A novel aspect of calpain activation.
Calpain, a Ca2+-dependent biomodulator, alters the properties of substrate proteins by cleaving them at a limited number of specific sites. Recent studies of the structure-function relationship of calpain and X-ray analysis of its Ca2+-binding domain have revealed hitherto unknown features of the regulation of calpain activity. A novel dissociation/autolysis mechanism for the activation of calpain at the membrane is proposed, which incorporates recent findings from structure-function studies of calpain, and its implications are discussed.
Suzuki
K
K
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Tokyo, Japan. kosuzuyki@iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Sorimachi
H
H
D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D002154:Calpain / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D002154:Calpain; D002118:Calcium