Insights into the roles of cathepsins in antigen processing and presentation revealed by specific inhibitors

Eleven human cathepsins have been identified, however, the in vivo roles of individual cathepsins are still largely unknown. In this brief review we will summarize the functions of individual cathepsins in antigen processing and presentation, which are the initial steps of the immune response. Two general inhibitors of papain-like cysteine proteases, E-64 and pyridoxal phosphate, can completely suppress antigen presentation in vivo. To evaluate the contribution of individual cathepsins, specific inhibitors have been developed based on cathepsin tertiary structures: CA-074 for cathepsin B, CLIK-148 and -195 for cathepsin L, CLIK-60 for cathepsin S. Administration of CA-074, a cathepsin B inhibitor, suppresses the response to exogenous antigens, such as hepatitis B virus antigen, ovalbumin and Leishmania major antigen, and induces switching of the helper T cell responses from Th-2 to Th-1 of CD4+ T cells, thereby downregulating the production of IgE and IgG1. Administration of the cathepsin S inhibitor CLIK-60 impairs presentation of an autoantigen, alpha-fodrin, in Sjogren's syndrome and suppresses the Th-1 response and autoantibody production.     

Endothelin-1 Binding to Endothelin Receptors in the Rat Anterior Pituitary Gland: Interaction in the Recognition of Endothelin-1 Between ETA and ETB Receptors

1. ¹²⁵I-Endothelin (ET)-1 binding to the rat anterior pituitary gland was saturable and single, with a K _d of 71 pM and a B _max of 120 fmol/mg.2. When 1.0 M BQ-123 (ET_A antagonist) was added to the incubation buffer, the binding parameters were 8.3 pM and 8.0 fmol/mg, whereas 10 nM sarafotoxin S6c (ET_Bagonist) exerted little change in these binding parameters (K _d,72pM;B _max, 110 fmol/mg).3. ET_B receptor-related compounds such as sarafotoxin S6c, ET-3, IRL1620, and BQ-788 competitively inhibited ¹²⁵I-ET-1 binding, only when 1.0 M BQ-123 was present in the incubation buffer.4. Thus, the ET_B receptor is capable of binding ET-1 when the ET_A receptor is being occupied by BQ-123. A collaboration mechanism between the ET_A and the ET_B receptor may function in the recognition of ET-1, a typical bivalent ligand.     

Localization of cathepsins B,D, and L in the rat osteoclast by immuno-light and -electron microscopy

The localization of cathepsins B, D, and L was studied in rat osteoclasts by immuno-light and-electron microscopy using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) method. In cryosections prepared for light microscopy, immunoreactivity for cathepsin D was found in numerous vesicles and vacuoles but was not detected along the resorption lacunae of osteoclasts. However, immunoreactivity for cathepsins B and L occurred strongly along the lacunae, and only weak intracellular immunoreactivity was observed in the vesicles and peripheral part of the vacuoles near the ruffled border. In control sections that were not incubated with the antibody, no cathepsins were found in the osteoclasts or along the resorption lacunae of osteoclasts. At the electron microscopic level, strong intracellular reactivity of cathepsin D was found in numerous vacuoles and vesicles, while extracellular cathepsin D was only slightly detected at the base of the ruffled border but was not found in the eroded bone matrix. Most osteoclasts showed strong extracellular deposition of cathepsins B and L on the collagen fibrils and bone matrix under the ruffled border. The extracellular deposition was stronger for cathepsin L than for cathepsin B. Furthermore cathepsins B and L immunolabled some pits and part of the ampullar extracellular spaces, appearing as vacuoles in the sections. Conversely, the intracellular reactivity for cathepsins B and L was weak: cathepsin-containing vesicles and vacuoles as primary and secondary lysosomes occurred only sparsely. These findings suggest that cathepsins B and L, unlike cathepsin D, are rapidly released into the extracellular matrix and participate in the degradation of organic bone matrix containing collagen fibrils near the tip of the ruffled border. Cathepsin L may be more effective in the degradation of bone matrix than cathepsin B.     

Purification and characterization of microsomal and lysosomal beta-glucuronidase from rat liver by use of immunoaffinity chromatography.

Rat liver beta-glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31), both from microsomal and lysosomal fractions, were purified about 9500-fold over the homogenate with high yield using affinity chromatography prepared by coupling purified specific immunoglobulin G against rat preputial gland beta-glucuronidase to Sepharose 2B and isoelectric focusing. The purified enzymes appeared homogeneous on electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel and had a molecular weight of approximately 310000. In dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the microsomal beta-glucuronidase showed a single band corresponding to a molecular weight of 79000, while the lysosomal beta-glucuronidase had three distinct bands which consisted of one major and two minor bands corresponding to molecular weight of 79000, 74000, and 70000, respectively. A broad pH activity curve with a single optimum at pH 4.4 was observed in both the microsomal and the lysosomal beta-glucuronidases. Immunological gel diffusion technique with rabbit antiserum against rat liver lysosomal beta-glucuronidase revealed that both enzymes had the same or quite similar antigenic determinants.     

Transport of acid phosphatase to lysosomes does not involve passage through the cell surface

In foregoing studies, we reported that LGP107, a major lysosomal membrane glycoprotein in the rat liver, distributes in and circulates continuously throughout the endocytic membrane system (endosomes, lysosomes and plasma membrane), in hepatocytes (1,2). In the present study we examined whether acid phosphatase (APase), an enzyme that is transported to lysosomes as a transmembrane protein, passes through the cell surface during intracellular transport, because transport of newly synthesized APase to lysosomes involves the passage of endosomes containing a ligand which is internalized via receptors on the cell surface and is finally dispatched to lysosomes for degradation (3). When localization of APase in rat hepatocytes was investigated by immunoelectron microscopy, APase was found to be localized in lysosomes and endosomes, but not in coated pits on the cell surface, which are positive for LGP107, and from which antibodies for LGP107 are internalized. Further, unlike LGP107, newly synthesized APase was not detected in plasma membranes isolated from livers of rats given [35S]methionine, and when cultured hepatocytes were exposed to 125I-labeled anti APase IgG at 37 degrees C, there was no transfer of the antibody to lysosomes even after 24 h incubation. Therefore, these results indicate that intracellular movement of APase does not involve cell surface passage in rat hepatocytes, and clearly differs from the recent report that human APase is transported to lysosomes via the cell surface in BHK cells transfected with its cDNA (4).