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W Machleidt

Publications and source records attributed to W Machleidt.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Amino acid sequences of the human kidney cathepsins H and L.

The complete amino acid sequences of human kidney cathepsin H (EC 3.4.22.16) and human kidney cathepsin L (EC 3.4.22.15) were determined. Cathepsin H contains 230 residues and has an Mr of 25116. The sequence was obtained by sequencing the light, heavy and mini chain and the peptides produced by cyanogen bromide cleavage of the single-chain form of the enzyme. The glycosylated mini chain is a proteolytic fragment of the propeptide of cathepsin H. Human cathepsin L has 217 amino acid residues and an Mr of 23720. Its amino acid sequence was deduced from N-terminal sequences of the heavy and light chains and from the sequences of cyanogen bromide fragments of the heavy chain. The fragments were aligned by comparison with known sequences of cathepsins H and L from other species. Cathepsins H and L exhibit a high degree of sequence homology to cathepsin B (EC 3.4.22.1) and other cysteine proteinases of the papain superfamily.

Amino Acid Sequence

The precursor of sulfatide activator protein is processed to three different proteins.

The enzymic degradation of a number of sphingolipids in the lysosomes is stimulated by small acid glycoproteins named activator proteins. We purified and sequenced a new protein, called component C, which seems to be related to sulfatide activator and to a recently described activator of glucosylceramidase (A1 activator) (Kleinschmidt, T., Christomanou, H. & Braunitzer, G. (1987) Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler 368, 1571-1578). It consists of 78 amino acids and carries one carbohydrate chain at aparagine 20. Component C shows 21.5% sequence homology to sulfatide activator and 34.2% homology to A1 activator. Structural similarities between these three proteins have also been detected. Recently the cDNA sequence of the sulfatide activator precursor has been published (Dewji, N.N., Wenger, D.A. & O'Brien, J.S. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 8652-8656). We could align the protein sequences of sulfatide activator, A1 activator and component C with that of this large precursor protein. After minor corrections of the DNA sequence we obtained total fit. Thus it seems that three different proteins are derived from the sulfatide activator precursor by proteolytic processing. Possible processing sites were found on the precursor at sites adjacent to the N-termini and C-termini of the mature proteins. The processing of sulfatide activator was studied by Fujibayashi and Wenger (Fujibayashi, S. & Wenger, D.A. (1986) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 875, 554-562). Their data support our assumption that processing occurs by simultaneous cleavage at all possible sites.

Amino Acid Sequence

Molecular cloning and sequencing of a cDNA coding for mature human kidney cathepsin H.

A cDNA library was established from human kidney RNA and screened with an extended oligonucleotide probe derived from the amino-acid sequence of human cathepsin H. A recombinant clone, pRF15, was isolated and characterized. DNA sequence analysis of its 1106-nucleotide-long insert revealed that pRF15 encodes the complete protein sequence of mature cathepsin H plus 28 amino acids of a propeptide, thus confirming that cathepsin H is synthesized as a larger precursor molecule and posttranslationally processed. Northern blot analysis indicated that cathepsin H is predominantly synthesized in kidney. A high degree of sequence homology was observed with rat cathepsin H, especially within the propeptide. The part of the prosequence coding for the "minichain" is conserved in the prosequence of aleurain, a plant thiol protease.

Amino Acid Sequence

Inhibitorily active recombinant human stefin B. Gene synthesis, expression and isolation of an inhibitory active MS-2 pol-stefin B fusion protein and preparation of Des[Met1,2(2)]stefin B.

A synthetic gene coding for the human intracellular cysteine proteinase inhibitor, stefin B, was constructed from 13 chemically synthesized oligonucleotides according to the method of Khorana. The gene was inserted into the plasmid vector pTZ, amplified and sequenced. For expression, a temperature-inducible system producing fusion proteins was used. With the vector pEx31A containing the synthetic cystatin B gene, E. coli strain 537 produced a fusion protein of the N-terminal part of bacteriophage MS-2 polymerase and [Met-2Gly-1]stefin B. Lysates of the induced bacteria were inhibitorily active against papain. The fusion protein was expressed in high yield (about 20% of total E. coli proteins) and mostly deposited as inclusion bodies. The unfolded fusion protein was partially purified in the presence of urea. After refolding, approx. 6% of the protein was inhibitorily active against papain, human cathepsin H and B. Des[Met1,2(2)]stefin B was released by cyanogen bromide cleavage of the fusion protein and identified by N-terminal amino-acid sequence analysis. The non-separated cleavage products were also inhibitorily active after refolding. The estimated inhibition constants for the fusion protein and its cleavage products were similar to those reported for natural stefin B.

