Distinctive tissue distribution and phosphorylation of IRSp53 isoforms.

An insulin-receptor substrate of 53-kDa protein (IRSp53) is an adapter protein, which interacts with the Rho-family of GTPases and mediates neurite outgrowth. It also binds to DRPLA protein, a product of the gene responsible for a polyglutamine disease, dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA). Isoforms of human IRSp53 have been reported, each with a unique amino acid sequence at the C-terminal end. Here we report the distinctive tissue distribution and phosphorylation of three isoforms (L, S, and T-forms). Western blotting analyses with isoform-specific antibodies demonstrated that the L and S-forms were expressed in the brain, whereas the T-form was not present in any tissues examined, but was found in a cancer cell line. The L and S-forms were phosphorylated upon stimulation with insulin, and the T-form with IGF-I. Since phospho-acceptor sites were localized to the common portion, the difference in phosphorylation seems to be due to the unique C-terminal sequence.

Extended polyglutamine selectively interacts with caspase-8 and -10 in nuclear aggregates.

A growing number of inherited neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease, have been shown to be caused by the expansion of CAG/polyglutamine repeats. The molecular mechanism underlying these disorders, however, has yet to be clarified. We and others previously demonstrated that caspase-8 was activated by proteolysis in association with the expression of extended polyglutamine. Here, we further analyzed the selectivity of caspases in the process mediated by extended polyglutamine. Among upstream caspases, caspase-10, a close homolog of caspase-8, was also proteolytically activated, but caspase-9 was not. Caspase-8 and -10 were recruited into nuclear aggregates of extended polyglutamine, where at least a fraction of these caspases was converted to the activated forms. Caspase-8 and -10 were co-immunoprecipitated with polyglutamine only when the polyglutamine was pathologically extended, whereas caspase-2, -3, -6, -7 and -9 were not co-immunoprecipitated with polyglutamine regardless of its size. A dominant-negative form of caspase-8 with a mutation at the catalytic cysteine residue inhibited polyglutamine-mediated nuclear apoptotic phenotype. These results suggest that caspase-8 and -10 are autoactivated as a result of close proximity of the proforms of these molecules that occurs due to aggregate formation, which reveals a novel toxic gain-of-function mechanism for the pathogenesis of CAG-repeat disorders.

Characterization of beta-galactosidase mutations Asp332-->Asn and Arg148-->Ser, and a polymorphism, Ser532-->Gly, in a case of GM1 gangliosidosis.

We have identified and characterized three missense mutations in a patient with type 1 G(M1) gangliosidosis, namely a substitution of G for A at nucleotide position 1044 (G1044-->A; in exon 10) on one allele, which converts Asp(332) into asparagine, and both a mutation (C492-->A in exon 4, leading to the amino acid change of Arg(148)-->Ser) and a polymorphism (A1644-->G in exon 15, leading to a change of Ser(532)-->Gly) on the other allele. This patient had less than 1% residual beta-galactosidase activity and minimally detectable levels of immunoreactive beta-galactosidase protein in fibroblasts. To account for the above findings, a series of expression and immunolocalization studies were undertaken to assess the impact of each mutation. Transient overexpression in COS-1 cells of cDNAs encoding Asp(332)Asn, Arg(148)Ser and Ser(532)Gly mutant beta-galactosidases produced abundant amounts of precursor beta-galactosidase, with activities of 0, 84 and 81% compared with the cDNA clone for wild-type beta-galactosidase (GP8). Since the level of vector-driven expression is much less in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells than in COS-1 cells, and we knew that exogenous beta-galactosidase undergoes lysosomal processing when expressed in these cells, transient expression studies were performed of Arg(148)Ser and Ser(532)Gly, which yielded active forms of the enzyme. In this case, the Arg(148)Ser and Ser(532)Gly products gave rise to 11% and 86% of the control activity respectively. These results were not unexpected, since the Arg(148)Ser mutation introduced a major conformational change into the protein, and we anticipated that it would be degraded in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), whereas the polymorphism was expected to produce near-normal activity. To examine the effect of the Asp(332)Asn mutation on the catalytic activity, we isolated CHO clones permanently transfected with the Asp(332)Asn and Asp(332)Glu constructs, purified the enzymes by substrate-analogue-affinity chromatography, and determined their kinetic parameters. The V(max) values of both mutant recombinant enzymes were markedly reduced (less than 0.9% of the control), and the K(m) values were unchanged compared with the corresponding wild-type enzyme isolated at the same time. Both the Arg(148)Ser beta-galactosidase in CHO cells and Asp(332)Asn beta-galactosidases (in COS-1 and CHO cells) produced abundant immunoreaction in the perinuclear area, consistent with localization in the ER. A low amount was detected in lysosomes. Incubation of patient fibroblasts in the presence of leupeptin, which reduces the rate of degradation of lysosomal beta-galactosidase by thiol proteases, had no effect on residual enzyme activity, and immunostaining was again detected largely in the perinuclear area (localized to the ER) with much lower amounts in the lysosomes. In summary, the Arg(148)Ser mutation has no effect on catalytic activity, whereas the Asp(332)Asn mutation seriously reduces catalytic activity, suggesting that Asp(332) might play a role in the active site. Immunofluorescence studies indicate the expressed mutant proteins with Arg(148)Ser and Asp(332)Asn mutations are held up in the ER, where they are probably degraded, resulting in only minimum amounts of the enzyme becoming localized in the lysosomes. These results are completely consistent with findings in the cultured fibroblasts. Our results imply that most of the missense mutations described in G(M1) gangliosidosis to date have little effect on catalytic activity, but do affect protein conformation such that the resulting protein cannot be transported out of the ER and fails to arrive in the lysosome. This accounts for the minimal amounts of enzyme protein and activity seen in most G(M1) gangliosidosis patient fibroblasts.

