title: Association of calpastatin with inactive calpain: a novel mechanism to control the activation of the protease?
abstract: It is generally accepted that the Ca(2+)-dependent interaction of calpain with calpastatin is the most relevant mechanism involved in the regulation of Ca(2+)-induced proteolysis. We now report that a calpain-calpastatin association can occur also in the absence of Ca(2+) or at very low Ca(2+) concentrations, reflecting the physiological conditions under which calpain retains its inactive conformational state. The calpastatin binding region is localized in the non-inhibitory L-domain containing the amino acid sequences encoded by exons 4-7. This calpastatin region recognizes a calpain sequence located near the end of the DII-domain. Interaction of calpain with calpastatins lacking these sequences becomes strictly Ca(2+)-dependent because, under these conditions, the transition to an active state of the protease is an obligatory requirement. The occurrence of the molecular association between Ca(2+)-free calpain and various recombinant calpastatin forms has been demonstrated by the following experimental results. Addition of calpastatin protected calpain from trypsin digestion. Calpain was coprecipitated when calpastatin was immunoprecipitated. The calpastatin molecular size increased following exposure to calpain. The two proteins comigrated in zymogram analysis. Furthermore, calpain-calpastatin interaction was perturbed by protein kinase C phosphorylation occurring at sites located at the exons involved in the association. At a functional level, calpain-calpastatin interaction at a physiological concentration of Ca(2+) represents a novel mechanism for the control of the amount of the active form of the protease potentially generated in response to an intracellular Ca(2+) influx.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Biochemistry, University of Genova, Viale Benedetto XV, 1, 16132 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Edon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Melloni
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Averna
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stifanese
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Tullio
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Defranchi
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salamino
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pontremoli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002154:Calpain / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005091:Exons; D006801:Humans; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C033668:calpastatin; D002154:Calpain; D002118:Calcium