scholarly journals A bacterial factor induces changes in cysteine proteinase forms in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum

1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J North

The electrophoretic pattern of cysteine proteinases in axenically grown myxamoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum can be altered by the addition of either Gram-negative (Klebsiella aerogenes, Escherichia coli) or Gram-positive (Micrococcus lysodeikticus, Bacillus subtilis) bacteria to the culture. No changes occurred, however, if either yeast or latex beads were used in place of bacteria. The changes involved the simultaneous loss of proteinases characteristic of the axenic cells (the A-forms) and the acquisition of those found in cells which have been grown on bacteria (the B-forms). Using K. aerogenes the conversion was complete within 4 h. Extracellular proteinase activity was unaffected during this period. After the D. discoideum cells had been lysed, no equivalent change in proteinase band pattern could be produced either by prolonged incubation of cell extracts or by treatment with proteinases. An identical conversion could be induced in cultures of myxamoebae by a factor, cysteine proteinase converting factor (CPCF), present in the 15,000 g supernatant of a sonicated suspension of K. aerogenes. CPCF was macromolecular, as demonstrated by both ultrafiltration and gel filtration, acid-precipitable, but was soluble in ethanol or alkali. Its activity was unaffected by treatment with trypsin. The results suggested that CPCF might be a component of the bacterial cell wall, and since its activity was affected by lysozyme treatment, peptidoglycan is implicated. The results can be interpreted in terms of a novel nutrient-dependent post-translational change which affected most of the cysteine proteinases present in D. discoideum myxamoebae.

1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J North ◽  
K I Scott ◽  
B C Lockwood

Proteinases of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum have been analysed using electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels containing gelatin (gelatin/PAGE). Multiple proteinase forms were apparent in vegetative myxamoebae, but the presence of individual enzyme forms depended on the manner in which the cells were grown. Axenic cells had a characteristic A-pattern of proteinases consisting of six bands, the most active enzymes having apparent Mr values of 51,000 and 45,000 (these have been named ddCP51 and ddCP45, respectively). Some of the proteinases were also present in the medium, the major extracellular form was ddCP42, a 42,000-Mr enzyme. Cells grown in association with bacteria had a distinct B-pattern with three main enzymes that had apparent Mr values of 48,000, 43,000 and 38,000. All of the A- and B-pattern proteinases were most active at acid pH in the presence of dithiothreitol and were inhibited by various agents such as trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane (E64), leupeptin and chymostatin, which inactivate cysteine proteinases. One of the enzymes, ddCP30, was identified as cysteine proteinase B which had been purified and characterized previously [North, M.J. & Whyte, A. (1984) J. Gen. Microbiol. 130, 123-134]. During starvation of axenic cells in shaken suspensions some of the vegetative proteinases disappeared, ddCP42 was released from the cells and one new enzyme with an apparent Mr of 48,000 appeared. Addition of cyclic AMP had little effect on these changes. When the axenically grown myxamoebae underwent development on filters, similar changes in band pattern were observed and the aggregation stage was characterized by the presence of three cysteine proteinase bands (apparent Mr values of 48,000, 45,000 and 43,000). Proteinases, especially ddCP42, were released from the cells and could be collected from the buffer-saturated pads which supported the filters. The results demonstrate that cysteine proteinases are present throughout growth and development of D. discoideum and that the forms present are subject to nutritional and developmental regulation.


