Nonselective autophagy of cytosolic enzymes by isolated rat hepatocytes

Seven cytosolic enzymes with varying half-lives (ornithine decarboxylase, 0.9 h; tyrosine aminotransferase, 3.1 h; tryptophan oxygenase, 3.3 h; serine dehydratase, 10.3 h; glucokinase, 12.7 h; lactate dehydrogenase, 17.0 h; aldolase, 17.4 h) were found to be autophagically sequestered at the same rate (3.5%/h) in isolated rat hepatocytes. Autophagy was measured as the accumulation of enzyme activity in the sedimentable organelles (mostly lysosomes) of electrodisrupted cells in the presence of the proteinase inhibitor leupeptin. Inhibitors of lysosomal fusion processes (vinblastine and asparagine) allowed accumulation of catalytically active enzyme (in prelysosomal vacuoles) even in the absence of proteolytic inhibition, showing that no inactivation step took place before lysosomal proteolysis. The completeness of protection by leupeptin indicates, furthermore, that a lysosomal cysteine proteinase is obligatorily required for the initial proteolytic attack upon autophagocytosed proteins. The experiments suggest that sequestration and degradation of normal cytosolic proteins by the autophagic-lysosomal pathway is a nonselective bulk process, and that nonautophagic mechanisms must be invoked to account for differential enzyme turnover.     

Comparison of specific activity and cytopathic effects of purified 33 kDa serine proteinase from Acanthamoeba strains with different degree of virulence

The pathogenic mechanism of granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE) and amebic keratitis (AK) by Acanthamoeba has yet to be clarified. Protease has been recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of GAE and AK. In the present study, we have compared specific activity and cytopathic effects (CPE) of purified 33 kDa serine proteinases from Acanthamoeba strains with different degree of virulence (A. healyi OC-3A, A. lugdunensis KA/E2, and A. castellanii Neff). Trophozoites of the 3 strains revealed different degrees of CPE on human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells. The effect was remarkably reduced by adding phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride (PMSF), a serine proteinase inhibitor. This result indicated that PMSF-susceptible proteinase is the main component causing cytopathy to HCE cells by Acanthamoeba. The purified 33 kDa serine proteinase showed strong activity toward HCE cells and extracellular matrix proteins. The purified proteinase from OC-3A, the most virulent strain, demonstrated the highest enzyme activity compared to KA/E2, an ocular isolate, and Neff, a soil isolate. Polyclonal antibodies against the purified 33 kDa serine proteinase inhibit almost completely the proteolytic activity of culture supernatant of Acanthamoeba. In line with these results, the 33 kDa serine proteinase is suggested to play an important role in pathogenesis and to be the main component of virulence factor of Acanthamoeba.     

Molecular characterization of a vacuolar processing enzyme related to a putative cysteine proteinase of Schistosoma mansoni.

Proproteins of various vacuolar proteins are post-translationally processed into mature forms by the action of a unique vacuolar processing enzyme. If such a processing enzyme is transported to vacuoles together with proprotein substrates, the enzyme must be a latent form. Immunocytochemical localization of a vacuolar processing enzyme, a 37-kD cysteine proteinase, in the endosperm of maturing castor bean seeds places the enzyme in the vacuolar matrix, where a variety of proproteins is also present. To characterize a molecular structure of vacuolar processing enzyme, we isolated a cDNA for the enzyme. Deduced primary structure of a 55-kD precursor is 33% identical to a putative cysteine proteinase of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. The precursor is composed of a signal peptide, a 37-kD active processing enzyme domain, and a propeptide fragment. Although the precursor expressed in Escherichia coli has no vacuolar processing activity, a 36-kD immunopositive protein expressed in E. coli is active. These results suggest that the activation of the vacuolar processing enzyme requires proteolytic cleavage of a 14-kD C-terminal propeptide fragment of the precursor.     

