title: Biochemical and immunological characterization of multiple glycoforms of mouse mast cell protease 1: comparison with an isolated murine serosal mast cell protease (MMCP-4).
abstract: Five highly soluble, chymotrypsin-like, neutral serine proteases, with molecular masses in the range 30-33 kDa, were isolated from Trichinella spiralis-infected mouse small intestine. These enzymes were closely related antigenically on Western blotting and by Ouchterlony double diffusion using a polyclonal, cross-absorbed, sheep antibody raised against mouse mast cell protease-1 (MMCP-1) and on the basis of N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis, were identified as variant forms of MMCP-1. Substrate and inhibitor analysis confirmed that the five variants (MMCP-1 A-E) had similar characteristics, although highly significant (P = 0.025 to P < 0.0001) variations in Km and kcat, were detected. Against human alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor the Ki for MMCP-1C (45 pM) was significantly (P < 0.0001) greater than those for the other proteases (0.76-2.2 pM). The differences in electrophoretic mobility are probably a result of variable glycosylation, since removal of N-linked carbohydrate produced a polypeptide of approx. 28 kDa in each case which was, like the native enzyme, immunoreactive on Western blotting. A much less soluble 28 kDa enzyme was isolated from serosal mast cells and identified as MMCP-4 by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Like MMCP-1 it has chymotrypsin-like substrate specificities with activity at neutral pH. However, it was antigenically distinct from MMCP-1 and, using sheep anti-MMCP-1, was not detected on Western blotting or by Ouchterlony double diffusion, e.l.i.s.a. or immunohistochemistry. This last technique established that the MMCP-1 variants were uniquely present in enteric mast cells, thereby providing a highly selective means of distinguishing the mucosal and connective tissue mast cell subsets in the mouse.
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh, U.K.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Newlands
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Knox
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Pirie-Shepherd
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D001345:Autoradiography; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D053818:Chymases; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D006031:Glycosylation; D007422:Intestines / Q000201:enzymology; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C066932:mast cell protease 4; D053818:Chymases; C509230:Mcpt1 protein, mouse