Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.24.11 (CD10)
 9,792 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cell walls isolated from 29 strains of 24 gram-positive bacterial species, whose peptidoglycans belong to the group A type of Schleifer and Kandler's classification, with one exception (Arthrobacter sp.), were shown to activate the complement cascade in pooled fresh human serum mainly through the alternative pathway and partly through the classical one. The complement-activating effect of cell walls (5 species) possessing group B type peptidoglycan, except those of Corynebacterium insidiosum, was weaker than that of the walls with group A type peptidoglycan. Preparations of peptidoglycan isolated from cell walls of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Lactobacillus plantarum also activated the alternative pathway of the complement cascade, but less effectively than the respective parent cell walls. A water-soluble "polymer" of peptidoglycan subunits (SEPS), which was prepared from Staphylococcus epidermidis peptidoglycans by treatment with a cross-bridge degrading endopeptidase, retained most of the complement-activating ability of the parent cell walls. A peptidoglycan "monomer," SEPS-M, which was obtained by hydrolysis of the glycan chain of SEPS with endo-N-acetylmuramidase to disaccharide units did not activate complement. In conformity with this finding, neither synthetic N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (MDP) nor MDP-L-Lys-D-Ala activated the complement cascade. Among several lipophilic derivatives of MDP, 6-O-(3-hydroxy-3-docosylhexacosanoyl)-MDP-L-Lys-D-Ala (BH48-MDP-L-Lys-D-Ala) and 6-O-(2-tetradecylhexadecanoyl)-MDP (B30-MDP) were shown to activate complement through the alternative as well as the classical pathway and exclusively through the classical pathway, respectively. The finding that a D-isoasparagine analog of B30-MDP caused the same effect as the parent molecule strongly suggests that the activation of complement by B30-MDP is different from that caused by cell wall peptidoglycans and a water-soluble "polymer" of peptidoglycan subunits.
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PMID:Activation of the human complement cascade by bacterial cell walls, peptidoglycans, water-soluble peptidoglycan components, and synthetic muramylpeptides--studies on active components and structural requirements. 367 Jan 25

The proteolysis of the chromatin core particle by the arginine-specific endopeptidase clostripain yields a new nucleoprotein particle containing an unaltered DNA fragment of about 145 base pairs in length and a protein octameric core made up of twice the four histone fragments H2A, H2B, H3 and H4. This composition is suggested by the molecular weight of about 180 kd determined for the new particle by small angle neutron scattering. The histone fragments differ by about 2-3 kd each from the initial histones H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 and they correspond to the cleavage of the N-terminal part of the sequence (20-30 residues). A preliminary investigation by thermal denaturation, circular dichroism and small angle neutron scattering (measurement of a radius of gyration by the H2O-D2O contrast variation technique) indicates that the spatial organization of the new chromatin particle closely resembles that of the initial core particle.
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PMID:[A new particle of chromatin obtained by proteolysis of histones with clostripain]. 643 15

Interactive computer graphics was used as a tool in studying the cleavage mechanism of the model substrate Z-Phe-Phe-Leu-Trp by the zinc endopeptidase thermolysin. Two Michaelis complexes and three binding orientations of the tetrahedral intermediate to the crystal structure of thermolysin were investigated. Our results indicate that a Michaelis complex, which does not involve coordination of the scissile peptide to the zinc, is consistent with available experimental data and the most plausible of the two complexes. A tetrahedral intermediate complex wherein the two oxygens of the hydrated scissile peptide straddle the zinc in a bidentate fashion results in the most favorable interactions with the active site. The preferred tetrahedral intermediate and Michaelis complex provide a rationalization for the published substrate data. A trajectory for proceeding from the Michaelis complex to the tetrahedral intermediate is proposed. This trajectory involves a simultaneous activation of the zinc-bound water molecule concurrent with attack on the scissile peptide. A detailed ordered product release mechanism is also presented. These studies suggest some modifications and a number of extensions to the mechanism proposed earlier [Kester, W. R., & Matthews, B. W. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 2506; Holmes, M. A., & Matthews, B. W. (1981) Biochemistry 20, 6912]. The binding mode of the thermolysin inhibitor N-(1-carboxy-3-phenylpropyl)-L-leucyl-L-tryptophan [Monzingo, A. F., & Matthews, B. W. (1984) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)] is compared with that of the preferred tetrahedral intermediate, providing insight into this inhibitor design.
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PMID:An interactive computer graphics study of thermolysin-catalyzed peptide cleavage and inhibition by N-carboxymethyl dipeptides. 652 36

