canavanine and azatryptophan were also degraded in vitro by an ATP/ubiquitin-dependent process but at a rate up to 2-fold faster than normal proteins. These results indicate that soluble, cell-free extracts of BHK cells can selectively degrade proteins whose rates of degradation are increased in intact cells. Treatment of cell-free extracts with antibodies against the high molecular weight proteinase, macropain, also greatly inhibited the ATP/ubiquitin-dependent degradation of endogenous proteins. Proteolysis was specifically restored when purified macropain L was added to the antibody-treated extracts. Treatment of cell extracts with both anti-macropain and anti-E1 antibodies reduced ATP/ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis to the same extent as treatment with either antibody alone. Furthermore, proteolysis could be restored to the double antibody treated extracts only after addition of both purified E1 and macropain. These results provide strong evidence for an important role for macropain in the ATP/ubiquitin-dependent degradation of endogenous proteins in BHK cell extracts.     

A novel ATP-requiring protease from skeletal muscle that hydrolyzes non-ubiquitinated proteins

Previously, we isolated an ATP-dependent proteolytic pathway in muscle, liver, and reticulocytes that requires ubiquitin and the enzymes which conjugate ubiquitin to proteins. We report here that skeletal muscle contains another soluble alkaline energy-dependent (but ubiquitin-independent) proteolytic activity. The cleavage of non-ubiquitinated protein substrates by the partially purified protease requires ATP hydrolysis since ATP in the absence of Mg2+, nonhydrolyzable ATP analogs, and pyrophosphate all fail to stimulate proteolysis. Proteolytic activity is also stimulated by UTP, CTP, and GTP, although not as effectively as by ATP (Km(ATP) = 0.027 mM). The enzyme is inactivated by the serine protease inhibitors diisopropyl fluorophosphate and 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin, but not by specific inhibitors of aspartic, thiol, or metalloproteases. It is maximally active at pH 8 and has a molecular weight of approximately 600,000. This new activity differs from the 720-kDa multicatalytic proteinase, but resembles the soluble ATP-dependent proteolytic system that we previously isolated from murine erythroleukemia cells.     

ATP-dependent proteolysis and the role of ubiquitin in rabbit cardiac muscle

A soluble ATP/Mg2-dependent proteolytic system from rabbit cardiac muscle has been identified (m ca. 310 kDa) and purified ca. 9-fold. This enzyme which splits the substrate [3H]globin and 125I-bovine serum albumin (125I-BSA) has many similarities to the ATP-dependent proteolytic enzyme system from reticulocytes which utilizes ubiquitin: 1) The specific activities in reticulocyte lysates and cardiac muscle extracts are of the same magnitude (0.5-1 arb. unit/mg). 2) The binding and elution behavior on DEAE-cellulose is similar. 3) In both cases the pH optimum (substrate 125I-BSA) is pH 7.6. 4) Both enzymes are inhibited by hemin, NEM and iodoacetate but not e.g. by leupeptin, or inhibitors of serine proteases. 5) Neither enzyme system can utilize ATP-analogs such as AMP-CPP, AMP-PCP, AMP-PNP or ATP-gamma-S. There are however also significant differences: 1) The enzyme system from cardiac muscle is fully active in the absence of ubiquitin and cannot be activated by this peptide. 2) The enzyme from cardiac muscle can degrade methylated BSA. 3) The cardiac muscle enzyme can be further purified on Sepharose 4B; the enzyme from reticulocytes is inactivated by this procedure. 4) The cardiac enzyme cannot be inactivated by ribonuclease as the reticulocyte counterpart. Although ubiquitin does not appear to play a role in the isolated ATP/Mg2-dependent proteolytic system from cardiac muscle, it is demonstrated for the first time that 125I-ubiquitin can be conjugated to a wide variety of cardiac muscle proteins in vitro in an ATP-dependent manner. Apparent molecular masses of major conjugates were: 185 kDa, 140 kDa, 85 kDa, 65 kDa, 46 kDa, 38 kDa and 36 kDa as estimated by discontinuous SDS gel electrophoresis. Addition of purified phosphorylase kinase to cardiac muscle extract changed the ubiquitination pattern by the appearance of two novel protein bands. It is concluded that the ATP/Mg2-dependent proteolytic system of cardiac muscle must be differentiated from the proteolytic system of reticulocytes mainly because of its ubiquitin-independence. Nevertheless the conjugation of 125I-ubiquitin to many muscle proteins is a strong indication for a crucial role of this interesting peptide in striated muscle.     