1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 2097-2107 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Richardson ◽  
N A Woychik ◽  
D L Ebert ◽  
R L Dimond ◽  
J A Cardelli

Lysosomal enzymes are initially synthesized as precursor polypeptides which are proteolytically cleaved to generate mature forms of the enzymatically active protein. The identification of the proteinases involved in this process and their intracellular location will be important initial steps in determining the role of proteolysis in the function and targeting of lysosomal enzymes. Toward this end, axenically growing Dictyostelium discoideum cells were pulse radiolabeled with [35S]methionine and chased in fresh growth medium containing inhibitors of aspartic, metallo, serine, or cysteine proteinases. Cells exposed to the serine/cysteine proteinase inhibitors leupeptin and antipain and the cysteine proteinase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-alanine-diazomethyl ketone (Z-Phe-AlaCHN2) were unable to complete proteolytic processing of the newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes, alpha-mannosidase and beta-glucosidase. Antipain and leupeptin treatment resulted in both a dramatic decrease in the efficiency of proteolytic processing, as well as a sevenfold increase in the secretion of alpha-mannosidase and beta-glucosidase precursors. However, leupeptin and antipain did not stimulate secretion of lysosomally localized mature forms of the enzymes suggesting that these inhibitors prevent the normal sorting of lysosomal enzyme precursors to lysosomes. In contrast to the results observed for cells treated with leupeptin or antipain, Z-Phe-AlaCHN2 did not prevent the cleavage of precursor polypeptides to intermediate forms of the enzymes, but greatly inhibited the production of the mature enzymes. The accumulated intermediate forms of the enzymes, however, were localized to lysosomes. Finally, fractionation of cell extracts on Percoll gradients indicated that the processing of radiolabeled precursor forms of alpha-mannosidase and beta-glucosidase to intermediate products began in cellular compartments intermediate in density between the Golgi complex and mature lysosomes. The generation of the mature forms, in contrast, was completed immediately upon or soon after arrival in lysosomes. Together these results suggest that different proteinases residing in separate intracellular compartments may be involved in generating intermediate and mature forms of lysosomal enzymes in Dictyostelium discoideum, and that the initial cleavage of the precursors may be critical for the proper localization of lysosomal enzymes.


1983 ◽  
Vol 214 (3) ◽  
pp. 871-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Kirschke ◽  
L Wood ◽  
F J Roisen ◽  
J W C Bird

Cysteine-proteinase activities were measured in extracts of pre- and post-fusion populations of rat myogenic line L6 cells and in extracts of whole rat muscle. Activities of cathepsins B, L and H were compared. The substrates used included Z-Phe-Arg-NMec (cathepsins B and L), Z-Arg-Arg-NMec (cathepsin B), and Arg-NMec (cathepsin H) (where Z = benzyloxycarbonyl, and NMec = 4-methyl-7-coumarylamide); the enzyme activities were more specifically differentiated by appropriate concentrations of the inhibitors Z-Phe-Phe-CHN2 (CHN2 = diazomethane), bestatin and E-64 [L-trans-epoxysuccinyl-leucylamido(4-guanidino)butane]. These experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of determining the cysteine-proteinase activities of myoblasts from a single (60 mm-diameter) Petri dish, with enzyme concentrations in the range of 5-20 ng/ml. Specific activities of the enzymes in L6 cells increased 2-20-fold after fusion. Concentrations of cysteine proteinases in extracts from cultured myoblasts were two orders of magnitude greater than those in muscle-tissue extracts. Cultured-cell extracts contained endogenous inhibitor(s) to purified rat cathepsins B, L and H.


2006 ◽  
Vol 397 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Fischbach ◽  
Stephan Adelt ◽  
Alexander Müller ◽  
Günter Vogel

myo-Inositol and its downstream metabolites participate in diverse physiological processes. Nevertheless, considering their variety, it is likely that additional roles are yet to be uncovered. Biosynthesis of myo-inositol takes place via an evolutionarily conserved metabolic pathway and is strictly dependent on inositol-3-phosphate synthase (EC 5.5.1.4). Genetic manipulation of this enzyme will disrupt the cellular inositol supply. Two methods, based on gene deletion and antisense strategy, were used to generate mutants of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum. These mutants are inositol-auxotrophic and show phenotypic changes under inositol starvation. One remarkable attribute is their inability to live by phagocytosis of bacteria, which is the exclusive nutrient source in their natural environment. Cultivated on fluid medium, the mutants lose their viability when deprived of inositol for longer than 24 h. Here, we report a study of the alterations in the first 24 h in cellular inositol, inositol phosphate and phosphoinositide concentrations, whereby a rapidly accumulating phosphorylated compound was detected. After its identification as 2,3-BPG (2,3-bisphosphoglycerate), evidence could be found that the internal disturbances of inositol homoeostasis trigger the accumulation. In a first attempt to characterize this as a physiologically relevant response, the efficient in vitro inhibition of a D. discoideum inositol-polyphosphate 5-phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.56) by 2,3-BPG is presented.


