Lysosomal carboxypeptidase A

Lysosomal carboxypeptidase A (cathepsin A) is synthetized in the form of preproenzyme, which undergoes to active enzyme as a result of post-translational modification. It splits off C-terminal amino acid residues from peptides and proteins and synergizes with other proteases in degradation of cellular proteins in lysosomes. Lysosomal carboxypeptidase A has an effect on peptide hormones and peptides of biological activity of tissues and body fluids as well. It forms complexes with some glycosidases that protects them against proteolytic degradation. Deficiency of this enzyme induces storage diseases. Lysosomal carboxypeptidase A as multifunctional enzyme plays an important regulatory role in organismal metabolism.     

Isolation and molecular cloning of mast cell carboxypeptidase A. A novel member of the carboxypeptidase gene family

Mast cell carboxypeptidase A has been isolated from the secretory granules of mouse peritoneal connective tissue mast cells (CTMC) and from a mouse Kirsten sarcoma virus-immortalized mast cell line (KiSV-MC), and a cDNA that encodes this exopeptidase has been cloned from a KiSV-MC-derived cDNA library. KiSV-MC-derived mast cell carboxypeptidase A was purified with a potato-derived carboxypeptidase-inhibitor affinity column and was found by analytical sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be a Mr 36,000 protein. Secretory granule proteins from KiSV-MC and from mouse peritoneal CTMC were then resolved by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transblotted to polyvinylidine difluoride membranes. Identical aminoterminal amino acid sequences were obtained for the prominent Mr 36,000 protein present in the granules of both cell types. Based on the amino-terminal sequence, an oligonucleotide probe was synthesized and used to isolate a 1,470-base pair cDNA that encodes this mouse exopeptidase. The deduced amino acid sequence revealed that, after cleavage of a 15-amino acid hydrophobic signal peptide and a 94-amino acid activation peptide from a 417-amino acid preproenzyme, the mature mast cell carboxypeptidase A protein core has a predicted Mr of 35,780 and a high positive charge [Lys + Arg) - (Asp + Glu) = 17) at neutral pH. Although critical zinc-binding amino acids (His67, Glu70, His195), substrate-binding amino acids (Arg69, Asn142, Arg143, Tyr197, Asp255, Phe278), and cysteine residues that participate in intrachain disulfide bonds (Cys64-Cys77, Cys136-Cys159) of pancreatic carboxypeptidases were also present in mast cell carboxypeptidase A, the overall amino acid sequence identities for mouse mast cell carboxypeptidase A relative to rat pancreatic carboxypeptidases A1, A2, and B were only 43, 41, and 53%, respectively. RNA and DNA blot analyses revealed that mouse peritoneal CTMC, KiSV-MC, and bone marrow-derived mast cells all express a prominent 1.5-kilobase mast cell carboxypeptidase A mRNA which is transcribed from a single gene. We conclude that mouse mast cell carboxypeptidase A is a prominent secretory granule enzyme of mast cells of the CTMC subclass and represents a novel addition to the carboxypeptidase gene family.     

Contribution of C-tail residues of potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor to the binding to carboxypeptidase A A mutagenesis analysis.

The role of each residue of the potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor (PCI) C-terminal tail, in the interaction with carboxypeptidase A (CPA), has been studied by the analysis of two main kinds of site-directed mutants: the point substitution of each C-terminal residue by glycine and the sequential deletions of the C-terminal residues. The mutant PCI-CPA interactions have been characterized by the measurement of their inhibition constant, Ki, in several cases, by their kinetic association and dissociation constants determined by presteady-state analysis, and by computational approaches. The role of Pro36 appears to be mainly the restriction of the mobility of the PCI C-tail. In addition, and unexpectedly, both Gly35 and Pro36 have been found to be important for folding of the protein core. Val38 has the greatest enthalpic contribution to the PCI-CPA interaction. Although Tyr37 has a minor contribution to the binding energy of the whole inhibitor, it has been found to be essential for the interaction with the enzyme following the cleavage of the C-terminal Gly39 by CPA. The energetic contribution of the PCI secondary binding site has been evaluated to be about half of the total free energy of dissociation of the PCI-CPA complex.     

First hydroxamate inhibitors for carboxypeptidase A. N-acyl-N-hydroxy-beta-phenylalanines

A series of N-acyl-N-hydroxy-beta-Phe were designed, synthesized, and shown to have potent inhibitory activity for carboxypeptidase A (CPA). They are the first examples of CPA inhibitors having a hydroxamate functionality.     

