The effect of analogues of chymostatin on lysosomal and non-lysosomal components of protein degradation in isolated hepatocytes

Of the proteinase inhibitors derived from Streptomyces spp., chymostatin is the most effective inhibitor of non-lysosomal proteolysis. As part of a systematic study of the structural features of the chymostatin molecule that are responsible for this inhibitory activity, a series of fifteen di- and tripeptide analogues of chymostatin were tested for their ability to suppress protein degradation in isolated primary hepatocytes. Protein degradation was assessed in two ways: by the release of radiolabel from proteins prelabelled in vivo (to which both lysosomal and non-lysosomal processes contribute) and by the rate of inactivation of tyrosine aminotransferase, a process that is exclusively non-lysosomal. All inhibitors were relatively non-toxic and did not affect the intracellular ATP levels, although some suppression of gluconeogenesis was observed in the presence of leupeptin, chymostatin or the analogues. Tripeptide phenylalanine aldehydes or semicarbazones were at least as effective as chymostatin in reducing protein degradation, whereas peptide alcohols were relatively ineffective. Replacement of the basic capreomycidine moiety in chymostatin with an arginine residue improved the inhibitory activity but equally, substitution of the arginine residue with an uncharged norleucine residue was without significant effect. The structural features that are optimal for inhibition of chymotrypsin or other serine proteinases (previously defined) are not as critical for inhibition of protein degradation in vivo.     

Differential effects of proteinase inhibitors and amines on the lysosomal and non-lysosomal pathways of protein degradation in isolated rat hepatocytes

Ammonia, which like other lysosomotropic amines inhibits protein degradation in isolated rat hepatocytes by 70–80%, was utilized as a diagnostic tool to distinguish between the relative effects of various proteinase inhibitors on the lysosomal and non-lysosomal pathways of intracellular protein degradation.Leupeptin was found to inhibit lysosomal protein degradation by 80–85%, and non-lysosomal degradation by about 15%. Antipain had a similar, but somewhat weaker effect. Pepstain, bestatin and aprotinin (Traysylol) produced minor inhibitory effects (possibly on both degradation, pathways), whereas bacitracin and soybean trypsin inhibitor wre ineffective.Chymostatin inhibited lysosomal protein degradation by about 45%, whereas the non-lysosomal pathway was inhibited by more than 50%. Chymostatin was unique among the inhibitors tested in causing such a pronounced effect on non-lysosomal protein degradation, and appeared to selectively inhibit the energy-dependent portion of this pathway.The effects of the various inhibitors were additive to the extent expected on the basis of their kwown actions on lysosomal and non-lysosomal protein degradation. Thus, a combination of methylamine, leupeptine and chymostatin inhibited overall protein degradation by about 90%, resulting in a substantial improvement of the cellular nitrogen balance.The degradation inhibitors caused a partial inhibition of protein synthesis, apparently mainly by shutting down the supply of amino acids from the lysosome. The inhibitory effects of leupeptin and antipain were completely reversed by amino acid addition, whereas some inhibition remained in the case of chymostatin and the lysosomotropic amines, possibly reflecting a certain nonspecific toxicity.     

The effect of synthetic analogues of chymostatin upon protein degradation in isolated skeletal muscle.

A series of peptides based on the structure of the proteinase inhibitor chymostatin were tested for their toxicity and ability to suppress protein degradation in the isolated mouse diaphragm. The inhibitory activities of the analogues were very similar, in marked contrast to their disparate abilities as inhibitors of chymotrypsin. Toxicity was determined by measurement of the rates of protein synthesis and of leakage of lactate dehydrogenase into the incubation medium. No significant toxicity was measurable at concentrations of inhibitor that were effective at suppressing proteolysis. The structural features of the chymostatin molecule may be less than optimal for suppression of proteolysis in muscle.     