Amino Acid Sequence

Chemical synthesis of a gene for human cystatin C and its expression in E. coli.

A DNA containing the coding sequence for the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor protein cystatin C has been obtained by enzymatic ligation of chemically synthesized deoxyoligonucleotides, using the Khorana ligation method. The 375 bp synthetic gene carries signals for the translation initiation and termination and was expressed in E. coli as a beta-galactosidase fusion protein as well as a secreted protein under the control of the E. coli alkaline phosphatase signal sequence. The secreted hybrid protein was shown to have similar biological properties as the authentic protein isolated from human plasma.

Amino Acid Sequence

A new purification procedure of human kidney cathepsin H, its properties and kinetic data.

A purification procedure of cathepsin H from human kidney is presented. It includes gel filtration, ion exchange chromatography, and covalent chromatography on thiol Sepharose as an essential step. Purified cathepsin H emerges in an isoelectric focusing gel at pH 6.1 and 6.3. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate shows a molecular mass of about 28 kDa. Less than 20% of the enzyme preparation can be separated into a heavy (24 kDa) and a light chain (4 kDa) after reduction and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200. The partial amino-acid sequence of human cathepsin H shows its close similarity to rat cathepsin H. Inhibition constants (Ki) of cathepsins H and B with chicken cystatin, two forms of human stefin A, human stefin B, and two forms of human cystatin C are in the range of 10(-9) to 10(-11)M.

Amino Acid Sequence

Enzymatically active cathepsin B dissociating from its inhibitor complexes is elevated in blood plasma of patients with septic shock and some malignant tumors.

Using fluorogenic substrates and the specific inhibitor E-64, cysteine proteinase (CP) activity was measured in blood plasma of healthy controls (mean = 35.0 mU/l) and patients with cancer and severe septic shock. Whereas moderately elevated activity was observed in some kinds of cancer (mean = 63.9 mU/l), 10-fold increased CP activity was found in septic shock. The plasma CP activity of sepsis patients paralleled the immunologically determined concentration of elastase-alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor complex. On the basis of its substrate specificity and its Michaelis constant for Z-Phe-Arg-NMec the plasma CP was identified as cathepsin B or a cathepsin B-like proteinase (CBP). Kinetic studies revealed that dilution and competition with substrate effects reversible dissociation of CBP from complexes with plasma inhibitors that are most probably the kininogens. The dissociation of CBP was confirmed by gel chromatographic fractionation of the plasma proteins. The results suggest that active CBP can easily dissociate from its plasma inhibitor complexes in vivo and may be involved in pathogenetic extracellular proteolysis.

Cathepsin B

Diagnostic and prognostic value of RNA-proteolipid in sera of patients with malignant disorders following therapy: first clinical evaluation of a novel tumor marker.

The circulating level of a novel RNA-proteolipid complex associated with malignant diseases was critically evaluated as a tumor marker in clinical oncology. The complex, isolated from the sera of cancer patients, exhibited unvarying chemical composition regardless of the cell type and clinical staging. Clearance from blood was rapid with a half-life of approximately 2 days. Tumor mass could be correlated with the circulating level. After effective treatment the level fell and rose again 10 months prior to the conventional clinical diagnosis of relapse.

Biomarkers, Tumor

Identification of the probable inhibitory reactive sites of the cysteine proteinase inhibitors human cystatin C and chicken cystatin.

