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Hormone-induced modification of EGF receptor proteolysis in the induction of EGF action.

A proposal that EGF action is mediated through enhanced internalization of EGF receptors is modified to account for more recent evidence. EGF receptors turn over at a rapid rate, and the maintenance of a steady state of EGF receptors on the cell surface is provided through a rapid synthesis of EGF receptors, balancing their removal. This rapid turnover of unoccupied receptors may arise through their internalization and proteolysis in the lysosomes, in much the same way as receptors are internalized and degraded when exposed to EGF, which enhances internalization. This provides a dilemmma for the endocytic activation concept, since slight enhancement of receptor internalization gives rise to a strong hormone response. This problem may be solved by the observation that EGF induces a change in its receptor, exposing an otherwise unavailable site for proteolytic cleavage. This hormone-dependent modification of receptors may be the critical step in the induction of responses to EGF and other hormones that are internalized with their receptors. Both platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) are shown to down-regulate EGF receptors, though transiently, placing still more stringent requirements on the specificity by which hormones might act through endocytic activation of their receptors.

Animals↗

Proteolytic 18O-labeling strategies for quantitative proteomics.

A number of proteomic techniques have been developed to quantify proteins in biological systems. This review focuses on the quantitative proteomic technique known as "proteolytic 18O-labeling." This technique utilizes a protease and H(2)18O to produce labeled peptides, with subsequent chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis to identify and quantify (relative) the proteins from which the peptides originated. The technique determines the ratio of individual protein's expression level between two samples relative to each other, and can be used to quantitatively examine protein expression (comparative proteomics) and post-translational modifications, and to study protein-protein interactions. The present review discusses various aspects of the 18O-labeling technique, including: its history, the advantages and disadvantages of the proteolytic 18O-labeling technique compared to other techniques, enzymatic considerations, the problem of variable incorporation of 18O atoms into peptides with a discussion on recent advancements of the technique to overcome it, computational tools to interpret the data, and a review of the biological applications.

Gene Expression Profiling↗

A combination of different mass spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of dynamic changes of histone modifications.

The N-terminal tails of the histones are subject to many enzyme-mediated post-translational modifications, such as lysine acetylation, lysine and arginine methylation, serine phosphorylation, poly-ADP ribosylation and the attachment of the small peptide ubiquitin. These modifications, singly or in combination, are thought to generate an epigenetic code that specifies different patterns of gene activity. We present a detailed study on the mapping of histone post-translational modifications using a combination of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry analysis of peptides generated by protease cleavage of individual histones isolated from different developmental stages. Due to their high content in basic amino acid residues and in order to be able to quantitatively compare two different samples we developed a chemical derivatization protocol. This strategy enabled us to determine the primary sequence of the peptides and to unambiguously assign specific modifications. This method is generally applicable to histone samples from various sources and can be used to study changes of modification patterns during early embryonic development or tissue differentiation and regeneration.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Challenges in mass spectrometry-based proteomics.

During the last decade, protein analysis and proteomics have been established as new tools for understanding various biological problems. As the identification of proteins after classical separation techniques, such as two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, have become standard methods, new challenges arise in the field of proteomics. The development of "functional proteomics" combines functional characterization, like regulation, localization and modification, with the identification of proteins for deeper insight into cellular functions. Therefore, different mass spectrometric techniques for the analysis of post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation and glycosylation, have been established as well as isolation and separation methods for the analysis of highly complex samples, e.g. protein complexes or cell organelles. Furthermore, quantification of protein levels within cells is becoming a focus of interest as mass spectrometric methods for relative or even absolute quantification have currently not been available. Protein or genome databases have been an essential part of protein identification up to now. Thus, de novo sequencing offers new possibilities in protein analytical studies of organisms not yet completely sequenced. The intention of this review is to provide a short overview about the current capabilities of protein analysis when addressing various biological problems.

Algorithms↗

Proteomic analysis revealed a strong association of a high level of alpha1-antitrypsin in gastric juice with gastric cancer.