1991 ◽  
Vol 278 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
A J Rivett ◽  
S T Sweeney

The multicatalytic proteinase (MCP) is a high-molecular-mass non-lysosomal proteinase that gives rise to a characteristic pattern of bands of molecular mass 22-34 kDa on SDS/PAGE gels. Isoelectric-focusing gels of the enzyme purified from rat liver show 16 bands with isoelectric points in the range of pH 5-8.5. Two-dimensional PAGE gels reveal that there are more than the previously reported 13 polypeptides associated with the MCP from rat liver and show a pattern of 15-20 major spots and several minor ones, similar to that of MCP isolated from some other sources. Possible relationships between the different polypeptides were investigated by immunoblot analysis of electrophoretically purified proteinase subunits with affinity-purified subunit-specific antibodies as well as antibodies raised against individual denatured subunits of the complex. The results demonstrate that many of the major polypeptide components of the MCP complex are antigenically distinct. Moreover comparison of immunoreactive material in crude cell extracts with that in purified MCP preparations has shown that the polypeptides are not derived from a smaller number of higher-molecular-mass subunits. Also, individual subunits have the same apparent molecular mass in a variety of rat tissues, suggesting close similarity between MCPs of different tissues. The highest concentrations of MCP subunits occur in liver and kidney. Gel-filtration analysis of crude extracts has demonstrated that MCP polypeptides are also associated with a higher-molecular-mass complex, which may be the 26 S proteinase that has been implicated in the degradation of ubiquitin-protein conjugates.


The cysteine proteinases form a group of enzymes which depend for their enzymic activity on the thiol group of a cysteine residue. Several which occur in plants have been investigated extensively and include papain, ficin and stem bromelain (Smith & Kimmel i960). Although the term papain, introduced last century to describe the proteolytic principle in papaya latex (Wurtz & Bouchut 1879) is still used to describe crude dried latex, the crystalline enzyme is readily obtained (Kimmel & Smith 1954). Ficin is known to consist of several closely related enzymes which have been resolved (Sgarbieri, Gupte, Kramer & Whitaker 1964), but for most structural and mechanistic studies the unresolved mixture of enzymes has been used. Stem bromelain also appears to be a mixture of at least two proteolytic enzymes which have not yet been resolved (Ota, Moore & Stein 1962; Murachi 1964). In spite of the recognized heterogeneity of ficin and stem bromelain, it does seem that both structurally and mechanistically they are similar to papain. Only one bacterial cysteine proteinase has received a detailed study, namely, streptococcal proteinase, and it appears to have little or no relation in its amino acid sequence with the plant enzymes (Liu, Stein, Moore & Elliott 1965). The functional groups involved in the catalytic mechanism are apparently the same as in the plant proteinases (Gerwin, Stein & Moore 1966; Liu 1967; Husain & Lowe 1968 a , c ), but the mechanism of action has not been extensively studied. It may well be however that the plant and bacterial cysteine proteinases have converged onto a similar mechanism of action by two independent evolutionary pathways, as now seems apparent for the animal and bacterial serine proteinases (Alden, Wright & Kraut, this volume, p. 119). Because the tertiary crystal structure of papain (Drenth, Jansonius, Koekoek, Swen & Wolthers 1968; see also the preceding paper, p. 231) is now known, a critical survey of this enzyme is apposite.


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