scholarly journals Expression of rat endopeptidase-24.18 in COS-1 cells: membrane topology and activity

1994 ◽  
Vol 300 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
P E Milhiet ◽  
D Corbeil ◽  
V Simon ◽  
A J Kenny ◽  
P Crine ◽  
...  

Endopeptidase-24.18 (E-24.18; EC 3.4.24.18) is a metallopeptidase of the astacin family and is highly expressed in kidney brush-border membranes of rodents. Rat E-24.18 consists of two disulphide-linked alpha/beta dimers [(alpha/beta)2]. In order to investigate the mechanisms of assembly and the importance of each subunit in the enzymic process, the cloned cDNAs for the rat alpha and beta subunits were transiently expressed either alone or together in COS-1 cells. Immunoblotting of cell extracts and spent culture media showed that, when expressed alone, the alpha subunit is secreted, whereas the beta subunit is membrane-bound. In alpha/beta-transfected cells, the alpha subunit remained membrane-bound, but could be released from the cell surface after papain treatment or after incubation with 10 mM dithiothreitol. Furthermore, mutants of the alpha subunit in which the putative C-terminal anchor domain was deleted could still form cell-associated alpha/beta dimers. These results are consistent with a topological model of E-24.18 in which the beta subunit is anchored in the plasma membrane and the alpha subunit is retained at the cell surface through disulphide bridge(s) with the beta subunit. Both the alpha and beta recombinant subunits expressed in COS-1 cells showed little azocasein-degrading activity. However, activity of either individual subunits of alpha/beta dimers was increased after mild trypsin digestion, suggesting that in COS-1 cells the enzymes are synthesized as zymogens. Finally, inactivation of the alpha subunit by site-directed mutagenesis of Glu-157, which is believed to play a role in catalysis, showed that both subunits participate in the enzymic activity of the heterodimer.

1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (5) ◽  
pp. F837-F842 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Imesch ◽  
M. Moosmayer ◽  
B. M. Anner

The presence of circulating inhibitors able to decrease the renal Na-K-adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity (natriuretic hormones) was postulated some 30 years ago. In the present work, the natriuretic inhibitor HgCl2 was selected as a model compound for the structural characterization of a possible natriuretic pathway for Na-K-ATPase modification. The structural effects of Na-K-ATPase inhibition by HgCl2 were assessed by trypsinolysis of the blocked enzyme in comparison with untreated preparations. The results show that inactivation of Na-K-ATPase by HgCl2 leads to the release of the alpha-subunit from the membrane preferentially in the E2 conformation but also in the E1 conformation. Apparently, HgCl2 weakens the membrane anchoring of the alpha-subunit, presumably by loosening the alpha-beta-subunit interaction. By this mechanism, the sensitivity of the Na-K-ATPase to extracellular drugs, hormones, and antibodies, as well as to intracellular proteases and other regulatory factors, could be altered.


1994 ◽  
Vol 302 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
M H Lafrance ◽  
C Vézina ◽  
Q Wang ◽  
G Boileau ◽  
P Crine ◽  
...  

Neutral endopeptidase (NEP, EC 3.4.24.11) is a major ectoenzyme of the brush-border membrane. The ectodomain of NEP contains five putative N-glycosylation sites. In order to determine the role of the addition of sugar moieties on the activity and intracellular transport of NEP, we have used site-directed mutagenesis to remove all or some of the five potential sites of sugar addition in membrane-bound and secreted forms of the enzyme. Expression of NEP glycosylation mutants in COS-1 cells showed that all five sites are used for sugar addition. Immunoblotting of NEP in COS-1 cell extracts or culture media indicated that total expression of normal membrane-bound NEP was not affected by mutations at glycosylation sites, whereas this expression level appeared to be strictly dependent on the number of glycosylation sites retained on the soluble form. The transport to the cell surface was also reduced by decreased glycosylation, but again the phenomenon appeared more drastic in the case of the soluble form than for the membrane-bound enzyme. Enzyme activity was decreased by deglycosylation. However, the presence of either of two crucial sites (sites 1 and 5; numbered from the N-terminus of the protein) was sufficient to recover close-to-normal enzymic activities. Transport to the cell surface and enzyme activity of NEP are thus both dependent on sugar residues, probably through different conformational constraints. These constraints seem to be local for enzyme activity but more global for transport to the cell surface.


1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (6) ◽  
pp. C1781-C1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Coupaye-Gerard ◽  
J. B. Zuckerman ◽  
P. Duncan ◽  
A. Bortnik ◽  
D. I. Avery ◽  
...  

Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase is localized to the basolateral cell surface of most epithelial cells. Conflicting results regarding the intracellular trafficking of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells have been reported, with delivery to both apical and basolateral membranes or exclusively to the basolateral cell surface. We examined the delivery and steady-state distribution of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase in the amphibian epithelial cell line A6 using an antibody raised against Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha-subunit and sulfo-N-hydroxysuccinimidobiotin to tag cell surface proteins. The steady-state distribution of the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase was basolateral, as confirmed by immunocytochemistry. Delivery of newly synthesized Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase to the cell surface was examined using [35S]methionine and [35S]cysteine in a pulse-chase protocol. After a 20-min pulse, the alpha-subunit and core glycosylated beta-subunit were present at both apical and basolateral cell surfaces. The alpha-subunit and core glycosylated beta-subunit delivered to the apical cell surface were degraded within 2 h. Mature alpha/beta-heterodimer was found almost exclusively at the basolateral surface after a 1- to 24-h chase. These data suggest that immature Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha-subunit and core glycosylated beta-subunits are not retained in the endoplasmic reticulum of A6 cells and apparently lack sorting signals. Mature Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase is targeted to the basolateral surface, suggesting that basolateral targeting of the protein is conformation dependent.


1989 ◽  
Vol 264 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
H M Kent ◽  
I Ioannidis ◽  
C Gormal ◽  
B E Smith ◽  
M Buck

The five conserved cysteine residues present in the alpha-subunit and the three conserved cysteine residues present in the beta-subunit of nitrogenase component 1 were individually changed to alanine. Mutations in the alpha-subunit at positions 63, 89, 155 and 275 and in the beta-subunit at positions 69, 94 and 152 all resulted in a loss of diazotrophic growth and component 1 activity and loss of the normal e.p.r. signal of the component 1 protein. Component 2 activity was retained. Replacement of cysteine-184 in the alpha-subunit with alanine greatly diminished, but did not eliminate, diazotrophic growth and component 1 activity. Substitution of serine for cysteine at position 152 in the beta-subunit, in contrast with the substitution of alanine at this position, resulted in the formation of active component 1. Replacement of the non-conserved cysteine-112 in the beta-subunit with alanine did not greatly perturb diazotrophic growth or the activity of component 1. Extracts prepared from a mutant, with cysteine-275 of the alpha-subunit replaced by alanine, complemented extracts of a mutant unable to synthesize the iron-molybdenum cofactor of nitrogenase, indicating that the alanine-275 substitution increases the availability of cofactor. Furthermore extracts of this mutant exhibited an e.p.r. signal similar to that of extracted iron-molybdenum cofactor. These data suggest a role for cysteine-275 as a ligand to the cofactor.


1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (5) ◽  
pp. 1297-1307 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Levis ◽  
H R Bourne

Binding of GTP induces alpha subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins to take on an active conformation, capable of regulating effector molecules. We expressed epitope-tagged versions of the alpha subunit (alpha s) of Gs in genetically alpha s-deficient S49 cyc- cells. Addition of a hemagglutinin (HA) epitope did not alter the ability of wild type alpha s to mediate hormonal stimulation of adenylyl cyclase or to attach to cell membranes. The HA epitope did, however, allow a mAb to immunoprecipitate the recombinant protein (HA-alpha s) quantitatively from cell extracts. We activated the epitope-tagged alpha s in intact cells by: (a) exposure of cells to cholera toxin, which activates alpha s by covalent modification; (b) mutational replacement of arginine-201 in HA-alpha s by a cysteine residue, to create HA-alpha s-R201C; like the cholera toxin-catalyzed modification, this mutation activates alpha s by slowing its intrinsic GTPase activity; and (c) treatment of cells with the beta-adrenoceptor agonist, isoproterenol, which promotes binding of GTP to alpha s, thereby activating adenylyl cyclase. Both cholera toxin and the R201C mutation accelerated the rate of degradation of alpha s (0.03 h-1) by three- to fourfold and induced a partial shift of the protein from a membrane bound to a soluble compartment. At steady state, 80% of HA-alpha s- R201C was found in the soluble fraction, as compared to 10% of wild type HA-alpha s. Isoproterenol rapidly (in < 2 min) caused 20% of HA-alpha s to shift from the membrane-bound to the soluble compartment. Cholera toxin induced a 3.5-fold increase in the rate of degradation of a second mutant, HA-alpha s-G226A, but did not cause it to move into the soluble fraction; this observation shows that loss of membrane attachment is not responsible for the accelerated degradation of alpha s in response to activation. Taken together, these findings show that activation of alpha s induces a conformational change that loosens its attachment to membranes and increases its degradation rate.


