Studies on naturally occurring proteinous inhibitor for transmethylation reactions

Down-regulation of asymmetric arginine methylation during replicative and H2O2-induced premature senescence in WI-38 human diploid fibroblasts

Protein arginine methylation is one of the post-translational modifications which yield monomethyl and dimethyl (asymmetric or symmetric) arginines in proteins. In the present study, we investigated the status of protein arginine methylation during human diploid fibroblast senescence. When the expression of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), namely PRMT1, PRMT4, PRMT5 and PRMT6 was examined, a significant reduction was found in replicatively senescent cells as well as their catalytic activities against histone mixtures compared with the young cells. Furthermore, when the endogenous level of arginine-dimethylated proteins was determined, asymmetric modification (the product of type I PRMTs including PRMT1, PRMT4 and PRMT6) was markedly down-regulated. In contrast, both up- and down-regulations of symmetrically arginine-methylated proteins (the product of type II PRMTs including PRMT5) during replicative senescence were found. Furthermore, when young fibroblasts were induced to premature senescence by sub-cytotoxic H2O2 treatment, results similar to replicative senescence were obtained. Finally, we found that SV40-mediated immortalized WI-38 and HeLa cell lines maintained a higher level of asymmetrically modified proteins as well as type I PRMTs than young fibroblasts. These results suggest that the maintenance of asymmetric modification in the expressed target proteins of type I PRMTs might be critical for cellular proliferation.

Immunoglobulin can be functionally regulated by protein carboxylmethylation in Fc region

Protein carboxylmethylation methylates the free carboxyl groups in various substrate proteins by protein carboxyl O-methyltransferase (PCMT) and is one of the post-translational modifications. There have been many studies on protein carboxylmethylation. However, the precise functional role in mammalian systems is unclear. In this study, immunoglobulin, a specific form of gamma-globulin, which is a well-known substrate for PCMT, was chosen to investigate the regulatory roles of protein carboxylmethylation in the immune system. It was found that the anti-BSA antibody could be carboxylmethylated via spleen PCMT to a level similar to gamma-globulin. This carboxylmethylation increased the hydrophobicity of the anti-BSA antibody up to 11.4%, and enhanced the antigen-binding activity of this antibody up to 24.6%. In particular, the Fc region showed a higher methyl accepting capacity with 80% of the whole structure level. According to the amino acid sequence alignment, indeed, 7 aspartic acids and 5 glutamic acids, as potential carboxylmethylation sites, were found to be conserved in the Fc portion in the human, mouse and rabbit. The carboxylmethylation of the anti-BSA antibody was reversibly demethylated under a higher pH and long incubation time. Therefore, these results suggest that protein carboxylmethylation may reversibly regulate the antibody-mediated immunological events via the Fc region.

Multimerization of expressed protein-arginine methyltransferases during the growth and differentiation of rat liver

Protein-arginine methylation is a posttranslational modification which yields monomethyl and dimethyl (asymmetric or symmetric) arginines in proteins. We investigated the expressions of PRMT1 and PRMT5 in relation to their catalytic activities in rat liver during growth and differentiation as well as in the pancreas. Western immunoblot analysis revealed that both PRMT1 and PRMT5 proteins were expressed in the cytosol of liver and pancreas with molecular mass of about 42 kDa and 72 kDa, respectively. However, on molecular sieve chromatography, the enzyme activities were eluted at about 500 kDa for PRMT5 and 440 kDa for PRMT1, indicating that the multimer complex of these expressed monomers were catalytically active. While the 500 kDa complex methylated predominantly myelin basic protein (MBP), the 440 kDa complex methylated hnRNP A1 protein. In fetal rat liver, the amount of expressed 42 kDa PRMT1 protein and the enzyme activity to methylate hnRNPA1 protein were 2- to 3-fold and 4- to 5-fold higher, respectively, than those of post-natal livers. While the 72 kDa PRMT5 protein was consistently expressed, its activity varied only about 2-fold. However, PRMT5 to methylate MBP showed one distinct peak at around the 20th day post-natal. Furthermore, while the PRMT1 enzyme activity increased more than 10-fold after 3 days of 70% partial hepatectomy, the amount of expressed PRMT1 protein was only about 3.2-fold higher than the control livers. In summary, we observed that PRMTs are catalytically active only in the form of multimers, but not as a dimer or tetramer of the expressed subunit. Furthermore, the amount of expressed PRMT protein, determined by Western immunoblot, did not correlate with the amount of their catalytic activity, and thus, some uncharacterized additional factor(s) may multimerize PRMTs to express catalytic activities in vivo.