Synthesis and decay of calmodulin-ubiquitin conjugates in cell-free extracts of various rabbit tissues

Calmodulin is the natural substrate for ubiquitin-ligation by the enzyme ubiquitin-calmodulin ligase (uCaM-synthetase; EC 6.3.2.21). The activity of this ligase is regulated by the binding of the second messenger Ca²⁺ to the substrate calmodulin, which increases the activity ca. 10-fold. Up till now, two components of the ligase could be identified: uCaM Syn-F1 and uCaM Syn-F2, the first of which binds to ubiquitin and the second which binds to calmodulin. Since the physiological role of this enzyme is still unclear, this study was designed to examine whether the activity of uCaM-Synthetase in 40 000×g tissue supernatants correlates with the calmodulin content in the various tissues. In reticulocytes, spleen, erythrocytes, testis and brain, which are rich in uCaM synthetase, the tissue contents calculated on the basis of activity measurements were between 4–80-fold higher than in red and white skeletal muscle. These activities did not correlate with the respective calmodulin contents of the tissues indicating that other factors were determining these enzyme levels. A second aim was to gain information on the role of the ATP-ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway in those tissues displaying uCaM synthetase activity. In the reticulocyte system which contains the classical ATP-ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway as measured with ¹²⁵I-BSA, no ubiquitin-dependent degradation of calmodulin could be detected. We therefore examined the other tissues of the rabbit with the substrate ¹²⁵I-BSA and succeeded in finding a ubiquitin-independent ATP-dependent proteolytic activity in every case but no ubiquitin-dependent activity. The ubiquitin-independent activity was highest in smooth muscle and red skeletal muscle being ca. 3–4-fold higher than in lung and testis. In 50% of the tissue crude extracts the time curve of calmodulin ubiquitylation progressed through a maximum indicating a dynamic steady state based on conjugate synthesis and decay. If a ubiquitylation pulse of 30 min was followed in liver crude extracts by the addition of EGTA, which specifically inhibits ubiquityl-calmodulin synthesis, a half-life of calmodulin-conjugate decay of 15–20 min is observed. A similar conjugate half-life of ca. 30 min was observed after addition of EDTA excluding that conjugate decay is due to an ATP-dependent proteolytic process. Studying the decay of purified ubiquitin-¹²⁵I-BH-calmodulin conjugates in cell-free reticulocyte extracts led to the discovery of an ATP-independent isopeptidase activity which splits ubiquitin-calmodulin conjugates without leading to detectable calmodulin fragments. The rapid decay of ubiquitin-calmodulin conjugates in tissue extracts can therefore be plausibly explained by a ubiquityl-calmodulin splitting isopeptidase activity.     

Protein degradation in extracts of exponential and stationary phase Vibrio cells

The degradation of the foreign protein [14C]methyl apohaemoglobin ([14C-me]globin) was stimulated by ATP in cell-free extracts from exponential phase and shaken and standing stationary phase Vibrio cells. A marked stimulation by ATP of the degradation of [14C-me]globin was observed with exponential phase cell extracts which were preincubated for 30 min at 30 degrees C. Maximum stimulation was obtained with 3 mM-ATP and optimum degradation was at pH 8.0-8.5. Preincubation of extracts from both types of stationary phase cells did not affect the degree of ATP stimulation. The amount of ATP stimulation of [14C-me]globin degradation by exponential phase extracts decreased markedly when the cells were starved in a growth limiting minimal medium before preparation of the cell extracts. In the exponential and both types of stationary phase extracts most of the activity was located in the cytoplasmic fractions. Although the periplasmic preparations contained a minor portion of the total activity, this activity showed a greater percentage stimulation by ATP. In the absence of ATP the specific proteolytic activities of the extracts from exponential and both types of stationary phase cells were similar. The proteolytic activities in all the cell extracts were inhibited to the same extent by phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride, but the exponential and both types of stationary phase cell extracts were inhibited to different extents by EDTA and p-hydroxymercuribenzoate. The results suggest that the proteolytic systems responsible for the degradation of abnormal proteins are different in exponential and stationary phase Vibrio cells.     

