[Carboxypeptidases from the exocarp of mandarin orange (Citrus Unshiu Marc.). I. Purification and properties of two carboxypeptidases (author's transl)].
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Carboxypeptidase A and carboxypeptidase B activities from the midgut of Trichoplusia ni larvae were characterized. In the T. ni larval midgut, the primary digestive carboxypeptidase activity was attributed to carboxypeptidase A, which was eight times more active than carboxypeptidase B. Both the midgut carboxypeptidase A and carboxypeptidase B exhibited maximal activities at pH 8.0-8.5 and were similarly susceptible to inhibition by potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor and phenanthroline. The midgut carboxypeptidase activities were analyzed in T. ni larvae fed on various diet sources and the results indicated that midgut carboxypeptidase activities per milligram of gut were similar regardless of the amount of dietary proteins or amino acids. However, midgut carboxypeptidase A activity was significantly higher in larvae exposed to soybean trypsin inhibitor and was significantly lower in larvae fed on broccoli foliage. From the T. ni larval midgut, five putative carboxypeptidase cDNAs were cloned, demonstrating that midgut carboxypeptidase activities are composed of multiple carboxypeptidase types. Sequence analysis indicated that the midgut carboxypeptidases were produced as secreted proenzymes which could be activated after removal of an N-terminal activation fragment by a trypsin. Two cloned cDNAs are predicted to code for carboxypeptidase A and one cDNA is predicted to code for a putative carboxypeptidase B. The other two cDNAs are highly similar to carboxypeptidase A and carboxypeptidase B in sequences, but their activity was not predictable.
A carboxypeptidase activity was recently identified in highly purified human lung mast cells and dispersed mast cells from skin. Using affinity chromatography with potato-tuber carboxypeptidase inhibitor as ligand, mast cell carboxypeptidase was purified to homogeneity from whole skin extracts. The purified enzyme yielded a single staining band of approximately 34,500 D on SDS-PAGE. Carboxypeptidase enzyme content estimated by determination of specific activity, was 0.5, 5, and 16 micrograms/10(6) mast cells from neonatal foreskin, adult facial skin, and adult foreskin, respectively. Human mast cell carboxypeptidase resembled bovine carboxypeptidase A with respect to hydrolysis of synthetic dipeptides and angiotensin I, but was distinguished from carboxypeptidase A in its inability to hydrolyze des-Arg9 bradykinin. The amino acid composition of human mast cell carboxypeptidase was similar to the composition of rat mast cell carboxypeptidase. The amino-terminal amino acid sequence of mast cell carboxypeptidase demonstrated 65% positional identity with human pancreatic carboxypeptidase B, but only 19% with human carboxypeptidase A. Thus, human mast cell carboxypeptidase is a novel member of the protein family of zinc-containing carboxypeptidases, in that it is functionally similar but not identical to bovine carboxypeptidase A, but has structural similarity to bovine and human pancreatic carboxypeptidase B.
Using synthetic substrates we have characterised carboxypeptidase activity in gut extracts from Helicoverpa armigera larvae. Carboxypeptidase A activity predominates, with only low levels of carboxypeptidase B activity present. Maximum carboxypeptidase A activity occurs over a broad pH range and is inhibited by phenanthroline and potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor. A cDNA clone encoding carboxypeptidase (the first such sequence from a lepidopteran insect) was isolated from a larval gut library. The sequence predicts a secreted polypeptide of Mr 46.6 k with homology to metallocarboxypeptidases from mammalian and invertebrate species. The presence of a serine residue at the active site suggests carboxypeptidase A activity. To further characterise the gene product, the complete cDNA sequence was expressed in insect cells using the baculovirus system. Culture supernatant from these cells contained carboxypeptidase A activity, with no activity against a carboxypeptidase B substrate; the carboxypeptidase B activity in gut extracts must thus be due to a separate enzyme. In agreement with this conclusion, the expressed carboxypeptidase cDNA is a member of a small multigene family. Chronic ingestion of soybean Kunitz trypsin inhibitor by H. armigera larvae results in increased accumulation of carboxypeptidase mRNA in the midgut cells, and an increase in carboxypeptidase A activity detected in gut extract.
