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Molecular cloning, sequence analysis and expression distribution of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) cystatin C.

Cystatin C is one of a family of proteinase inhibitors of cathepsins and other cysteine proteinases. Among warm-blooded vertebrates, small functional regions of cystatin amino acid sequences are well conserved among species, but major portions of cystatin amino acid sequences vary evolutionarily. Although considerable attention has been given to mammalian and avian cystatins, little data exist on cystatins from other vertebrates. A cDNA clone for trout cystatin C was isolated from a lambda gt11 cDNA library of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver. An apparently full-length cDNA clone of 674 bp encoding 132 amino acid residues was obtained. Sequence analysis indicated that trout cystatin C contains an N-terminal signal sequence extension of 21 amino acids and a mature sequence of 111 amino acid residues, with amino acid residues conserved in functional regions relative to mammalian and avian cystatin C. Using cloned cDNA as a probe, we investigated expression of the cystatin C gene in trout tissues, several cell lines of trout liver or liver tumor, and cell cultures of liver tumor origin. Cystatin C mRNA was in high abundance in trout embryo tissue, a tumor-derived liver cell line and some normal adult tissues. Southern hybridization analysis indicated one copy of the trout cystatin C gene per haploid genome, and sequence comparisons indicated considerable divergence in large portions of the coding region of the trout cystatin C gene relative to a variety of species.

Amino Acid Sequence

Local pH-dependent conformational changes leading to proteolytic susceptibility of cystatin C.

Cystatin C, a cysteine protease inhibitor, was subject to hydrolysis at two sites when complexed with papain and in the presence of excess papain. A pH-dependent cleavage at His-86 increases Asp-87 was observed, as well as a pH-independent one at Gly-4 increases Lys-5. His-86 increases Asp-87 hydrolysis increased with decreasing pH and was characterized kinetically. It could be described by a single ionization with pKa = 3.4 +/- 0.2 and (kcat./Km)max. = 1.4 (+/- 0.4) x 10(4) M-1.s-1 at I = 0.3 M. C.d. spectroscopy, also at I = 0.3 M, demonstrated a conformational change with pKa = 3.2 +/- 0.2, indicating that the pH-dependence of hydrolysis was due to a conformational change in cystatin C. At I = 0.15 M, the pKa of the conformational change observed by c.d. shifted to 4.1 +/- 0.1. This indicates that at physiological ionic strength of 0.15 M, a significant proportion of cystatin C complexed with protease would be in a proteolytically labile conformation over the pH range 4.5 to 5, which is encountered in lysosomes. This may constitute a mechanism for clearing inappropriately localized cystatins. A pH-dependent conformational variability in this region of the inhibitor could explain the differences in the X-ray crystallographic and n.m.r. structures of the homologous chicken cystatin. The ionic-strength dependence of ionization indicates a hydrophobic stabilization of the ionizable group. The lack of pH-dependence of hydrolysis at Gly-4 increases Lys-5, with kcat./Km = 220 +/- 41 M-1.s-1 in the pH range 3.89 to 7.96 was unexpected in light of the normal, bell-shaped pH-dependence of papain-catalysed hydrolyses. This may reflect a different rate-limiting step of cystatin C hydrolysis.

Amino Acid Sequence

The amino terminal portion of cerebrospinal fluid cystatin C in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy is not truncated: direct sequence analysis from agarose gel electropherograms.

The isolated amyloid substance in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA) is mainly composed of a cystatin C variant devoid of the 10 amino terminal amino acid residues of extracellular cystatin C from healthy individuals. We have developed a procedure for protein sequencing directly from agarose gel electropherograms and used this in conjunction with isoelectric focusing to investigate the amino terminal sequence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cystatin C in HCCAA patients. The amino-terminal sequence determined for cystatin C from a HCCAA patient CSF sample, Xaa-Ser-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Pro-Xaa-Leu-Val-Gly-Gly-Pro-Met-Xaa-Ala-Xaa-Val, showed that the protein was not amino-terminally truncated. CSF cystatin C from all nine HCCAA patients investigated was found to have an isoelectric point identical to that of native cystatin C, and the truncated form of cystatin C isolated from amyloid deposits was shown to contribute to less than 1% of the total amount of cystatin C in CSF. The total cysteine proteinase inhibitory capacity of CSF from HCCAA patients was lower than that of CSF from other patients. This decreased CSF inhibitory capacity in HCCAA patients was caused by decreased levels of cystatin C, since the levels of the other two cysteine proteinase inhibitors found in CSF, alpha 2-macroglobulin and kininogen, were significantly higher than in CSF from non-HCCAA patients.