Red blood cells contain a pathway for the degradation of oxidant-damaged hemoglobin that does not require ATP or ubiquitin

It is generally accepted that ATP is required for intracellular protein breakdown. Reticulocytes contain a soluble ATP-dependent pathway for the degradation of highly abnormal proteins and for the elimination of certain proteins during cell maturation. Reticulocytes and erythrocytes also selectively degrade proteins damaged by oxidation. When these cells were exposed to oxidants, such as phenylhydrazine or nitrite, they showed a large increase in protein breakdown. This oxidant-induced proteolysis was not inhibited in cells depleted of ATP. However, ATP depletion did prevent the degradation of pre-existent cell proteins. In reticulocyte extracts, phenylhydrazine-treated hemoglobin is also degraded rapidly by an ATP-independent process, unlike endogenous proteins and many exogenous polypeptides. This lack of an ATP requirement means that the degradation of oxidant-damaged proteins does not require ligation to ubiquitin (even though phenylhydrazine treatment does make hemoglobin a very good substrate for ubiquitin conjugation). In many respects, the pathway for breakdown of oxidant-treated hemoglobin differs from the ATP-dependent process. The latter has a much higher activation energy than the degradation of oxidized proteins. The ATP-dependent process is inhibited by hemin, 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin, diisopropylfluorophosphate and N-ethylmaleimide. The ATP-independent pathway is less sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide, hemin, and 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin and is not affected by diisopropylfluorophosphate. In addition, only the ATP-dependent proteolytic process is inactivated by dilution or incubation at 37 degrees C in the absence of nucleotides. Reticulocytes thus contain multiple soluble systems for degrading proteins and can rapidly hydrolyze certain types of abnormal proteins by either an ATP-independent or ATP-dependent process. Erythrocytes lack the ATP-dependent process present in reticulocytes; however, erythrocytes retain the capacity to degrade oxidant-damaged hemoglobin. These two processes probably are active in the elimination of different types of abnormal proteins.     

Hemin inhibits ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis in both a higher plant and yeast

In eukaryotes, a major route for ATP-dependent protein breakdown proceeds through covalent intermediates of target proteins destined for degradation and the highly conserved, 76 amino acid protein ubiquitin. In rabbit reticulocytes, it has been shown that hemin effectively inhibits this pathway by blocking the catabolism of ubiquitin-protein conjugates [KI = 25 microM (Haas, A. L., & Rose, I. A. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 6845-6848)]. Here, we demonstrate that hemin is also an effective inhibitor of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway in both a higher plant, oats (Avena sativa), and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Hemin inhibits all stages of the pathway in vitro, including ATP-dependent formation of ubiquitin-protein conjugates, disassembly of conjugates by ubiquitin-protein lyase(s) (or isopeptidases), and degradation of ubiquitin-protein conjugates by ATP-dependent protease(s). Using ubiquitin-125I-lysozyme conjugates synthesized in vitro as substrates, we determined the specific effects of hemin on the rates of disassembly and degradation separately. The concentration of hemin required for half-maximal inhibition of both processes was identical in each species, approximately 60 microM in oats and approximately 50 microM in yeast. Similar inhibitory effects were observed when two hemin analogues, mesoheme or protoporphyrin IX, were employed. These results demonstrate that the effect of hemin on ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis is not restricted to erythroid cells and as a result hemin may be a useful tool in studies of this pathway in all eukaryotic cells. These results also question models where hemin serves as a specific negative modulator of proteolysis in erythroid cells.     

Identification and partial purification of an ATP-stimulated alkaline protease in rat liver.