Recent amino acid sequence data suggest that trypsin-like and carboxypeptidase B-like activities are required for the processing of pituitary prohormones--e.g., pro-opiocortin (pro-adrenocorticotropin/lipotropin) and provasopressin in secretory granules. In this study the existence of a carboxypeptidase B activity in purified secretory granules from anterior, intermediate, and neural lobes of rat pituitary has been examined. A carboxypeptidase B activity that cleaved the COOH-terminal -Lys-Lys-Arg residues from the adrenocorticotropin fragment ACTH-(1-17) (a potential hormone product liberated from pro-opiocortin by a trypsin-like enzyme) was detected in anterior and intermediate lobe granules. A similar carboxypeptidase B activity was also present in purified secretory granules from rat pituitary neural lobes that cleaved the -Lys-Arg residues from [Arg8]vasopressin-Gly-Lys-Arg, a potential product cleaved from provasopressin. Secretory granule carboxypeptidase(s) from the three lobes of the pituitary was shown to cleave 125I-[Met]enkephalin-Arg6 to form 125I-[Met]enkephalin as well. 125I-[Met]Enkephalin was used as a model substrate for the quantitative assay of pituitary carboxypeptidase activity. The carboxypeptidase B in secretory granules from all three lobes was shown to be active at pH 5.5, but not at pH 7.4. Inhibition by the zinc metallocarboxypeptidase inhibitors guanidinopropylsuccinic acid, aminomercaptosuccinic acid, benzylsuccinic acid, 2-mercaptomethyl-3-guanidinoethylthiopropanoic acid, and the potato carboxypeptidase B inhibitor, and inhibition by the metal chelators EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline demonstrate metal ion dependence of the pituitary granule carboxypeptidase activities. However, Co2+ stimulated the secretory granule carboxypeptidase B activities. Thiol protease inhibitors such as Cu2+ and p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid also inhibited the activity. Thus, the secretory granule carboxypeptidase B-like activities in all three lobes of the pituitary appear to be similar thiol-metallopeptidases that differ from other carboxypeptidase activities previously described and may play an exclusive role in hormone biosynthesis in the pituitary.
Several cDNA clones encoding either serine carboxypeptidases or related proteins of Oryza sativa L. were identified, and the abundance of the corresponding mRNA in immature and germinated grains was examined. The deduced amino acid sequence of each cDNA included key sequences, such as a pentapeptide (G-X-S-X-G/A) that is conserved among many serine carboxypeptidases, and the putative protein products were classified as two general and one novel type of cereal serine carboxypeptidases. Two general types exhibited considerable homology to type I and type III carboxypeptidases of cereal plants. The novel type encoded a serine carboxypeptidase-like protein that was very similar to type III carboxypeptidases of barley and wheat but had slight differences in both the N- and the C-terminal sequences. The mRNAs of each of these carboxypeptidases were observed in immature grains, and they decreased during maturation. The abundance of mRNA for each class of carboxypeptidase increased again following germination with the same time course and in a tissue-specific manner. The mRNAs for type I and type III-like carboxypeptidases were abundant in germinated embryos composed of leaf, root, and scutellum, whereas the mRNA for type III carboxypeptidase was conspicuous in endosperm that contained the aleurone layer. Altered amounts of mRNA in deembryonated half-grains in response to phytohormones, such as gibberellic acid and abscisic acid, were only detectable in the case of type III carboxypeptidase. Southern blot analysis using rice genomic DNA revealed the simple organization of each gene for these three classes of carboxypeptidases.