Compensatory proteolytic responses to dietary proteinase inhibitors in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Increasing levels of inhibitors that target cysteine and/or serine proteinases were fed to Tribolium castaneum larvae, and the properties of digestive proteinases were compared in vitro. Cysteine proteinases were the major digestive proteinase class in control larvae, and serine proteinase activity was minor. Dietary serine proteinase inhibitors had minimal effects on either the developmental time or proteolytic activity of T. castaneum larvae. However, when larvae ingested cysteine proteinase inhibitors, there was a dramatic shift from primarily cysteine proteinases to serine proteinases in the proteinase profile of the midgut. Moreover, a combination of cysteine and serine proteinase inhibitors in the diet prevented this shift from cysteine proteinase-based digestion to serine proteinase-based digestion, and there was a corresponding substantial retardation in growth. These data suggest that the synergistic inhibitory effect of a combination of cysteine and serine proteinase inhibitors in the diet of T. castaneum larvae on midgut proteolytic activity and beetle developmental time is achieved through the prevention of the adaptive proteolytic response to overcome the activity of either type of inhibitor.     

Candida guilliermondii isolated from HIV-infected human secretes a 50 kDa serine proteinase that cleaves a broad spectrum of proteinaceous substrates

Non-albicans Candida species cause 35-65% of all candidemias in the general population, especially in immunosuppressed individuals. Here, we describe a case of a 19-year-old HIV-infected man with pneumonia due to a yeast-like organism. This clinical yeast isolate was identified as Candida guilliermondii through mycological tests. C. guilliermondii was cultivated in brain heart infusion medium for 48 h at 37 degrees C. After sequential centrifugation and concentration steps, the free-cell culture supernatant was obtained and extracellular proteolytic activity was assayed firstly using gelatin-SDS-PAGE. A 50 kDa proteolytic enzyme was detected with activity at physiological pH. This activity was completely blocked by 10 mM phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride (PMSF), a serine proteinase inhibitor, suggesting that this extracellular proteinase belongs to the serine proteinase class. E-64, a strong cysteine proteinase inhibitor, and pepstatin A, a specific aspartic proteolytic inhibitor, did not interfere with the 50 kDa proteinase. Conversely, a zinc-metalloproteinase inhibitor (1,10-phenanthroline) restrained the proteinase activity released by C. guilliermondii by approximately 50%. Proteinases are a well-known class of enzymes that participate in a vast context of yeast-host interactions. In an effort to establish a functional implication for this extracellular serine-type enzyme, we investigated its capacity to hydrolyze some serum proteins and extracellular matrix components. We demonstrated that the 50 kDa exocellular serine proteinase cleaved human serum albumin, non-immune human immunoglobulin G, human fibronectin and human placental laminin, generating low molecular mass polypeptides. Collectively, these results showed for the first time the ability of an extracellular proteolytic enzyme other than aspartic-type proteinases in destroying a broad spectrum of relevant host proteins by a clinical species of non-albicans Candida.     

Analysis of the presence ofprtR proteinase gene in natural isolates ofLactobacillus rhamnosus

The region of the prtR gene coding for the active site of PrtR proteinase was detected in natural isolates of lactobacilli, previously determined as Lactobacillus rhamnosus. This region was present in all L. rhamnosus strains with proteolytic activity. The PCR primers used were constructed on the basis of the sequence of the catalytic domain of the prtR proteinase gene. These primers generated in colony-PCR procedure specific 611 1-bp product with DNA from natural isolates of L. rhamnosus. No PCR amplifications using these primers were obtained for closely related bacteria of genus Lactobacillus, regardless of their proteolytic activity. In addition, these primers could be used singly or in multiplex PCR together with the Lactobacillus genus-specific primers. Compared with the other proteinases within the genus Lactobacillus (PrtP, PrtB and PrtH) which retained the activity in cell-free proteinase extracts, PrtR proteinase showed proteolytic activity only under in vivo conditions (whole cells of the producing strains).     

Subcellular localization of acid proteinase in barley mesophyll protoplasts

Chloroplasts prepared from lysed protoplasts of barley mesophyll contain 2–8% of the total acid proteinase activity. This residual activity is not associated with intact chloroplasts isolated by means of density gradient centrifugation. Vacuoles isolated from lysed protoplasts contain 80–85% of the total acid proteinase activity, indicating that the enzyme(s) which is presumably responsible for the degradation of chloroplastic proteins is located largely in the central vacuoles of mesophyll cells.     