Protein binding of a DRPLA family through arginine-glutamic acid dipeptide repeats is enhanced by extended polyglutamine.

Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is one of the hereditary neurodegenerative disorders caused by expansion of CAG/glutamine repeats. To investigate the normal function of the DRPLA gene and the pathogenic mechanism of neuron death in specific areas of the brain, we isolated and analyzed a gene that shares a notable motif with DRPLA, arginine-glutamic acid (RE) dipeptide repeats. The gene isolated, designated RERE, has an open reading frame of 1566 amino acids, of which the C-terminal portion has 67% homology to DRPLA, whereas the N-terminal portion is distinctive. RERE also contains arginine-aspartic acid (RD) dipeptide repeats and putative nuclear localization signal sequences, but no polyglutamine tracts. RERE is expressed at a low level in most tissues examined. Immunoprecipitation and in vitro binding assays demonstrate that the DRPLA and RERE proteins bind each other, for which one of the RE repeats has a primary role, and extended polyglutamine enhances the binding. With engineered constructs fused with a tag, the RERE protein localized predominantly in the nucleus. Moreover, when RERE is overexpressed, the distribution of endogenous DRPLA protein alters from the diffused to the speckled pattern in the nucleus so as to co-localize with RERE. More RERE protein is recruited into nuclear aggregates of the DRPLA protein with extended polyglutamine than into those of pure polyglutamine. These results reveal a function for the DRPLA protein in the nucleus and the RE repeat in the protein-protein interaction.

Antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) by particle agglutination (PA) test in Korean blood donors.

HTLV-I infection is a recently recognized disease entity that is common in some tropical and subtropical areas, including the southwestern district of Japan. Despite the geographical proximity and frequent cultural exchanges between Korea and Japan, it is understood that Korea is not an endemic area and HTLV-I-associated illnesses are very rare in Korea. This study was designed to evaluate the positive rate of anti-HTLV-I antibodies in Korean blood donors and its regional distribution. Sera were obtained from blood donors from various districts around Korea. Anti-HTLV-I antibodies were detected by using the microtiter particle agglutination test employing an indirect agglutination technique. A total of 9,281 donors were tested and 12 donors (0.13%) were positive for anti-HTLV-I antibodies, 10 (0.11%) out of 8,845 males and 2 (0.46%) out of 436 females, with relative female predominance. A relatively high incidence of anti-HTLV-I positive donors was observed in Cheju Island (0.80%), Kyungnam (0.31%), and Chonnam (0.15%). In conclusion, the positive rate of anti-HTLV-I antibodies seemed to be very low in Korea, but the highest positive rate of anti-HTLV-I antibodies was noticed on Cheju Island, warranting further research for confirmation.

Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy protein interacts through a proline-rich region near polyglutamine with the SH3 domain of an insulin receptor tyrosine kinase substrate.

Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is an autosomal dominant neuro degrees enerative disorder associated with CAG/glutamine repeat expansion. While the DRPLA gene is ubiquitously expressed, neuron death occurs in specific anatomical areas of the brain. This predicts that the DRPLA protein interacts with other proteins and that these interactions may play a role in pathogenesis. Here, we describe a protein that binds to the DRPLA product. One of the clones isolated with a yeast two-hybrid system was identified as a human homolog of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase substrate protein of 53 kDa (IRSp53). The gene produced two mRNA forms by differential splicing and encoded 552 and 521 amino acids, respectively. The longer form was mainly expressed in the brain and the shorter one in other tissues. The products were phosphorylated upon stimulation of cultured cells with insulin or insulin-like growth factor 1. Binding of the DRPLA protein to IRSp53 was ascertained by co-immunoprecipitation with antibodies and also by co-localization in perinuclear oval dots in cells expressing engineered constructs. A proline-rich region near the polyglutamine tract of the DRPLA protein and the SH3 domain of IRSp53 were involved in the binding. An extended polyglutamine tract significantly reduced binding ability in yeast cells, but not in in vitro binding assays. The identification of IRSp53 and other proteins detected by the yeast hybrid system predicts that DRPLA functions in a signal transduction pathway coupled with insulin/IGF-1.