The crystal structure of carboxypeptidase T from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris has been determined at 0.235-nm resolution by X-ray diffraction. Carboxypeptidase T is a remote homologue of mammalian Zn-carboxypeptidases. In spite of the low degree of amino acid sequence identity, the three-dimensional structure of carboxypeptidase T is very similar to that of pancreatic carboxypeptidases A and B. The core of the protein molecule is formed by an eight-stranded mixed beta sheet. The active site is located at the C-edge of the central (parallel) part of the beta sheet. The structural organization of the active centre appears to be essentially the same in the three carboxypeptidases. Amino acid residues directly involved in catalysis and binding of the C-terminal carboxyl of a substrate are strictly conserved. This suggests that the catalytic mechanism proposed for the pancreatic enzymes is applicable to carboxypeptidase T and to the whole family of Zn-carboxypeptidases. Comparison of the amino acid replacements at the primary specificity pocket of carboxypeptidases A, B and T provides an explanation of the unusual 'A+B' type of specificity of carboxypeptidase T. Four calcium-binding sites localized in the crystal structure of carboxypeptidase T could account for the high thermostability of the protein.
The aims of our study were to evaluate the plasma carboxypeptidase N activity in normal subjects and in patients with acute myocardial infarction and to delineate its relationship with creatine kinase-MB isoforms in monitoring of acute myocardial infarction, carboxypeptidase N being the major determinant of creatine kinase isoform conversion in plasma. The study was carried out in 34 healthy subjects and 19 patients with acute myocardial infarction diagnosed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria in which the blood samples were collected immediately upon admission to the coronary care unit (median time 3.5 hours), every 4 to 6 hours for 24 hours, and every 12 hours until the third day post admission. Carboxypeptidase N activity, total creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB mass concentration and creatine kinase-MB isoforms were determined in each sample from acute myocardial infarction patients, whereas only carboxypeptidase N and total creatine kinase activities were assayed in samples from healthy subjects. The results showed a high variability in carboxypeptidase N values among healthy subjects (median = 200 U/l; interquartile range = 190-247 U/l) and in the first available samples from acute myocardial infarction patients (median = 213 U/l; interquartile range = 234 U/l) without significant differences between groups and without a correlation between carboxypeptidase N and creatine activities either in healthy subjects or in acute myocardial infarction patients; in the latter group, however, a significant correlation (p < 0.01) with creatine kinase-MB calculated on all samples, was observed. In acute myocardial infarction patients carboxypeptidase N showed time-related variations, reaching the highest levels about 48 h after onset of chest pain. A statistically significant difference in carboxypeptidase N values (p = 0.0001) was found before and after creatine kinase-MB peak values as well as before and after MB2/MB1 normalization. Worthy of note is the finding that in two acute myocardial infarction patients presenting MB2/MB1 ratios lower than the cutoff value (1.5) throughout the period of observation, the baseline values for carboxypeptidase N were higher than in other patients studied. Our results suggest that the increase of carboxypeptidase N activity after infarction could be induced by an increase in endogenous substrate concentrations, in particular creatine kinase-MB released from damaged myocardium. Furthermore, high baseline levels of carboxypeptidase N will reduce the diagnosis efficiency of creatine kinase-MB isoforms in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.
Extracts of resting and germinating (3 days at 20 degrees C) wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Ruso) grains rapidly hydrolyzed various benzyloxycarbonyldipeptides (Z-dipeptides) at pH 4 to 6. Similar activities were present in extracts of mature flag leaves. Fractionation by chromatography on CM-cellulose and on Sephadex G-200 showed that the activities in germinating grains were due to five acid carboxypeptidases with different and complementary substrate specificities. The wheat enzymes appeared to correspond to the five acid carboxypeptidases present in germinating barley (L Mikola 1983 Biochim Biophys Acta 747: 241-252). The enzymes were designated wheat carboxypeptidases I to V and their best or most characteristic substrates and approximate molecular weights were: I, Z-Phe-Ala, 120,000; II, Z-Ala-Arg, 120,000; III, Z-Ala-Phe, 40,000; IV, Z-Pro-Ala, 165,000; and V, Z-Pro-Ala, 150,000. Resting grains contained carboxypeptidase II as a series of three isoenzymes and low activities of carboxypeptidases IV and V. During germination the activity of carboxypeptidase II decreased, those of carboxypeptidases IV and V increased, and high activities of carboxypeptidases I and III appeared. The flag leaves contained high activity of carboxypeptidase I and lower activities of carboxypeptidases II, IV, and V, whereas carboxypeptidase III was absent.