The effects of bacterial cell walls, peptidoglycans, and a water-soluble polymer of peptidoglycan subunits on dengue virus type 2 replication in cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages were studied. Pretreatment of macrophage cultures with all of test cell walls isolated from seven bacterial species for 3 days significantly enhanced the virus production in the cultures. Peptidoglycans prepared from four of the above cell walls also exerted the virus production-enhancing effects in a similar manner as the walls. A water-soluble polymer of peptidoglycan subunits which was prepared by treatment of Staphylococcus epidermidis wall peptidoglycan with an interpeptide bridge-splitting enzyme (endopeptidase) also definitely enhanced the virus production in macrophage cultures, although its activity was weaker than that of the original wall and peptidoglycan. Macrophage cultures from athymic nude mice, when treated with cell walls and peptidoglycans of S. epidermidis and Lactobacillus plantarum for 3 days, also showed an increased ability to support dengue virus type 2 replication. The infectious center assay demonstrated that the virus replication enhancement by S. epidermidis cell wall and peptidoglycan was primarily due to an increase in the number of virus-infected cells. This finding did not seem to be in conflict with the observation that macrophages treated with the above cell wall or peptidoglycan phagocytized more latex particles than did untreated macrophages. The conclusions based on the above experiments are that the treatment of mouse peritoneal macrophage cultures with bacterial cell walls and their components increases the take of dengue virus type 2 by macrophages and thus raises the virus production in the macrophage cultures.
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PMID:Enhancement of dengue virus type 2 replication in mouse macrophage cultures by bacterial cell walls, peptidoglycans, and a polymer of peptidoglycan subunits. 687 66

The effects of airway inflammation induced by chronic antigen exposure on substance P (SP)-induced increases and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-induced decreases in airway opening pressure (Pao), and the recovery of intact and hydrolyzed radiopeptide were studied in tracheally perfused guinea pig lungs. SP (10(-6) mol/kg) induced a significantly greater increase in Pao in lungs from antigen-exposed (30 +/- 5 cm H2O) than saline-exposed animals (15 +/- 1 cm H2O, P < 0.05). Significantly more intact 3H-SP and significantly less 3H-SP 1-7, a neutral endopeptidase (NEP) hydrolysis product, were recovered from the lung effluent of antigen-exposed than saline-exposed animals (P < 0.05). Injection of VIP (10(-9) mol/kg) induced significantly more pulmonary relaxation in saline-exposed compared with antigen-exposed lungs (62 +/- 4%, P < 0.001). In contrast to effluent from saline-exposed animals, lung effluent from antigen-exposed lungs contained less intact VIP, increased amounts of a tryptic hydrolysis product, and no products consistent with the degradation of VIP by NEP. These data indicate that inflamed lungs are more sensitive to the contractile effects of SP because it is less efficiently degraded by NEP and are less sensitive to the relaxant effects of VIP because it is more efficiently degraded by a tryptic enzyme. Changes in airway protease activity occur with allergic inflammation and may contribute to airway hyperresponsiveness.
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PMID:Effects of chronic airway inflammation on the activity and enzymatic inactivation of neuropeptides in guinea pig lungs. 751 94

In the zinc metallopeptidases produced by the genus Bacillus, an active site histidine has been proposed to either stabilize the transition state in catalysis by donating a hydrogen bond to the hydrated peptide (Matthews, B. W. (1988) Acc. Chem. Res. 21, 333-340) or to polarize a water molecule, which subsequently attacks the peptidyl bond (Mock, W. L., and Aksamawati, M. (1994) Biochem. J. 302, 57-68). Site-directed mutagenesis techniques have been used to change this residue in the zinc endopeptidase from Bacillus stearothermophillus to either phenylalanine or alanine. At pH 7.0, the kcat/Km values of the substrate leucine enkephalin for the phenylalanine and alanine mutants were reduced by factors of 430- and 500-fold, respectively, as compared with the wild-type enzyme, mostly due to changes in kcat. In addition, the enzymatic activities of the mutant enzymes showed little pH dependence in the alkaline range, unlike the wild-type enzyme. The mutations did not greatly alter the binding affinities of inhibitors containing sulfydryl groups to chelate the active site zinc, while those of inhibitors containing hydroxamate or carboxylate zinc-chelating groups were increased between 80- and 250-fold. The largest change in the binding affinity of an inhibitor (> 5 orders of magnitude) was found with the proposed transition state mimic, phosphoramidon. The results are generally in agreement with x-ray crystallography studies and favor the involvement of the active site histidine in transition state binding.
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PMID:The role of histidine 231 in thermolysin-like enzymes. A site-directed mutagenesis study. 762 93

1. Adamalysin II, alias proteinase II, a 24-kDa zinc-endopeptidase from the snake venom of Crotalus adamanteus, is a member of a large family of metalloproteinases isolated as small proteinases or proteolytic domains of mosaic hemorrhagic proteins from various snake venoms. Homologous domains have been recently detected in multimodular mammalian reproductive tract proteins and in mammalian gene products, somatic rearrangements of which seem to be linked to primary breast cancers. 2. The 2.0 A X-ray crystal structure of adamalysin II reveals an ellipsoidal molecule with a shallow active-site cleft separating a relatively irregularly folded sub-domain from the main molecular body composed of a 5-stranded beta-sheet and four alpha-helices. Opposite to this active-site cleft is an integrated calcium ion liganded by carbonyl and strongly conserved carboxylate/carboxamide residues. The folding of the peptide fragment containing the zinc-binding motif HExxHxxGxxH bears only a distant resemblance to thermolysin; it is identical to that found in astacin, in collagenases, and in serralysins, with the three histidines (His142, His146, His152) and a water molecule (linked to the glutamic acid Glu143) likewise constituting the zinc ligand; similar to collagenases, but in contrast to astacin, adamalysin II lacks a fifth (tyrosine) zinc ligand, leaving its zinc-ion tetrahedrally coordinated. Furthermore, adamalysin II shares an identical active-site basement formed by a common Met-turn. 3. Due to their virtually identical active-site environment and similar folding topology, the snake venom metalloproteinases (hitherto called adamalysins) and the three other proteinases might be grouped into a common superfamily called metzincins with distinct differences from the thermolysin family.
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PMID:The crystal structure of adamalysin II, a zinc-endopeptidase from the snake venom of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus. 774 94

