title: Identification and characterization of heparin/heparan sulfate binding domains of the endoglycosidase heparanase.
abstract: The endo-beta-glucuronidase, heparanase, is an enzyme that cleaves heparan sulfate at specific intra-chain sites, yielding heparan sulfate fragments with appreciable size and biological activities. Heparanase activity has been traditionally correlated with cell invasion associated with cancer metastasis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. In addition, heparanase up-regulation has been documented in a variety of primary human tumors, correlating with increased vascular density and poor postoperative survival, suggesting that heparanase may be considered as a target for anticancer drugs. In an attempt to identify the protein motif that would serve as a target for the development of heparanase inhibitors, we looked for protein domains that mediate the interaction of heparanase with its heparan sulfate substrate. We have identified three potential heparin binding domains and provided evidence that one of these is mapped at the N terminus of the 50-kDa active heparanase subunit. A peptide corresponding to this region (Lys(158)-Asp(171)) physically associates with heparin and heparan sulfate. Moreover, the peptide inhibited heparanase enzymatic activity in a dose-responsive manner, presumably through competition with the heparan sulfate substrate. Furthermore, antibodies directed to this region inhibited heparanase activity, and a deletion construct lacking this domain exhibited no enzymatic activity. NMR titration experiments confirmed residues Lys(158)-Asn(162) as amino acids that firmly bound heparin. Deletion of a second heparin binding domain sequence (Gln(270)-Lys(280)) yielded an inactive enzyme that failed to interact with cell surface heparan sulfate and hence accumulated in the culture medium of transfected HEK 293 cells to exceptionally high levels. The two heparin/heparan sulfate recognition domains are potentially attractive targets for the development of heparanase inhibitors.
authors.affiliation: Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center, The Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa 31096, Israel.
authors.forename: Flonia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Levy-Adam
authors.forename: Ghada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abboud-Jarrous
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerrini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beccati
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vlodavsky
authors.forename: Neta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ilan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006493:Heparin / Q000378:metabolism*; D006497:Heparan Sulfate / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008239:Lysine; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D000099175:Heparanase
chemical_list: D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005966:Glucuronidase; D006493:Heparin; D006497:Heparan Sulfate; D008239:Lysine; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D000099175:Heparanase