To investigate the pathology of gastric disorders, we compared the proteomic patterns of gastric juice from patients with various gastric disorders. In healthy subjects pepsin A, pepsin B and gastric lipase were the major proteins detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. These digestive enzymes were not detected in 60% of gastric cancer cases (18 out of 30 analyzed cases). Interestingly, an extraordinary amount of alpha(1)-antitrypsin was observed in these cases. In contrast to gastric cancer cases, alpha(1)-antitrypsin was detected in only 5% of patients (three out of 56) with chronic atrophic gastritis, and the detection frequency went up as the disease developed (one of four intestinal metaplasia cases, two of seven tubular adenoma cases, a single examined case of hyperplastic polyp and 60% of gastric cancer). Zymography showed that a 60 kDa protease strongly associated with alpha(1)-antitrypsin and mass spectrometric analysis revealed that the gastric alpha(1)-antitrypsin was a protease-cleaved form. Our data suggest that alpha(1)-antitrypsin and 60 kDa protease may serve as good diagnostic and prognostic markers for conditions associated with gastric cancer.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Intermittent administration of morphine alters protein expression in rat nucleus accumbens.

Repeated exposure to drugs of abuse causes time-dependent neuroadaptive changes in the mesocorticolimbic system of the brain that are considered to underlie the expression of major behavioral characteristics of drug addiction. We used a 2-D gel-based proteomics approach to examine morphine-induced temporal changes in protein expression and/or PTM in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of morphine-sensitized rats. Rats were pretreated with saline [1 mL/kg subcutaneously (s.c.)] or morphine (10 mg/kg, s.c.) once daily for 14 days and the animals were decapitated 1 day later. The NAc was extracted and proteins resolved by 2-DE. Several protein functional groups were found to be regulated in the morphine-treated group, representing cytoskeletal proteins, proteins involved in neurotransmission, enzymes involved in energy metabolism and protein degradation, and a protein that regulates translation.

Animals↗

A broad-spectrum fluorescence-based peptide library for the rapid identification of protease substrates.

Identification of peptide substrates for proteases can be a major undertaking. To overcome issues such as feasibility and deconvolution, associated with large peptide libraries, a 'small but smart' generic fluorescence resonance energy transfer rapid endopeptidase profiling library (REPLi) was synthesised as a tool for rapidly identifying protease substrates. Within a tripeptide core, flanked by Gly residues, similar amino acids were paired giving rise to a relatively small library of 3375 peptides divided into 512 distinct pools each containing only 8 peptides. The REPLi was validated with trypsin, pepsin, the matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-12 and MMP-13 and calpains-1 and -2. In the case of calpain-2, a single iteration step involving LC-MS, provided the definitive residue specificity from which a highly sensitive fluorogenic substrate, (FAM)-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gln-Leu-Tyr-Gly-Gly-DPA-Arg-Arg-Lys-(TAMRA), was then designed. The thorough validation of this 'small but smart' peptide library with representatives from each of the four mechanistic protease classes indicates that the REPLi will be useful for the rapid identification of substrates for multiple proteases.

Calpain↗

A proteomic approach to verify in vivo expression of a novel gamma-gliadin containing an extra cysteine residue.

Gliadins and glutenins are the main protein fractions present in wheat gluten. They are responsible for technological and nutritional quality of wheat based products. In particular, glutenins are mainly responsible for dough visco-elastic properties, whereas gliadins confer extensibility to dough and are the most important factor triggering celiac disease, the major human intolerance to gluten. Gliadins are monomeric proteins, whereas glutenins are polymers stabilized by disulfide bonds. Although they have distinctive structural characteristics, it is possible that some gliadins become part of the glutenin fraction because of mutations that affect cysteine number and distribution. Here, we provide evidence that a naturally mutated gamma-gliadin with an extra cysteine residue is incorporated into the polymeric fraction. This goal was achieved using an integrated approach involving heterologous expression, 2-DE, RP-HPLC and MS.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Ligand profiling and identification technology for searching bioactive ligands.

We introduce a new methodology named ligand profiling and identification for effective discovery of bioactive ligands such as peptide hormones. This technology was developed from a new concept of parallel column chromatography and active fraction profiling by nano-LC MS. Traditional methods use sequential column chromatography, and thus are inevitably limited by the low abundance of the peptide of interest and by a low yield due to the many column steps. Using this new technology, insulin was successfully identified and diarginylinsulin, a minor intermediate form of insulin, was unexpectedly also identified simultaneously from 100 mg of porcine pancreatic tissue. This integrative technology could be used to search for various low-abundance peptides (or bioactive molecules) rapidly and simultaneously, by applying this to the later stages of traditional sequential purification.

Animals↗

Flexibility of prolyl oligopeptidase: molecular dynamics and molecular framework analysis of the potential substrate pathways.