Effects of chymostatin and other proteinase inhibitors on protein breakdown and proteolytic activities in muscle

To learn more about the enzymes involved in protein catabolism in skeletal and cardiac muscle and to identify selective inhibitors of this process, we studied the effects of proteinase inhibitors on protein turnover in isolated muscles and on proteolytic activities in muscle homogenates. Chymostatin (20μm) decreased protein breakdown by 20–40% in leg muscles from normal rodents and also in denervated and dystrophic muscles. These results are similar to our previous findings with leupeptin. The related inhibitors pepstatin, bestatin, and elastatinal did not decrease protein breakdown; antipain slowed this process in rat hind-limb muscles but not in diaphragm. Chymostatin did not decrease protein synthesis and thus probably retards proteolysis by a specific effect on cell proteinase(s). In homogenates of rat muscle, chymostatin, in common with leupeptin and antipain, inhibits the lysosomal proteinase cathepsin B, and the soluble Ca²⁺-activated proteinase. In addition, chymostatin, but not leupeptin, inhibits the chymotrypsin-like proteinase apparent in muscle homogenates. In muscles depleted of most of this activity by treatment with the mast-cell-degranulating agent 48/80, chymostatin still decreased protein breakdown. Therefore inhibition of this alkaline activity probably does not account for the decrease in protein breakdown. These results are consistent with a lysosomal site of action for chymostatin. Because of its lack of toxicity, chymostatin may be useful in maintaining tissues in vitro and perhaps in decreasing muscle atrophy in vivo.     

Effects of amino acid analogues on protein degradation in isolated rat hepatocytes

Analogues and derivatives of six of the amino acids which most effectively inhibit protein degradation in isolated rat hepatocytes (leucine, asparagine, glutamine, histidine, phenylalanine and tryptophan) were investigated to see if they could antagonize or mimic the effect of the parent compound. No antagonists were found. Amino alcohols and amino acid amides tended to inhibit protein degradation strongly, apparently by a direct lysosomotropic effect as indicated by their ability to cause lysosomal vacuolation. Amino acid alkyl esters and dipeptides inhibited degradation to approximately the same extent as did their parent amino acids, possibly by being converted to free amino acids intracellularly. Of several leucine analogues tested, four (L-norleucine, L-norvaline, D-norleucine and L-allo-isoleucine) were found to be as effective as leucine in inhibiting protein degradation. None of the analogues had any effect on protein synthesis. Since leucine appears to play a unique role as a regulator of bulk autophagy in hepatocytes, the availability of active leucine agonists may help tj elucidate the biochemical mechanism for control of this important process.     

Effects of microbial proteinase inhibitors on the degradation of endogenous and internalized proteins by rat yolk sacs.

1. The effects of leupeptin and other microbial proteinase inhibitors were measured in rat yolk sacs on the uptake and degradation of formaldehyde-denatured 125I-labelled bovine serum albumin as well as on the degradation of 3H-labelled endogenous protein. 2. Leupeptin, at concentrations between 1 and 100 micrograms/ml, inhibits the degradation of added albumin without affecting pinocytic uptake. Accordingly large amounts of undegraded albumin accumulate within the tissue. 3. Removal of leupeptin produces a rapid recovery of the capacity to degrade albumin. 4. Endogenous protein degradation is rapidly inhibited by leupeptin, but to a far lesser extent than the breakdown of albumin. However, the inhibition is only slightly reversed on removal of leupeptin. 5. Degradation of both albumin and endogenous protein in intact yolk sacs is inhibited by the microbial proteinase inhibitors in the order: leupeptin greater than antipain greater than chymostatin; elastatinal, pepstatin and bestatin are ineffective. 6. Similar results are found when albumin is incubated in yolk-sac homogenates at pH 4 with the inhibitors. 7. The marked inhibitory effects of leupeptin, antipain and chymostatin suggest that cathepsin B and possibly cathepsin L participate in the degradation of 125I-labelled albumin in yolk sacs. By comparison, the smaller inhibitory effects of the proteinase inhibitors on endogenous protein breakdown imply a minor role of lysosomal cathepsins in this process.     

