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Endoproteolytic Processing (endoproteolytic + processing)
Selected AbstractsMutagenesis studies in transgenic Xenopus intermediate pituitary cells reveal structural elements necessary for correct prion protein biosynthesisDEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Jos W.G. van Rosmalen Abstract The cellular prion protein (PrPC) is generally accepted to be involved in the development of prion diseases, but its physiological role is still under debate. To obtain more insight into PrPC functioning, we here used stable Xenopus transgenesis in combination with the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene promoter to express mutated forms of Xenopus PrPC fused to the C-terminus of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) specifically in the neuroendocrine Xenopus intermediate pituitary melanotrope cells. Similar to GFP-PrPC, the newly synthesized GFP-PrPCK81A mutant protein was stepwise mono- and di-N-glycosylated to 48- and 51-kDa forms, respectively, and eventually complex glycosylated to yield a 55-kDa mature form. Unlike GFP-PrPC, the mature GFP-PrPCK81A mutant protein was not cleaved, demonstrating the endoproteolytic processing of Xenopus PrPC at lysine residue 81. Surprisingly, removal of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor signal sequence or insertion of an octarepeat still allowed N-linked glycosylation, but the GFP-PrPC,GPI and GFP-PrPCocta mutant proteins were not complex glycosylated and not cleaved, indicating that the GPI/octa mutants did not reach the mid-Golgi compartment of the secretory pathway. The transgene expression of the mutant proteins did not affect the ultrastructure of the melanotrope cells nor POMC biosynthesis and processing, or POMC-derived peptide secretion. Together, our findings reveal the evolutionary conservation of the site of metabolic cleavage and the importance of the presence of the GPI anchor and the absence of the octarepeat in Xenopus PrPC for its correct biosynthesis. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2007. [source] Cytosolic protein-protein interactions that regulate the amyloid precursor proteinDRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002Shasta L. Sabo Abstract Alzheimer disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly and is among the leading causes of death in adults. AD is characterized by two major pathological hallmarks, amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. For a number of reasons, amyloid plaque accumulation is widely thought to be the probable cause of AD. The amyloid plaque core is largely composed of an approximately 4-kDa peptide referred to as A,. A, is derived from its precursor, the Alzheimer amyloid protein precursor (APP), by endoproteolytic processing. APP is a type I integral membrane protein, with a long extracellular domain, one transmembrane domain, and a short (,50 amino acid) cytoplasmic tail. Despite intense efforts to decipher the function of APP, its normal physiological role has remained elusive. The carboxy-terminus of APP contains the sequence YENPTY, which is absolutely conserved across APP homologues and across species. The YENPTY sequence is important for regulation of APP processing and trafficking. Given the importance of the cytoplasmic domain in APP physiology, a number of laboratories have hypothesized that proteins that bind to the YENPTY sequence in the cytoplasmic domain of APP might regulate APP processing, trafficking, and/or function. In this article, we will discuss data revealing which proteins bind to the cytoplasmic domain of APP, how these binding-proteins regulate APP metabolism and function, and why such protein-protein interactions provide an exciting new target for therapeutic intervention in AD. Drug Dev. Res. 56:228,241, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Caspase cleavage of exon 9 deleted presenilin-1 is an early event in apoptosis induced by calcium ionophore A 23187 in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cellsJOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 1 2001Bogdan O. Popescu Abstract Presenilins (PSs) are mutated in a majority of familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) cases. Mutated PSs may cause FAD by a number of pro-apoptotic mechanisms, or by regulating ,-secretase activity, a protease involved in ,-amyloid precursor protein processing to the neurotoxic ,-amyloid peptide. Besides their normal endoproteolytic processing, PSs are substrates for caspases, being cleaved to alternative N-terminal and C-terminal fragments. So far little is known about the role of PSs cleavage in the apoptotic machinery. Here, we used SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells stably transfected with wild-type or exon 9 deleted presenilin 1 (PS1) in a time-course study after the exposure to the calcium ionophore A23187. During and after exposure to A 23187, intracellular calcium levels were higher in exon 9 deleted PS1 cells as compared with non-transfected and wild-type PS1 transfected cells. Cell death and the enrichment of apoptotic cells after A23187 exposure were increased by overexpression of exon 9 deleted PS1 as compared with the control cell lines. Wild-type PS1 cells were compared with exon 9 deleted PS1 cells and the temporal relationship between PS1 and other caspase substrates cleavages was analyzed. Exon 9 deleted PS1 cells exhibited a higher caspase-3 activation and a greater cleavage of PS1 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) compared with wild-type PS1 cells. Exon 9 deleted PS1 cleavage occurred earlier than other caspase substrate cleavages (i.e., PARP and gelsolin), simultaneous with minimum detectable caspase-3 activation. Therefore, alternative cleavage of PS1 may play an important role for the regulation of the proteolytic cascade activated during apoptosis. J. Neurosci. Res. 66:122,134, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Potential opportunity in the development of new therapeutic agents based on endogenous and exogenous inhibitors of the proprotein convertasesMEDICINAL RESEARCH REVIEWS, Issue 5 2007Yannick Bontemps Abstract The proprotein convertases (PCs) are responsible for the endoproteolytic processing of various protein precursors (e.g., growth factors, receptors, adhesion molecules, and matrix metalloproteinases) implicated in several diseases such as obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, and Alzheimer disease. The potential clinical and pharmacological role of the PCs has fostered the development of various PC-inhibitors. In this review we summarized the recent findings on PCs inhibitors, their mode of actions and potential use in the therapy of various diseases. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 27, No. 5, 631,648, 2007 [source] | ||||||||||