Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.11.18 (MAP)
 7,412 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The Tax proteins of the oncovirinae viruses are phosphorylated transcriptional activators that exhibit oncogenic potential. The role of phosphorylation in their functional activities remains unknown. As a model for the Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) permits the characterization of viral replication and leukemogenesis in vivo. Here, we show that the BLV Tax protein is phosphorylated on serine residues 106 and 293 both in insect and in mammalian cells. These sites can also be efficiently phosphorylated by the cdc2 and MAP kinases in vitro. Mutation of these residues does not affect the capacity of the Tax protein to function as a transactivator. Indeed, the Tax proteins mutated at one or both serines increase LTR-directed viral transcription at levels similar to those obtained with wild-type Tax in cell culture. Moreover, inhibition of Tax phosphorylation by W7, a calmodulin antagonist, does not alter its transactivation activity. Thus, phosphorylation on serines 106 and 293 is not required for transactivation by Tax. However, simultaneous substitution of both serines into alanine residues destroys the capacity of Tax to cooperate with the Ha-ras oncogene to transform primary rat embryo fibroblasts and induce tumors in nude mice. When the serines were replaced with aspartic acid residues, the oncogenic potential of Tax was maintained indicating that the negative charge rather than the phosphate group itself was required for Tax oncogenicity. Finally, to assess the role of the serine residues in vivo, recombinant viruses which express the Tax mutants were constructed and injected into sheep. It appeared that the mutated proviruses replicate at levels similar to the wild-type virus in vivo. We conclude that Tax phosphorylation is dispensable for transactivation and viral replication in vivo but is required for its oncogenic potential in vitro.
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PMID:Phosphorylation of bovine leukemia virus Tax protein is required for in vitro transformation but not for transactivation. 961 25

Proline dipeptidase (prolidase) was purified from cell extracts of the proteolytic, hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus by multistep chromatography. The enzyme is a homodimer (39.4 kDa per subunit) and as purified contains one cobalt atom per subunit. Its catalytic activity also required the addition of Co2+ ions (Kd, 0.24 mM), indicating that the enzyme has a second metal ion binding site. Co2+ could be replaced by Mn2+ (resulting in a 25% decrease in activity) but not by Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, or Ni2+. The prolidase exhibited a narrow substrate specificity and hydrolyzed only dipeptides with proline at the C terminus and a nonpolar amino acid (Met, Leu, Val, Phe, or Ala) at the N terminus. Optimal prolidase activity with Met-Pro as the substrate occurred at a pH of 7.0 and a temperature of 100 degrees C. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified prolidase was used to identify in the P. furiosus genome database a putative prolidase-encoding gene with a product corresponding to 349 amino acids. This gene was expressed in Escherichia coli and the recombinant protein was purified. Its properties, including molecular mass, metal ion dependence, pH and temperature optima, substrate specificity, and thermostability, were indistinguishable from those of the native prolidase from P. furiosus. Furthermore, the Km values for the substrate Met-Pro were comparable for the native and recombinant forms, although the recombinant enzyme exhibited a twofold greater Vmax value than the native protein. The amino acid sequence of P. furiosus prolidase has significant similarity with those of prolidases from mesophilic organisms, but the enzyme differs from them in its substrate specificity, thermostability, metal dependency, and response to inhibitors. The P. furiosus enzyme appears to be the second Co-containing member (after methionine aminopeptidase) of the binuclear N-terminal exopeptidase family.
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PMID:Characterization of native and recombinant forms of an unusual cobalt-dependent proline dipeptidase (prolidase) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus. 973 78

