Properties of carboxypeptidase A-treated chicken gizzard tropomyosin

Chicken gizzard tropomyosin was digested with carboxypeptidase A at the weight ratios of enzyme to substrate 1:200 and 1:50. Removal of about 16 C-terminal amino acid residues per tropomyosin molecule, at lower enzyme concentration, caused reversion of the effect on skeletal actomyosin ATPase activity from activating to inhibiting without an influence on polymerizability and actin-binding ability. Removal of about 26 C-terminal amino acid residues per molecule, at higher enzyme concentration, resulted in loss of polymerizability and actin binding ability. Digestion of gizzard tropomyosin with carboxypeptidase A has no dramatic effect on its binding to troponin T. The results show that not only the existence of head-to-tail overlapping regions but also their length is important for the functional properties of chicken gizzard tropomyosin.     

Polypeptide domains of ADP-ribosyltransferase obtained by digestion with plasmin

Proteolysis by plasmin inactivates bovine ADP-ribosyltransferase; therefore, enzymatic activity depends exclusively on the intact enzyme molecule. The transferase was hydrolyzed by plasmin to four major polypeptides, which were characterized by affinity chromatography and N-terminal sequencing. Based on the cDNA sequence for human ADP-ribosyltransferase enzyme [Uchida, K., Morita, T., Sato, T., Ogura, T., Yamashita, R., Noguchi, S., Suzuki, H., Nyunoya, H., Miwa, M., & Sugimura, T. (1987) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 148, 617-622], a polypeptide map of the bovine enzyme was constructed by superposing the experimentally determined N-terminal sequences of the isolated polypeptides on the human sequence deduced from its cDNA. Two polypeptides, the N-terminal peptide (Mr 29,000) and the polypeptide adjacent to it (Mr 36,000), exhibited binding affinities toward DNA, whereas the C-terminal peptide (Mr 56,000), which accounts for the rest of the transferase protein, bound to the benzamide-Sepharose affinity matrix, indicating that it contains the NAD+-binding site. The fourth polypeptide (Mr 42,000) represents the C-terminal end of the larger C-terminal fragment (Mr 56,000) and was formed by a single enzymatic cut by plasmin of the polypeptide of Mr 56,000. The polypeptide of Mr 42,000 still retained the NAD+-binding site. The plasmin-catalyzed cleavage of the polypeptide of Mr 56,000-42,000 was greatly accelerated by the specific ligand NAD+. Out of a total of 96 amino acid residues sequenced here, there were only 6 conservative replacements between human and bovine ADP-ribosyltransferase.     

Characterization of domains obtained from a mollusc haemocyanin by limited proteolytic digestion.

The haemocyanin from the freshwater gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis was digested with proteolytic enzymes under conditions where it existed as whole (native) molecules (mol.wt. approx. 9 X 10(6)), or as one-tenth molecules. Digestion of whole molecules yielded a fragment of mol.wt. approx. 110,000 believed to correspond to the 'collar' of the molecule, and an aggregate some 20--30 times the size of the original native molecule formed by end-to-end polymerization of the molecule after removal of the collar. Digestion of one-tenth molecules yielded a mixture of products that could be separated into three fractions by gel filtration. Analysis of these by sodium dodecylsulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis revealed that they typically contained two or three components. The collar fragment was present as a component of the intermediate-molecular-weight fraction, and it dissociated on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gels to give two bands corresponding to apparent mol.wts. 65,000 and 60,000. The c.d. spectra of the separated fractions were recorded and fitted with Gaussian curves by a computer procedure. The fractions each possessed distinct c.d. spectra, by which they could be identified: the collar-fragment c.d. and absorption spectra showed the most striking differences compared with those of the other fragments. The results were interpreted in terms of the postulated existence, within the haemocyanin molecule, of multi-domain structures, each comprising a single polypeptide chain of mol.wt. 200,000--300,000.     

Identification of sites in apolipoprotein A-I susceptible to chymase and carboxypeptidase A digestion

MCs (mast cells) adversely affect atherosclerosis by promoting the progression of lesions and plaque destabilization. MC chymase cleaves apoA-I (apolipoprotein A-I), the main protein component of HDL (high-density lipoprotein). We previously showed that C-terminally truncated apoA-I (cleaved at the carboxyl side of Phe²²⁵) is present in normal human serum using a newly developed specific mAb (monoclonal antibody). In the present study, we aimed to identify chymase-induced cleavage sites in both lipid-free and lipid-bound (HDL₃) forms of apoA-I. Lipid-free apoA-I was preferentially digested by chymase, at the C-terminus rather than the N-terminus. Phe²²⁹ and Tyr¹⁹² residues were the main cleavage sites. Interestingly, the Phe²²⁵ residue was a minor cleavage site. In contrast, the same concentration of chymase failed to digest apoA-I in HDL₃; however, a 100-fold higher concentration of chymase modestly digested apoA-I in HDL₃ at only the N-terminus, especially at Phe³³. CPA (carboxypeptidase A) is another MC protease, co-localized with chymase in severe atherosclerotic lesions. CPA, in vitro, further cleaved C-terminal Phe²²⁵ and Phe²²⁹ residues newly exposed by chymase, but did not cleave Tyr¹⁹². These results indicate that several forms of C-terminally and N-terminally truncated apoA-I could exist in the circulation. They may be useful as new biomarkers to assess the risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease).     