Comparison of the control and pathways for degradation of the acetylcholine receptor and average protein in cultured muscle cells

In the studies reported here, we investigated whether the degradation of the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in cultured muscle cells involves similar mechanisms as and is controlled in a manner similar to, the catabolism of the bulk of cell protein. We compared these processes after labeling cell protein with radioactive leucine or phenylalanine for 24 hours, or labeling the acetylcholine receptor with (¹²⁵I)-bungarotoxin. The apparent average half-life of cell protein was 38 ± 2 hours and that of the receptor-toxin complex was 25 ± 1 hours. Incubation in media lacking serum and embryo extract accelerated the degradation of both average protein and the receptor-toxin complex. Insulin reduced the rate of catabolism of both average protein and the receptor-toxin complex toward levels seen in the presence of serum. However, although these two degradative processes seem to be controlled similarly, they probably involve different mechanisms. The protease inhibitors leupeptin and chymostatin, which slowed overall proteolysis in nongrowing muscles and hepatocytes, reduced the degradation of the ACh receptor by 2–11-fold, but had no, or only slight, effects on the catabolism of average protein, even when overall proteolysis was accelerated by omitting serum and embryo extract. Chloroquine, an inhibitor of lysosomal function, also reduced the degradation of AChR, by about 10-fold, but decreased overall protein breakdown by only 20–30%. Incubation of myotubes at lower temperatures reduced both degradative processes, but affected the breakdown of the receptor to a greater extent. Thus the rate-limiting steps in these processes have different activation energies. Incubation with 2-deoxyglucose, an inhibitor of glycolysis, decreased the breakdown of average protein but not that of the receptor-toxin complex. However, the two degradative processes were sensitive to azide, an inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation. Although the lysosome is the primary site for AChR degradation and perhaps for degradation of other surface proteins, the breakdown of most proteins in myotubes seems to involve a distinct proteolytic system requiring metabolic energy.     

Cooperation of lysosomes and inner mitochondrial membrane in the degradation of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase and other proteins

Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS) from rat liver is proteolitically inactivated at acid pH by broken lysosomes. Inactivation increases when lysosomes are previously incubated with inner mitochondrial membrane, although this mitochondrial fraction does not inactivate CPS 'per se'. The increased degradation is due to membrane factor(s), most probably mitochondrial proteinase(s), solubilized by lysosomal matrix proteinases, after incubation of the inner mitochondrial membrane fraction with broken lysosomes. This (these ) factor(s) degrade(s) CPS and other proteins in the absence of lysosomal proteinases or when these are inhibited by leupeptin, chymostatin and pepstatin. We have also tested the possible regulation of this degradation and found that ATP and, particularly, acetyl glutamate accelerate the degradation of CPS by the factor(s) liberated from the inner mitochondrial membrane.     

Protease inhibitors reduce lysosomal acid phospholipase A1 activity in cultured rat hepatocytes

When rat hepatocytes were cultured in the presence of various specific protease inhibitors, lysosomal acid phospholipase A1 activity decreased progressively. Exposure of the cultured cells to 0.1 micrograms/ml of pepstatin, E 64, leupeptin or chymostatin also reduced the catalytic activities of several lysosomal marker enzymes. Irrespective of the protease inhibitor type employed, acid phospholipase A1 activity reacted most sensitively, followed by acid phosphatase, acid beta-N-acetyl-D-hexosaminidase and acid beta-glucuronidase. Of the protease inhibitors studied, pepstatin appeared to be most potent in reducing lysosomal enzyme activities in cultured hepatocytes. These findings suggest that proteolytic processes at as yet unknown, possibly extralysosomal sites play an important role in the turnover rates of lysosomal enzymes.     

Effects of amino acids, ammonia and leupeptin on protein synthesis and degradation in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Protein synthesis in isolated rat hepatocytes, as measured by the incorporation of [14C]-valine at constant specific radioactivity, proceeded at a rate of 0.3-0.5%/h in an unsupplemented medium, i.e. only about one-tenth the rate of protein degradation (4%/h). Leupeptin, which inhibits lysosomal protein degradation (previously found to be 75% of the total degradation in hepatocytes), had no effect on protein synthesis, showing that endogenous protein degradation supplied amino acids in excess of the substrate requirements for protein synthesis. The inhibition of protein synthesis by NH4Cl (another inhibitor of lysosomal protein degradation) as well as the stimulation by a physiological amino acid mixture must therefore represent indirect effects, either on general energy metabolism, or on unknown regulatory processes.     