The flexibility of prolyl oligopeptidase has been investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) and molecular framework approaches to delineate the route of the substrate to the active site. The selectivity of the enzyme is mediated by a seven-bladed beta-propeller that in the crystal structure does not indicate the possible passage for the substrate to the catalytic center. Its open topology however, could allow the blades to move apart and let the substrate into the large central cavity. Flexibility analysis of prolyl oligopeptidase structure using the FIRST (Floppy Inclusion and Rigid Substructure Topology) approach and the atomic fluctuations derived from MD simulations demonstrated the rigidity of the propeller domain, which does not permit the substrate to approach the active site through this domain. Instead, a smaller tunnel at the inter-domain region comprising the highly flexible N-terminal segment of the peptidase domain and a facing hydrophilic loop from the propeller (residues 192-205) was identified by cross-correlation analysis and essential dynamics as the only potential pathway for the substrate. The functional importance of the flexible loop has been also verified by kinetic analysis of the enzyme with a split loop. Catalytic effect of engineered disulfide bridges was rationalized by characterizing the concerted motions of the two domains.

Animals↗

Analysis of novel angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides from protease-hydrolyzed marine shrimp Acetes chinensis.

Acetes chinensis is an underutilized shrimp species thriving in the Bo Hai Gulf of China. In a previous study, we had used the protease from Bacillus sp. SM98011 to digest this kind of shrimp and found that the oligopeptide-enriched hydrolysate possessed antioxidant activity and high angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 0.97 mg/ml. In this paper, by ultrafiltration, gel permeation chromatography and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), five peptides with high ACE inhibitory activity were purified from the shrimp hydrolysates and their sequences were identified by amino acid composition analysis and molecular weight (MW) analysis. Three of them, FCVLRP (a), IFVPAF (f) and KPPETV (j), were novel ACE inhibitory peptides. Their IC50 values were 12.3 microM, 3.4 microM and 24.1 microM, respectively, and their recoveries were 30 mg/100 g (solid basis of shrimp), 19 mg/100 g and 33 mg/100 g, respectively. Lineweaver-Burk plots for the three novel peptides showed that they are all competitive inhibitors. To test the ACE inhibitory activity of peptide a, f, j after they were digested by digestive enzymes in vivo, 12 derived peptides from FCVLRP and IFVPAF were synthesized based on their amino acid sequences and the cleavage sites of digestive enzymes. No digestive enzyme cleavage site was found in KPPETV. The IC50 values of the derived peptides were determined and the result showed that except for VPAF, FC and FCVL, the ACE inhibitory activity of the other nine derived peptides did not significantly change when compared with their original peptides. Surprisingly, five peptides had lower IC50 values than their original peptides, particularly for RP (IC50 value = 0.39 microM), which is about 30 times lower than its original peptide and almost the lowest IC50 value for ACE inhibitory peptides reported. Therefore, the novel peptides identified from A. chinensis hydrolysates probably still maintain a high ACE inhibitory activity even if they are digested in vivo. This is the first report about novel ACE inhibitory peptides from hydrolysates of marine shrimp A. chinensis. The novel peptides from hydrolysate of A. chinensis and some of their derived peptides with high ACE inhibitory activity probably have potential in the treatment of hypertension or in clinical nutrition.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors↗

Screening for proteolytic activities in snake venom by means of a multiplexing electrospray ionization mass spectrometry assay scheme.

A multiplexed mass spectrometry based assay scheme for the simultaneous determination of five different substrate/product pairs was developed as a tool for screening of proteolytic activities in snake venom fractions from Bothrops moojeni. The assay scheme was employed in the functional characterization of eight model proteases. Time-resolved reaction profiles were generated and the relative reaction progress at each time point was determined. These were used to semi-quantitatively sort the catalytic activities of each enzyme towards the respective substrates into six classes. The resulting activity pattern served as an activity fingerprint for each enzyme. The multiplex assay scheme was then applied to a screening for proteolytic activities in fractions of the pre-separated venom from B. moojeni. Activity patterns of each fraction were generated and used to sort the fractions into three different categories of activity. By comparison of the fingerprint activity patterns of the venom fractions and the model enzymes, a compound with proteolytic properties similar to activated protein C was detected.

Animals↗

The multicatalytic proteinase (proteasome) of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta: catalytic properties and immunological comparison with the lobster enzyme complex.