A carboxypeptidase capable of cleaving basic amino acids from synthetic peptide substrates is present in fresh human serum, and not in human heparinized plasma. Its activity is generated during the process of coagulation. Because of its unstability at room temperature and at 37 degrees C, we named it unstable carboxypeptidase (carboxypeptidase U). Carboxypeptidase U was partially purified from fresh human serum by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and Mono-Q sepharose and was found to be a 435 kDa protein. We compared this enzyme with carboxypeptidase N, purified from human serum by a two-step affinity chromatography on arginine-Sepharose 4B, followed by ion-exchange chromatography on Mono-Q sepharose. Carboxypeptidase U cleaves hippuryl-L-arginine and hippuryl-L-lysine, but at a different relative rate than carboxypeptidase N, and has no esterase activity on hippuryl-L-argininic acid. Its activity was inhibited by o-phenanthroline, DL-2-mercaptomethyl-3-guanidinoethylthiopropanoic acid, CoCl2, 2-mercaptoethanol, dithiothreitol and 4-chloromercuribenzoic acid. These characteristics differentiate carboxypeptidase U from carboxypeptidase N and other known carboxypeptidases.
BACKGROUND: An inducible carboxypeptidase activity in human plasma delays tissue-type plasminogen activator (TPA)-induced clot lysis in vitro. We investigated whether carboxypeptidase activity is induced in vivo during thrombosis and thrombolytic therapy in a canine model of myocardial infarction. METHODS AND RESULTS: By use of synthetic substrate assays, dog plasma was shown to contain an inducible carboxypeptidase activity that is efficiently inhibited by potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor. This inhibitor accelerates TPA-mediated clot lysis in vitro by an average of 27% (n = 5, P = .046). Analysis of the inducible carboxypeptidase activity in plasma samples of dogs with electrically induced thrombosis of the circumflex coronary artery treated with TPA revealed that (1) inducible carboxypeptidase activity is increased during thrombosis (8.7 +/- 2.0 U/L, P < .013) and thrombolytic therapy (9.9 +/- 1.8 U/L, P < .024) compared with baseline (3.2 +/- 2.0 U/L); (2) thrombosis is a prerequisite of carboxypeptidase induction during and after TPA infusion, since carboxypeptidase levels were lower in dogs without a coronary thrombus; and (3) a significant positive correlation (r = .6, P < .0069) of carboxypeptidase activity with time to restoration of blood flow was observed. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that carboxypeptidase activity is induced in vivo and may influence thrombolysis.
Catalytically inactive, exchange-inert Co(III)-carboxypeptidase A has been prepared by reaction of Co(II)-carboxypeptidase A with the active-site-directed oxidizing agent m-chloroperbenzoic acid. Co(III)-carboxypeptidase A, isolated by affinity gel filtration chromatography, has the same amino acid composition and molecular weight as the starting material and contains 0.95 g-atom/mol of cobalt and 0.01 g-atom/mol of zinc. Its electron paramagnetic resonance, circular dichroic, magnetic circular dichroic, and visible absorption spectra are consistent with those of octahedral Co(III) model complexes. Co(III)-caboxypeptidase A is essentially devoid of catalytic activity toward both peptide and ester substrates of the native enzyme, and stopped-flow fluorescence studies with dansylated substrates show that it binds peptides, but not esters. Furthermore, the protein does not react with either type of substrate to yield a single turnover. The implications of these findings to the mechanism of action of carboxypeptidase A are discussed in the light of the "metal-carbonyl" and "metal-hydroxide" hypotheses. Since Co(III)-carboxypeptidase A does not bind esters, inner-sphere coordination to the metal appears to be necessary for ester binding. All attempts to prepare Co(III)-carboxypeptidase A by treatment of Co(II)-carboxypeptidase A with hydrogen peroxide according to previously published procedures (Kang, E.P., Storm, C.B., & Carson, F.W. (1975) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 97, 6723) have been unsuccessful, and the present results do not confirm earlier reports that Co(III)-carboxypeptidase A exhibits esterase activity or that its activity is dependent on the method of preparation of the precursor Co(II)-carboxypeptidase A (Jones, M.M., Hunt, J.B., Storm, C.B., Evans, P.S., Carson, F.W. & Pauli, W.J. (1977) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 75, 253). These findings call for a reexamination of mechanistic conclusions based on the assumption that Co(III)-carboxypeptidase A is an active esterase.