Input of protein to lake water microcosms affects expression of proteolytic enzymes and the dynamics of Pseudomonas spp.

The objective of this study was to determine how an input of protein to lake water affects expression of a proteolytic potential and influences the abundance and composition of a specific group of bacteria. Pseudomonas spp. were chosen as a target group that can be recovered on selective growth media and contain both proteolytic and nonproteolytic strains. Amendment with 2 mg of casein per liter increased total proteinase activity (hydrolysis of [(3)H]casein) by 74%, leucine-aminopeptidase activity (hydrolysis of leucine-methyl-coumarinylamide) by 133%, bacterial abundance by 44%, and phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a) by 39%. The casein amendment also increased the abundance of culturable Pseudomonas spp. by fivefold relative to control microcosms but did not select for proteolytic isolates. Soluble proteins immunochemically related to the Pseudomonas fluorescens alkaline proteinase, AprX, were detected in amended microcosms but not in the controls. The expression of this class of proteinase was confirmed exclusively for proteolytic Pseudomonas isolates from the microcosms. The population structure of Pseudomonas isolates was determined from genomic fingerprints generated by universally primed PCR, and the analysis indicated that casein amendment led to only minor shifts in population structure. The appearance of AprX-like proteinases in the lake water might thus reflect a general induction of enzyme expression rather than pronounced shifts in the Pseudomonas population structure. The limited effect of casein amendment on Pseudomonas population structure might be due to the availability of casein hydrolysates to bacteria independent of their proteinase expression. In the lake water, 44% of the total proteinase activity was recovered in 0.22-microm-pore-size filtrates and thus without a direct association with the bacteria providing the extracellular enzyme activity. Since all Pseudomonas isolates expressed leucine-aminopeptidase in pure culture, proteolytic as well as nonproteolytic pseudomonads were likely members of the bacterial consortium that metabolized protein in the lake water.     

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.     

New proteolytic enzymes in yeast

Yeast mutants lacking three proteolytic enzymes—proteinase B, carboxypeptidase Y, and carboxypeptidase S—have been constructed. Search for new proteolytic activities in these mutants with the aid of chromogenic peptide substrates developed for serum proteinases led to the detection of new proteolytic activities, active in the neutral pH range. Sephadex chromatography of a 100,000g supernate of mutant extracts, tests against four different substrates, and partial characterization of their sensitivity to various inhibitors indicate multiple activities. Two activities, called proteinase M and proteinase P, were found in the sedimentable membranous fraction of mutant extracts.     

Ddi1-like protein from Leishmania major is an active aspartyl proteinase

Eukaryotic cells respond to DNA damage by activating damage checkpoint pathways, which arrest cell cycle progression and induce gene expression. We isolated a full-length cDNA encoding a 49-kDa protein from Leishmania major, which exhibited significant deduced amino acid sequence homology with the annotated Leishmania sp. DNA damage-inducible (Ddi1-like) protein, as well as with the Ddi1 protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In contrast to the previously described Ddi1 protein, the protein from L. major displays three domains: (1) an NH2-terminal ubiquitin like; (2) a COOH terminal ubiquitin-associated; (3) a retroviral aspartyl proteinase, containing the typical D[S/T]G signature. The function of the L. major Ddi1-like recombinant protein was investigated after expression in baculovirus/insect cells and biochemical analysis, revealing preferential substrate selectivity for aspartyl proteinase A₂ family substrates, with optimal activity in acidic conditions. The proteolytic activity was inhibited by aspartyl proteinase inhibitors. Molecular modeling of the retroviral domain of the Ddi1-like Leishmania protein revealed a dimer structure that contained a double Asp-Ser-Gly-Ala amino acid sequence motif, in an almost identical geometry to the exhibited by the homologous retroviral aspartyl protease domain of yeast Ddi1 protein. Our results indicate that the isolated Ddi1-like protein is a functional aspartyl proteinase in L. major, opening possibility to be considered as a potential target for novel antiparasitic drugs.     

