Proteins of the kidney microvillar membrane. Biosynthesis of endopeptidase-24.11, dipeptidylpeptidase IV and aminopeptidases N and A in pig kidney slices.

An organ culture employing slices of renal-cortex tissue from piglets of the Yucatan strain was used to study the biogenesis of four microvillar peptidases: endopeptidase-24.11 (EC 3.4.24.11), dipeptidyl peptidase IV (EC 3.4.14.5), aminopeptidase N (EC 3.4.11.2) and aminopeptidase A (EC 3.4.11.7). The viability of the culture system was confirmed by the preservation of ultrastructural integrity and by an unchanged uptake of 3H]alanine into cells during the period of the experiments. After labelling with 35S]methionine, treatment with Mg2+ yielded two fractions, one containing microvilli and another, the Mg2+ pellet, containing intracellular and basolateral membranes. The labelled forms of the peptidases, isolated by immunoprecipitation, were analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and fluorography. The Mg2+ pellet contained the earliest detectable forms of the enzymes. In each case, a polypeptide of lower Mr than the mature form and sensitive to treatment with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H was the first form to be detected. These high-mannose forms were followed, about 30 min after the pulse, by a complex glycosylated form of higher Mr. Only the latter form was observed in microvilli and then only after 90 min of the chase period. A quantitative study of dipeptidyl peptidase IV showed that the forms observed in the Mg2+ pellet were precursors of those in the microvillar fraction. No labelled forms were observed in the cytosol. All four peptidases were thus synthesized within membrane compartments and glycosylated in two steps before assembly in microvilli.