Expression of extended polyglutamine sequentially activates initiator and effector caspases.

To date, eight neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease and dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy, have been identified to be caused by expansion of a CAG repeat coding for a polyglutamine (polyQ) stretch. It is, however, unclear how polyQ expansion mediates neuronal cell death observed in these disorders. Here, we have established a tetracycline-regulated expression system producing 19 and 56 repeats of glutamine fused with green fluorescent protein. Induced expression of the 56 polyQ, but not of the 19 polyQ stretch caused marked nuclear aggregation and apoptotic morphological changes of the nucleus. In vitro enzyme assays and Western blotting showed that polyQ56 expression sequentially activated initiator and effector caspases, such as caspase-8 or -9, and caspase-3, respectively. Furthermore, using cell-permeable fluorogenic substrate, the activation of caspase-3-like proteases was demonstrated in intact cells with aggregated polyQ. This is the first direct evidence that the expression of extended polyQ activates caspases and together with the previous findings that some of the products of genes responsible for CAG repeat diseases are substrates of caspase-3 indicates an important role of caspases in the pathogenesis of these diseases.

Intracellular aggregate formation of dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) protein with the extended polyglutamine.

Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by the abnormal CAG triplet-repeat expansion resulting in an elongated polyglutamine (polyQ) stretch. We have recently showed that the DRPLA protein is cleaved during apoptosis by caspase-3, one of the cysteine protease family members known to be activated during apoptosis. We report here the subcellular localization of the DRPLA protein by fusing the green fluorescent protein as a tag. The full length DRPLA protein is localized predominantly but not exclusively in the nucleus regardless of the length of the polyQ stretch. In contrast, an N-terminal-deleted fragment containing polyQ produced by the proteolytic cleavage with caspase-3 is found both in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Moreover, the same fragment with the elongated polyQ showed aggregation when overexpressed. Some cells with aggregate formation showed apoptotic phenotype. These findings raise the possibility that the DRPLA protein processed by caspase-3 may lead to aggregation of the protein resulting in the development of neurodegeneration.

Dentatorubral pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) protein is cleaved by caspase-3 during apoptosis.

Dentatorubral pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder. It is associated with an abnormal CAG repeat expansion resulting in formation of a protein with an elongated polyglutamine stretch. However, neither the physiological roles of the DRPLA gene product nor molecular mechanisms of its pathogenesis have yet been elucidated. Here we report that the DRPLA protein is cleaved at a site near the N terminus during apoptosis induced by VP-16, staurosporine, or glucocorticoid. Moreover, the in vitro translated DRPLA protein is cleaved by recombinant caspase-3, a member of the cysteine protease family, which is thought to be a main executioner of apoptosis. Using mutant DRPLA proteins, the cleavage site was identified as 106DSLDG110. The cleavage, however, was not modulated by the length of the polyglutamine stretch. These findings suggest that the DRPLA protein is one of the physiological substrates of caspase-3, and its cleavage may result in structural and biochemical alterations associated with apoptosis.

Maturation and degradation of beta-galactosidase in the post-Golgi compartment are regulated by cathepsin B and a non-cysteine protease.

Lysosomal beta-galactosidase precursor is processed to a mature form and associated with protective protein in lysosomes. In this study we used two cysteine protease proinhibitors, E64-d for cathepsins B, S, H, and L, and CA074Me for cathepsin B. They are converted intracellularly to active forms, E-64c and CA074, respectively. Both active compounds inhibited maturation of the exogenous beta-galactosidase precursor, but E-64c did not inhibit further degradation to an inactive 50-kDa product. We concluded that cathepsin B participated exclusively in maturation of beta-galactosidase, and a non-cysteine protease was involved in further degradation and inactivation of the enzyme molecule.

Early proteolytic cleavage with loss of a C-terminal fragment underlies altered processing of the beta-galactosidase precursor in galactosialidosis.

