Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.4 (trypsin)
 42,187 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The interaction between the GTP-bound form of the transducin alpha-subunit (G alpha t) and the gamma-subunit (P gamma) of cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) is a key event in effector activation during photon signal transduction. The carboxyl-terminal half of P gamma is involved in interaction with G alpha t as well as in inhibition of PDE activity. Here we have utilized a combination of synthetic peptide and mutagenesis approaches to localize specific regions of the carboxyl-terminal region of P gamma interacting with G alpha t and P alpha beta and have determined residues involved in inhibition of PDE activity. We found that synthetic peptide corresponding to residues 68-87 of P gamma completely inhibit trypsin-activated PDE. The peptide P gamma-63-87 bound to G alpha t GTP gamma S with a Kd of 2.5 microM, whereas the binding of P gamma-68-87 to G alpha tGTP gamma S was approximately 15-fold less (Kd = 40 microM) suggesting that carboxyl-terminal P gamma region 68-87 contains a site for interaction with P alpha beta and also a part of the alpha t binding site. To map G alpha t and P alpha beta sites more precisely within the carboxyl-terminal region, a set of carboxyl-terminal mutants was generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Deletion of residues 63-69 and 70-76 diminished the binding of mutants to alpha t while binding to carboxyl-terminally truncated mutants lacking up to 11 amino acid residues was unchanged. In contrast, carboxyl-terminal truncations of P gamma from delta 1 to delta 11 resulted in a gradual decrease of its inhibitory activity. Thus, the extreme carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic sequence -Ile86-Ile87 together with 9 adjacent residues provides inhibitory interaction of P gamma with P alpha beta. The carboxyl-terminal G alpha tGTP gamma S binding site of P gamma is different from but adjacent to its PDE inhibitory site. During the visual transduction process, G alpha tGTP likely binds to this region of P gamma inducing a displacement of the extreme carboxyl terminus from the inhibitory site on P alpha beta, leading to PDE activation.
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PMID:The carboxyl terminus of the gamma-subunit of rod cGMP phosphodiesterase contains distinct sites of interaction with the enzyme catalytic subunits and the alpha-subunit of transducin. 776 19

The chicken pineal gland is a photosensitive neuroendocrine organ producing melatonin in circadian clock-regulated and light-sensitive manners. To understand the relationship between the photoreceptive molecule pinopsin and the light-dependent melatonin suppression that is sensitive to pertussis toxin treatment, we have searched for pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein alpha-subunits expressed in the chicken pineal gland. Here we report the cDNA cloning of the pineal transducin alpha-subunit (Gtalpha), which is highly homologous to human retinal rod cell-specific Gt(1)alpha. Concurrent cDNA cloning of chicken retinal Gt(1)alpha and Gt(2)alpha (rod and cone cell-specific alpha-subunits of transducin, respectively) revealed that the chicken pineal Gtalpha is identical to the retinal Gt(1)alpha. Double-immunostaining analysis of the chicken pineal sections localized Gt(1)alpha-immunoreactivity in the rudimentary outer segments of both follicular and parafollicular pinealocytes that were immunopositive to anti-pinopsin antibody. To examine whether pineal Gt(1)alpha is involved in the pineal phototransduction pathway, trypsin protection assay was applied for detecting the conversion of GDP-bound Gt(1)alpha into the guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPgammaS)-bound form in the pineal membrane homogenate. It was clearly demonstrated that the pineal Gt(1)alpha is activated in a light-dependent manner in the presence of GTPgammaS. These data together suggest strongly that pineal Gt(1)alpha mediates the phototransduction pathway triggered by pinopsin in the chicken pinealocytes.
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PMID:Rod-type transducin alpha-subunit mediates a phototransduction pathway in the chicken pineal gland. 1085 64

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a non-progressive Mendelian condition resulting from a functional defect in rod photoreceptors. A small number of unique missense mutations in the genes encoding various members of the rod phototransduction cascade, e.g. rhodopsin (RHO), cGMP phosphodiesterase beta-subunit (PDE6B), and transducin alpha-subunit (GNAT1) have been reported to cause autosomal dominant (ad) CSNB. While the RHO and PDE6B mutations result in constitutively active proteins, the only known adCSNB-associated GNAT1 change (p.Gly38Asp) produces an alpha-transducin that is unable to activate its downstream effector molecule in vitro. In a multigeneration Danish family with adCSNB, we identified a novel heterozygous C to G transversion (c.598C>G) in exon 6 of GNAT1 that should result in a p.Gln200Glu substitution in the evolutionarily highly conserved Switch 2 region of alpha-transducin, a domain that has an important role in binding and hydrolyzing GTP. Computer modeling based on the known crystal structure of transducin suggests that the p.Gln200Glu mutant exhibits impaired GTPase activity, and thereby leads to constitutive activation of phototransduction. This assumption is in line with our results of trypsin protection assays as well as previously published biochemical data on mutants of this glutamine in the GTPase active site of alpha-transducin following in vitro expression, and observations that inappropriately activating mutants of various members of the rod phototransduction cascade represent one of the major molecular causes of adCSNB.
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PMID:p.Gln200Glu, a putative constitutively active mutant of rod alpha-transducin (GNAT1) in autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness. 1758 59

The analysis of highly hydrophobic proteins is still an analytical challenge. Using a recombinant gamma-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA)-receptor subunit as a model protein, we developed a gel-based proteomic approach for high MS/MS-peptide sequence coverage identification. Protein samples were separated by multi-dimensional gel electrophoresis and the three protein spots representing the GABAA-receptor subunit alpha-1 from the last electrophoretic step were used for in-gel digestion with trypsin, chymotrypsin and subtilisin, followed by subsequent mass-spectrometric identification by nano-ESI-LC-MS/MS Qstar XL (quadrupole time-of-flight (qQTOF)) and linear ion trap (LIT) LTQ XL identification. This protocol allows the unambiguous identification of the GABAA-receptor alpha-1 subunit protein with 100% sequence coverage, thus covering all four hydrophobic transmembrane domains. This protocol differs from other methods in the selection of enzymes, digestion conditions and use of the two mass spectrometry principles. The protocol takes approximately 10 d to complete and may represent a step forward in the complex analysis of other membrane or hydrophobic proteins.
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PMID:Gel-based mass spectrometric analysis of a strongly hydrophobic GABAA-receptor subunit containing four transmembrane domains. 1970 90