Here we evaluated cleavage of CXC ELR (CXCL1, -2, -3, -5, and -8) and non-ELR (CXCL9-12) chemokines by cysteine cathepsins B, K, L, and S at neutral pH by high resolution Tris-Tricine SDS-PAGE and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Whereas cathepsin B cleaved chemokines especially in the C-terminal region, cathepsins K, L, and S cleaved chemokines at the N terminus with glycosaminoglycans modulating cathepsin processing of chemokines. The functional consequences of the cleavages were determined by Ca(2+) mobilization and chemotaxis assays. We show that cysteine cathepsins inactivate and in some cases degrade non-ELR CXC chemokines CXCL9-12. In contrast, cathepsins specifically process ELR CXC chemokines CXCL1, -2, -3, -5, and -8 N-terminally to the ELR motif, thereby generating agonist forms. This study suggests that cysteine cathepsins regulate chemokine activity and thereby leukocyte recruitment during protective or pathological inflammation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 28474151
The genome of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi encodes two copies of autophagy-related cysteine proteases, Atg4.1 and Atg4.2. T. cruzi autophagin-2 (TcAtg4.2) carries the majority of proteolytic activity and is responsible for processing Atg8 proteins near the carboxyl terminus, exposing a conserved glycine. This enables progression of autophagy and differentiation of the parasite, which is required for successful colonization of humans. The mechanism of substrate hydrolysis by Atg4 was found to be highly conserved among the species as critical mutations in the TcAtg4.2, including mutation of the conserved Gly-244 residue in the hinge region enabling flexibility of the regulatory loop, and deletion of the regulatory loop, completely abolished processing capacity of the mutants. Using the positional scanning-substrate combinatorial library (PS-SCL) we determined that TcAtg4.2 tolerates a broad spectrum of amino acids in the P4 and P3 positions, similar to the human orthologue autophagin-1 (HsAtg4B). In contrast, both human and trypanosome Atg4 orthologues exhibited exclusive preference for aromatic amino acid residues in the P2 position, and for Gly in the P1 position, which is absolutely conserved in the natural Atg8 substrates. Using an extended P2 substrate library, which also included the unnatural amino acid cyclohexylalanine (Cha) derivative of Phe, we generated highly selective tetrapeptide substrates acetyl-Lys-Lys-Cha-Gly-AFC (Ac-KKChaG-AFC) and acetyl-Lys-Thr-Cha-Gly-AFC (Ac-KTChaG-AFC). Although these substrates were cleaved by cathepsins, making them unsuitable for analysis of complex cellular systems, they were recognized exclusively by TcAtg4.2, but not by HsAtg4B nor by the structurally related human proteases SENP1, SENP2, and UCH-L3.
COBISS.SI-ID: 28942631
Here we show using a mass spectrometry-based approach that cathepsins L and S act as sheddases and cleave extracellular domains of CAM adhesion proteins and transmembrane receptors from the surface of cancer cells. In cathepsin S-deficient mouse pancreatic cancers, processing of these cathepsin substrates is highly reduced, pointing to an essential role of cathepsins in extracellular shedding. In addition to influencing cell migration and invasion, shedding of surface proteins by extracellular cathepsins impacts intracellular signaling as demonstrated for regulation of Ras GTPase activity, thereby providing a putative mechanistic link between extracellular cathepsin activity and cancer progression.
COBISS.SI-ID: 28696103
In the present study, we elucidated the anti-tumor properties of nitroxoline, a cathepsin B inhibitor, in in vitro and in vivo tumor models. Tumor and endothelial cell lines with high levels of active cathepsin B were selected for functional analysis of nitroxoline in vitro. Nitroxoline significantly reduced extracellular DQ-collagen IV degradation by all evaluated cancer cell lines using spectrofluorimetry. Nitroxoline also markedly decreased tumor cell invasion monitored in real time and reduced the invasive growth of multicellular tumor spheroids, used as a 3D in vitro model of tumor invasion. Additionally, endothelial tube formation was significantly reduced by nitroxoline in an in vitro angiogenesis assay. Finally, nitroxoline significantly abrogated tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis in vivo in LPB fibrosarcoma and MMTV-PyMT breast cancer mouse models. Overall, our results designate nitroxoline as a promising drug candidate for anti-cancer treatment.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3834225
Trop2 is a transmembrane protein which is expressed predominantly in stem and carcinoma cells. Via its cytosolic part, Trop2 influences the expression of cell proliferation-linked genes. However, the protein has not yet been structurally characterized. In the paper we present the structure of it's cytosolic part in two forms (non-phosphorylated and phosphorylated) and show how phosphorylation (also observed in vivo) affects the it's structure and could, consequently, affect interactions of Trop2 with other signaling proteins. Since the cytosolic part undergoes such considerable conformational changes we termed it a structural switch. The results are important for understanding of signaling processes as well as for the development of therapies targetting the signaling complexes of Trop2.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1536305091