Search

Molecular cloning of a cDNA for a pepsin inhibitor in the round worm, Ascaris suum, was achieved. The ORF was found to encode a 20-residue potential signal peptide and a 149-residue inhibitor moiety. Northern analysis showed the mRNA for the inhibitor to be expressed in the body wall and not in the viscera. To obtain the active inhibitor, we constructed a yeast expression vector, pYES2API, containing the inducible galactosidase promoter and a DNA fragment encoding a fusion protein of the yeast alpha-factor leader and the Ascaris pepsin inhibitor. The active inhibitor was secreted in the culture medium, the yield being approximately 3 mg x l(-1) x day(-1), and purified by a two-step procedure that included HPLC. The inhibitor inactivated pepsin A and cathepsin E almost completely at amounts equimolar with the enzymes, but was 100-fold less effective against pepsin C and did not act on cathepsin D and renin. Ki values for the inhibition of pepsin A and cathepsin E were in the nanomolar range below pH 5. Since the inhibitor activity was lost by modification of specific Lys residues, including Lys110, an electrostatic interaction between these Lys residues and Asp/Glu residues of pepsin A or cathepsin E was thought to be essential for the inhibition.

Seven peptides of 15-30 amino acid residues were synthesized that covered almost the entire sequence of the lumenal domain of the human invariant chain (Ii), and their hydrolysis by cathepsins D and E was investigated. Two sites were identified that were very susceptible to such cleavage. One site, the Leu174-Phe175 bond, was cleaved by both cathepsins, and the other site, the Met99-Gln100 bond, was specifically cleaved by cathepsin E. These two sites could be the sites at which native Ii is cleaved by aspartic proteinases. The cleavage of the Met99-Gln100 bond by cathepsin E might be important in the inactivation of Ii and its functional derivatives.

Cathepsin E (EC 3.4.23.34), an intracellular aspartic proteinase, was purified from monkey intestine by simple procedures that included affinity chromatography and fast protein liquid chromatography. Cathepsin E was very active at weakly acidic pH in the processing of chemically synthesized precursors such as the precursor to neurotensin/neuromedin, proopiomelanocortin, the precursor to xenopsin, and angiotensinogen. The processing sites were adjacent to a dibasic motif in the former two precursors and at hydrophobic recognition sites in the latter two. The common structural features that specified the processing sites were found in the carboxyl-terminal sequences of the active peptide moieties of these precursors; namely, the sequence Pro-Xaa-X'aa-hydrophobic amino acid was found at positions P4 through P1. Pro at the P4 position is thought to be important for directing the processing sites of the various precursor molecules to the active site of cathepsin E. Although the positions of Xaa and X'aa were occupied by various amino acids, including hydrophobic and aromatic amino acids, some of these had a negative effect, as typically observed when Glu/Arg and Pro were present at the P3 and P2 positions, respectively. Cathepsin D was much less active or was almost inactive in the processing of the precursors to neurotensin and related peptides as a result of the inability of the Pro-directed conformation of the precursor molecules to gain access to the active site of cathepsin D. Thus, the consensus sequence of precursors, Pro-Xaa-X'aa-hydrophobic amino acid, might not only generate the best conformation for cleavage by cathepsin E but might be responsible for the difference in specificities between cathepsins E and D.

The structure of rabbit procathepsin E was determined by molecular cloning of its cDNA. The proenzyme consisted of 379 amino acids and had structural features common to human and guinea-pig procathepsin E species. The highly conserved tripeptide sequence at the active site of aspartic proteinases, Asp-Thr(Ser)-Gly, is, however, replaced by Asp-Thr-Val in rabbit procathepsin E. To our knowledge, this is the first case of such a variation in aspartic proteinases. The processed form, cathepsin E, hydrolyzed various biologically active peptides maximally at around pH5. Tachykinins, such as substance P and neurokinin A, were hydrolyzed most rapidly, with specific cleavage of sequences essential for their activity. The rates of hydrolysis were several hundred-fold higher than those of cathepsin D. Furthermore, cathepsin E was able to inactivate a functional-domain peptide of fibroblast growth factor, the sequence of which resembles those of tachykinins, and it was active in the generation of functional peptides, such as endothelin and angiotensin I, from their respective precursors. Procathepsin E was detected at high levels in various fetal tissues, such as the liver, stomach and blood cells. At the adult stage, the proenzyme was detectable only in specific tissues, such as the urinary bladder, duodenum and colon. Northern-blot analysis showed similar stage-specific and tissue-specific expression of the mRNA for procathepsin E. Since tachykinins and other suited peptide substrates of cathepsin E have been shown to have mitogenic activity, (pro)cathepsin E may regulate the growth and differentiation of embryonic and fetal tissues by degrading or processing these peptides. The enzyme may also regulate the physiological activities of adult tissues which are mediated by substance P and related tachykinins.

