Mutagenesis of Glu403 to Cys in rabbit neutral endopeptidase-24.11 (neprilysin) creates a disulphide-linked homodimer: analogy with endothelin-converting enzyme

Neutral endopeptidase-24.11 (NEP; neprilysin; EC 3.4.24.11) and endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE) are related zinc metallopeptidases involved in the processing of biologically active peptides. Only ECE, however, exists as a disulphide-linked homodimer. The covalent linkage in rat ECE is between Cys412 in each subunit, which is equivalent to Glu403 in rabbit NEP. Here we report that directed mutagenesis of Glu403 to cysteine in rabbit NEP creates a disulphide-linked homodimer, as revealed by transient transfection in COS-1 cells and SDS/PAGE of a membrane fraction. Under reducing conditions, both the mutant (E403C) and the wild-type NEP migrate as a polypeptide of 92 kDa. However, under non-reducing conditions, the Mr of the wild type remains unchanged, whereas that of the mutant is doubled. Co-transfection of wild-type ECE and E403C NEP cDNA did not result in the production of a NEP-ECE heterodimer. Comparison of the kinetic constants for wild-type and E403C mutant NEP with either [D-Ala2,Leu5]enkephalin or 3-carboxypropanoyl-alanyl-alanyl-leucine-4-nitroanilide (Suc-Ala-Ala-Leu-NH-Np) as substrate show a decrease of approx. 50% in Vmax/Km for the mutant form. The IC50 value for inhibition of the mutant by phosphoramidon or thiorphan is increased 3-fold and 5-fold respectively. Although NEP and ECE exhibit only about 40% identity and differ substantially in substrate specificity and some other characteristics, these data indicate that they have considerable similarity in three-dimensional structure, allowing dimer formation in the mutant NEP with the disulphide link probably occurring in a hydrophilic surface loop.

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Rat endothelin-converting enzyme-1 forms a dimer through Cys412 with a similar catalytic mechanism and a distinct substrate binding mechanism compared with neutral endopeptidase-24.11

Biochemical Journal ◽

10.1042/bj3150863 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 315 (3) ◽

pp. 863-867 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

Kohei SHIMADA ◽

Masaaki TAKAHASHI ◽

Anthony J. TURNER ◽

Kazuhiko TANZAWA

Keyword(s):

Catalytic Mechanism ◽

Sequence Similarity ◽

Substrate Binding ◽

Neutral Endopeptidase ◽

Minor Role ◽

Converting Enzyme ◽

Wild Type ◽

Wild Type Enzyme ◽

Endopeptidase 24.11 ◽

Endothelin Converting Enzyme

Endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1) is involved in the conversion of big endothelins (big ETs) into endothelins (ETs) and shows sequence similarity with neutral endopeptidase-24.11 (NEP). Unlike NEP, ECE-1 exists as a disulphide-linked dimer. Here we reveal that Cys412 is solely responsible for the dimerization of rat ECE-1. The C412S mutant enzyme, which existed as a monomer, showed no difference in glycosylation level, subcellular localization or clustering structure formation, but showed a higher Km and lower kcat for big ET-1 compared with the wild-type enzyme. These results indicate that dimerization of ECE-1 is preferential for effective conversion of big ETs into ETs. In addition, complete loss of activity in the mutants E592Q, E651Q and H716Q confirmed that these residues are responsible for catalytic activity, zinc binding and stabilization of the intermediate during the transition state respectively. In contrast, the catalytic properties of mutant enzymes containing a substitution at Arg129 or Glu752 were not markedly different from those of the wild-type enzyme, suggesting that these residues play only a minor role, if any, in substrate binding, in contrast with their role in NEP.

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