Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0376358 (prostate cancer)
59,338 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

By a search for novel human imprinted genes in the vicinity of the imprinted gene MEST, at chromosome 7q32, we identified the carboxypeptidase A4 gene ( CPA4) in a gene cluster of the carboxypeptidase family, 200 kb centromeric to MEST. Because CPA4 was originally identified as a protein induced in a prostate cancer cell line (PC-3) by histone deacetylase inhibitors, and was located at the putative prostate cancer-aggressiveness locus at 7q32, we investigated its imprinting status in fetal tissues and in adult benign hypertrophic prostate (BPH). RT-PCR using four intragenic polymorphisms as markers showed that CPA4 was expressed preferentially from the maternal allele in the fetal heart, lung, liver, intestine, kidney, adrenal gland, and spleen, but not in the fetal brain. It was also preferentially expressed in the BPH. These findings support that CPA4 is imprinted and may become a strong candidate gene for prostate cancer-aggressiveness. As a Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) locus has been proposed to be located to a region near MEST and to be involved in imprinting, CPA4 would have been a candidate gene for SRS. However, analysis of ten SRS patients revealed no mutations in CPA4.
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PMID:The novel imprinted carboxypeptidase A4 gene ( CPA4) in the 7q32 imprinting domain. 1255 18

A/B-type metallocarboxypeptidases (MCPs) are among the most thoroughly studied proteolytic enzymes, and their catalytic mechanisms have been considered as prototypes even for several unrelated metalloprote(in)ase families. It has long been postulated that the nature of the side chains of at least five substrate residues, i.e., P4-P1', influence Km and kcat and that once the peptide or protein substrate is cleaved, both products remain in the first instance bound to the active-site cleft of the enzyme in a double-product complex. Structural details of binding of substrate to the nonprimed side of the cleft have largely relied on complexes with protein inhibitors and peptidomimetic small-molecule inhibitors that do not span the entire groove. In the former, the presence of N-terminal globular protein domains participating in large-scale interactions with the surface of the cognate catalytic domain outside the active-site cleft mostly conditions the way their C-terminal tails bind to the cleft. Accordingly, they may not be accurate models for a product complex. We hereby provide the structural details of a true cleaved double-product complex with a hexapeptide of an MCP engaged in prostate cancer, human carboxypeptidase A4, employing diffraction data to 1.6 A resolution (Rcryst and Rfree = 0.159 and 0.176, respectively). These studies provide detailed information about subsites S5-S1' and contribute to our knowledge of the cleavage mechanism, which is revisited in light of these new structural insights.
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PMID:Caught after the Act: a human A-type metallocarboxypeptidase in a product complex with a cleaved hexapeptide. 1750 31

CPA4 (carboxypeptidase A4) is a member of the metallocarboxypeptidase family. CPA4 was originally found in a screen of mRNAs up-regulated by sodium butyrate-induced differentiation of cancer cells. Further studies suggested a relation between CPA4 and prostate cancer aggressiveness. In the present study, we determined that CPA4 is secreted from cells as a soluble proenzyme (pro-CPA4) that can be activated by endoproteases, such as trypsin. Three complementary approaches were used to study the substrate specificity of CPA4; kinetic analysis was performed using a new series of chromogenic substrates and some biologically relevant peptides, the cleavage of synthetic peptides was tested individually, and the cleavage of a mixture of >100 mouse brain peptides was examined using a quantitative peptidomics mass spectrometry-based approach. CPA4 was able to cleave hydrophobic C-terminal residues with a preference for Phe, Leu, Ile, Met, Tyr, and Val. However, not all peptides with C-terminal hydrophobic residues were cleaved, indicating the importance of additional residues within the peptide. Aliphatic, aromatic, and basic residues in the P1 position have a positive influence on the cleavage specificity. In contrast, acidic residues, Pro, and Gly have a negative influence in the P1 position. Some of the peptides identified as CPA4 substrates (such as neurotensin, granins, and opioid peptides) have been previously shown to function in cell proliferation and differentiation, potentially explaining the link between CPA4 and cancer aggressiveness. Taken together, these studies suggest that CPA4 functions in neuropeptide processing and regulation in the extracellular environment.
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PMID:Characterization of the substrate specificity of human carboxypeptidase A4 and implications for a role in extracellular peptide processing. 2038 63