Structure of 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzylated carboxypeptidase A.

Bovine pancreatic carboxypeptidase A (EC 3.4.12.2) was treated with dimethyl (2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl)sulfonium chloride at pH 7.5, resulting in a preparation which consisted primarily of a monohydroxynitrobenzylated derivative of the enzyme. Samples of the hydroxynitrobenzylated enzyme were subjected to tryptic digestion and to cyanogen bromide cleavage, and resulting peptides were isolated chromatographically. One tryptic hydroxynitrobenzyl-containing peptide was isolated; its amino acid composition was that of the N-terminal tryptic segment of carboxypeptidase Agamma (residues 8--35). Likewise, CNBr cleavage of the hydroxynitrobenzylated enzyme revealed that the hydroxynitrobenzyl group resided in the N-terminal fragment, FN (residues 8--22). Neither of these hydroxynitrobenzylated peptides contains Trp, the amino acid residue which is characteristically the site of hydroxynitrobenzylation in proteins, and each was found to contain approximately one less Asx than the corresponding native peptide. Both dansylation and automated Edman degradation procedures revealed that the N-terminal Asn of carboxypeptidase Agamma had been modified by hydroxynitrobenzylation of the enzyme. Thus the sulfonium salt reacts with carboxypeptidase A in the same manner as that established earlier for 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide (Radhakrishnan, T.M., Bradshaw, R.A., Deranleau, D.A. and Neurath, H. (1970) FEBS Lett. 7, 72--76). Such reactivity of the alpha-amino group presumably reflects its unique location with respect to Trp residues in the tertiary structure of the enzyme.     

Bound ligand motion in crystalline carboxypeptidase A.

Deuterium NMR spectra for the phenyl ring deuterons have been obtained for D-phenylalanine, L-phenylalanine, phenylacetic acid, and phenyl propionic acid in randomly oriented crystals of carboxypeptidase A as a function of water content. The spectra are analyzed using a two-site jump model for phenyl ring pi-flips when the ligand is bound to the protein, and the model includes the possibility that the ligand may exchange with isotropic or unbound environments within the crystal. Although the binding pocket may impose local dynamical constraints, a complete pi-flip motion is consistent with the spectra of all ligands at all water contents. The rate constants for the pi-flip at 298 K are found to be 7.5 x 10(5) S-1, 1.9 x 10(6) S-1, 4.0 x 10(6) S-1, and 4.0 x 10(6) S-1 for L-phenylalanine, D-phenylalanine, phenyl propionic acid, and phenylacetic acid, respectively, at water activity of 0.98. The pi-flip rate for the ligand bound to the enzyme increases with water content. Assuming that the activation barrier may be written, delta G+2 = delta G+2o + baw, where aw is the water activity, and the value of b is -1.9 kcal/mol for phenylacetic acid and phenyl propionic acid, -1.3 kcal/mol for L-phenylalanine, and -2.1 kcal/mol for D-phenylalanine. Phenylacetic acid crystals were studied as an example of a phenyl ring motion that is highly constrained by a known and symmetrical packing environment. The deuterium spectra are complex and are not consistent with pi-flip motions, but they are consistent with a superposition of ring jump motions of 24 degrees, 34 degrees, and 72 degrees, with probabilities in the ratio of 1:1:2. Because of the limited space for motion imposed by the tight packing in the crystal, these motions must be highly cooperative and probably locally coherent; however, the spectra by themselves do not prove this intuitively reasonable hypothesis.     

Circular dichroism-inhibitor titrations of arsanilazotyrosine-248 carboxypeptidase A.

Coupling of carboxypeptidase with diazotized arsanilic acid specifically modifies a single tyrosyl residue. Yet, owing to the fact that the resultant azoTyr-248 can form an intramolecular chelate with zinc, two different circular dichroism probes result: azoTyr-248 itself and the azoTyr-248-Zn chelate. Both are environmentally sensitive and, characteristically, each can signal the same or different perturbations, as is apparent from circular dichroic spectra. This dual probe function greatly magnifies the scope of these chromophores in mapping the topography of the active center with respect to sites of interaction of inhibitors (or substrates). Titration of the azoenzyme with a series of synthetic, competitive inhibitors, e.g., L-benzylsuccinate, L-phenyllactate, and L-Phe, and with the pseudosubstrate, Gly-L-Tyr, in turn generates characteristic circular dichroic spectra. Their analysis yields a single binding constant for each of these agents, one molecule of each binding to the active center. Mixed inhibitions, as seen with beta-phenylpropionate and phenylacetate, resolved previously into competitive and noncompetitive components, are characterized by different spectral effects. Two molecules of these agents bind to the enzyme, consistent with both thermodynamic and enzymatic studies. The interactions leading to competitive and noncompetitive inhibition, respectively, can be recognized and assigned, based on the manner in which the extrema at 340 and 420 nm, reflecting azoTyr-248, and the negative 510-nm circular dichroism band, typical of its chelate with zinc, are affected and on the pH dependence of spectral and kinetic data. Certai4 noncompetitive inhibitors and modifiers induce yet other spectral features. Each probe is very sensitive to changes in its particular active center environment, though both can be relatively insensitive to inhibitors interacting at a distance from the active center.     

