Catalytic cysteine residues of ER-60 protease

UBR E3 ligases and the PDIA3 protease control degradation of unfolded antibody heavy chain by ERAD

Accumulation of unfolded antibody chains in the ER triggers ER stress that may lead to reduced productivity in therapeutic antibody manufacturing processes. We identified UBR4 and UBR5 as ubiquitin E3 ligases involved in HC ER-associated degradation. Knockdown of UBR4 and UBR5 resulted in intracellular accumulation, enhanced secretion, and reduced ubiquitination of HC. In concert with these E3 ligases, PDIA3 was shown to cleave ubiquitinated HC molecules to accelerate HC dislocation. Interestingly, UBR5, and to a lesser degree UBR4, were down-regulated as cellular demand for antibody expression increased in CHO cells during the production phase, or in plasma B cells. Reducing UBR4/UBR5 expression before the production phase increased antibody productivity in CHO cells, possibly by redirecting antibody molecules from degradation to secretion. Altogether we have characterized a novel proteolysis/proteasome-dependent pathway involved in degradation of unfolded antibody HC. Proteins characterized in this pathway may be novel targets for CHO cell engineering.

AGR2, ERp57/GRP58, and some other human protein disulfide isomerases

This review considers the major features of human proteins AGR2 and ERp57/GRP58 and of other members of the protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) family. The ability of both AGR2 and ERp57/GRP58 to catalyze the formation of disulfide bonds in proteins is the parameter most important for assigning them to a PDI family. Moreover, these proteins and also other members of the PDI family have specific structural features (thioredoxin-like domains, special C-terminal motifs characteristic for proteins localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, etc.) that are necessary for their assignment to a PDI family. Data demonstrating the role of these two proteins in carcinogenesis are analyzed. Special attention is given to data indicating the presence of biomarker features in AGR2 and ERp57/GRP58. It is now thought that there is sufficient reason for studies of AGR2 and ERp57/GRP58 for possible use of these proteins in diagnosis of tumors. There are also prospects for studies on AGR2 and ERp57/GRP58 leading to developments in chemotherapy. Thus, we suppose that further studies on different members of the PDI family using modern postgenomic technologies will broaden current concepts about functions of these proteins, and this will be helpful for solution of urgent biomedical problems.

Role of cysteine-protease CGHC motifs of ER-60, a protein disulfide isomerase, in hepatic apolipoprotein B100 degradation

Apolipoprotein B100 (apoB), the structural component of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), is susceptible to misfolding and subsequent degradation by several intracellular pathways. ER-60, which has been implicated in apoB degradation, is a protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) that forms or rearranges disulfide bonds in substrate proteins and also possesses cysteine protease activity. To determine which ER-60 function is important for apoB degradation, adenoviruses encoding wild-type human ER-60 or a mutant form of human ER-60 (C60A, C409A) that lacked cysteine protease activity were overexpressed in HepG2 cells. Overexpression of wild-type ER-60 in HepG2 cells promoted apoB degradation and impaired apoB secretion, but mutant ER-60 overexpression did not. In McArdle RH-7777 cells, VLDL secretion was markedly inhibited following overexpression of wild-type but not mutant ER-60, an effect that could be blocked by oleate treatment. Mutant ER-60 was not trapped on apoB as it was with the control substrate tapasin, suggesting that ER-60's role in apoB degradation is likely unrelated to its protein disulfide isomerase activity. Thus, ER-60 may participate in apoB degradation by acting as a cysteine protease. We postulate that apoB cleavage by ER-60 within the ER lumen could facilitate proteasomal degradation of the C-terminus of translocationally-arrested apoB.

Proteomic identification of dopamine-conjugated proteins from isolated rat brain mitochondria and SH-SY5Y cells

Dopamine oxidation has been previously demonstrated to cause dysfunction in mitochondrial respiration and membrane permeability, possibly related to covalent modification of critical proteins by the reactive dopamine quinone. However, specific mitochondrial protein targets have not been identified. In this study, we utilized proteomic techniques to identify proteins directly conjugated with (14)C-dopamine from isolated rat brain mitochondria exposed to radiolabeled dopamine quinone (150 microM) and differentiated SH-SY5Y cells treated with (14)C-dopamine (150 microM). We observed a subset of rat brain mitochondrial proteins that were covalently modified by (14)C-dopamine, including chaperonin, ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase core protein 1, glucose regulated protein 75/mitochondrial HSP70/mortalin, mitofilin, and mitochondrial creatine kinase. We also found the Parkinson's disease associated proteins ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 and DJ-1 to be covalently modified by dopamine in both brain mitochondrial preparations and SH-SY5Y cells. The susceptibility of the identified proteins to covalent modification by dopamine may carry implications for their role in the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis.

ER-60 domains responsible for interaction with calnexin and calreticulin

ER-60 is a thiol oxidoreductase family protein of the endoplasmic reticulum that facilitates the oxidative folding of glycoproteins via interaction with calnexin (CNX) and calreticulin (CRT). In this study, we tried to identify the site of interaction with CNX and CRT in the ER-60 molecule. ER-60 was shown to be composed of at least four domains, named a, b, b', and a', by limited proteolysis. Recombinant fragments of ER-60, a, b', and a'c, were each expressed in Escherichia coli as an individual soluble folded protein that underwent a cooperative unfolding transition along a urea gradient. These fragments each gave the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of the folded protein. On the other hand, fragment b, which did not undergo the cooperative unfolding transition along a urea gradient gel, did not show any sign of the folded structure on the CD measurement. However, subtraction of the spectra showed that the b domain was folded in wild-type ER-60 or abb'. Both a and a'c, which have a catalytic center CGHC motif, showed activity almost equivalent to half of that of wild-type ER-60. Extension from a or a'c to ab and abb' or b'a'c had little effect on their isomerase activity, suggesting that the b and b' domains hardly contribute to the catalytic activity of ER-60. The contribution of both the b and b' domains to the binding with CNX and CRT was revealed by surface plasmon resonance analysis and oxidative-refolding experiments of monoglucosylated RNase B with addition of the luminal domain of CNX.

Transglutaminase activity of human ER-60

Human recombinant ER-60 was confirmed to have transglutaminase activity by a microtiter plate assay. Transglutaminase activity of ER-60 did not require calcium and was inhibited by cystamine, a substrate analogue. In addition, the transglutaminase activity of ER-60 was not inhibited by SH-blocking reagents. These results suggest that the properties of the transglutaminase activity of ER-60 are different from those in the cases of known mammalian transglutaminases of which the active site includes a cysteine residue.