Post-translational processing in the synthesis of egg-specific protein in the silkworm,Bombyx mori

The post-translational processing of egg-specific protein (ESP) in developing ovarian follicles of the silkworm, Bombyx mori was analyzed using in vivo and in vitro labeling systems with some radioactive precursors. The labeling with[³⁵S]methionine revealed that ESP is first synthesized as 69 kDa peptide (69K-ESP) which is then converted to 72 kDa peptide (72K-ESP) until 2 h. Some of 72K-ESP molecules were converted to 64 kDa peptide (64K-ESP) after 10h-labeling. [¹⁴C]Mannose was incorporated into 69K-ESP and 72K-ESP. In the presence of tunicamycin, labeling with [³⁵S]methionine brought about a new 67 kDa peptide (67K-ESP) by reducing the incorporation into 69K- and 72K-ESP. [³²P]Ortho-phosphate was incorporated into only 72K-ESP by a 2 h-pulse labeling. Treatment of 72K-ESP with alkaline phosphatase converted it to 69K-ESP. These results along with the available information led to the conclusion that the primary translation product is sequentially processed to 67K-ESP by signal peptide cleavage, to 69K-ESP by glycosylation, and finally to 72K-ESP by phosphorylation as the actual product in the peptide synthesis. The limited conversion of 72K-ESP to 64K-ESP is proposed to be a post-endocytotic event.