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PubMed2003

Selection of biochemical mutants of Aspergillus niger resistant to some abiotic stresses with increased inulinase production.

AIMS: The present work aimed at evaluating the usefulness of selecting different kinds of biochemical mutants of Aspergillus niger to increase inulinase production in submerged culture. METHODS AND RESULTS: Conidia of A. niger 13/36, an active producer of inulinase, were subjected to mutagenesis with both u.v. and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG), and the products were analysed for inulinase activity with our own diffusion plate method. As a result of mutagenization and selection for obtaining biochemical mutants (e.g. surviving conditions of certain abiotic stresses, good growing on basal medium at 15 and 40 degrees C), A. niger strains resistant to these agents were obtained. Studies of the relationship between a criterion of selection and the frequency of mutation showed that the highest frequency of positive mutations in the second selection (86%) was obtained in mutants characteristic of the best growth at the low temperature (15 degrees C), when compared with the parent culture (28%). The most active mutants grown under stress conditions showed significantly higher inulinase activity (about 1.2-4.5-fold), when compared with the parent strain. CONCLUSIONS: The studies presented seem to confirm a high effectiveness of selection in some kinds of biochemical mutants of A. niger with regard to increased inulinase activity. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This screening strategy of mutants can be a contribution to modern commercial enzyme production.

Aspergillus niger↗
PubMed2003

Insulin-degrading enzyme regulates the levels of insulin, amyloid beta-protein, and the beta-amyloid precursor protein intracellular domain in vivo.

Two substrates of insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) and insulin, are critically important in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), respectively. We previously identified IDE as a principal regulator of Abeta levels in neuronal and microglial cells. A small chromosomal region containing a mutant IDE allele has been associated with hyperinsulinemia and glucose intolerance in a rat model of DM2. Human genetic studies have implicated the IDE region of chromosome 10 in both AD and DM2. To establish whether IDE hypofunction decreases Abeta and insulin degradation in vivo and chronically increases their levels, we characterized mice with homozygous deletions of the IDE gene (IDE --). IDE deficiency resulted in a >50% decrease in Abeta degradation in both brain membrane fractions and primary neuronal cultures and a similar deficit in insulin degradation in liver. The IDE -- mice showed increased cerebral accumulation of endogenous Abeta, a hallmark of AD, and had hyperinsulinemia and glucose intolerance, hallmarks of DM2. Moreover, the mice had elevated levels of the intracellular signaling domain of the beta-amyloid precursor protein, which was recently found to be degraded by IDE in vitro. Together with emerging genetic evidence, our in vivo findings suggest that IDE hypofunction may underlie or contribute to some forms of AD and DM2 and provide a mechanism for the recently recognized association among hyperinsulinemia, diabetes, and AD.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1979

Initial site of insulin cleavage by insulin protease.

Exposure of insulin to insulin protease (insulinase, EC 3.4.22.11), a degradative enzyme with considerable specificity toward insulin, results in alterations in the properties of the insulin molecule. Limited degradation by the enzyme results in a decrease in the ability of insulin to bind to membrane receptors with less change in the immunoprecipitability or trichloracetic acid precipitability of the hormone. Limited degradation by insulin protease also alters insulin so that the molecule becomes susceptible to attack by nonspecific endopeptidases which have no effect on unaltered insulin. These data demonstrate the production of an intermediate in the proteolytic degradation of insulin. By labeling with [14C]dansyl chloride, an insulin intermediate with three amino-terminal residues, glycine, phenylalanine, and leucine, was identified. Analysis of this intermediate demonstrated that it was composed of an intact A chain and a B chain cleaved between residues B16 and B17, with the three peptide chains held together by disulfide bonds. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that a stepwise degradation of insulin occurs in vivo and that an early step in the process is the cleavage between B16 and B17 that renders the molecule sucseptible to further degradation by nonspecific proteases.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1986

Inhibition of insulin degradation by hepatoma cells after microinjection of monoclonal antibodies to a specific cytosolic protease.

Four monoclonal antibodies were identified by their ability to bind to 125I-labeled insulin covalently linked to a cytosolic insulin-degrading enzyme from human erythrocytes. All four antibodies were also found to remove more than 90% of the insulin-degrading activity from erythrocyte extracts. These antibodies were shown to be directed to different sites on the enzyme by mapping studies and by their various properties. Two antibodies recognized the insulin-degrading enzyme from rat liver; one inhibited the erythrocyte enzyme directly; and two recognized the enzyme after gel electrophoresis and transfer to nitrocellulose filters. By this latter procedure and immunoprecipitation from metabolically labeled cells, the enzyme from a variety of tissues was shown to be composed of a single polypeptide chain of apparent Mr 110,000. Finally, these monoclonal antibodies were microinjected into the cytoplasm of a human hepatoma cell line to assess the contribution of this enzyme to insulin degradation in the intact cell. In five separate experiments, preloading of cells with these monoclonal antibodies resulted in an inhibition of insulin degradation of 18-54% (average 39%) and increased the amount of 125I-labeled insulin associated with the cells. In contrast, microinjection of control antibody or an extraneous monoclonal antibody had no effect on insulin degradation or on the amount of insulin associated with the cells. Moreover, the monoclonal antibodies to the insulin-degrading enzyme caused no significant inhibition of degradation of another molecule, low density lipoprotein. Thus, these results support a role for this enzyme in insulin degradation in the intact cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Developmental regulation of an insulin-degrading enzyme from Drosophila melanogaster.

