title: Recombinant cathepsin E has no proteolytic activity at neutral pH.
abstract: Cathepsin E (CatE) is a major intracellular aspartic protease reported to be involved in cellular protein degradation and several pathological processes. Distinct cleavage specificities of CatE at neutral and acidic pH have been reported previously in studies using CatE purified from human gastric mucosa. Here, in contrast, we have analyzed the proteolytic activity of recombinant CatE at acidic and neutral pH using two separate approaches, RP-HPLC and FRET-based proteinase assays. Our data clearly indicate that recombinant CatE does not possess any proteolytic activity at all at neutral pH and was unable to cleave the peptides glucagon, neurotensin, and dynorphin A that were previously reported to be cleaved by CatE at neutral pH. Even in the presence of ATP, which is known to stabilize CatE, no proteolytic activity was observed. These discrepant results might be due to some contaminating factor present in the enzyme preparations used in previous studies or may reflect differences between recombinant CatE and the native enzyme.
authors.affiliation: Medical and Natural Sciences Research Centre, University of Tubingen, Ob dem Himmelreich 7, 72074 Tubingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nousheen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Voelter
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kalbacher
mesh_terms: D020059:Cathepsin E / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D020059:Cathepsin E