An apparent conservative mutation, Leu to Val, at the second residue of the rat liver mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) presequence resulted in a precursor protein that was not imported into mitochondria. Additional mutants were made to substitute various amino acids with nonpolar side chains for Leu2. The Ile, Phe, and Trp mutants were imported to an extent similar to that of the native precursor, but the Ala mutant was imported only about one-fourth as well. It was shown that the N-terminal methionine was removed from the L2V mutant in a reaction catalyzed by methionine aminopeptidase. The N-terminal methionine of native pALDH and the other mutant presequences was blocked, presumably by acetylation. Because of the difference in co-translational modification, the L2V mutant sustained a significant loss in the available hydrophobic surface of the presequence. Import competence was restored to the L2V mutant when it was translated using a system that did not remove Met1. The removal of an Arg-Gly-Pro helix linker segment (residues 11-14) from the L2V mutant, which shifted three leucine residues toward the N-terminus, also restored import competence. These results lead to the conclusion that a minimum amount of hydrophobic surface area near the N-termini of mitochondrial presequences is an essential property to determine their ability to be imported. As a result, both electrostatic and hydrophobic components must be considered when trying to understand the interactions between precursor proteins and proteins of the mitochondrial import apparatus.
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PMID:The loss in hydrophobic surface area resulting from a Leu to Val mutation at the N-terminus of the aldehyde dehydrogenase presequence prevents import of the protein into mitochondria. 1021 35

In eukaryotes, two isozymes (I and II) of methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP) catalyze the removal of the initiator methionine if the penultimate residue has a small radius of gyration (glycine, alanine, serine, threonine, proline, valine, and cysteine). Using site-directed mutagenesis, recombinant yeast MetAP I derivatives that are able to cleave N-terminal methionine from substrates that have larger penultimate residues have been expressed. A Met to Ala change at 329 (Met206 in Escherichia coli enzyme) produces an average catalytic efficiency 1.5-fold higher than the native enzyme on normal substrates and cleaves substrates containing penultimate asparagine, glutamine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, and phenylalanine. Interestingly, the native enzyme also has significant activity with the asparagine peptide not previously identified as a substrate. Mutation of Gln356 (Gln233 in E. coli MetAP) to alanine results in a catalytic efficiency about one-third that of native with normal substrates but which can cleave methionine from substrates with penultimate histidine, asparagine, glutamine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan. Mutation of Ser195 to alanine had no effect on substrate specificity. None of the altered enzymes produced cleaved substrates with a fully charged residue (lysine, arginine, aspartic acid, or glutamic acid) or tyrosine in the penultimate position.
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PMID:Yeast methionine aminopeptidase I. Alteration of substrate specificity by site-directed mutagenesis. 1022 4

By improving the expression and purification of Escherichia coli methionine aminopeptidase (eMetAP) and using slightly different crystallization conditions, the resolution of the parent structure was extended from 2.4 to 1.9 A resolution. This has permitted visualization of the coordination geometry and solvent structure of the active-site dinuclear metal center. One solvent molecule (likely a mu-hydroxide) bridges the trigonal bipyramidal (Co1) and octahedral (Co2) cobalt ions. A second solvent (possibly a hydroxide ion) is bound terminally to Co2. A monovalent cation binding site was also identified about 13 A away from the metal center at an interface between the two subdomains of the protein. The first structure of a substrate-like inhibitor, (3R)-amino-(2S)-hydroxyheptanoyl-L-Ala-L-Leu-L-Val-L-Phe-OMe, bound to a methionine aminopeptidase, has also been determined. This inhibitor coordinates the metal center through four interactions as follows: (i) ligation of the N-terminal (3R)-nitrogen to Co2, (ii, iii) bridging coordination of the (2S)-hydroxyl group, and (iv) terminal ligation to Co1 by the keto oxygen of the pseudo-peptide linkage. Inhibitor binding occurs with the displacement of two solvent ligands and the expansion of the coordination sphere of Co1. In addition to the tetradentate, bis-chelate metal coordination, the substrate analogue forms hydrogen bonds with His79 and His178, two conserved residues within the active site of all MetAPs. To evaluate their importance in catalysis His79 and His178 were replaced with alanine. Both substitutions, but especially that of His79, reduce activity. The structure of the His79Ala apoenzyme and the comparison of its electronic absorption spectra with other variants suggest that the loss in activity is not due to a conformational change or a defective metal center. Two different reaction mechanisms are proposed and are compared to those of related enzymes. These results also suggest that inhibitors analogous to that reported here may be useful in preventing angiogenesis in cancer and in the treatment of microbial and fungal infections.
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PMID:Escherichia coli methionine aminopeptidase: implications of crystallographic analyses of the native, mutant, and inhibited enzymes for the mechanism of catalysis. 1038 7