When an excess of human cystatin C or chicken cystatin was mixed with papain, an enzyme-inhibitor complex was formed immediately. The residual free cystatin was then progressively converted to a form with different electrophoretic mobility and chromatographic properties. The modified cystatins were isolated and sequenced, showing that there had been cleavage of a single peptide bond in each molecule: Gly11-Gly12 in cystatin C, and Gly9-Ala10 in chicken cystatin. The residues Gly11 (cystatin C) and Gly9 (chicken cystatin) are among only three residues conserved in all known sequences of inhibitory cystatins. The modified cystatins were at least 1000-fold weaker inhibitors of papain than the native cystatins. An 18-residue synthetic peptide corresponding to residues 4-21 of cystatin C did not inhibit papain but was cleaved at the same Gly-Gly bond as cystatin C. When iodoacetate or L-3-carboxy-trans-2,3-epoxypropionyl-leucylamido-(4-guanidin o)butane was added to the mixtures of either cystatin with papain, modification of the excess cystatin was blocked. Papain-cystatin complexes were stable to prolonged incubation, even in the presence of excess papain. We conclude that the peptidyl bond of the conserved glycine residue in human cystatin C and chicken cystatin probably is part of a substrate-like inhibitory reactive site of these cysteine proteinase inhibitors of the cystatin superfamily and that this may be true also for other inhibitors of this superfamily. We also propose that human cystatin C and chicken cystatin, and probably other cystatins as well, inhibit cysteine proteinases by the simultaneous interactions with such proteinases of the inhibitory reactive sites and other, so far not identified, areas of the cystatins. The cleavage of the inhibitory reactive site glycyl bond in mixtures of papain with excess quantities of cystatins is apparently due to the activity of a small percentage of atypical cysteine proteinase molecules in the papain preparation that form only very loose complexes with cystatins under the conditions employed and degrade the free cystatin molecules.

Amino Acid Sequence

Isolation and amino acid sequence of the 'Rieske' iron sulfur protein of beef heart ubiquinol:cytochrome c reductase.

The sequence of the 'Rieske' iron sulfur protein from the bc1 complex of beef heart mitochondria has been determined by solid phase Edman degradation of the whole protein and of various proteolytic fragments. The protein consists of 196 amino acid residues. The molecular mass of the apoprotein was calculated to be 21,536 Da, that of the holo-protein including the Fe2S2 cluster as 21,708 Da. The protein is mainly hydrophilic with a polarity index of 42.9% and 25% of charged residues. It contains a hydrophobic membrane anchor which is predicted to form a 'hairpin' structure. The iron sulfur cluster is bound near the C-terminus of the protein between a hydrophobic and a more amphipathic domain. This reflects the fact that the cluster is located near the outer surface of the inner mitochondrial membrane. A folding pattern describing all known features of the protein is proposed.

Amino Acid Sequence

Molecular cloning and expression of cDNA for human antileukoprotease from cervix uterus.

We have isolated cDNA clones for the human antileukoprotease HUSI-I, an elastase inhibitor, from a library, containing cDNA inserts made from human cervix uterus. A library of 10 000 recombinants was screened using a mixture of 16 different oligodeoxyribonucleotides which correspond to amino acids 79-84 and one 20mer oligodeoxyribonucleotide corresponding to amino acids 19-26. Two overlapping cDNA clones, containing the entire coding sequence and part of the 5'- and 3'-untranslated region, were isolated. DNA sequence data showed that our clone corresponds with the available protein sequence data. For expression, the cDNA fragment was inserted in a derivative of plasmid pPLc236 and expressed under the control of lambda PL promoter. Expression of antileukoprotease was proven by Western blot analysis and inhibition of chymotrypsin.

Amino Acid Sequence

Isolation and amino acid sequence of the 9.5 kDa protein of beef heart ubiquinol:cytochrome c reductase.

The 9.5 kDa protein of beef heart ubiquinol:cytochrome c reductase was isolated by a series of chromatographic steps involving dissociation of the complex by urea and guanidine. A clear distinction between the 9.5 kDa protein and the 9.2 kDa protein described earlier [(1982) J. Biochem. 91, 2077-2085] by SDS-PAGE was only achieved when the electrophoresis was performed according to Schägger et al. [(1985) FEBS Lett. 190, 89-94; (1986) Methods Enzymol. 126, 22] because in this gel system the apparent molecular mass of the 9.5 kDa protein is shifted to 11 kDa. The amino acid sequence was determined by solid-phase Edman degradation of the whole protein up to amino acid residue 80 and of the proteolytic cleavage fragments. The protein consists of 81 amino acid residues; its Mr was calculated to be 9507. Structure predictions have been made from average and sided hydropathy profiles. The 9.5 kDa protein is either bound to the core proteins within a 9.5 kDa-core protein subcomplex or else it aggregates easily with the core proteins during the isolation procedure.

Amino Acid Sequence

The acid-stable proteinase inhibitor of human mucous secretions (HUSI-I, antileukoprotease). Complete amino acid sequence as revealed by protein and cDNA sequencing and structural homology to whey proteins and Red Sea turtle proteinase inhibitor.

