Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Cell Science
Publisher
Company of Biologists
Publication Date
1999
Volume
112
Disciplines
Public Health
Abstract
Fibrillin-1, the main component of 10-12 nm microfibrils of the extracellular matrix, is synthesized as profibrillin and proteolytically processed to fibrillin. The putative cleavage site has been mapped to the carboxy-terminal domain of profibrillin-1, between amino acids arginine 2731 and serine 2732, by a spontaneous mutation in this recognition site that prevents profibrillin conversion. This site contains a basic amino acid recognition sequence (R-G-R-K-R-R) for proprotein convertases of the furin/PACE family. In this study, we use a mini-profibrillin protein to confirm the cleavage in the carboxy-terminal domain by both fibroblasts and recombinantly expressed furin/PACE, PACE4, PC1/3 and PC2. Site-directed mutagenesis of amino acids in the consensus recognition motif prevented conversion, thereby identifying the scissile bond and characterizing the basic amino acids required for cleavage. Using a PACE/furin inhibitor, we show that wild-type profibrillin is not incorporated into the extracellular matrix until it is converted to fibrillin. Therefore, profibrillin-1 is the first extracellular matrix protein to be shown to be a substrate for subtilisin-like proteases, and the conversion of profibrillin to fibrillin controls microfibrillogenesis through exclusion of uncleaved profibrillin.
Recommended Citation
Raghunath, Michael; Putnam, Elizabeth A.; Ritty, Timothy; Hamstra, Daniel; Park, Eun-Sook; Tschödrich-Rotter, Mathias; Peters, Reiner; Rehemtulla, Alnawaz; and Milewicz, Dianna M., "Carboxy-Terminal Conversion of Profibrillin to Fibrillin at a Basic Site by PACE/Furin-Like Activity Required for Incorporation in the Matrix" (1999). Public and Community Health Sciences Faculty Publications. 22.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/pchs_pubs/22
Comments
View original published article at the Journal of Cell Science.