Protein carboxylmethylation in porcine spleen is mainly mediated by class I protein carboxyl O-methyltransferase

The functional role of protein carboxylmethylation (PCM) has not yet been clearly elucidated in the tissue level. The biochemical feature of PCM in porcine spleen was therefore studied by investigating the methyl accepting capacity (MAC) of natural endogenous substrate proteins for protein carboxyl O-methyltransferase (PCMT) in various conditions. Strong acidic and alkaline-conditioned (at pH 11.0) analyses of the MAC indicated that approximately 65% of total protein methylation seemed to be mediated by spleen PCMT. The hydrolytic kinetics of the PCM products, such as carboxylmethylesters (CMEs), under mild alkaline conditions revealed that there may be three different kinds of CMEs [displaying half-times (T1/2) of 1.1 min (82.7% of total CMEs), 13.9 min (4.6%), and 478.0 min (12.7%)], assuming that the majority of CME is base-labile and may be catalyzed by class I PCMT. In agreement with these results, several natural endogenous substrate proteins (14, 31 and 86 kDa) were identified strikingly by acidic-conditioned electrophoresis, and their MAC was lost upon alkaline conditions. On the other hand, other proteins (23 and 62 kDa) weakly appeared under alkaline conditions, indicating that PCM mediated by class II or III PCMT may be a minor reaction. The MAC of an isolated endogenous substrate protein (23-kDa) was also detected upon acidic-conditioned electrophoresis. Therefore, our data suggest that most spleen PCM may be catalyzed by class I PCMT, which participates in repairing aged proteins.

Increased methylation of endogenous 20-kDa protein in HIT beta-cell during insulin secretion

Enzymatic methylation of endogenous proteins in clonal pancreatic beta-cell, HIT-T15, was investigated. When cell extract incubated with S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-3H]methionine was subjected to SDS-PAGE followed by fluorography, endogenous 20-kDa protein was highly [methyl-3H]-labeled. The increase of methylation was correlated with insulin secretion, when the cells were treated with secretagogue; at 5.5mM glucose, insulin secretion increased by 2.5-fold, while the 20-kDa methylation to about 3.2-fold. In the case of forskolin, another secretagogue, at 0.1mM, the methylation increased by approximately 4.5-fold. This increase of 20-kDa methylation was inhibited when the cells were treated with 3mM EGTA to inhibit insulin secretion by depleting extracellular calcium ion, indicating intercausal relation between methylation and insulin secretion. The [methyl-3H]-labeled amino acids were identified by thin layer chromatography as N(G)-methylated arginines. While arginyl residues in Gly-Arg-Gly sequence are known to be posttranslationally methylated, a synthetic nonapeptide, GGRGRGRGG, competed with the 20-kDa methylation; at 1 and 10 micro M nonapeptides, 62% and 78% of 20-kDa methylation were inhibited, respectively. Furthermore, Western immunoblot analysis of HIT cell extract against GGRGRGRGG antibodies strongly immunoreacted with the 20-kDa protein. These results suggested that methylation of the endogenous 20-kDa protein might play some role in insulin secretion.

An endogenous proteinacious inhibitor in porcine liver for S-adenosyl-L-methionine dependent methylation reactions: identification as oligosaccharide-linked acyl carrier protein

A proteinacious inhibitor of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet)-dependent transmethylation reactions was purified to homogeneity from porcine liver by size exclusion chromatography and FPLC. The molecular weight of the inhibitor was 12,222 Da. A 7400 Da polypeptide fragment of the purified inhibitor was sequenced by matrix-associated laser desorption ionization; time-of-flight MS, and was found to be identical with the known sequence of spinach acyl carrier protein (ACP). Although the remainder of the molecule was not clearly defined, 1H and H-H correlation of spectroscopy (COSY) NMR analysis revealed the presence of an oligosaccharide with alpha-glycosidic linkage. The purified oligosaccharide-linked ACP inhibited several AdoMet-dependent transmethylation reactions such as protein methylase I and II. S-farnesylcysteine O-methyltransferase, DNA methyltransferase and phospholipid methyltransferase. Protein methylase II was inhibited with a Ki value of 2.4 x 10(-3) M in a mixed inhibition pattern, whereas a well-known competitive product inhibitor S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) had Ki value of 6.3 x 10(-6) M. Commercially available active ACP fragments (65-74) and ACP from Escherichia coli had less inhibitory activity toward S-farnesylcysteine O-methyltransferase than the purified inhibitor. The biological significance of this oligosaccharide-linked ACP which has two seemingly unrelated functions (inhibitor for transmethylation and fatty acid biosynthesis) remains to be elucidated.

