title: The residual pro-part of cathepsin C fulfills the criteria required for an intramolecular chaperone in folding and stabilizing the human proenzyme.
abstract: The 13.5 kDa N-terminal part of the propeptide remains associated with mature cathepsin C after proteolytic activation and excision of the activation peptide. This residual pro-part, isolated from the recombinant enzyme, folds spontaneously and rapidly to a stable, compact monomer with secondary structure and stable tertiary interactions. Folding and unfolding kinetics of the residual pro-part with intact disulfides are complex, and accumulation of transient intermediates is observed. The cleaved form of the pro-part isolated from natural human cathepsin C also folds, suggesting that the intact form comprises two folding domains. The linkages of the two disulfide bridges have been established as 30-118 and 54-136 for the native enzyme. The native disulfide bonds can be re-formed from the fully reduced and denatured state by oxidative refolding, resulting in a domain that is spectroscopically indistinguishable from the original refolded residual pro-part. Both disulfides are solvent-exposed and can be reduced in the absence of denaturant. The reduced form retains most or all of the native tertiary structure and is only approximately 2 kcal.mol(-1) less stable than the oxidized form. It folds fast relative to the rate of biosynthesis, to the same conformation as the oxidized form. Folding and disulfide formation are sequential. These results indicate that the proenzyme folds sequentially in vivo and that the residual pro-part constitutes a rapidly and independently folding domain that stabilizes the mature enzyme. It thus fulfills the criteria required of an intramolecular chaperone. It may also be involved in stabilizing the tetrameric structure of the mature enzyme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Unizyme Laboratories, Dr Neergaads vej 17, DK-2970 Horsholm, Denmark. blaz.cigic@bf.uni-lj.si
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cigić
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Pain
mesh_terms: D020789:Cathepsin C / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003124:Colorimetry; D004229:Dithiothreitol; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004795:Enzyme Stability / Q000235:genetics; D019791:Guanidine; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000235:genetics; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D020673:Protein Renaturation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D019163:Reducing Agents; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014508:Urea
chemical_list: D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019163:Reducing Agents; D014508:Urea; D020789:Cathepsin C; D019791:Guanidine; D004229:Dithiothreitol