Extracts from rat liver contain a sulfhydryl-dependent endoprotease which degrades [methyl-14C]globin or 125I-hemoglobin to acid-soluble peptides. This enzyme was isolated from the 100,000 x g supernatant of the homogenate. It showed a pH optimum between 7.5 and 9.5 and very little activity below pH 7.0. The enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 550,000 as determined on Sepharose 6B column chromatography and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. ATP, at physiological concentrations, as well as pyrophosphate, stimulated the protease activity in these partially purified preparations up to 3-fold. Nonionic detergents such as Triton X-100 increased proteolytic activity and the stimulation by ATP. Other nucleotide triphosphates and ADP also increased proteolysis but less effectively than ATP. Sodium phosphate, creatine phosphate, and EDTA had no stimulatory effect.     

ATP-dependent degradation of 125I-bovine serum albumin by rabbit reticulocytes does not need repression of an endogenous inhibitor

The ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of 125I-bovine serum albumin in rabbit reticulocytes has been investigated. Using various reticulocyte fractions (reticulocyte protease, inhibitor-free protease, "ubiquitin" and "inhibitor") in the presence or absence of ATP, we found that the repression of an endogenous inhibitor, as suggested by others for alpha-casein proteolysis, is unlikely for bovine serum albumin. Therefore, differences exist in the ATP-dependent proteolytic pathway of rabbit reticulocytes depending on the substrate. Fractionation of the reticulocyte ATP-dependent proteolytic system revealed at least two proteolytic and two inhibitory fractions involved in the proteolysis of bovine serum albumin.     

The proteasome (multicatalytic protease) is a component of the 1500-kDa proteolytic complex which degrades ubiquitin-conjugated proteins

Mammalian cells contain two large proteolytic complexes, the 650-kDa proteasome (or multicatalytic protease) and the 1500-kDa (26 S) Ubiquitin-conjugate-degrading enzyme. Since the proteasome is also required for the ATP-dependent degradation of ubiquitinated proteins, we tested whether it may be a component of the larger complex. The proteasome normally is soluble in 38% ammonium sulfate. However, after preincubation of reticulocyte extracts with ATP, several proteasome activities appeared in the 38% ammonium sulfate pellet, including the ability to degrade hydrophobic peptides and 14C-casein. Also, following preincubation with ATP, the precipitable fraction could degrade 125I-lysozyme-ubiquitin (Ub) conjugates. The activities were not present after incubation without ATP or with a nonmetabolizable ATP analog. Nondenaturing gel electrophoresis indicated the ATP-dependent appearance of a new band which degraded proteasome substrates, and reacted with an anti-proteasome monoclonal antibody on Western blot. This new band appeared larger than the proteasome and migrated similarly to the larger Ub-conjugate-degrading complex. The formation of the larger complex required factor(s) present in the 38% ammonium sulfate pellet and either the 40-80% fraction or the purified proteasome from reticulocytes or muscle. After complex formation, hydrolysis of Ub-protein conjugates and also the non-ubiquitinated substrate, casein, was stimulated severalfold by ATP, but non-metabolizable ATP analogs had little or no effect. Thus, the proteasome corresponds to component CF-3 of Ganoth et al. (Ganoth, D., Leshinisky, E., Eytan, E., and Hershkov, A. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 263 12412-12419) and undergoes an energy-dependent association with other factors to form the 1500-kDa, ATP-requiring proteolytic complex.     

Genotype-dependent proteolytic response of spring wheat to water deficiency.

Changes in proteolytic activities in response to water deficiency have been investigated in ten genotypes of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) differing in response to water deficit stress and ability to acclimate. To determine subcellular localization and the type of proteases, mesophyll protoplasts isolated from wheat leaves were purified. Proteolytic activities were assayed using azocasein in the case of vacuolar proteinases at pH 5.0 and 125I-lysozyme in the case of extravacuolar ATP-dependent proteinases at pH 8.2. ATP-dependent proteolytic activity was found to be confined to the extravacuolar fraction while the azocaseinolytic activity to vacuoles. Dehydration increased vacuolar azocaseinolytic activity at both stages of plant development (shooting and heading), but the increase was significantly lower in more tolerant genotypes. The extravacuolar energy-dependent 125I-lysozyme degradation was low at the shooting stage but it was higher in the genotypes with a greater critical water saturation deficit. At the heading phase in the non-acclimated flag leaves ATP-dependent 125I-lysozyme degradation decreased in a genotype-dependent manner, but was enhanced upon acclimation to the same extent irrespective to the genotype ability to acquire dehydration tolerance during acclimation. The results presented indicate that both pathways of protein degradation are interlinked upon dehydration and are genotype dependent.     