Inhibitory effect of arginine-derivatives from ginseng extract and basic amino acids on protein-arginine N-methyltransferase

Protein-arginine N-methyltransferase (protein methylase I) catalyzes methylation of arginyl residues on substrate protein posttranslationally utilizing S-adenosyl-L-methionine as the methyl donor and yields NG-methylarginine residues. Arginyl-fructose and arginyl-fructosyl-glucose from Korean red ginseng were found to inhibit protein methylase I activity in vitro. This inhibitory activity was shown to be due to arginyl moiety in the molecules, rather than that of carbohydrates. Several basic amino acids as well as polyamines were also found to inhibit protein methylase I activity. Interestingly, the intensity of the inhibitory activity was correlated with the number of amino-group in polyamines, thus, in the order of spermine > spermidine > putrescine > agmatine-sulfate, with IC50 at approximately 15 mM, 25 mM, 35 mM, and 50 mM, respectively. On the other hand, neutral amino acids or NaCl did not inhibit the enzyme activity. Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis of the protein methylase I activity in the presence of arginine and spermidine indicated that the inhibition was competitive in nature in respect to protein substrate, with the Ki values of 24.8 mM and 11.5 mM, respectively.

Identification of highly methylated arginine residues in an endogenous 20-kDa polypeptide in cancer cells

Enzymatic methylation of endogenous proteins in several cancer cell lines was investigated to understand a possible relationship between protein-arginine methylation and cellular proliferation. Cytosolic extracts prepared from several cancer cells (HeLa, HCT-48, A549, and HepG2) and incubated with S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-3H]methionine revealed an intensely [methyl-3H]-labeled 20-kDa polypeptide. On the other hand, cytosolic extracts prepared from normal colon cells did not show any methylation of the 20-kDa protein under identical conditions. To identify nature of the 20-kDa polypeptide, purified histones were methylated with HCT-48 cytosolic extracts and analyzed by SDS-PAGE. However, none of the histones comigrated with the methylated 20-kDa polypeptide, indicating that it is unlikely to be any of the histone subclasses. The [methyl-3H]group in the 20-kDa polypeptide was stable at pH 10-11 (37 degrees C for 30 min) and methylation was not stimulated by GTPgammaS (4 mM), thus the reaction is neither carboxyl methylesterification on isoaspartyl residues, nor on C-terminal farnesylated cysteine. The present study together with the previous identification of N(G)-methylated arginine residues in the HCT-48 cytosol fraction suggests that this novel endogenous 20-kDa arginine-methylation is a cellular proliferation-related posttranslational modification reaction.

An endogenous proteinacious inhibitor for S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent transmethylation reactions; identification of S-adenosylhomocystein as an integral part

A proteinacious inhibitor with a molecular weight of 1,600 Da which inhibits S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent transmethylation reactions was purified from porcine liver to homogeneity by procedures including boiling, Sephadex G-25 column chromatography and repeated HPLC. Employing both Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Fast Atom Bombardment-Mass (FAB-Mass) spectroscopy, S-adenosylhomocysteine was conclusively identified as an integral part of the inhibitor. The purified S-adenosylhomocysteine was competitive with S-adenosyl-L-methionine with Ki value of 6.3x10(-6) M towards protein methylase II.

Farnesylcysteine methyltransferase activity and Ras protein expression in human stomach tumor tissue

The processing pathway of G-proteins and Ras family proteins includes the isoprenylation of the cysteine residue, followed by proteolysis of three terminal residues and alpha-carboxyl methyl esterification of the cysteine residue. Farnesylcysteine methyltransferase (FCMT) activity is responsible for the methylation reaction which play a role in the membrane attachment of a variety of cellular proteins. Four kinds of Ras protein (c-Ha-ras, c-N-Ras, c-Ki-Ras, pan-Ras) expression were detected in adenocarcinoma of human tissue by immunohistochemical method, and hematoxylin and eosin staining. The level of Ras protein in human stomach tumor tissues was much higher than in normal and peritumoral regions of the same biopsy samples. The FCMT activities of each cellular fractions were high in mitochondrial fraction followed by microsomal fraction, whole homogenate and cytosolic fraction. The inhibitory effect on FCMT activity on stomach tumor tissue was determined after treatment with 0.25 microM of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine. S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine inhibited FCMT activity from 11.2% to 30.5%. These results suggested that FCMT might be involved in Ras proteins activity.