Amino Acid Sequence

Expressions of the genes for cysteine proteinase inhibitors cystatin C and cystatin S in rat submandibular salivary gland.

Rat cystatin S and rat cystatin C are members of family 2 (cystatin) of the cystatin superfamily. All members of the cystatin family inhibit cysteine proteinases to varying degree. The expression of these two inhibitors, which have a 48% similarity at the nucleotide level, was studied in the submandibular gland using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Northern blot hybridization and in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labelled DNA probes. Both inhibitors were expressed in the serous acinar cells of the submandibular gland. In accord with previous findings, cystatin S mRNA was induced by the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. The level of cystatin S mRNA, which was very low in the glands of untreated rats and was demonstrable by RT-PCR but not by Northern blot hybridization, was not altered by acute inflammation produced by turpentine. Neither the administration of isoproterenol nor acute inflammation had any effect on the level of cystatin C mRNA, indicating beta-adrenoreceptors are not involved in the regulation of the cystatin C gene(s) in the submandibular gland. The data indicate that these two closely related genes, expressed in the same cells, are differently regulated. The consequence of this difference in gene regulation on the physiological and pathological roles of these inhibitors remains to be established.

Animals

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

No mutations in cystatin C gene in cerebral amyloid angiopathy with cystatin C deposition.

To investigate the relationship between cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and cystatin C, we studied five CAA patients on whose cerebral blood vessels colocalization of cystatin C and beta-protein was recognized immunohistochemically. One patient was suspected as familial CAA and the other patients were sporadic cases. Two patients had low concentration of cystatin C in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as we have previously reported in CAA patients. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed that cystatin C and beta-protein have been included at the ratio of about 1:100 in the crude amyloid fibrils of one patient. Using a monoclonal antibody (MAb) against cystatin C, we performed affinity chromatography and immunoblotting on her amyloid fibril fraction. Eluate showed a band with a mol wt of 14,000 and the N-terminal 14 amino acid residues of 14-kDa protein were identical with that of cystatin C. This molecular weight is not identical to that of the truncated form of cystatin C deposited in hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis in Iceland (HCHWA-I), but that of normal cystatin C. DNA sequence analysis of five patients showed no point mutations in the cystatin C gene. Cystatin C and beta-protein colocalization, which was recognized in amyloid lesions of CAA, suggests that cystatin C deposition may be related to beta-protein deposition. We hypothesize that cystatin C deposition in sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy with cystatin C deposition (SCCAA) involves a different mechanism from that in HCHWA-I, which may be related to low CSF concentration of cystatin C without amino acid substitutions.

Aged

Increased body temperature accelerates aggregation of the Leu-68-->Gln mutant cystatin C, the amyloid-forming protein in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy.

Hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy is a dominantly inherited disorder, characterized by dementia, paralysis, and death from cerebral hemorrhage in early adult life. A variant of the cysteine proteinase inhibitor, cystatin C, is deposited as amyloid in the tissues of the patients and their spinal-fluid level of cystatin C is abnormally low. The disease-associated Leu-68-->Gln mutant (L68Q) cystatin C has been produced in an Escherichia coli expression system and isolated by use of denaturing buffers, immunosorption, and gel filtration. Parallel physicochemical and functional investigations of L68Q-cystatin C and wild-type cystatin C revealed that both proteins effectively inhibit the cysteine proteinase cathepsin B (equilibrium constants for dissociation, 0.4 and 0.5 nM, respectively) but differ considerably in their tendency to dimerize and form aggregates. While wild-type cystatin C is monomeric and functionally active even after prolonged storage at elevated temperatures, L68Q-cystatin C starts to dimerize and lose biological activity immediately after it is transferred to a nondenaturing buffer. The dimerization of L68Q-cystatin C is highly temperature-dependent, with a rise in incubation temperature from 37 to 40 degrees C resulting in a 150% increase in dimerization rate. The aggregation at physiological concentrations is likewise increased at 40 compared to 37 degrees C, by approximately 60%. These properties of L68Q-cystatin C have bearing upon our understanding of the pathophysiological process of hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy. They might also be of clinical relevance, since medical intervention to abort febrile periods of carriers of the disease trait may reduce the in vivo formation of L68Q-cystatin C aggregates.