Vanadate inhibits the ATP-dependent degradation of proteins in reticulocytes without affecting ubiquitin conjugation

Reticulocytes contain a nonlysosomal, ATP-dependent system for degrading abnormal proteins and normal proteins during cell maturation. Vanadate, which inhibits several ATPases including the ATP-dependent proteases in Escherichia coli and liver mitochondria, also markedly reduced the ATP-dependent degradation of proteins in reticulocyte extracts. At low concentrations (K1 = 50 microM), vanadate inhibited the ATP-dependent hydrolysis of [3H]methylcasein and denatured 125I-labeled bovine serum albumin, but it did not reduce the low amount of proteolysis seen in the absence of ATP. This inhibition by vanadate was rapid in onset, reversed by dialysis, and was not mimicked by molybdate. Vanadate inhibits proteolysis at an ATP-stimulated step which is independent of the ATP requirement for ubiquitin conjugation to protein substrates. When the amino groups on casein and bovine serum albumin were covalently modified so as to prevent their conjugation to ubiquitin, the derivatized proteins were still degraded by an ATP-stimulated process that was inhibited by vanadate. In addition, vanadate did not reduce the ATP-dependent conjugation of 125I-ubiquitin to endogenous reticulocyte proteins, although it markedly inhibited their degradation. In intact reticulocytes vanadate also inhibited the degradation of endogenous proteins and of abnormal proteins containing amino acid analogs. This effect was rapid and reversible; however, vanadate also reduced protein synthesis and eventually lowered ATP levels in the intact cells. Vanadate (10 mM) has also been reported to decrease intralysosomal proteolysis in hepatocytes. However, in liver extracts this effect on lysosomal proteases required high concentrations of vanadate (K1 = 500 microM) and was also observed with molybdate, unlike the inhibition of ATP-dependent proteolysis in reticulocytes.     

High-molecular-mass proteinases in rabbit reticulocytes: the multicatalytic proteinase is an ATP-independent enzyme and ATP-activated proteolysis is in part associated with a cysteine proteinase complexed to alpha 1-macroglobulin

We have investigated the proteolytic degradation of [14C]methylcasein and 125I-labeled bovine serum albumin at pH 7.8 and 37 degrees C by lysates of rabbit reticulocytes purified from rabbit blood by two different procedures. (I) Lysates obtained from reticulocytes after removal of plasma and buffy coat as well as after washing of cells, degraded casein and albumin, and released from the two substrates 1.3%/h and 0.4%/h, respectively, of acid-soluble radioactivity. The activity towards both substrates was stimulated about 4-fold by ATP/Mg2+. Chromatography of whole blood on a column of cellulose prior to washing and lysis of cells had profound but differential effects on these activities in that stimulation of casein-degradation by ATP/Mg2+ was almost completely lost, whereas degradation of albumin, albeit at a low rate, was measurable in the presence of ATP/Mg2+ only. (II) Degradation of casein by these lysates is largely inhibited by a monospecific antibody against rabbit multicatalytic proteinase, whereas digestion of albumin is not affected by the antibody, either in the presence or absence of ATP/Mg2+. The latter activity is partially inhibited by a specific antibody against rabbit alpha 1-macroglobulin. (III) The immunoreactive amount of multicatalytic proteinase is about 1.2 micrograms per mg of lysate protein and almost identical in the two lysates. In contrast, the immunologically detectable levels of alpha 1-macroglobulin vary and are much lower in reticulocyte-lysates following chromatography on cellulose than in lysates from washed reticulocytes. (IV) Caseinolytic activity of multicatalytic proteinase, purified from rabbit reticulocyte lysate, is not activated by ATP/Mg2+ and the enzyme is proteolytically inactive towards albumin. On the other hand, a complex consisting of the proteinase inhibitor alpha 1-macroglobulin and the cysteine proteinase, cathepsin B, does degrade both substrates at pH 7.8, in an ATP/Mg2+-activated fashion. From these results it is concluded that the multicatalytic proteinase is an ATP-independent enzyme and a cellular constituent of rabbit reticulocytes whereas the activity stimulated by ATP/Mg2+ appears to be associated, at least in part, with a cysteine proteinase complexed to alpha 1-macroglobulin.     