The first amino acid of "authentic" poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, 3D(pol), is a glycine. As a result, production of 3D(pol) in Escherichia coli requires addition of an initiation codon; thus, a formylmethionine is added to the amino terminus. The formylmethionine should be removed by the combined action of a cellular deformylase and methionine aminopeptidase. However, high-level expression of 3D(pol) in E. coli yields enzyme with a heterogeneous amino terminus. To preclude this problem, we developed a new expression system for 3D(pol). This system exploits the observation that proteins fused to the carboxyl terminus of ubiquitin can be processed in E. coli to produce proteins with any amino acid as the first residue when expressed in the presence of a ubiquitin-specific, carboxy-terminal protease. By using this system, authentic 3D(pol) can be obtained in yields of 30-60 mg per liter of culture. While addition of a single glycine, alanine, serine, or valine to the amino terminus of 3D(pol) produced derivatives with a specific activity reduced by at least 25-fold relative to wild-type enzyme, addition of a methionine to the amino terminus resulted in some processing to yield enzyme with a glycine amino terminus. Addition of a hexahistidine tag to the carboxyl terminus of 3D(pol) had no deleterious effect on the activity of the enzyme. The utility of this expression system for production of other viral polymerases and accessory proteins is discussed.
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PMID:Production of "authentic" poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (3D(pol)) by ubiquitin-protease-mediated cleavage in Escherichia coli. 1049 78

The haematopoietic protein tyrosine phosphatase (HePTP) is a negative regulator of the MAP kinases Erk1, Erk2 and p38. HePTP binds to these kinases through a kinase-interaction motif (KIM) in its non-catalytic amino terminus and inactivates them by dephosphorylating the critical phosphorylated tyrosine residue in their activation loop. Here we show that cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) phosphorylates serine residue 23 in the KIM of HePTP in vitro and in intact cells. This modification reduces binding of MAP kinases to the KIM, an effect that is prevented by mutation of serine 23 to alanine. The PKA-mediated release of MAP kinase from HePTP is sufficient to activate the kinase and to induce transcription from the c-fos promoter. Expression of a HePTP serine-23-to-alanine mutant inhibits MAP-kinase dissociation and activation and induction of transcription from the c-fos promoter. We conclude that HePTP not only controls the activity of MAP kinases, but also mediates crosstalk between the cAMP system and the MAP-kinase cascade.
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PMID:Crosstalk between cAMP-dependent kinase and MAP kinase through a protein tyrosine phosphatase. 1055 44

Elk-1, a member of the TCF family of Ets domain proteins, contains a C-terminal transcriptional activation domain with multiple copies of the MAPK core consensus sequence S/T-P. This region is phosphorylated by MAP kinases in vitro and in vivo, but the extent and kinetics of phosphorylation at the different sites have not been investigated in detail. We prepared antisera against the phosphorylated forms of residues T353, T363, T368, S383, S389 and T417. The antisera specifically recognize the phosphorylated Elk-1 C terminus and are specific for their cognate sites, as assessed by peptide competition and mutagenesis experiments. Analysis of cells stably expressing Elk-1 in vivo shows that following serum or TPA stimulation, residues T353, T363, T368, S383, S389 and T417 become phosphorylated with similar kinetics. Mutation of any one site does not prevent phosphorylation of the others. Mutation to alanine of S383, F378 or W379, which virtually abolishes transcriptional activation by Elk-1, does not affect phosphorylation of any sites tested. Analysis of Elk-1 using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis shows that following ERK activation Elk-1 receives at least six phosphates in addition to those present prior to stimulation. We propose that the Elk-1 C-terminal regulatory domain becomes stoichiometrically phosphorylated following growth factor stimulation.
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PMID:ERK activation induces phosphorylation of Elk-1 at multiple S/T-P motifs to high stoichiometry. 1063 5