Procathepsin E and progastricsin were purified from the gastric mucosa of the guinea pig. They were converted to the active form autocatalytically under acidic conditions. Each active form hydrolyzed protein substrates maximally at around pH 2.5. Pepstatin inhibited cathepsin E very strongly at an equimolar concentration, whereas the inhibition was much weaker for gastricsin. Molecular cloning of the respective cDNAs permitted us to deduce the complete amino acid sequences of their pre-proforms; preprocathepsin E and preprogastricsin consisted of 391 and 394 residues, respectively. Procathepsin E has unique structural and enzymatic features among the aspartic proteinases. Lys at position 37, which is common to various aspartic proteinases and is thought to be important for stabilizing the activation segment, was absent at the corresponding position, as in human procathepsin E. The rate of activation of procathepsin E to cathepsin E is maximal at around pH 4.0. It is very different from the pepsinogens and may be correlated with the absence of Lys37. Native procathepsin E is a dimer, consisting of two monomers covalently bound by a disulfide bridge between 2 Cys37. Interconversion between the dimer and the monomer was reversible and regulated by low concentrations of a reducing reagent. Although the properties of the dimeric and monomeric cathepsins E are quite similar, a marked difference was found between them in terms of their stability in weakly alkaline solution: monomeric cathepsin E was unstable at weakly alkaline pH whereas the dimeric form was stable. The generation of the monomer was thought to be the process leading to inactivation, hence degradation of cathepsin E in vivo.

The processing of human gastric procathepsin E to its mature form, cathepsin E, was studied at pH 3.5. The results revealed the autocatalytic and apparently one-step conversion of procathepsin E to cathepsin E within 10 min of incubation at 14 degrees C under the conditions used. Analyses of the amino acid sequences of both procathepsin E and cathepsin E showed that cleavage occurred at the Met36-Ile37 bond to produce the mature form, cathepsin E. The NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of procathepsin E thus determined was identical with that predicted from the cDNA sequence by Azuma et al. except that the NH2-terminal glutamine residue in the latter was converted into a pyroglutamic acid residue in the former and that the glycine residue at position 2 in the latter sequence was deleted in the former. On the other hand, the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of cathepsin E was identical with that reported previously by us.

The amino acid sequences in the NH2-terminal region and some other parts of human gastric cathepsin E were investigated. The NH2-terminal sequencing revealed that the cathepsin E preparation which had been activated at pH 4.0 contained one major and one minor isozymes in an approximate molar ratio of 3:1. The NH2-terminal sequence of the former was very similar to but partly different from that predicted from cDNA sequencing by Azuma et al., whereas the latter had an NH2-terminal sequence identical with the predicted sequence. These results provide structural evidence for the presence of at least two isozymic forms in human gastric cathepsin E. In addition, the site of carbohydrate attachment was elucidated by isolation and analysis of a glycopeptide fraction from an enzymatic digest of cathepsin E. A single carbohydrate chain was deduced to be attached to the asparagine residue at position 34 in the major isozyme and to the corresponding asparagine residue in the minor isozyme.

Procathepsin D-II (Mr = 37 500) was purified from Japanese monkey lung at pH 7.0, and was shown to be converted to the active form, cathepsin D-II (Mr = 33 000) via an intermediate (Mr = 35 500) upon treatment at pH 3.0 and 14 degrees C. Procathepsin D-II was shown to be the inactive precursor of cathepsin D-II based on the following results: the former was inactive toward heat-denaturated casein at pH 5.4 whereas the latter was active; the former was not inactivated by diazoacetyl-DL-norleucine methyl ester in the presence of Cu2+ ion at pH 6.0 whereas the latter was inactivated rapidly under the same conditions; and the former had no affinity to pepstatin-Sepharose between pH 5 and 7 whereas the latter was adsorbed to it. With a rabbit antiserum against procathepsin D-II, cathepsin D-II, pepsinogen C and pepsin C of Japanese monkey were each found to give a single precipitin line which fused completely with each other on agarose plate. On the other hand, cathepsin D-I purified from the monkey lung, and pepsinogens A (I, II, III-1, III-2 and III-3) obtained from the monkey gastric mucosa failed to precipitate with the antiserum. With the antiserum against the monkey pepsinogen C, the same results were obtained. Further, procathepsin D-II and pepsinogen C were shown to have the same amino-terminal amino acid sequence, Ala-Val-Val-Lys-Val-Pro-Leu-Lys-Lys-Phe-Lys-. All these results indicate a strong similarity of procathepsin D-II and cathepsin D-II to pepsinogen C and pepsin C, respectively.

A cathepsin D-like acid proteinase from human gastric mucosa was purified for the first time to homogeneity as examined by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be about 85,000 by gel filtration on Sephadex G-150 and, after treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol, about 38,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis. These results indicate that the native enzyme is composed of two apparently identical monomeric units. The protein band could also be stained with the Schiff reagent after periodate oxidation, indicating that the proteinase is a glycoprotein. Analyses showed that the enzyme contains approximately 4 glucosamine and 16 mannose residues per molecule (M.W. 85,000). The amino acid composition generally resembled those of cathepsins D except for the lower contents of basic amino acid residues, especially lysine. It also showed some similarity to pepsinogens. The optimal pH was 2.3--3.5 with hemoglobin as a substrate. The enzyme was strongly inhibited, like pepsin, by 1,2-epoxy-3-(p-nitrophenoxy)propane (EPNP) as well as by pepstatin and diazoacetyl-DL-norleucine methyl ester (DAN) in the presence of cupric ions. The proteinase was stable in alkaline solution up to pH 9.0, and was rather stable to sequential acidification and neutralization. The acidification resulted in an increase of electrophoretic mobility towards the anode.