title: The amino terminal portion of cerebrospinal fluid cystatin C in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy is not truncated: direct sequence analysis from agarose gel electropherograms.
abstract: The isolated amyloid substance in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA) is mainly composed of a cystatin C variant devoid of the 10 amino terminal amino acid residues of extracellular cystatin C from healthy individuals. We have developed a procedure for protein sequencing directly from agarose gel electropherograms and used this in conjunction with isoelectric focusing to investigate the amino terminal sequence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cystatin C in HCCAA patients. The amino-terminal sequence determined for cystatin C from a HCCAA patient CSF sample, Xaa-Ser-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Pro-Xaa-Leu-Val-Gly-Gly-Pro-Met-Xaa-Ala-Xaa-Val, showed that the protein was not amino-terminally truncated. CSF cystatin C from all nine HCCAA patients investigated was found to have an isoelectric point identical to that of native cystatin C, and the truncated form of cystatin C isolated from amyloid deposits was shown to contribute to less than 1% of the total amount of cystatin C in CSF. The total cysteine proteinase inhibitory capacity of CSF from HCCAA patients was lower than that of CSF from other patients. This decreased CSF inhibitory capacity in HCCAA patients was caused by decreased levels of cystatin C, since the levels of the other two cysteine proteinase inhibitors found in CSF, alpha 2-macroglobulin and kininogen, were significantly higher than in CSF from non-HCCAA patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Lund, University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Olafsson
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gudmundsson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abrahamson
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jensson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grubb
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000682:Amyloid / Q000032:analysis; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D055316:Cystatin C; D015891:Cystatins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000235:genetics; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006801:Humans; D007526:Isoelectric Point; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; C525030:CST3 protein, human; D055316:Cystatin C; D015891:Cystatins