Human cathepsin A ("lysosomal protective protein"; E.C.3.4.16.5) is a multifunctional lysosomal protein which forms a high-molecular-weight complex with beta-galactosidase and alpha-neuraminidase, protecting them against intralysosomal proteolysis. In addition to this protective function, cathepsin A is a serine carboxypeptidase and the understanding of its catalytic function requires a definition of its substrate specificity. For this purpose, we used a combined experimental [Pshezhetsky, A. V., Vinogradova, M. V., Elsliger, M.-A., El-Zein, F., Svedas, V.K., & Potier, M. (1995) Anal. Biochem. 230, 303-307] and theoretical approach comparing cathepsin A to two different homologous carboxypeptidases of the same family: yeast carboxypeptidase Y and wheat carboxypeptidase II. We computed the energies involved in substrate binding to the S1' subsite (C-terminal) of cathepsin A using a structural model based on the X-ray structure of the homologous wheat carboxypeptidase II. The binding energies of N-blocked Phe-Xaa dipeptide substrates to the active sites of cathepsin A, wheat carboxypeptidase II, and yeast carboxypeptidase Y were estimated using a molecular mechanics force field supplemented with a solvation energy term. This theoretical analysis showed a good correlation with the experimentally determined free energies of substrate binding. This result validates the use of this approach to analyze the energetics of substrate binding to the S1' subsite and provides a rational interpretation of serine carboxypeptidase-substrate interactions in molecular terms. We conclude that the three serine carboxypeptidases have similar affinities for substrates with hydrophobic P1' amino acid residues but that the wheat enzyme has an additional capacity for binding positively charged P1' residues. Finally, the substrate specificity of human cathepsin A is very similar to that of carboxypeptidase Y, with a high binding affinity for substrates with hydrophobic P1' residues, but the affinity of cathepsin A for P1; Phe residue is higher than for the Leu residue.
Carboxypeptidases were purified from guts of larvae of corn earworm (Helicoverpa armigera), a lepidopteran crop pest, by affinity chromatography on immobilized potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor, and characterized by N-terminal sequencing. A larval gut cDNA library was screened using probes based on these protein sequences. cDNA HaCA42 encoded a carboxypeptidase with sequence similarity to enzymes of clan MC [Barrett, A. J., Rawlings, N. D. & Woessner, J. F. (1998) Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes. Academic Press, London.], but with a novel predicted specificity towards C-terminal acidic residues. This carboxypeptidase was expressed as a recombinant proprotein in the yeast Pichia pastoris. The expressed protein could be activated by treatment with bovine trypsin; degradation of bound pro-region, rather than cleavage of pro-region from mature protein, was the rate-limiting step in activation. Activated HaCA42 carboxypeptidase hydrolysed a synthetic substrate for glutamate carboxypeptidases (FAEE, C-terminal Glu), but did not hydrolyse substrates for carboxypeptidase A or B (FAPP or FAAK, C-terminal Phe or Lys) or methotrexate, cleaved by clan MH glutamate carboxypeptidases. The enzyme was highly specific for C-terminal glutamate in peptide substrates, with slow hydrolysis of C-terminal aspartate also observed. Glutamate carboxypeptidase activity was present in larval gut extract from H. armigera. The HaCA42 protein is the first glutamate-specific metallocarboxypeptidase from clan MC to be identified and characterized. The genome of Drosophila melanogaster contains genes encoding enzymes with similar sequences and predicted specificity, and a cDNA encoding a similar enzyme has been isolated from gut tissue in tsetse fly. We suggest that digestive carboxypeptidases with sequence similarity to the classical mammalian enzymes, but with specificity towards C-terminal glutamate, are widely distributed in insects.