Processing of human beta-galactosidase (beta-GAL) was studied in permanently transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and compared with that in normal cells and in cells from subjects with GM1-gangliosidosis, galactosialidosis and I-cell disease. Biosynthesis of beta-GAL in CHO cells results in the synthesis of an 88 kDa glycosylated and phosphorylated monomer precursor which is enzymically active and is secreted into the medium. Post-translational processing begins at the C-terminal end of the protein and gives rise to structurally related 67 and 64 kDa mature forms. These are subsequently degraded to give several inactive products of which a 50 kDa and a 18 kDa species are prominent. In normal fibroblasts only the 84 kDa precursor is readily detected inside cells, while the 88 kDa precursor is the only form secreted from cells in the presence of ammonium chloride. Processing of the precursor in normal fibroblasts results in the appearance of both the 67 and 64 kDa mature forms, which are also degraded to give 50 and 18 kDa products, as in transfected CHO cells. As affected controls, GM1-gangliosidosis cells showed a general loss of all forms of the enzyme, while in I-cell fibroblasts only the 84 kDa precursor and an 18 kDa degradation form were prominent. In galactosialidosis fibroblasts, taken from two different subjects, processing of beta-GAL was characterized by the respective appearance of intermediate 80 and 72 kDa enzymically inactive polypeptides, at levels lower than the normal amounts of the 67 and 64 kDa mature forms and higher than the normal amounts of degradation products, one of which is of 45 kDa and arises by endoproteolytic cleavage of the 80 kDa polypeptide. Incubation for up to 72 h in medium containing leupeptin, a potent inhibitor of thiol-dependent proteases, resulted in a significantly increased level of beta-GAL activity to near normal levels in fibroblasts from one galactosialidosis subject. Concordant with this, the abundance of the 84 kDa precursor was increased and the levels of the 80 kDa, 45 kDa and 18 kDa digestion products were diminished. However, in fibroblasts from the second galactosialidosis subject, the amount of the abnormal 72 kDa polypeptide was not influenced by leupeptin treatment. Leupeptin treatment did not increase enzymic activity levels in normal, GM1-gangliosidosis or I-cell disease fibroblasts, despite the fact that the production of the 50 kDa and 18 kDa degradation products was blocked in the presence of leupeptin. We concluded that in galactosialidosis the leupeptin-inhibitable proteolytic cleavage of a small fragment causes a conformational change of the precursor that precludes its further normal processing and results in its enzymic deficiency. This early abnormal trimming of beta-GAL is ascribable to a deficiency in the functional protective protein, the function of which is absolutely essential to render beta-GAL cryptic from at least two distinct and separate proteolytic attacks that together remove at least 12 kDa from the C-terminal end of the enzyme.

Kinetic mechanism and characterization of human beta-galactosidase precursor secreted by permanently transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Chinese hamster ovary cell clones permanently transfected with the cDNA for human lysosomal beta-galactosidase secrete the enzyme precursor into the cell medium, from which it is purified to apparent homogeneity in a single step by affinity chromatography. The purified precursor is fully active, displays the same pH optimum and Km values as the mature placental enzyme, and has an intact C-terminus. The intact enzyme when chromatographed on a Sephacryl S-200 molecular-sieve column elutes as a 105,500 Da monomer, whereas on SDS/PAGE gels the polypeptide migrates as an 88 kDa polypeptide. A time course of digestion with glycopeptide-N-glycanase shows the gradual conversion of the precursor from an 88 to a 72 kDa protein, suggesting the presence of five N-linked oligosaccharides in the protein. The precursor is readily taken up in a mannose-6-phosphate-dependent manner into beta-galactosidase-deficient, GM1-gangliosidosis fibroblasts, and the enzyme activity is returned to normal levels. We show that the stereochemical course of enzymic hydrolysis involves the retention of the beta-configuration at the anomeric centre, suggesting a double-displacement mechanism. Furthermore, the enzyme is rapidly and irreversibly inactivated in the presence of the mechanism-based inactivator 2,4-dinitrophenyl-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-beta-D-galactopyranoside, which implicates a covalent intermediate. The enzyme is also inactivated by 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylamino-propyl)carbodi-imide and by phenylglyoxal, which implicates carboxylate and arginine residues respectively in the active site. We conclude that the beta-galactosidase precursor is functionally identical to the mature lysosomal form of the enzyme and serves as an excellent enzyme source for investigation of structure-function relationships in the protein.

The biochemistry and clinical features of galactosialidosis.

Galactosialidosis is a heterogeneous disorder that is manifested in infantile, late infantile, juvenile/adult, and atypical forms. In every instance the primary defect is in the ability of protective protein to associate with beta-galactosidase and neuraminidase to protect them from intralysosomal proteolysis. The protective protein is in reality a serine protease that displays both cathepsin A and C-terminal deamidase activity. We summarize the major clinical features of each form, and the range of storage products accumulated. The concept of an intralysosomal complex containing beta-galactosidase and neuraminidase in addition to protective protein seems irrefutable but major gaps exist in our understanding of how the complex is formed and in what subcellular organelles, how it is sustained, and the protein domains contributed by the constituent enzymes that play a pivotal role in this process.