title: Expression of cathepsin P mRNA, protein and activity in the rat choriocarcinoma cell line, Rcho-1, during giant cell transformation.
abstract: Lysosomal proteases perform critical functions in protein turnover and are essential for normal growth and development. Cathepsin P is a member of a newly discovered family of lysosomal cysteine proteases uniquely expressed in rodent placenta (PECs), and is closely related to human cathepsin L. Using the rat choriocarcinoma cell line model, Rcho-1, mRNA for the PECs cathepsins P, M, Q, R, 1, 2 was found to increase in expression during differentiation into a trophoblast giant cell phenotype. By contrast, expression of cathepsin L was not regulated. A specific enzyme assay was developed to show that activity of cathepsin P mirrored mRNA expression during differentiation. Cathepsin P protein co-localizes with cathepsin B, indicating that the enzyme probably functions in the endosomal-lysosomal compartment. This study demonstrates that the PEC genes produce functional proteases that can perform specific placental roles that are probably performed by broader specificity proteases in human placenta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Research, Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, 1600 Rock land Road, Wilmington, DE 19803, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassanein
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Korant
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Mason
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056663:Cathepsin Z; D002460:Cell Line; D002822:Choriocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015726:Giant Cells; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D056663:Cathepsin Z