Amino Acid Sequence

The human cystatin C gene (CST3), mutated in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy, is located on chromosome 20.

Hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy has recently been shown to be caused by a point mutation in the cystatin C gene. To determine the chromosomal localization of the gene, 20 human-rodent somatic cell hybrids and a full-length cystatin C cDNA probe were used. Southern blot analysis of BamHI digested cell hybrid DNA revealed that the probe recognizes a 10.6 kb human specific fragment and that this fragment cosegregates with human chromosome 20. Therefore, the human cystatin C gene (CST3) was assigned to chromosome 20.

Amyloidosis

Cystatin C (CST3), the candidate gene for hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA), and other members of the cystatin gene family are clustered on chromosome 20p11.2.

The cystatin C gene (CST3) encodes a low-molecular-weight cysteine proteinase inhibitor belonging to family II of the cystatin superfamily and is mutated in cases of hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA). CST3, which along with other family II cystatin genes is a member of the cystatin gene family, has been assigned to chromosome 20. To investigate the genomic organization on chromosome 20, the CST3 gene and related sequences were regionally mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Southern blot, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis using the cDNA cystatin C probe C6a and three genomic probes, C3E1, C3E2, and C3E2-2. Probe C3E2-2, which like probe C3E2 is specific for CST3, hybridized to only one HindIII and one XbaI fragment on Southern blots and to a 300-kb BssHII PFGE fragment. FISH with probe C3E2 mapped this locus to chromosome 20p11.2, with an FL-pter value of 0.37 +/- 0.07 on the physical map. Probe C3E1 containing the most conserved cystatin gene exon (exon 1) and its flanking sequences hybridized with more fragments, e.g., to eight XbaI and nine HindIII fragments on conventional Southern blots and to eight SmaI, two BssHII (900 and 300 kb), and two NotI fragments after PFGE. FISH with C3E1 revealed only one single site at 20p11.2 with an FL-pter value of 0.37 +/- 0.04, identical to that obtained with C3E2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Blotting, Southern

Quantitative automated particle-enhanced immunonephelometric assay for the routinary measurement of human cystatin C.

Human cystatin C is a low molecular mass protein of 13359 Dalton recently proposed as a new very sensitive marker of changes in glomerular filtration rate. Serum cystatin C concentration correlates negatively with glomerular filtration rate as well as or better than creatinine. We evaluated a recently introduced automated nephelometric immunoassay for cystatin C in serum or EDTA-plasma samples on the Behring Nephelometer System. The assay consists of incubating the 100-fold diluted sample for 6 minutes with latex particles covalently coated with anti-human cystatin C antibodies, and then quantifying the change of light-scatter produced. Method reproducibility is satisfactory, the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation ranging from 1.58% to 3.77% and from 5.6% to 11.47% respectively. Rheumatoid factor (< or = 1116 IU/ml), bilirubin (< or = 418 micrommol/l), triglycerides (10.47 mmol/), and haemoglobin (12 g/l) do not significantly interfere in the assay. No significant difference was found in cystatin C concentration between serum and EDTA-plasma samples. Cystatin C is stable in serum samples stored under different conditions up to one month. This method correlates well (mean difference=-0.536+/-0.307 mg/l) with another commercially available particle-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay. Cystatin C offers better clinical sensitivity than creatinine for discriminating patients with normal renal function and those with mild-to-moderate reduction in renal function. This method is suitable for routine cystatin C measurement, including emergencies.

Adult

Hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy: monitoring the presence of the Leu-68-->Gln cystatin C variant in cerebrospinal fluids and monocyte cultures by MS.

Hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA) is an autosomal dominant condition in which the patients suffer at an early age from repeated cerebral haemorrhages. The development of HCCAA is directly linked to a Leu-68-->Gln (L68Q) mutation in the cystatin C protein sequence. The concentration of cystatin C in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of HCCAA patients is markedly diminished and cultivated monocytes from affected individuals accumulate cystatin C. The goal of this work was to characterize cystatin C isolated from CSF and monocyte cultures originating from healthy persons and HCCAA patients with respect to the L68Q mutation. Cystatin C was isolated by carboxymethylpapain affinity chromatography. Proteins from CSF and monocyte cultures that bound specifically to the carboxymethylated papain column were resolved by reverse-phase HPLC chromatography and tryptic peptides were subsequently analysed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization MS. No evidence for mutated cystatin C protein was found in CSF samples from healthy subjects or HCCAA patients, but approx. 60% of the protein was found to be hydroxylated on Pro-3. No evidence was found for secretion of mutated cystatin C from HCCAA monocytes. However, we obtained evidence for the presence of mutated cystatin C in HCCAA monocytes. These results support the conclusion that the mutated cystatin C is retained in association with the monocytes and not secreted. An increased intracellular concentration would presumably promote the aggregation and denaturation of the mutated cystatin C, leading to the formation of amyloid fibrils and cell death.

Amino Acid Sequence

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA coding for the precursor of the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor cystatin C.

Recombinant cystatin C producing clones were isolated from a human placenta lambda gt11 cDNA library. The cDNA insert of one of the clones, containing 777 base pairs, encodes the complete mature cystatin C (120 amino acids) and a hydrophobic leader sequence of 26 amino acids, indicating an extracellular function of the inhibitor. The deduced protein sequence confirms the protein sequence of cystatin C isolated from human urine, but differs in one position from the sequence of the cystatin C fragment deposited as amyloid in hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis.

Amino Acid Sequence

Structure/function analysis of human cystatin SN and comparison of the cysteine proteinase inhibitory profiles of human cystatins C and SN.

Cystatins are reversible, competitive inhibitors of cysteine proteinases. Their inhibitory profiles, as well as their affinities for target enzymes, vary with different cysteine proteinases. Human cystatin C and salivary cystatin SN are 120- and 121-amino-acid (a.a.) proteins, respectively, and both contain 2 disulfide bonds. In this study, we examined the structure/function relationship of cystatin SN with respect to the inhibition of papain, with particular emphasis on the role of cystatin SN's cysteine residues, and addressed the inhibitory profiles of these two human cystatins on several cysteine proteinases (papain, clostripain, and calpain II). The full-length recombinant cystatin C and cystatin SN, and cystatin SN variants (C-truncated [C-tr; a.a. 1-102], delta 56-60 deletion, cysteine 74-->serine [C74S], cys 84-->serine [C84S], cysteine 98-->serine [C98S], and cysteine 118-->serine [C118S]) were cloned, expressed, and produced in the pET30(b) and pGEX2T Escherichia coli expression systems. All recombinant proteins were tested for the inhibition of papain, and the full-length proteins were also tested for the inhibition of clostripain and calpain II. The secondary structures of the cystatins were also determined and compared. The results showed that the full-length cystatin C and cystatin SN, and the cystatin SN variants C98S and C118S inhibited the activity of papain. However, cystatin SN C-tr and delta 56-60 variants exhibited no inhibitory activity toward papain, while the cystatin SN variants C74S and C84S exhibited slight inhibition at higher concentrations. These results suggested that in the inhibition of papain by cystatin SN, the first disulfide loop is more important than the second. In addition, cystatin C, but not cystatin SN, inhibited calpain II, while neither cystatin inhibited clostripain, and these results, in conjunction with those from other studies, indicated that cystatin C is a broader-spectrum inhibitor of cysteine proteinases than cystatin SN.

Calpain

Expression of a selenomethionyl derivative and preliminary crystallographic studies of human cystatin C.

Human cystatin C, a protein with amyloidogenic properties and a potent inhibitor of papain-like mammalian proteases, has been produced in its full-length form by recombinant techniques and crystallized in two polymorphic forms: cubic and tetragonal. A selenomethionyl derivative of the protein, obtained by Escherichia coli expression and with complete Met-->Se-Met substitution confirmed by mass spectrometry, amino-acid analysis and X-ray absorption spectra, was crystallized in the cubic form. A truncated variant of the protein, lacking ten N-terminal residues, has also been crystallized. The crystals of this variant are tetragonal and, like the two polymorphs of the full-length protein, contain multiple copies of the molecule in the asymmetric unit, suggesting oligomerization of the protein.