Degradation of the acetylcholine receptor in cultured muscle cells: Selective inhibitors and the fate of undegraded receptors

To learn more about the pathway for degradation of an intrinsic membrane protein, we studied in cultured chick myotubes the effects of certain protease inhibitors and chloroquine (an inhibitor of lysosomal function) on degradation of the acetylcholine receptor measured with the specific ligand ¹²⁵I-α-bungarotoxin. Leupeptin, chymostatin, anti-pain and chloroquine decreased by 2–10 fold the rate of degradation of the acetylcholine receptor-¹²⁵I-α-bungarotoxin complex to ¹²⁵I-tyrosine (p < 0.01). After removing the inhibitors, the degradative rate returned to control levels. Leupeptin and chloroquine did not appear toxic to the cells; these agents did not alter the overall rate of protein synthesis, and leupeptin did not decrease the incorporation of receptors into the surface membrane. Therefore these inhibitors probably inhibit the degradative process selectively. A lysosomal site for receptor degradation appears probable, since chloroquine slows this process; leupeptin, chymostatin and antipain all inhibit cathepsin B; and chloroquine and to a lesser extent leupeptin altered the ultrastructural appearance of this organelle. Cultures labeled with ¹²⁵I-α-bungarotoxin and then incubated with leupeptin or chloroquine contained more radioactive protein than control cells. This material co-electrophoresed with bungarotoxin on sodium dodecylsulfate-urea-polyacrylamide gels. Thus myotubes exposed to these inhibitors seemed to accumulate undegraded bungarotoxin. They did not, however, contain more acetylcholine receptors on their surface. Instead, the inhibitor-treated cells accumulate toxin and receptors at some internal site. Thus treatment with such inhibitors does not appear to be a useful approach to the therapy of myasthenia gravis. The additional ¹²⁵I-toxin found in cells incubated with leupeptin or chloroquine was less accessible to exogenous protease than the toxin bound to control cells and was more resistant to extraction by Triton X-100. Since internalization of the receptor continued in the presence of these inhibitors, this process must not be coupled tightly to subsequent proteolysis. Measurement of receptors within cells not exposed to ¹²⁵I-α-bungarotoxin showed that incubation of myotubes with leupeptin or chloroquine for 48 hr increased the number of internal bungarotoxin-binding sites 2–11 fold (p < 0.001). Thus cells treated with these agents accumulate receptors intracellularly in a form that sediments at 35,000 × g. Electron microscopy showed that these treated myotubes contain 3–6 times more coated vesicles within their cytoplasm than control cells (p < 0.001). Thus chloroquine and leupeptin may retard receptor degradation in part by interfering with the fusion of coated vesicles with lysosomes.     

Effect of carboxylic ionophores on lysosomal protein degradation in rat hepatocytes

Three different carboxylic ionophores (monensin, nigericin and lasalocid) were each found capable of causing a relatively complete block of the lysosomal (i.e., methylamine-sensitive) protein degradation in isolated rat hepatocytes. Monensin was found to be the most specific in action, as it had no effect on non-lysosomal degradation and did not bring about any substantial inhibition of protein synthesis. Morphometric examination of electron micrographs revealed that monensin causes an accumulation of early forms of autophagic vacuoles and blocks the swelling of lysosomes seen in the presence of methylamine. The results indicate that monensin inhibits lysosomal protein degradation by affecting lysosomal pH.     

Purification and characterization of rat liver glutaminase

Phosphate-dependent glutaminase (EC 3.5.1.2) from livers of starved rats was purified about 400-fold to near homogeneity. The specific activity of the final pool was more than 30 U/mg protein. For the rapid quantification of the enzyme activity a simple and sensitive assay, based on the determination of the produced ammonia with an o-phthalaldehyde reagent, was developed which avoids massive dilution of the samples. The enzyme preparation involved extraction of the enzyme from sonified isolated mitochondria after treatment with a brief hypotonic shock followed by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange and hydroxyapatite chromatography. A major improvement was the stabilization of the enzyme by chymostatin protecting it from degradation by a protease of presumably lysosomal origin. In the presence of chymostatin or leupeptin the half-life of glutaminase in a crude mitochondrial preparation subsequent to mild treatment with digitonin could be increased to more than 200 h. The relative molecular mass of the protein (Mr 170,500) was estimated by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. The molecular mass of the subunits (Mr 57,000) was determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These results suggest a protein composed of three subunits of identical molecular mass. The molecular data clearly differentiate liver glutaminase from the phosphate-dependent glutaminase present in kidney.     