Active acetylcholine receptor fragment obtained by tryptic digestion of acetylcholine receptor from Torpedo californica.

Tryptic digestion of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) from Torpedo californica did not change the pharmacological specificity and the pathological myasthenic acitivity of the receptor molecule. The product obtained after tryptic digestion was repurified by affinity chromatography on a toxin-Sepharose resin and was designated T-AChR. T-AChR has a sedimentation coefficient of 8.0S and in SDS acrylamide gel electrophoresis shows one major band with a molecular weight of 27,000. Immunological studies reveal that T-AChR binds to anti-AChR antibodies directed only against conformational antigenic determinants.     

Thermostabilization of carboxypeptidase A by interaction with its monoclonal antibodies.

The effect of interaction of carboxypeptidase A (CPA) with three monoclonal antibodies, each with a different epitope (CP 10, CP 9, and CP 8), on the heat stabilization of enzymes is described. These monoclonal antibodies bind to CPA with a relatively high binding constant (approximately 10(8) M-1) and do not affect its catalytic properties. Intact carboxypeptidase A lost more than 95 and 90% of its esterase and peptidase activities within 120 min at 50 degrees C. The monoclonal antibodies increased the thermal stability of the enzyme by 90 and 60%, as compared with the peptidase and esterase initial activities, respectively. Binding of these monoclonal antibodies, alone or in pairs, to the enzyme epitopes that are supposedly involved in heat denaturation of CPA result in stabilization of the conformation of the enzyme. The effect of thermostabilization by monoclonal antibodies was more pronounced with respect to peptidase activity than to esterase activity, indicating that these activities follow different reaction mechanisms. Since properly selected monoclonal antibodies can be prepared against virtually any enzyme, their immunocomplexation may provide a general and convenient method for stabilization of the enzyme conformation to heat denaturation, without affecting the catalytic properties.     

Biological activities of the peptides obtained by digestion of troponin C and calmodulin with thrombin.

1. Troponin C and calmodulin were not digested by thrombin at a significant rate in the presence of Ca2+. 2. In the presence of EGTA, troponin C was digested by thrombin to yield three peptides, TH1 (residues 1--120), TH3 (residues 1--100) and TH2 (residues 121--159). 3. In the presence of EGTA calmodulin was digested by thrombin giving two peptides, TM1 (residues 1--106) and TM2 (residues 107--148). 4. The electrophoretic mobilities of peptides TH1 and TM1 were increased at pH 8.6 by Ca2+ both in the presence and absence of urea. The mobilities of peptides TH2 and TM2 were unaltered under these conditions. 5. Peptides TH1, TH2 and tM1 formed complexes with troponin I on polyacrylamide gels at pH 8.6 in the presence of Ca2+. 6. The phosphorylation of troponin I by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase was significantly inhibited by peptides TH1 and TH3 and to a lesser extent by peptide TM1. 7. The calmodulin peptide TM1 activated myosin light-chain kinase when present in large molar excess. Peptide TM2 did not activate the enzyme.     

Extensive carboxypeptidase digestion of clam alpha-paramyosin. The effect on the size and solubility of the residual protein.

The purpose of this paper is to provide further evidence that the C-terminal 1/3 of the alpha-paramyosin molecule is the portion responsible for the low solubility of alpha-paramyosin at neutral pH and low ionic strength. This was accomplished by digesting from the C-terminal end with carboxypeptidases A and B in 2 M urea at pH 8.5. The solubility increased as the molecular weight decreased until a stable segment 2/3 of the size of the molecule remained.     

Hydrolysis of a thiopeptide by cadmium carboxypeptidase A

Substitution of the active site zinc ion of carboxypeptidase A by cadmium yields an enzyme inactive towards ordinary peptide substrates. However, a substrate analog (BzGlyNHCH₂CSPheOH) containing a thioamide linkage at the scissile position is cleaved to the thioacid. The kinetic parameters and their pH dependencies are $\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{cat}}\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{= 5.04 × 10}{}^4\text{min}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{M}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$, decreasing with either acid or base (PK_E1 = 5.64, pK_E2 = 9.55), and k_cat = 1.02 × 10² min^?1, decreasing with acid (pK_ES = 6.61). The thiopeptide is less efficiently cleaved by native (zinc) carboxypeptidase A. This cadmium-sulfur synergism supports a mechanism wherein the substrate amide is activated by metal ion coordination to its (thio) carbonyl.