Amino Acid Sequence

C-terminal KDEL-modified cystatin C is retained in transfected CHO cells.

The significance of a C-terminal tetrapeptide, Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu (KDEL), as a retention signal for the endoplasmatic reticulum was studied using cystatin C, a general thiol protease inhibitor, as the reporter protein. Clones of CHO cells were analyzed after stable transfection with eukaryotic expression vectors encoding either cystatin C, KDEL extended cystatin C, or cystatin C extended with a control sequence. It is concluded that cystatin C with the KDEL tetrapeptide as a C-terminal extension is retained intracellularly without apparent accumulation of the molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence

Two stable unfolding intermediates of the disease-causing L68Q variant of human cystatin C.

In hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA), presence of the Leu68 --> Gln substitution in cystatin C is coupled to a decreased concentration of this major cysteine proteinase inhibitor in cerebrospinal fluid and leads to its amyloid deposition in the brain. We established a high-yield expression system for L68Q cystatin C in Escherichia coli resulting in inclusion body accumulation at a level of 40% of the total cellular protein. Refolding of protein from purified inclusion bodies yielded a pure, almost completely monomeric and active inhibitor. CD and NMR spectroscopy demonstrated that so produced L68Q cystatin C is folded, conformationally homogeneous, and structurally very similar to wild-type cystatin C. Incubation at pH 7.0-5.5 caused the cystatin C variant to dimerize rapidly. The molecular form present at pH 6.0 displayed a slightly increased amount of hydrophobic parts on the surface as measured by 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS) binding. NMR results showed that the dimer has a structure similar to that of the wild-type cystatin C dimer formed as a result of slight denaturation. Under more acidic conditions, at pH 4.5, another stable unfolding intermediate of L68Q cystatin C was identified. This molecular form exists in a monomeric state, is characterized by changes in secondary structure according to far UV CD spectroscopy, and shows an altered ANS binding resembling that of a molten globule state. The acidic pH also caused an almost complete monomerization of preformed dimers. The state of denaturation of L68Q cystatin C in vivo is thus a critical factor for the concentration of active cysteine proteinase inhibitor in cerebrospinal fluid and likely also for the development of amyloidosis, in HCCAA patients.

Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Structural basis for different inhibitory specificities of human cystatins C and D.

Human cystatins C and D share almost identical primary structures of two out of the three segments proposed to be of importance for enzyme interactions but have markedly different profiles for inhibition of the target cysteine peptidases, cathepsins B, H, L, and S. To investigate if the N-terminal binding regions of the inhibitors are responsible for the different inhibition profiles, and thereby confer biological selectivity, two hybrid cystatins were produced in Escherichia coli expression systems. In one hybrid, the N-terminal segment of cystatin C was placed on the framework of cystatin D, and the second was engineered with the N-terminal segment of cystatin D on the cystatin C scaffold. Truncated cystatin C and D variants, devoid of their N-terminal segments, were obtained by incubation with glycyl endopeptidase and isolated, in a second approach to assess the importance of the N-terminal binding regions for cystatin function and specificity. The affinities of the four cystatin variants for cathepsins B, H, L, and S were measured. By comparison with corresponding results for wild-type cystatins C and D, it was concluded (1) that both the N-terminal and framework part of the molecules significantly contribute to the observed differences in inhibitory activities of cystatins C and D and (2) that the N-terminal segment of cystatin C increases the inhibitory activity of cystatin D against cathepsin S and cathepsin L but results in decreased activity against cathepsin H. These differences in specificity were explained by the residues interacting with the S2 subsite of peptidases (Val- and Ala-10 in cystatin C and D, respectively). Also, removal of the N-terminal segment results in total loss of enzyme affinity for cystatin D but not for cystatin C. Therefore, structural differences in the framework parts, as well as in the N-terminal segments, are critical for both inhibitory specificity and potency. Homology modeling was used to identify residues likely responsible for the generally reduced inhibitory potency of cystatin D.

Amino Acid Sequence