Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.64 (proteinase K)
 4,071 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Isolated connexin-32s from rat and mouse liver are proteolyzed in vitro by the intracellular Ca(2+)-dependent neutral proteases, mu-calpain and m-calpain, producing a major fragment of 26 kDa. Connexin-26 is not proteolyzed by calpain. Calpain cleaves connexin-32 at its C-terminal end as shown by 125I-calmodulin binding experiments. Connexin-32, but not connexin-26, is phosphorylated by both protein kinase A and protein kinase C in serine residues and the sites of phosphorylation by both kinases remain in the major 26-kDa fragment resulting from calpain proteolysis. Phosphorylation of connexin-32 by protein kinase C, but not by protein kinase A, prevents the proteolytic attack of mu-calpain and m-calpain. Phosphorylation of connexin-32 by protein kinase A and protein kinase C does not prevent its proteolysis by papain, alpha-chymotrypsin, proteinase K, and trypsin.
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PMID:Phosphorylation of connexin-32 by protein kinase C prevents its proteolysis by mu-calpain and m-calpain. 839 Sep 88

MYOC, a gene involved in different types of glaucoma, encodes myocilin, a secreted glycoprotein of unknown function, consisting of an N-terminal leucine-zipper-like domain, a central linker region, and a C-terminal olfactomedin-like domain. Recently, we have shown that myocilin undergoes an intracellular endoproteolytic processing. We show herein that the proteolytic cleavage in the linker region splits the two terminal domains. The C-terminal domain is secreted to the culture medium, whereas the N-terminal domain mainly remains intracellularly retained. In transiently transfected 293T cells, the cleavage was prevented by calpain inhibitors, such as calpeptin, calpain inhibitor IV, and calpastatin. Since calpains are calcium-activated proteases, we analyzed how changes in either intra- or extracellular calcium affected the cleavage of myocilin. Intracellular ionomycin-induced calcium uptake enhanced myocilin cleavage, whereas chelation of extracellular calcium by EGTA inhibited the proteolytic processing. Calpains I and II cleaved myocilin in vitro. However, in cells in culture, only RNA interference knockdown of calpain II reduced myocilin processing. Subcellular fractionation and digestion of the obtained fractions with proteinase K showed that full-length myocilin resides in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum together with a subpopulation of calpain II. These data revealed that calpain II is responsible for the intracellular processing of myocilin in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. We propose that this cleavage might regulate extracellular interactions of myocilin, contributing to the control of intraocular pressure.
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PMID:Characterization of the intracellular proteolytic cleavage of myocilin and identification of calpain II as a myocilin-processing protease. 1765 May 8

Recently, we have reported the presence of calpain-calpastatin system in mitochondria of bovine pulmonary smooth muscle [P. Kar, T. Chakraborti, S. Roy, R. Choudhury, S. Chakraborti, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 466 (2007) 290-299]. Herein, we report its localization in the mitochondria. Immunoblot, immunoelectron microscopy and casein zymographic studies suggest that mu-calpain and calpastatin are present in the inner mitochondrial membrane; but not in the outer mitochondrial membrane or in the inter membrane space or in the matrix of the mitochondria. Co-immunoprecipitation studies suggest that mu-calpain-calpastatin is associated in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Additionally, the proteinase K and sodium carbonate treatments of the mitoplasts revealed that mu-calpain is integrally and calpastatin is peripherally embedded to the outer surface of inner mitochondrial membrane. These studies indicate that an association between mu-calpain and calpastatin occurs in the inner membrane towards the inter membrane space of the mitochondria, which provides better insight about the protease regulation towards initiation of apoptotic processes mediated by mitochondria.
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PMID:Submitochondrial localization of associated mu-calpain and calpastatin. 1808 16