The proteasome plays a central role in ubiquitin-dependent and -independent proteolysis in eukaryotic cells. The hawkmoth proteasome was purified from larval body wall and characterized with respect to substrate specificity, sensitivity to protease inhibitors, and cross-reactivity with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) raised against human placenta proteasome. Leupeptin selectively inhibited the trypsin-like activity (T-L) and N-ethylmaleimide inhibited both T-L and chymotrypsin-like activities, whereas 0.02% sodium dodecyl sulfate stimulated the peptidylglutamyl peptide hydrolase, branched-chain amino acid preferring, and caseinolytic activities 20-, 18-, and 3.8-fold, respectively. All four peptidase activities were inhibited by 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin. One-dimensional immunoblot analysis showed that the level and subunit composition of the proteasome varied between tissues. The relative levels of proteasome were high in intersegmental muscle and ovary, lower in Malpighian tubule, male accessory gland, and ventral nerve cord, and lowest in flight muscle and fat body. The tissues differed in the relative amount of a 41-kDa doublet; a 22-kDa subunit was present only in the male accessory gland. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the hawkmoth proteasome contained at least 26 subunits, compared with 28 subunits in lobster. Immunological analysis using four subunit-specific mAbs identified the putative homologs of the human zeta, C2, C3, and C8 alpha-type subunits in the hawkmoth and lobster enzymes. Two of the four mAbs reacted with three or more of the hawkmoth subunits and three of the mAbs reacted with two or more of the lobster subunits. In addition, two other mAbs that recognize epitopes shared by a number of alpha-type subunits indicated that at least 15 (lobster) or 16 (hawkmoth) subunits were alpha-type. These results suggest that much of the subunit complexity of the arthropod proteasomes is a consequence of extensive post-translational modifications.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Differential effects of bovine PA28 on six peptidase activities of the lobster muscle proteasome (multicatalytic proteinase).

PA28, an endogenous activator of the bovine proteasome, stimulated the branched-chain amino acid-preferring (BrAAP; 99-fold activation), small-neutral amino acid-preferring (11-fold), acidic chymotrypsin-like (26-fold), and peptidylglutamyl peptide hydrolase (14-fold) activities of the lobster muscle proteasome, while having little or no effect on the trypsin-like, neutral chymotrypsin-like, and caseinolytic activities. These results show that the BrAAP activity, which has been linked to the degradation of myofibrillar proteins by the heat-activated proteasome, is allosterically regulated. However, the activation by PA28 differs from that induced by heat treatment, since heat activation stimulated both the BrAAP and the proteolytic activities but not the other peptidase activities. PA28 shifted the pH optimum of the acidic chymotrypsin-like activity from pH 6-6.5 to pH 7-7.5, while stimulating the activity about 10-fold. These results suggest that PA28 is involved in the activation of the acidic chymotrypsin-like component at physiological pH.

Amino Acids↗

Radiolabeled biotinyl peptides as useful reagents for the study of proteolytic enzymes.

A radiometric assay for studying the proteolytic activity of endopeptidases using a radiolabeled biotinyl peptide substrate is described. The method relies on the use of a peptidyl substrate incorporating susceptible bonds located between a biotinyl group at one end and a radioiodinated group at the other end. Two tyrosine-containing peptidyl substrates, a fragment of rat plasma kallikrein and a derivative of Leu-enkephalin, were coupled to biotin by reacting with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-6-(biotinamido) hexanoate. The enzymatic activity is measured by the release into solution of the radiolabeled peptide fragment following selective retrieval, using immobilized avidin, of the biotinyl undigested substrate and the unlabeled biotinyl peptide fragment. This study illustrates that retrieval can be done either before incubation with the enzyme by immobilizing the labeled substrate onto avidin-agarose or, alternatively, after incubation by treating the resulting digest with immobilized avidin. The identity of the labeled released peptides and hence the sites of cleavage can be obtained following separation by RP-HPLC. This assay, in addition to allowing proteolysis to occur with the substrate either in solution or immobilized, is rapid, sensitive (less than 1 pg/ml of trypsin), reproducible, and applicable to the detection of members of all endopeptidase classes. Furthermore, incubation of the radiolabeled biotinyl peptide substrates with enzymes immobilized within polyacrylamide gel slices can be used to detect proteolytic activity following electrophoretic separations under denaturing or nondenaturing conditions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