HePTP is a tyrosine specific protein phosphatase that is strongly expressed in activated T-cells. It was recently demonstrated that in transfected T-cells HePTP impairs TCR-mediated activation of the MAP-kinase family members ERK2 and p38 and it was suggested that both ERK and p38 MAP-kinases are substrates of HePTP. The HePTP gene has been mapped to human chromosome 1q32.1. Abnormalities in this region are frequently found in various hematopoietic malignancies. HePTP is highly expressed in acute myeloid leukemia and its expression in fibroblasts resulted in transformation. To address a possible involvement of HePTP in hematopoietic malignancies we sought to identify HePTP substrate(s) in leukemic cells. Using substrate trapping mutants we have identified the MAP-kinase ERK2 as a specific target of HePTP in the myelogenous leukemia cell line K562. Tyrosine phosphorylated ERK2, but not ERK1, p38, or JNK1, efficiently bound to catalytically inactive HePTP mutants in which the active site cysteine (HePTP-C/S) or the conserved aspartic acid residue (HePTP-D/A) had been exchanged for serine and alanine, respectively. Moreover, the interaction of ERK2 with HePTP trapping mutants was dependent on ERK2 tyrosine phosphorylation, indicating that HePTP is specifically targeted to activated ERK2. Using a deletion mutant of HePTP (HePTP-dLD), in which 14 amino acid residues within the N-terminus are missing, we show that regions outside the catalytic domain are also required for the interaction. Furthermore, overexpression of HePTP in K562 cells and fibroblasts interfered with PMA or growth factor induced MAP-kinase activation and HePTP efficiently dephosphorylated active ERK2 on the tyrosine residue in the activation loop in vitro. Together, these data identify ERK2 as a specific and direct target of HePTP and are consistent with a model in which HePTP negatively regulates ERK2 activity as part of a feedback mechanism. Oncogene (2000) 19, 858 - 869.
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PMID:The MAP-kinase ERK2 is a specific substrate of the protein tyrosine phosphatase HePTP. 1070 94

Activation of the stress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAP kinases), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38, is necessary for the induction of apoptosis in neuronal cells; however, in other cell types their involvement may be stimulus-dependent. In the present study we investigate the activation of JNK and p38 in a single non-neuronal cell type, undergoing receptor-mediated (tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand and CD95) or chemically-induced (lactacystin) apoptosis. In Jurkat T-cells, receptor-mediated and chemically-induced apoptosis resulted in a time-dependent activation of the initiator caspases-8 and -9, respectively. Both types of stimuli resulted in a significant activation of JNK and p38, which closely paralleled the time-dependent induction of apoptosis. The caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-(OMe) fluoromethyl ketone (z-VAD.FMK) inhibited receptor-mediated apoptosis and suppressed JNK and p38 activation. In contrast, inhibition of lactacystin-induced apoptosis with z-VAD.FMK, as assessed by phosphatidylserine exposure and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, did not inhibit activation of JNK or p38, demonstrating that during chemically-induced apoptosis, activation of JNK and p38 is independent of effector caspases. The role of p38 in apoptosis was assessed using the specific p38 inhibitor, SB203580. No effect on the induction of apoptosis or caspase activation was observed, although activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase-2 (MAPKAPK-2), an immediate downstream target of p38, was inhibited. Therefore neither p38 activation nor activation of MAPKAPK-2 is critical for induction of either receptor- or chemically-induced apoptosis. Thus, within a single cell type, (1) the mechanism of p38 and JNK activation during apoptosis is stimulus-dependent and (2) activation of the p38 pathway is not required for caspase activation or apoptosis, assessed by phosphatidylserine exposure, but may still be required to elicit other features of the apoptotic phenotype.
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PMID:JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) and p38 activation in receptor-mediated and chemically-induced apoptosis of T-cells: differential requirements for caspase activation. 1079 18


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