Properties of non-polymerizable tropomyosin obtained by carboxypeptidase A digestion.

Tropomyosin digested with carboxypeptidase A [EC 3.4.12.2] (CTM) shows a lower viscosity than the undigested protein in solution. From the relation between the viscosity decrease and the amount of amino acids liberated from the carboxyl terminus during this digestion, it is inferred that loss of the tri-peptide-Thr-Ser-Ile from the C-terminus is responsible for the decrease in viscosity. The secondary structure of -TM was not affected by the digestion according to circular dichroic measurements. The viscosity of CTM did not increase in methanol-water mixtures, whereas that of tropomyosin increased markedly. These results indicate that polymerizability was lost upon the removal of a small peptide from the C-terminus without change in the secondary structure. A decrease in the viscosity of tropomyosin solutions was observed on the addition of CTM, indicating that CTM interacts with intact tropomyosin. The dependence of the viscosity decrease on the amount of CTM showed that CTM binds tropomyosin in a one-to-one ratio as a result of end-to-end interaction. Since paracrystals having a 400 A repeated band structure could be grown in the presence of Mg ions at neutral pH, side-by-side interactions in CTM molecules remain intact, even though polymerizability is lost. The disc gel electrophoretic pattern showed that troponin could bind to CTM, but no increase in viscosity due to the complex was observed in solution. That is, the C-terminal part of tropomyosin is not required for the formation of the complex. The amount of CTM bound to F-actin was less than half of that bound to undigested tropomyosin, and could be reduced to one-tenth by a washing procedure. In the presence of troponin, however, the amount recovered to the level of tropomyosin normally bound to F-actin. Therefore, it is concluded that troponin is bound in the middle of the tropomyosin molecule and strengthens the binding of tropomyosin to F-actin.     

alpha-Methyl substrates of carboxypeptidase A. A steric probe of the active site.

Although optical resolution of alpha-methylphenylalanine (alpha-Me-Phe) has been achieved by the action of carboxypeptidase A on the N-trifluoroacetyl derivative of the amino acid (TFA-alpha-Me-Phe), it is improbable that an alpha-methyl substrate could bind in the same orientation as glycyl-L-tyrosine, due to steric interaction of the alpha-methyl group with an atom in the imidazole ring of zinc ligand His-196. The kinetic parameters for TFA-alpha-Me-Phe and for an ester substrate bearing an alpha-methyl group (beta-hippuryl-alpha-methylphenyllactic acid, HMPL) have been determined and compared to those for the appropriate nonmethylated control substrates. Both TFA-alpha-Me-Phe and HMPL appear to be bound nearly as well as are their respective controls, and HMPL is hydrolyzed nearly as rapidly as its control. TFA-alpha-Me-Phe, however, is hydrolyzed only about one-fiftieth as rapidly as is the nonmethylated substrate. These findings are consistent with the possibilities that: (1) the proposed substrate-induced conformational shift of Tyr-248 is hindered when the methylated substrates are bound; (2) the orientation in which alpha-methyl substrates are bound precludes optimal positioning of Tyr-248 and the scissile bond even after the rotation of Tyr-248 has occurred; (3) amides and esters are bound in different orientations, and in the amide orientation an alpha-methyl group is so directed as to interfere with the approach of Glu-270 to the scissile bond.     

Mechanical deformation enhances catalytic activity of crystalline carboxypeptidase A.

A new approach for investigating mechano-chemical interactions in enzymes is described. The catalytic activity of crystalline crosslinked enzymes subjected to uniaxial deformation has been measured. Extension of monoclinic P2(1) crystals of carboxypeptidase A along the [010] direction leads to a many-fold increase in catalytic esterase activity with no changes in the effective Michaelis constant. This increase is interpreted as due to liberation of conformational mobility associated with catalytic activity of the enzyme in the deformed crystal.