Purification and characterization of S-adenosylmethionine-protein-arginine N-methyltransferase from rat liver

A protein methylase I (S-adenosylmethionine-protein-arginine N-methyltransferase; EC 2.1.1.23), with a high specificity for recombinant heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (hnRNP) protein A1, was purified from rat liver. The purification method is simple and rapid; a single initial step of DEAE-cellulose DE-52 chromatography resulted in a 114-fold enrichment from the cytosol, and subsequent Sephadex G-200 chromatography and f.p.l.c. yielded a homogeneous preparation. Ouchterlony double-immunodiffusion analysis indicated that the rat liver enzyme is immunologically different from an analogous enzyme from the calf brain, nuclear protein/histone-specific protein methylase I [Ghosh, Paik and Kim (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 19024-19033; Rajpurohit, Lee, Park, Paik and Kim (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 1075-1082]. The purified enzyme has a molecular mass of 450 kDa on Superose chromatography and 110 kDa on SDS/PAGE, indicating that it is composed of four identical-size subunits. The Km values for protein A1 and S-adenosyl-L-methionine were 0.54 x 10(-6) and 6.3 x 10(-6) M respectively. S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine and sinefungin were effective inhibitors of the enzyme with Ki values of 8.4 x 10(-6) M and 0.65 x 10(-6) M respectively. Bivalent metal ions such as Zn2+, Mn2+ and Ni2+ were particularly toxic to the enzyme; at 1 mM Zn2+, 99% of the activity was inhibited. In addition, 50% of the enzyme activity was lost by treatment with 0.12 mM p-chloromercuribenzoate, indicating a requirement for a thiol group for enzyme activity. Glycerol, a compound often used to prevent enzyme inactivation, inhibited over 80% of the activity when present in the reaction mixture at a concentration of 20%.

A peptide inhibitor for S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent transmethylation reactions. Purification and characterization

1. A. proteinaceous inhibitor for S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet)-dependent transmethylation reactions has been purified to apparent homogeneity from rat liver cytosolic fraction. 2. The peptide was made up of 29 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 2,584. Glycine accounted for 52% of the total amino acids. 3. Employing AdoMet: protein-carboxyl O-methyltransferase (Protein methylase II) and bovine serum gamma-globulin as in vitro substrate, the mode of inhibition was found to be non-competitive with Ki value of 1.9 x 10(-8) M. 4. When the inhibitor was present in the reaction mixture together with S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy), which is a competitive inhibitor for AdoMet, the extent of inhibition exceeded that exerted by each individual inhibitor alone, suggesting that the sites of the inhibitors on the enzyme molecule are different. 5. Almost a stoichiometric relationship exists between the enzyme and the inhibitor molecule, the ratio being approx one.

Enzymatic methylation of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein in isolated liver nuclei

Protein N-methyltransferase activity has been studied in the rat liver nuclei, using recombinant heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle protein A1 and histone as the methyl acceptors. The hydrolysates of these two enzymatically [methyl-3H]-labeled proteins, however, yielded different patterns of methylated amino acids on HPLC analysis: NG-monomethylarginine (92%) and NG-NG-dimethyl (asymmetric) arginine (6.5%) were the major methylated amino acids identified in the protein A1, whereas epsilon-N-methylated lysine derivatives constituted a predominant portion (71%) of the methylated amino acids in histone. When liver extracts isolated from rats fed a methyl deficient diet were assayed, the methyl accepting activity of protein A1 increased 64% over the control (rats fed normal diet), while that of histone increased 260%. Partial hepatectomy induced a 7.9-fold and 2.3-fold increase in the protein A1 methylase activity after 24 and 48 h of regeneration, respectively. These results, together with the fact that myelin basic protein-specific protein methylase I does not significantly methylate protein A1, indicate the presence of an enzyme in the rat liver nuclei which methylates the protein A1.

DNA methylating capacity in metastatic variants of a human melanoma cell line

Certain highly metastatic (in athymic immunosuppressed "nude" mice) variants of the poorly metastatic human melanoma cell line MeWo have been found to contain dramatically reduced levels of DNA 5-methylcytosine compared to the parental cell line. To identify the underlying biochemical defect which could be responsible for the reduced DNA methylation within these cells, the intracellular ratio of S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine and level of extractable DNA-methyltransferase were examined. No significant difference in the ratio of S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine or extractable DNA-methyltransferase activity were found between the highly malignant variants and the parental cell line. Thus, stable alterations in these cellular parameters are not likely responsible for the reduction in DNA 5-methylcytosine content which appears to occur during "progression" of the MeWo tumor line from a relatively benign to highly malignant state.