1989 ◽  
Vol 260 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Buck ◽  
J R Guest

The succinyl-CoA synthetase of Escherichia coli is encoded by two genes, sucC (beta subunit) and sucD (alpha subunit), which are distal genes in the sucABCD operon. They are expressed from the suc promoter, which also expresses the dehydrogenase and dihydrolipoyl succinyl-transferase subunits of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. Strategies have now been devised for the site-directed mutagenesis and independent expression of the succinyl-CoA synthetase (alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer) and the individual subunits. These involve (1) subcloning a promoterless sucCD fragment downstream of the lac promoter in M13mp10, and (2) precise splicing of the suc coding regions with the efficient atpE ribosome-binding site and expression from the thermoinducible lambda promoters in the pJLA503 vector. Succinyl-CoA synthetase specific activities were amplified 40-60-fold within 5 h of thermoinduction of the lambda promoters, and the alpha and beta subunits accounted for almost 30% of the protein in supernatant fractions of the cell-free extracts. Site-directed mutagenesis of potential CoA binding-site residues indicated that Trp-43 beta and His-50 beta are essential residues in the beta-subunit, whereas Cys-47 beta could be replaced by serine without inactivating the enzyme. No activity was detected after the histidine residue at the phosphorylation site of the alpha-subunit was replaced by aspartate (His-246 alpha----Asp), but this alteration seemed to have a deleterious effect on the accumulation of the enzyme in cell-free supernatant extracts. The nucleotide sequence of an unidentified gene (g30) that is adjacent to the sucABCD operon was defined by extending the sequence of the citric acid cycle gene cluster by 818 bp to 13379 bp: gltA-sdhCDAB-sucABCD-g30. This gene converges on the suc operon and encodes a product (P30) that contains 230 amino acids (Mr 27,251). Highly significant similarities were detected between the N-terminal region of P30 and those of GENA [the product of another unidentified gene (geneA) located upstream of the aceEF-lpd operon], and GNTR (a putative transcriptional repressor of the gluconate operon of Bacillus subtilis). Possible roles for GENA and P30 as transcriptional regulators of the adjacent operons encoding the pyruvate and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes are discussed.


1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (2) ◽  
pp. C470-C483 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Mircheff ◽  
J. W. Bowen ◽  
S. C. Yiu ◽  
A. A. McDonough

Synthesis and translocation of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha-catalytic and beta-glycoprotein subunits from intracellular membranes to the plasma membrane were studied in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells (MDCK-T) by combining the methods of pulse-chase labeling, subcellular fractionation on sorbitol gradients, and immunoprecipitation. Immunoprecipitation from homogenates revealed that radioactive methionine incorporated into beta-subunit was equal to that incorporated into alpha-subunit after 15 min of labeling. Because the ratio of total methionines in alpha- vs. beta-subunit is approximately 5:1, these results suggest that beta-subunit is synthesized in molar excess over alpha-subunit. Half of the newly synthesized beta-subunit, likely unassembled units, were degraded by 60 min after labeling, while alpha-subunits were stable through 120 min after synthesis, suggesting alpha may be limiting for alpha beta-assembly. By 120 min the ratio of counts incorporated into alpha vs. beta approached 5, which is predicted by a 1:1 ratio of alpha to beta. The sorbitol gradient resolved two major membrane samples: a mixture of endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi populations and a plasma membrane-enriched sample. Immature beta (beta i) could not be detected in the plasma membrane-enriched samples at levels greater than could be attributed to cross-contamination by intracellular membranes. Mature beta (beta m) became detectable after 30 min, and conversion of beta i to beta m was 90% complete at 120 min. A peak of labeled alpha-subunit appeared in the plasma membrane-enriched sample at 60 min, coincident with the appearance of labeled beta m-subunit in this sample, suggesting movement as alpha beta-heterodimers.


1984 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 939-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Szekely ◽  
D L Montgomery

By Northern blot hybridization analysis, we demonstrated that the steady-state levels of mRNAs specifying the alpha subunit of ATPase, the beta subunit of ATPase, and the ATP/ADP translocator are all reduced in cells grown in glucose-rich medium. The extent to which glucose represses the levels of alpha, beta, and translocator mRNAs varies from strain to strain, from 2.5- to 7-fold. Furthermore, by hybridization experiments with an excess of DNA, we showed that glucose represses the rates of synthesis of these mRNAs. The kinetics of repression and depression of transcription were also studied. Finally, a mutant was characterized which appears to be defective in depression of transcription of the genes encoding the alpha and beta ATPase subunits as well as the ATP/ADP translocator.


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