title: Structural analysis of saposin C and B. Complete localization of disulfide bridges.
abstract: Saposins A, B, C, and D are a group of homologous glycoproteins derived from a single precursor, prosaposin, and apparently involved in the stimulation of the enzymatic degradation of sphingolipids in lysosomes. All saposins have six cysteine residues at similar positions. In the present study we have investigated the disulfide structure of saposins B and C using advanced mass spectrometric procedures. Electrospray analysis showed that deglycosylated saposins B and C are mainly present as 79- and 80-residue monomeric polypeptides, respectively. Fast atom bombardment mass analysis of peptide mixtures obtained by a combination of chemical and enzymatic cleavages demonstrated that the pairings of the three disulfide bridges present in each saposin are Cys4-Cys77, Cys7-Cys71, Cys36-Cys47 for saposin B and Cys5-Cys78, Cys8-Cys72, Cys36-Cys47 for saposin C. We have recently shown that saposin C interacts with phosphatidylserine-containing vesicles inducing destabilization of the lipid surface (Vaccaro, A. M., Tatti, M., Ciaffoni, F., Salvioli, R., Serafino, A., and Barca, A. (1994) FEBS Lett. 349, 181-186); this perturbation promotes the binding of the lysosomal enzyme glucosylceramidase to the vesicles and the reconstitution of its activity. It was presently found that the effects of saposin C on phosphatidylserine liposomes and on glucosylceramidase activity are markedly reduced when the three disulfide bonds are irreversibly disrupted. These results stress the importance of the disulfide structure for the functional properties of the saposin.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Metabolismo e Biochimica Patologica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vaccaro
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salvioli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barca
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ciaffoni
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maras
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Siciliano
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zappacosta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amoresano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pucci
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004220:Disulfides / Q000737:chemistry*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005962:Glucosylceramidase / Q000378:metabolism; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010718:Phosphatidylserines / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D049231:Saposins; D049128:Sphingolipid Activator Proteins
chemical_list: D004220:Disulfides; D006023:Glycoproteins; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010718:Phosphatidylserines; D049231:Saposins; D049128:Sphingolipid Activator Proteins; D005962:Glucosylceramidase