Evidence for degradation of intracellular protein in liver lysosomes of fasted rats

Evidence that intracellular protein degradation occurs in lysosomes has been indirect and derived from liver perfusion (1) or the inhibitor studies (2,3). We report here that liver lysosomes of greater purity are obtained from fed rats than from fasted rats. Lysosomes of less purity may contain an enlarged pool of partially degraded intracellular protein; on the other hand, less purity could be due to less marker enzyme, NAβGase. Measurements of NAβGase activity and lysosomal protein of rat livers showed that both NAβGase and lysosomal protein increased upon fasting but protein more so (3.5 and 6.5x, in 2 days). The increase in lysosomal protein is direct evidence that liver lysosomes are involved in intracellular protein degradation during fasting of rats.     

Lysosomal proteolysis: effects of aging and insulin

Age-related characteristics of the effect of insulin on the activity of lysosomal proteolytic enzymes were studied. The relationship between the insulin effect on protein degradation and insulin degradation was analyzed. The effect of insulin on the activities of lysosomal enzymes was opposite in young and old rats (inhibitory in 3-month-old and stimulatory in 24-month-old animals). The activities of proteolytic enzymes were regulated by insulin in a glucose-independent manner: similar hypoglycemic effects of insulin in animals of different ages were accompanied by opposite changes in the activities of lysosomal enzymes. The inhibition of lysosomal enzymes by insulin in 3-month-old rats is consistent with a notion on the inhibitory effect of insulin on protein degradation. An opposite insulin effect in 24-month-old rats (i.e., stimulation of proteolytic activity by insulin) may be partly associated with attenuation of the degradation of insulin, resulting in disturbances in signaling that mediates the regulatory effects of insulin on protein degradation.     

Modulation of mature cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein by the PDZ domain protein CAL

We have previously identified the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR)-interacting protein CAL and demonstrated that CAL modulates CFTR plasma membrane expression by retaining CFTR within the cell. Here, we report that in addition to regulating membrane expression, CAL also regulates the expression of mature CFTR. The co-expression of hemagglutinin-tagged or Myc-tagged CAL with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-CFTR in COS-7 cells causes a dose-dependent reduction in mature GFP-CFTR, independent of its tags. Bafilomycin A1, a lysosomal proton pump inhibitor, increases mature GFP-CFTR, confirming previous reports of lysosomal degradation of mature CFTR. Importantly, bafilomycin A1 reverses CAL-mediated CFTR degradation. The proteasome inhibitor, MG132, on the other hand, does not reverse the effect of CAL. CAL has no effect on CFTR maturation, suggesting that it exerts its effects on mature CFTR. Co-expression of CAL enhances the degradation of CFTR. We showed previously that CAL reduces the half-life of CFTR at the cell surface. Here we show that expression of dominant-negative dynamin 2 K44A, a large GTPase inhibitor that is known to inhibit clathrin-mediated endocytosis and vesicle formation in the Golgi, increases cell surface CFTR as measured by surface biotinylation. More importantly, dynamin 2 K44A also restores cell surface CFTR in CAL-overexpressing cells and partially blocks the CAL-mediated degradation of mature CFTR. These data suggest a model in which CAL retains CFTR in the cell and targets CFTR for degradation.     

Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride stimulates proteolysis of nuclear proteins from chick liver.

