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The identification of epitopic sites in human alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor.

ABSTRACT: Human alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1-PI) yielded nine fragments on cleavage with CNBr. The amino acid sequences of these fragments were determined. Three of these CNBr-cleavage fragments, namely fragment I (residues 64-220), fragment II (residues 243-351) and fragment III (residues 1-63), were found to bind rabbit polyclonal antibodies against chemically oxidized alpha 1-PI and mouse polyclonal antibodies against native alpha 1-PI by the Bio-Dot method (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on nitrocellulose). These fragments, I, II and III, inhibited by 60%, 25% and 5% respectively the binding between alpha 1-PI and the rabbit antibodies. Fragments I, II and III were subjected to proteolytic digestion, and 15, ten and five peptides were obtained from these fragments respectively. Only four of these peptides showed binding to the mouse antibodies against native alpha 1-PI. These were residues 40-63, 79-86, 176-206 and 299-323. A panel of monoclonal antibodies was prepared by conventional hybridoma technology, with chemically oxidized alpha 1-PI as the antigen. The ability of the monoclonal antibodies to bind native alpha 1-PI and CNBr-cleavage fragments I-III was determined. The monoclonal antibodies fell into three categories. Most (over 90%) belonged to group I, which was capable of binding alpha 1-PI and only fragment I. Antibodies in groups II and III bound alpha 1-PI and either fragment II or fragment III respectively. The ability of the peptides derived from proteolytic digestion of fragments I, II and III to bind three monoclonal antibodies representing each of the three groups was determined. Among all the peptides tested, only one (residues 176-206) derived from fragment I showed binding to the antibodies from group I, one (residues 299-323) derived from fragment II showed binding to the antibodies from group II, and one (residues 40-63) from fragment III showed binding to the antibodies from group III. Each of these three peptides also inhibited the binding between alpha 1-PI and the corresponding monoclonal antibodies. From these data we concluded that at least four epitopic regions (residues 40-63, 79-86, 176-206 and 299-323) were present in alpha 1-PI. Specific monoclonal antibodies to three of these sites were obtained.

SUBMITTER: Zhu XJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1148236 | biostudies-other | 1987 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Human alpha1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha1-PI), also known as antitrypsin, is the most abundant serine protease inhibitor (serpin) in plasma. Its deficiency is associated with development of progressive, ultimately fatal emphysema. Currently in the United States, alpha1-PI is available for replacement therapy as an FDA licensed plasma-derived (pd) product. However, the plasma source itself is limited; moreover, even with efficient viral inactivation steps used in manufacture of plasma products, the risk of contamination from emerging viruses may still exist. Therefore, recombinant alpha1-PI (r-alpha1-PI) could provide an attractive alternative. Although r-alpha1-PI has been produced in several hosts, protein stability in vitro and rapid clearance from the circulation have been major issues, primarily due to absent or altered glycosylation. RESULTS: We have explored the possibility of expressing the gene for human alpha1-PI in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger (A. niger), a system reported to be capable of providing more "mammalian-like" glycosylation patterns to secretable proteins than commonly used yeast hosts. Our expression strategy was based on fusion of alpha1-PI with a strongly expressed, secreted leader protein (glucoamylase G2), separated by dibasic processing site (N-V-I-S-K-R) that provides in vivo cleavage. SDS-PAGE, Western blot, ELISA, and alpha1-PI activity assays enabled us to select the transformant(s) secreting a biologically active glycosylated r-alpha1-PI with yields of up to 12 mg/L. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis further confirmed that molecular mass of the r-alpha1-PI was similar to that of the pd-alpha1-PI. In vitro stability of the r-alpha1-PI from A. niger was tested in comparison with pd-alpha1-PI reference and non-glycosylated human r-alpha1-PI from E. coli. CONCLUSION: We examined the suitability of the filamentous fungus A. niger for the expression of the human gene for alpha1-PI, a medium size glycoprotein of high therapeutic value. The heterologous expression of the human gene for alpha1-PI in A. niger was successfully achieved to produce the secreted mature human r-alpha1-PI in A. niger as a biologically active glycosylated protein with improved stability and with yields of up to 12 mg/L in shake-flask growth.

Project description:The interactions of human pancreatic elastase 2 with alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin were compared by studies in vitro. The equimolar complexes obtained between the enzyme and either inhibitor were relatively stable at 25 degrees C since they could be visualized for up to 5 days by an electrophoretic method. However, in both cases, a slow dissociation occurred with release of active enzyme. As the kass. rate constants are of the same order of magnitude, with a slightly lower value for alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor when compared with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin [(5.6 +/- 1.2) X 10(5) and (8.9 +/- 1.3) X 10(5) M-1.s-1 respectively], partition of human pancreatic elastase 2 between both inhibitors in human plasma is mainly dependent on their respective concentrations. A comparative study by crossed immunoelectrophoresis of the interactions of this enzyme with the two inhibitors contained in normal human plasma and in a mimetic mixture of pure inhibitors was carried out. This allowed the visualization of complexes with either inhibitor. Formation of such a complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin had never been demonstrated previously. The patterns obtained are similar when working with normal plasma or with the synthetic mixture, suggesting that, in the conditions used, alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin are the main inhibitors of human pancreatic elastase 2 in the plasma sample. However, it is also shown that part of the enzyme may be taken up by alpha 2-macroglobulin, which is responsible for the remaining enzyme activity on a synthetic substrate. The present work suggests that, according to the delay times of inhibition of human pancreatic elastase 2 calculated from the normal plasma concentrations of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, a significant role can be assigned to both inhibitors. Moreover, the role of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin would be enhanced in alpha 1-proteinase-inhibitor deficiency.

Project description:The alpha-macroglobulins are classified as broad-spectrum inhibitors because of their ability to entrap proteinases of different specificities and catalytic class. Tetrameric and dimeric alpha-macroglobulins have been identified in a wide variety of organisms including those as primitive as the mollusc Octopus vulgaris; however, monomeric alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitors have been previously identified only in rodents. The monomeric alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitors are believed to be analogous to the evolutionary precursor of the multimeric members of this family exemplified by the tetrameric human alpha 2-macroglobulin. Until now, monomeric alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitors have only been identified in rodents and have therefore been considered an evolutionary anomaly. However, in this report we have utilized several sensitive assays to screen various plasmas and sera for the presence of monomeric alpha-macroglobulins, and our results suggest that monomeric alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitors are present in organisms belonging to the avian, reptilian, amphibian and mammalian classes of the chordate phylum. This indicates that these proteins are more widespread than previously recognized and that their presence in rodents is not an anomaly. To demonstrate further that the identified proteins were indeed monomeric alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitors, we purified the monomeric alpha-macroglobulin from the American bullfrog Rana catesbeiana. We conclude that this protein is a monomer of 180 kDa on the basis of its behaviour on (i) pore-limit gel electrophoresis, (ii) non-reducing and reducing SDS/PAGE and (iii) gel-filtration chromatography. In addition, we demonstrate that this protein is an alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitor by virtue of (i) its ability to inhibit proteinases of different catalytic class, (ii) the presence of a putative internal beta-cysteinyl-gamma-glutamyl thioester and (iii) an inhibitory mechanism characterized by steric protection of the proteinase active site and by sensitivity to small primary amines. The frog monomeric alpha-macroglobulin is structurally and functionally similar to the well-characterized monomeric alpha-macroglobulin proteinase inhibitor rat alpha 1-inhibitor-3.

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The identification of epitopic sites in human alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor.

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