Proteolytic activation of tissue-type plasminogen activator by the culture media of mouse cancer cells

Human single-chain tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) was activated by the culture media of mouse B16 melanoma and Lewis lung carcinoma cells. This activation was due to the proteolytic conversion of single-chain tPA to two-chain tPA. Typical serine proteinase inhibitors, such as diisopropylfluorophosphate and aprotinin, strongly inhibited the proteolytic activation, suggesting that the enyzme responsible for this activation is a serine proteinase. Through a process of gel filtration, the molecular weight of the putative tPA-activating enzyme was estimated to be approximately 35 kDa. Expression of the tPA mRNA was demonstrated by Northern blot analysis both for the melanoma and carcinoma cells. Zymographic experiments showed that the culture medium of the melanoma cells contained active two-chain tPA. These results indicate that a common serine proteinase may be involved in the proteolytic activation of single-chain tPA in these cancer cells.     

Cardosin A, an abundant aspartic proteinase, accumulates in protein storage vacuoles in the stigmatic papillae of Cynara cardunculus L.

The function of aspartic proteinases (EC 3.4.23) present in flowers of Cynara species is still unknown. Cardosin A, as a highly abundant aspartic proteinase from Cynara cardunculus L., a relative of the artichoke, is synthesised as a zymogen and subsequently undergoes proteolytic processing, yielding the mature and active enzyme. Here we report the study of the expression and localization of cardosin A, as a first approach to address the question of its physiological relevance. A polyclonal antibody specific for cardosin A was raised against a synthetic peptide corresponding to an amino acid sequence of the enzyme. This antibody was used to study the organ-specific, tissue-specific and subcellular localization of cardosin A by immunoblotting, tissue printing and immunogold electron microscopy. The results showed that expression of cardosin A is highly restricted to the pistils, and that the enzyme accumulates mainly in protein storage vacuoles of the stigmatic papillae. Cardosin A is also present, although much less abundantly, in the vacuoles of the cells of the epidermis of the style. In view of these results, the possible physiological roles of cardosin A are discussed, namely an involvement in defense mechanisms or pollen-pistil interaction, as well as in flower senescence. Received: 10 December 1996 / Accepted: 14 March 1997     

Purification and characterization of a new 120 kDa alkaline proteinase of Trypanosoma cruzi.

A new alkaline proteinase activity was identified in cell-free extracts of Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes on the basis of its ability to hydrolyze the fluorogenic substrate N-Z-Gly-Gly-Arg-AMC. The optimal activity was at pH 8.0. After a three step-chromatography procedure using two anionic columns (DEAE-Sepharose and Mono Q) and a chromatofocusing column (Mono P), the proteolytic activity was associated with a single 120 kDa protein and was called Tc 120 proteinase. The molecular mass of the proteinase was confirmed by direct visualization of the proteolytic activity using a fluorometric assay on SDS-PAGE. The Tc 120 proteinase which also cleaves N-Z-Arg-AMC, N-Z-Phe-Arg-AMC and N-glutaryl-Gly-Arg-AMC substrates, is a cysteine-type proteinase with an unusual low sensitivity to E-64.     

Proteinase yscE of yeast shows homology with the 20 S cylinder particles of Xenopus laevis

Proteinase yscE of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been compared with the 20 S cylinder particles of Xenopus laevis. Both proteins are characterized by a similar group of 10-12 polypeptides with molecular masses ranging between 21 and 38 kDa. Antibodies generated against the 20 S Xenopus cylinder particles show cross-reactivity with yeast proteinase yscE subunits. The Xenopus particles and yeast proteinase yscE exhibit an identical image in electron microscopy. Both proteins appear as hollow cylinders mostly composed of four stacked annuli. The Xenopus 20 S particles exhibit proteolytic activity against the three peptide derivatives known to be substrates of proteinase yscE. The pH optimum for activity and the inhibition spectrum of the proteolytic activities of Xenopus 20 S particles and of yeast proteinase yscE are identical. The RNA content of the cylinder particles and of proteinase yscE is below 0.1 RNA chain per molecule. Our data suggest that proteinase yscE from yeast and the 20 S cylinder particles of X. laevis are homologous, highly conserved proteins carrying the catalytic character of a peptidase.     