The complete amino acid sequence of human antileukoprotease has been determined by direct sequencing of the inhibitory active protein isolated from seminal plasma (HUSI-I) and by sequence analysis of cDNA reverse-transcribed from mRNA prepared from cervical tissue. The inhibitor (Mr 11726) consists of 107 amino acid residues including 16 cysteines presumably forming disulfide bonds. The molecule comprises two consecutive domains which are homologous to each other, to the second domain of the basic protease inhibitor from Red Sea turtle (chelonianin) and to both domains of the whey proteins of rat and mouse. Both domains contain a pattern of cysteines known as the 'four-disulfide-core' that has also been found in wheat germ agglutinin and neurophysin.

Amino Acid Sequence

The primary structure of bdellin B-3 from the leech Hirudo medicinalis. Bdellin B-3 is a compact proteinase inhibitor of a "non-classical" Kazal type. It is present in the leech in a high molecular mass form.

A proteinase inhibitor was isolated from extracts of the leech Hirudo medicinalis by gel filtration and anion exchange chromatography. This inhibitor is similar to the bdellins in that it blocks the activity of trypsin, plasmin and sperm acrosin but has a molecular mass, as estimated by SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis, of about 20 kDa, whereas the bdellins have molecular masses in the range 5-6 kDa. It is therefore designated as high-molecular mass bdellin B-3 (HMB). The amino-acid sequence of the inhibitor was elucidated as far as position 56. This revealed that the molecule consists of a bdellin B-3 moiety, corresponding to the N-terminal 46 residues, which is then extended at the C-terminus by a polypeptide chain of the composition Asx15, Glx25, Gly6, Val, His26-27 and Lys4. It has been formerly concluded from a partial amino-acid sequence that bdellin B-3 is a Kazal-type inhibitor. However, the complete sequence of bdellin B-3, represented by the N-terminal 46 residues of HMB, discloses that bdellin B-3 is a non-classical Kazal-type inhibitor when the number of amino-acid residues between half-cystines are considered. Presuming that formation of disulfide bridges principally follows the same pattern as in classical Kazal-type inhibitors the bdellin B-3 molecule was modeled based on the known three-dimensional structure of the third ovomucoid domains. This showed that a compact arrangement of the peptide chain of bdellin B-3 is conceivable.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence

Isolation and characterization of hirudin isoinhibitors and sequence analysis of hirudin PA.

A five-step isolation procedure has been developed for the purification of isoforms of hirudin (isohirudins) from whole leeches. The final purification of two thrombin-inhibiting preparations by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography yielded several isohirudins with either N-terminal valine or isoleucine but with identical inhibition characteristics, i.e. specific thrombin inhibiting activities of 680-720 IU/mg and dissociation constants Ki of the thrombin-inhibitor complexes close to 3 X 10(-11) mol/l. The inhibitor with N-terminal isoleucine was designated hirudin PA. This inhibitor contains 66 amino-acid residues and has a molecular mass of 7,087 Da. The complete amino-acid sequence of hirudin PA was established by automated solid-phase Edman degradation of the native and oxidized inhibitor and two of its tryptic fragments. On the basis of the primary structures two types of thrombin inhibitors from the leech can be distinguished, designated hirudin and hirudin PA. The degree of structural homology of both isoinhibitors is approximately 82%; both have a tyrosine-O-sulfate residue near the C-terminus.

Amino Acid Sequence

Amino-acid sequence of ammodytoxin B partially reveals the location of the site of toxicity of ammodytoxins.

The complete amino-acid sequence of ammodytoxin B, a presynaptically toxic phospholipase A2 isolated from Vipera ammodytes ammodytes venom, was determined by manual and automated protein sequencing. Ammodytoxin B (i.v. LD50 = 0.58 mg/kg for white mice) is 30-fold less toxic than ammodytoxin A, the most toxic phospholipase isolated from the same venom. The two proteins (each 122 residues long) differ in only 3 residues located in positions 115, 118 and 119 (numbering according to R. Renetseder et al. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 11627-11634) suggesting that an exposed hydrophobic residue in position 115 and a basic residue in position 118 may be responsible for the increased toxicity of ammodytoxin A and should form at least one part of the site of toxicity in ammodytoxins.

Amino Acid Sequence