The abnormally folded form of the prion protein (PrP(Sc)) accumulating in nervous and lymphoid tissues of prion-infected individuals can be naturally cleaved to generate a N-terminal-truncated fragment called C2. Information about the identity of the cellular proteases involved in this process and its possible role in prion biology has remained limited and controversial. We investigated PrP(Sc) N-terminal trimming in different cell lines and primary cultured nerve cells, and in the brain and spleen tissue from transgenic mice infected by ovine and mouse prions. We found the following: (i) the full-length to C2 ratio varies considerably depending on the infected cell or tissue. Thus, in primary neurons and brain tissue, PrP(Sc) accumulated predominantly as untrimmed species, whereas efficient trimming occurred in Rov and MovS cells, and in spleen tissue. (ii) Although C2 is generally considered to be the counterpart of the PrP(Sc) proteinase K-resistant core, the N termini of the fragments cleaved in vivo and in vitro can actually differ, as evidenced by a different reactivity toward the Pc248 anti-octarepeat antibody. (iii) In lysosome-impaired cells, the ratio of full-length versus C2 species dramatically increased, yet efficient prion propagation could occur. Moreover, cathepsin but not calpain inhibitors markedly inhibited C2 formation, and in vitro cleavage by cathepsins B and L produced PrP(Sc) fragments lacking the Pc248 epitope, strongly arguing for the primary involvement of acidic hydrolases of the endolysosomal compartment. These findings have implications on the molecular analysis of PrP(Sc) and cell pathogenesis of prion infection.
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PMID:Endogenous proteolytic cleavage of disease-associated prion protein to produce C2 fragments is strongly cell- and tissue-dependent. 2015 89

The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) encodes the pore-forming subunit of the rapidly activating delayed rectifier potassium channel (IKr), which is important for cardiac repolarization. Dysfunction of hERG causes long QT syndrome and sudden death, which occur in patients with cardiac ischemia. Cardiac ischemia is also associated with activation, up-regulation, and secretion of various proteolytic enzymes. Here, using whole-cell patch clamp and Western blotting analysis, we demonstrate that the hERG/IKr channel was selectively cleaved by the serine protease, proteinase K (PK). Using molecular biology techniques including making a chimeric channel between protease-sensitive hERG and insensitive human ether-a-go-go (hEAG), as well as application of the scorpion toxin BeKm-1, we identified that the S5-pore linker of hERG is the target domain for proteinase K cleavage. To investigate the physiological relevance of the unique susceptibility of hERG to proteases, we show that cardiac ischemia in a rabbit model was associated with a reduction in mature ERG expression and an increase in the expression of several proteases, including calpain. Using cell biology approaches, we found that calpain-1 was actively released into the extracellular milieu and cleaved hERG at the S5-pore linker. Using protease cleavage-predicting software and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified that calpain-1 cleaves hERG at position Gly-603 in the S5-pore linker of hERG. Clarification of protease-mediated damage of hERG extends our understanding of hERG regulation. Damage of hERG mediated by proteases such as calpain may contribute to ischemia-associated QT prolongation and sudden cardiac death.
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PMID:The Human Ether-a-go-go-related Gene (hERG) Potassium Channel Represents an Unusual Target for Protease-mediated Damage. 2750 73

The human ether-a-go-go related gene (hERG)-encoded channel hERG undergoes N-linked glycosylation at position 598, which is located in the unusually long S5-pore linker of the channel. In other work we have demonstrated that hERG is uniquely susceptible to proteolytic cleavage at the S5-pore linker by proteinase K (PK) and calpain (CAPN). The scorpion toxin BeKm-1, which binds to the S5-pore linker of hERG, protects hERG from such cleavage. In the present study, our data revealed that, compared with normal glycosylated hERG channels, nonglycosylated hERG channels were significantly more susceptible to cleavage by extracellular PK. Furthermore, the protective effect of BeKm-1 on hERG from PK-cleavage was lost when glycosylation of hERG was inhibited. The inactivation-deficient mutant hERG channels S620T and S631A were resistant to PK cleavage, and inhibition of glycosylation rendered both mutants susceptible to PK cleavage. Compared with normal glycosylated channels, nonglycosylated hERG channels were also more susceptible to cleavage mediated by CAPN, which was present in the medium of human embryonic kidney cells under normal culture conditions. Inhibition of CAPN resulted in an increase of nonglycosylated hERG current. In summary, our results revealed that N-linked glycosylation protects hERG against protease-mediated degradation and thus contributes to hERG channel stability on the plasma membrane.- Lamothe, S. M., Hulbert, M., Guo, J., Li, W., Yang, T., Zhang, S. Glycosylation stabilizes hERG channels on the plasma membrane by decreasing proteolytic susceptibility. FASEB J. 32, 1933-1943 (2018). www.fasebj.org.
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PMID:Glycosylation stabilizes hERG channels on the plasma membrane by decreasing proteolytic susceptibility. 3217 31