Purification and characterization of extracellular proteinases excreted by a strain of Bacillus subtilis BS2, isolated from fermented African locust bean 'iru'

Proteinases were excreted by strains of Bacillus subtilis during fermentation of African locust bean cotyledons. Those excreted by one strain were purified and characterized by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography (IEC), gel filtration, inhibition tests and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Three proteinases and an esterase without proteolytic activity were identified. A serine proteinase which showed a high degree of hydrophobicity and a neutral proteinase were present. The third proteinase showed both proteolytic and esterolytic activities, and had multiple electrophoretic mobilities on polyacrylamide gel.     

柞蚕卵组织蛋白酶B纯化及性质

昆虫卵内蛋白酶在胚胎发育中水解卵黄蛋白,为胚胎发育提供氨基酸,昆虫中已报道过几类卵蛋白酶,如家蚕中半胱氨酸蛋白酶和丝氨酸蛋白酶等。但是,目前尚不清楚这些蛋白酶是否存在于其他鳞翅目昆虫。了解这些蛋白酶的作用机理可以为我们提供害虫防治的新方法。并且,由于蛋白水解在许多生理过程中具有重要作用,如蛋白质的成熟和转运、受精、萌芽、肿瘤转移和其他形态发生等。因此,阐明这些蛋白酶的生物功能具有重要意义。由于（ｉ蚕卵粒大产卵量也很大,因此被选作研究鳞翅目昆虫卵蛋白酶的材料,我们希望通过对数种昆虫卵内蛋白酶的研究、找出卵黄蛋白水解的一般规律。在我们前一篇文章中报道了（ｉ蚕组织蛋白酶Ｂ的鉴定,该蛋白酶属于半胱氨酸蛋白酶类的组织蛋或最适ｐＨ为３．５,可被Ｅ－６４抑制。本文报道蛋白酶的纯化和性质。经过５步纯化过程,从（ｉ蚕卵母细胞中纯化出组织蛋白酶Ｂ,用ＳＤＳ聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳测得蛋白酶的亚基分子量在４７ｋＤａ左右。纯化的蛋白酶活性可被Ｅ－６４和Ｌｅｕｐｅｐｔｉｎ抑制。因此,该蛋白酶属于半胱氨酸蛋白酶。天冬氨酸蛋白酶特异性抑制剂ｐｅｐｓｔａｔｉｎ不抑制其活性。其活性可被ＤＦＰ和ＰＭＳＦ部分抑制。这两种抑制剂通常抑制丝氨酸蛋白酶活性     

The multicatalytic proteinase. Multiple proteolytic activities

The multicatalytic proteinase is a high molecular weight nonlysosomal proteinase which has been isolated from a variety of mammalian tissues and has been suggested to contain several distinct catalytic sites. The enzyme degrades protein and peptide substrates and can cleave bonds on the carboxyl side of basic, hydrophobic, and acidic amino acid residues. The three types of activity have been referred to as trypsin-like, chymotrypsin-like, and peptidyl-glutamyl peptide bond hydrolyzing activities, respectively. All of these proteolytic activities are associated with a single band on native polyacrylamide gels. The pH optimum of the proteinase (pH 7.5-9.5) depends on the substrate. Using synthetic peptide substrates it was possible to demonstrate two distinct activities. Trypsin-like activity is inhibited at concentrations of the peptide aldehyde inhibitors leupeptin and antipain or of N-ethylmaleimide which have little or no effect on chymotrypsin-like activity. Results of mixed-substrate experiments also suggest that there are at least two distinct types of catalytic sites. All proteolytic activity is lost following dissociation by urea or by acid treatment. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the intact multicatalytic proteinase precipitate the complex but have little effect on its proteolytic activities.