The degradation of H1 histone and high mobility group (HMG) nonhistone proteins was stimulated when the homogenate from chick liver was incubated in the presence of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). Two proteinase inhibitors, elastatinal and chymostatin, significantly inhibited the PMSF-stimulated degradation of H1 histone and HMG proteins. On the contrary, other proteinase inhibitors like leupeptin, pepstatin, trypsin inhibitor, antipain, o-phenanthroline and EDTA had no effect on the degradation of the nuclear proteins. These results warn the researcher to be cautious while using PMSF for preparation of nuclear proteins such as H1 histone and HMG proteins.     

Release of iron from ferritin requires lysosomal activity

How ferritin-Fe becomes available for cell functions is unknown. Our previous studies with rat hepatoma cells indicated ferritin had to be degraded to release its Fe. In these studies, we investigated whether this occurs in other cell types and whether lysosomes are required. Release of ferritin-Fe was induced with desferoxamine (DFO) in ⁵⁹Fe-preloaded hepatoma, Caco2, and erythroid K562 cells and measured by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and autoradiography. The half-lives for ferritin-⁵⁹Fe and protein were parallel (23, 16, and 11 h for the hepatic, Caco2, and K562 cells, respectively). Co-treatment with 180 µM Fe, leupeptin, chymostatin, or chloroquine markedly decreased rates of ferritin-Fe release and ferritin degradation. Lactacystin had no effect except for a small one in erythroid cells. Fractionation of hepatoma cell lysates on iodixanol gradients showed rapid depletion of cytosolic ferritin by DFO treatment but no accumulation in lysosomes. We conclude that regardless of cell type, release of Fe from ferritin occurs mainly through lysosomal proteolysis. degradation; proteasomes     

Regulation of myofibrillar accumulation in chick muscle cultures: evidence for the involvement of calcium and lysosomes in non-uniform turnover of contractile proteins

The effect of calcium on myofibrillar turnover in primary chick leg skeletal muscle cultures was examined. Addition of the calcium ionophore A23187 at subcontraction threshold levels (0.38 microM) increased significantly rates of efflux of preloaded 45Ca+2 but had no effect on total protein accumulation. However, A23187 as well as ionomycin caused decreased accumulation of the myofibrillar proteins, myosin heavy chain (MHC), myosin light chain 1f (LC1f), 2f (LC2f), alpha-actin (Ac), and tropomyosin (TM). A23187 increased the degradation rate of LC1f, LC2f, and TM after 24 h. In contrast, the calcium ionophore caused decreased degradation of Ac and troponin-C and had no effect on the degradation of MHC, troponin-T, troponin-I, or alpha, beta-desmin (Dm). In addition, A23187 did not alter degradation of total myotube protein. The ionophore had little or no effect on the synthesis of total myotube proteins, but caused a marked decrease in the synthesis of MHC, LC1f, LC2f, Ac, TM, and Dm after 48 h. The mechanisms involved in calcium-stimulated degradation of the myofibrillar proteins were also investigated. Increased proteolysis appeared to involve a lysosomal pathway, since the effect of the Ca++ ionophore could be blocked by the protease inhibitor leupeptin and the lysosomotropic agents methylamine and chloroquine. The effects of A23187 occur in the presence of serum, a condition in which no lysosomal component of overall protein degradation is detected. The differential effect of A23187 on the degradative rates of the myofibrillar proteins suggests a dynamic structure for the contractile apparatus.     

Lysosomes and protein degradation

Evidence from studies on mouse peritoneal macrophages using the inhibitor pepstatin confirms lysosomal involvement in basal protein degradation, and extends its relevance to degradation of long half-life and analogue containing proteins. Studies on the ability of MRC-5 (a limited life-span fibroblast line) cells to selectively degrade analogue-containing proteins are described. These indicate that this capacity is retained even in very old cells; indeed such cells show an increased proportion of rapidly-degradable proteins. Analogue containing proteins bind preferentially to lysosomal membranes, and like liver cytosol proteins of short half-life, are selectively endocytosed and degraded by certain cells in culture. Thus membrane binding allowing selective entry to the lysosomal system may be important in controlling rate of degradation of both intracellular and extracellular protein. A method potentially allowing for determination of the rate of autophagy in cells, is described. This should enable further assessment of the quantitative involvement of lysosomes in protein degradation.