scholarly journals Role of thiols, pH and cathepsin D in the lysosomal catabolism of serum albumin

1984 ◽  
Vol 218 (3) ◽  
pp. 775-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
J L Mego

Attempts were made to assess the role of thiols and to determine the cathepsins involved in the degradation of serum albumin in mouse liver and kidney lysosomes. Unlike cysteine or beta-mercaptoethanol, reduced glutathione (GSH) did not stimulate the degradation of formaldehyde-treated albumin in liver lysosomes, suggesting that the tripeptide did not penetrate the membrane. However, GSH was a much more effective stimulant of proteolysis in kidney lysosomes than was cysteine at low concentrations, and the effect was saturable at 1-2 mM concentrations. Thiols did not stimulate proteolysis in lysosomes when the disulphide bonds of albumin were reduced and alkylated, suggesting that the stimulatory effects were solely due to disulphide-bond reduction in protein substrates. Results obtained with thiols and iodoacetamide suggested that albumins denatured by disulphide-bond reduction and alkylation, disulphide-bond reduction without alkylation, or by treatment with 8 M-urea, were all degraded primarily by cathepsin D in lysosomes, but formaldehyde-denatured albumin was attacked by thiol proteinases. These findings correlated well with studies on the degradation of these proteins by rat liver lysosome (tritosome) extracts. Studies with the proteinase inhibitors leupeptin and pepstatin and the stimulatory effects of thiols in these extracts suggested that formaldehyde-denatured albumin was degraded primarily by the thiol proteinases, but that native albumin or albumins denatured by disulphide-bond reduction or by treatment with 8 M-urea were attacked by cathepsin D. Denaturation of serum albumin by any of the methods used caused a shift in the pH optimum of albumin catabolism by tritosome extracts or by purified cathepsin D from approx. 3-4 to 5-6. These results were discussed in terms of a possible mechanism for the catabolic aspect of serum albumin turnover.

1982 ◽  
Vol 204 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Kooistra ◽  
P C Millard ◽  
J B Lloyd

The effects of thiols on the breakdown of 125I-labelled insulin, albumin and formaldehyde-treated albumin by highly purified rat liver cathepsins B, D, H and L at pH 4.0 and 5.5 were studied. At both pH values degradation was strongly activated by the thiols cysteamine, cysteine, dithiothreitol, glutathione and 2-mercaptoethanol, and its rate increased with increasing thiol concentration. Preincubation of the protein substrates with 5 mM-glutathione did not affect concentration. Preincubation of the protein substrates with 5 mM-glutathione did not affect the rate of degradation by cathepsin D or L, and determination of free thiol groups after incubation of the proteins in the presence of glutathione but without cathepsin showed that their disulphide bonds were stable under the incubation conditions. Sephadex G-75 chromatography of the acid-soluble products of insulin digestion by cathepsin D or L suggested that thiols can reduce disulphide bonds in proteins after limited proteolysis. The resultant opening-up of the protein structure would lead to further proteolysis, so that the two processes (proteolysis and reduction) may act synergistically. By using the osmotic protection method it was shown that, at a physiological pH, cysteamine, and its oxidized form cystamine, can cross the lysosome membrane and thus may well be the physiological hydrogen donor for the reduction of disulphides in lysosomes. The results are discussed in relation to the lysosomal storage disease cystinosis.


1980 ◽  
Vol 190 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
R M Allan ◽  
E Welman

1. Solubilized mitochondria and lysosomal fractions were obtained from guinea-pig heart by differential centrifugation and selective membrane disruption. 2. Mitochondria incubated at 37 degrees C in the presence of lysosomal enzymes underwent proteolysis. The rate of protein degradation was inversely dependent on pH. 3. The use of proteinase inhibitors showed that at low pH the major enzyme involved in mitochondrial digestion was cathepsin D. 4. At neutral pH carboxyl proteinases were still active, but thiol proteinases accounted for most of the protein breakdown. 5. The role of lysosomal enzymes as mediators of mitochondrial damage in ischaemic myocardium is discussed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Nakagawa ◽  
Y. Endo ◽  
S. Ohtaki