Proline-specific endopeptidase (PSE) (EC 3.4.21.26) was investigated for its potential as a catalyst in peptide synthesis. Using an activated peptide ester or a peptide amide as the acyl component, the enzyme catalyzed kinetically controlled aminolysis and transpeptidation respectively, with various amino acid amides as acyl acceptors. To a certain extent the nucleophile preference reflected the amino acid preference in the S1'-position of the enzyme in peptide hydrolysis: the highest fractions of aminolysis were obtained using amino acid amides with hydrophobic side-chains (e.g. Leu-NH2, Phe-NH2). PSE also catalyzed the thermodynamically controlled condensation of short peptides with a free carboxyterminus and various amino acid amides. This enabled us to examine the acceptance of different acyl components in the substrate-binding site of the enzyme with regard to their amino acid composition: In the S1 position proline was clearly favored, but alanine was also accepted, whereas the S2 subsite accepted various amino acids rather unspecifically. Since PSE was shown to be extremely sensitive against water-miscible organic solvents, an alternative approach was used to increase yields in enzymatic peptide synthesis: a derivative of PSE in which the catalytic Ser-556 is converted to a Cys was constructed by protein engineering. This mutant (PSEcys) exhibited a dramatically increased peptide ligase activity in aqueous solution.
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PMID:Enzymatic peptide synthesis by the recombinant proline-specific endopeptidase from Flavobacterium meningosepticum and its mutationally altered Cys-556 variant. 776 83

To further elucidate the natriuretic mechanisms of neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP) inhibition, we employed a new specific NEP inhibitor, UK 73967 (UK), with or without a specific kinin receptor antagonist, Hoe 140 (Hoe), in Sprague-Dawley rats, and evaluated the renal NEP, kinins and plasma ANP simultaneously. There were no significant changes in urinary NEP, kinins, urine volume (UV) or urinary sodium excretion (UNaV) with vehicle treatment in anesthetized normotensive rats. Infused UK (10 mg/kg) significantly decreased NEP, and increased kinins, UV and UNaV. There was not a significant difference in plasma ANP between the vehicle and UK groups. Simultaneous administration of Hoe (20 nmol/kg) canceled the increases of UV and UNaV caused by UK. From these results, we conclude that inhibition of NEP may exaggerate the contribution of renal kinins to the renal water-sodium metabolism and overcome the contribution of ANP on that metabolism at least in normotensive rats.
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PMID:The role of kinins and atrial natriuretic peptide on the renal effects of neutral endopeptidase inhibitor in rats. 785 60

The three-dimensional structure of the calcium-free form of Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase (BLA) has been determined by multiple isomorphous replacement in a crystal of space group P4(3)2(1)2 (a = b = 119.6 A, c = 85.4 A). The structure was refined using restrained crystallographic refinement to an R-factor of 0.177 for 28,147 independent reflections with intensities FObs > 0 at 2.2 A resolution, with root mean square deviations of 0.008 A and 1.4 degrees from ideal bond lengths and bond angles, respectively. The final model contains 469 residue, 237 water molecules, and one chloride ion. The segment between Trp182 and Asn192 could not be located in the electron density, nor could the N and C termini. Cleavage of the calcium-free form of BLA was observed after Glu189, due to a Glu-C endopeptidase present in trace amounts in the preparation. BLA did not crystallize without this cleavage under the conditions applied. BLA exhibits the characteristic overall topological fold observed for other alpha-amylases and related amylolytic enzymes: a central domain A containing an alpha/beta-barrel with a large protrusion between beta-strand 3 and alpha-helix 3 (domain B) and a C-terminal greek key motif (domain C). Unlike in the other enzymes, domain B possesses a beta-sheet made up of six loosely connected, twisted beta-strands forming a kind of a barrel with a large hole in the interior. Topological comparisons to TAKA-amylase, pig pancreatic alpha-amylase and cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase reveal a very high structural equivalence for large portions of the proteins and an exceptionally pronounced structural similarity for calcium binding, chloride binding and the active site. None of the theories proposed to explain the enhanced thermostability of BLA showed a satisfactory correlation with the three-dimensional structure. Instead, sequence comparisons to the less thermostable bacterial alpha-amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BAA) indicate that some ionic interactions present in BLA, but which cannot be formed in BAA, might be responsible for the enhanced thermostability of BLA.
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PMID:Crystal structure of calcium-depleted Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase at 2.2 A resolution. 787 75


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