Proteins damaged by oxygen radicals are rapidly degraded in extracts of red blood cells

We have suggested that red blood cell proteolytic systems can degrade oxidatively damaged proteins, and that both damage and degradation are independent of lipid peroxidation (Davies, K. J. A., and Goldberg, A. L. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 8220-8226. These ideas have now been tested in cell-free extracts of rabbit erythrocytes and reticulocytes. Exposure to oxygen radicals or H2O2 increases the degradation of endogenous proteins in cell-free extracts, as in intact cells. Various radical-generating systems (acetaldehyde or xanthine + xanthine oxidase, ascorbic acid + iron, H2O2 + iron) and H2O2 alone enhanced the rates of proteolysis severalfold. Since these extracts were free of membrane lipids, protein damage and degradation must be independent of lipid peroxidation. An antioxidant buffer consisting of HEPES, glycerol, and dithiothreitol inhibited the increased proteolysis by 60-100%. Mannitol caused a 50-80% reduction in proteolysis suggesting that the hydroxyl radical (.OH), or a species with similar reactivity, may be the initiator of protein damage. When casein or bovine serum albumin were exposed to .OH (generated by H2O2 + Fe2+, or COCo radiation) these proteins were degraded up to 50 times faster than untreated proteins during subsequent incubations with red cell extracts. Mannitol inhibited this increase in proteolysis only if present during .OH exposure; mannitol did not affect the degradative system. Although ATP increased the degradation of untreated proteins 4- to 6-fold in reticulocyte extracts, it had little or no effect on the degradation of proteins exposed to .OH. ATP also did not stimulate hydrolysis of .OH-treated proteins in erythrocyte extracts. Leupeptin did not affect the degradative processes in either extract; thus lysosomal or Ca2+-activated thiol proteases were not involved. We propose that red cells contain a soluble, ATP-independent proteolytic pathway which may protect against the accumulation of proteins damaged by .OH or other active oxygen species.     

Kinetics of 125I-ubiquitin conjugation with and liberation from rabbit reticulocyte stroma

The breakdown of mitochondria-containing stroma of rabbit reticulocytes is an ATP- and ubiquitin-dependent process and there is no evidence for an ATP-dependent but ubiquitin-independent proteolysis in these cells. The ubiquitin conjugate formation with heat-denatured stroma proteins is about one-fifth of that with native stroma. In reticulocytes there exist two mechanisms of ubiquitin liberation from its conjugates with stroma proteins: an ATP-dependent and hemin-resistant release of ubiquitin, which is assumed to be the first step in the degradation of ubiquitin conjugates by the protease system, and a release of ubiquitin catalyzed by an isopeptidase activity.     

Degradation of ornithine decarboxylase in reticulocyte lysate is ATP-dependent but ubiquitin-independent

Reticulocyte lysate contains all the components of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic system. Several proteins are degraded in reticulocyte lysate in a ubiquitin-dependent manner. However, none of the proteins studied has a short intracellular half-life. We have investigated the degradation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), one of the most labile proteins in mammalian cells. ODC is efficiently degraded in reticulocyte lysate depleted of the ubiquitin activating enzyme, E1, in fraction II of reticulocyte lysate completely lacking ubiquitin, and in fraction II depleted of the entire complex of enzymes responsible for the ligation of ubiquitin to target proteins. The degradation of ODC is ATP dependent. Therefore, our results demonstrate that in addition to the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway, reticulocyte lysate contains at least one additional ATP-dependent proteolytic pathway. In vitro synthesized ODC served as a substrate in the present degradation study. Its successful utilization establishes a general strategy for investigating the degradation of short-lived proteins (for which a corresponding cDNA is available), that constitute a very small fraction of cellular proteins and for which purification is difficult or impossible. In contrast to ODC synthesized in vitro, that isolated from cells was not degraded by the reticulocyte lysate degradation system, suggesting that post-translational modifications may be involved in regulating ODC degradation.