Abstract. A leupeptin-sensitive new protease was partially purified from hog thyroid lysosomes. The purification procedure included solubilization by hypotonic treatment of lysosomes, and Sephacryl S-300 and Sephadex G-100 gel chromatography, and the purification ratio was 10-fold from lysosomes. The pH optimum of the protease activity was around 5.5 and its molecular weight was estimated to be 22 000 by gel filtration. 2-Mercaptoethanol activated the hydrolysis of protein substrates and its effect was most pronounced in the case of thyroglobulin as substrate. Among the inhibitors used, leupeptin, antipain, toluenesulfonyl-lysine chloromethyl ketone and, to a lesser degree, chymostatin and toluenesulfonyl-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone effectively inhibited the hydrolysis of casein by the enzyme at pH 5.5, whereas pepstatin did not inhibit the activity significantly. The enzyme activity was also inhibited by sulfhydryl inhibitors such as iodoacetamide, p-chloromercuribenzoate, and N-ethylmaleimide. The release of iodoamino acids from thyroglobulin by the enzyme was inhibited in the same manner by the inhibitors used in the hydrolysis of casein. The physiological role of the new protease is discussed in comparison with cathepsin B and L found in liver lysosomes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1130-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel G. Meléndez-López ◽  
Scott Herdman ◽  
Ken Hirata ◽  
Min-Ho Choi ◽  
Youngchool Choe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cysteine proteinases are key virulence factors of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. We have shown that cysteine proteinases play a central role in tissue invasion and disruption of host defenses by digesting components of the extracellular matrix, immunoglobulins, complement, and cytokines. Analysis of the E. histolytica genome project has revealed more than 40 genes encoding cysteine proteinases. We have focused on E. histolytica cysteine proteinase 1 (EhCP1) because it is one of two cysteine proteinases unique to invasive E. histolytica and is highly expressed and released. Recombinant EhCP1 was expressed in Escherichia coli and refolded to an active enzyme with a pH optimum of 6.0. We used positional-scanning synthetic tetrapeptide combinatorial libraries to map the specificity of the P1 to P4 subsites of the active site cleft. Arginine was strongly preferred at P2, an unusual specificity among clan CA proteinases. A new vinyl sulfone inhibitor, WRR483, was synthesized based on this specificity to target EhCP1. Recombinant EhCP1 cleaved key components of the host immune system, C3, immunoglobulin G, and pro-interleukin-18, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. EhCP1 localized to large cytoplasmic vesicles, distinct from the sites of other proteinases. To gain insight into the role of secreted cysteine proteinases in amebic invasion, we tested the effect of the vinyl sulfone cysteine proteinase inhibitors K11777 and WRR483 on invasion of human colonic xenografts. The resultant dramatic inhibition of invasion by both inhibitors in this human colonic model of amebiasis strongly suggests a significant role of secreted amebic proteinases, such as EhCP1, in the pathogenesis of amebiasis.


1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (01) ◽  
pp. 016-020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A Marlar ◽  
David C Kressin ◽  
Renee M Madden

SummaryActivated protein C (APC), a serine protease, is regulated in plasma by protease inhibitors. This study was undertaken to determine the role of the major plasma inhibitors in regulating APC in plasma. Kinetic analysis and specific immunoassays for APC-inhibitor complexes were used to determine the inhibitors that form complexes with APC. Of the eight plasma inhibitors investigated, four interact with APC: protein C inhibitor (PCI), α1-proteinase inhibitor (PI), α2-antiplasmin (AP) and C1 esterase inhibitor (C1 Inh). The second order rate constants are: 1.3 × 104 M−1 s−1 (PCI); 15 M−1 s−1 (PI); 410 M−1 s−1 (AP); and <6 M−1 s−1 (C1 Inh), with a relative effectiveness of each inhibitor to inactivate APC in plasma: 49:36:15:<1, respectively. PCI, PI and AP are the major inhibitors of APC in plasma. Low concentrations of APC will be inhibited by PCI with PI and AP playing a secondary role. However, as increasing APC is generated, PI and AP begin to play more important roles as the PCI is consumed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (01) ◽  
pp. 070-075 ◽  
Author(s):  
E G C Wojcik ◽  
P Simioni ◽  
M v d Berg ◽  
A Girolami ◽  
R M Bertina

SummaryWe have previously described a genetic factor IX variant (Cys18→Arg) for which we demonstrated that it had formed a heterodimer with armicroglobulin through formation of a disulphide bond with the remaining free cysteine residue of the disrupted disulphide bond in the Gla-domain of factor IX. Recently, we observed a similar high molecular weight complex for a genetic protein C variant (Arg-1→Cys). Both the factor IX and the protein C variants have a defect in the calcium induced conformation. In this study we show that the aminoterminus of this protein C variant is prolonged with one amino acid, cysteine. This protein C variant, as well as protein C variants with Arg9→Cys and Ser12→Cys mutations which also carry a free cysteine residue, are shown to be present in plasma as a complex with α1-microglobulin. A prothrombin variant with a Tyr44→Cys mutation, had not formed such a complex. Furthermore, complexes between normal vitamin K-dependent clotting factors and α1-microglobulin were shown to be present in plasma at low concentrations. The data suggest that the presence of an unpaired cysteine residue in the propeptide or the N-terminal half of the Gla-domain has strongly promoted the formation of a complex with α1-microglobulin in the variants.


1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (02) ◽  
pp. 538-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Pilo ◽  
D Aharony ◽  
A Raz

SummaryThe role of arachidonic acid oxygenated products in human platelet aggregation induced by the ionophore A23187 was investigated. The ionophore produced an increased release of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and a concomitant increased formation of TxA2 and other arachidonate products. TxA2 (and possibly other cyclo oxygenase products) appears to have a significant role in ionophore-induced aggregation only when low concentrations (<1 μM) of the ionophore are employed.Testosterone added to rat or human platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was shown previously to potentiate platelet aggregation induced by ADP, adrenaline, collagen and arachidonic acid (1, 2). We show that testosterone also potentiates ionophore induced aggregation in washed platelets and in PRP. This potentiation was dose and time dependent and resulted from increased lipolysis and concomitant generation of TxA2 and other prostaglandin products. The testosterone potentiating effect was abolished by preincubation of the platelets with indomethacin.


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