title: Reconstitution of a branch of the Manduca sexta prophenoloxidase activation cascade in vitro: snake-like hemolymph proteinase 21 (HP21) cleaved by HP14 activates prophenoloxidase-activating proteinase-2 precursor.
abstract: Upon wounding or infection, a serine proteinase cascade in insect hemolymph leads to prophenoloxidase (proPO) activation and melanization, a defense response against invading microbes. In the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta, this response is initiated via hemolymph proteinase 14 (HP14), a mosaic protein that interacts with bacterial peptidoglycan or fungal beta-1,3-glucan to autoactivate. In this paper, we report the expression, purification, and functional analysis of M. sexta HP21 precursor, an HP14 substrate similar to Drosophila snake. The recombinant proHP21 is a 51.1 kDa glycoprotein with an amino-terminal clip domain, a linker region, and a carboxyl-terminal serine proteinase domain. HP14, generated by incubating proHP14 with beta-1,3-glucan and beta-1,3-glucan recognition protein-2, activated proHP21 by limited proteolysis between Leu(152) and Ile(153). Active HP21 formed an SDS-stable complex with M. sexta serpin-4, a physiological regulator of the proPO activation system. We determined the P1 site of serpin-4 to be Arg(355) and, thus, confirmed our prediction that HP21 has trypsin-like specificity. After active HP21 was added to the plasma, there was a major increase in PO activity. HP21 cleaved proPO activating proteinase-2 precursor (proPAP-2) after Lys(153) and generated an amidase activity, which activated proPO in the presence of serine proteinase homolog-1 and 2. In summary, we have discovered and reconstituted a branch of the proPO activation cascade in vitro: beta-1,3-glucan recognition--proHP14 autoactivation--proHP21 cleavage--PAP-2 generation--proPO activation--melanin formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Haobo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004156:Catechol Oxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000502:physiology; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018402:Manduca / Q000201:enzymology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013379:Substrate Specificity