The precise mechanism by which insulin is degraded in mammalian cells is not presently known. Several lines of evidence suggest that degradation is initiated by a specific nonlysosomal insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE). The potential importance of this insulin protease is illustrated by the fact that there is an IDE in Drosophila melanogaster Kc cells that shares both physical and kinetic properties with its mammalian counterpart. We now demonstrate that the IDE is present in other Drosophila cell lines and in the embryo, the larvae, the pupae, and adult tissues of the fruit fly. Further, the level of the IDE is developmentally regulated, being barely detectable in the embryo but elevated approximately 5-fold in the larvae and pupae and approximately 10-fold in the adult fly. The IDE levels in the cell lines are particularly high, at least 10-fold greater than in the adult fly. Analysis of Schneider L3 cells indicates that the addition of the Drosophila hormone ecdysone, which induces differentiation of the cells, causes a small but reproducible increase in the level of the IDE and the insulin-degrading activity. These results demonstrate that the IDE is evolutionarily conserved and that its expression is tightly regulated during differentiation of Drosophila. The particular pattern of developmental regulation suggests that the IDE plays a specific and critical role in the later stages of the life cycle of the fly.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

An unusual active site identified in a family of zinc metalloendopeptidases.

An unusual active site has been identified in a family of zinc metalloendopeptidases that includes bacterial protease III and the human and Drosophila insulin-degrading enzymes. All of these enzymes have been characterized as metalloendopeptidases and purified protease III has been shown to contain stoichiometric levels of zinc. However, all three proteases lack the consensus sequence (HEXXH) described in the active site of other zinc metalloendopeptidases. Instead, these proteases contain an inversion of this motif, HXXEH. To determine whether this region could represent the active site in these proteins, the two histidines in protease III were individually mutated to arginine and the glutamate was mutated to glutamine. All three mutants were devoid of proteolytic activity toward an exogenous substrate, insulin, as compared to the wild-type protease. Three lines of evidence indicate that this loss of activity in the mutants is not due to distortion of the three-dimensional structure of the protein: (i) the mutants are secreted into the periplasmic space and chromatograph normally; (ii) all three mutants are expressed at levels nearly identical to wild-type protein and do not appear to have an increased susceptibility to proteolysis in the bacteria; and (iii) the mutants compete equally with wild-type protein in a radioimmunoassay. The purified wild-type and glutamate mutants were found to contain stoichiometric amounts of zinc by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, whereas both histidine mutants had negligible zinc signals. These findings are consistent with this region being the active site in this protein, with the histidine residues coordinating the essential zinc atom and the glutamate involved in catalysis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Insulin-degrading enzyme regulates extracellular levels of amyloid beta-protein by degradation.

Excessive cerebral accumulation of the 42-residue amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) is an early and invariant step in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Many studies have examined the cellular production of Abeta from its membrane-bound precursor, including the role of the presenilin proteins therein, but almost nothing is known about how Abeta is degraded and cleared following its secretion. We previously screened neuronal and nonneuronal cell lines for the production of proteases capable of degrading naturally secreted Abeta under biologically relevant conditions and concentrations. The major such protease identified was a metalloprotease released particularly by a microglial cell line, BV-2. We have now purified and characterized the protease and find that it is indistinguishable from insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), a thiol metalloendopeptidase that degrades small peptides such as insulin, glucagon, and atrial natriuretic peptide. Degradation of both endogenous and synthetic Abeta at picomolar to nanomolar concentrations was completely inhibited by the competitive IDE substrate, insulin, and by two other IDE inhibitors. Immunodepletion of conditioned medium with an IDE antibody removed its Abeta-degrading activity. IDE was present in BV-2 cytosol, as expected, but was also released into the medium by intact, healthy cells. To confirm the extracellular occurrence of IDE in vivo, we identified intact IDE in human cerebrospinal fluid of both normal and Alzheimer subjects. In addition to its ability to degrade Abeta, IDE activity was unexpectedly found be associated with a time-dependent oligomerization of synthetic Abeta at physiological levels in the conditioned media of cultured cells; this process, which may be initiated by IDE-generated proteolytic fragments of Abeta, was prevented by three different IDE inhibitors. We conclude that a principal protease capable of down-regulating the levels of secreted Abeta extracellularly is IDE.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed2000

Degradation of amylin by insulin-degrading enzyme.

A pathological feature of Type 2 diabetes is deposits in the pancreatic islets primarily composed of amylin (islet amyloid polypeptide). Although much attention has been paid to the expression and secretion of amylin, little is known about the enzymes involved in amylin turnover. Recent reports suggest that insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) may have specificity for amyloidogenic proteins, and therefore we sought to determine whether amylin is an IDE substrate. Amylin-degrading activity co-purified with IDE from rat muscle through several chromatographic steps. Metalloproteinase inhibitors inactivated amylin-degrading activity with a pattern consistent with the enzymatic properties of IDE, whereas inhibitors of acid and serine proteases, calpains, and the proteasome were ineffective. Amylin degradation was inhibited by insulin in a dose-dependent manner, whereas insulin degradation was inhibited by amylin. Other substrates of IDE such as atrial natriuretic peptide and glucagon also competitively inhibited amylin degradation. Radiolabeled amylin and insulin were both covalently cross-linked to a protein of 110 kDa, and the binding was competitively inhibited by either unlabeled insulin or amylin. Finally, a monoclonal anti-IDE antibody immunoprecipitated both insulin- and amylin-degrading activities. The data strongly suggest that IDE is an amylin-degrading enzyme and plays an important role in the clearance of amylin and the prevention of islet amyloid formation.

Amyloid↗
PubMed2003

Differential degradation of amyloid beta genetic variants associated with hereditary dementia or stroke by insulin-degrading enzyme.

Inherited amino acid substitutions at position 21, 22, or 23 of amyloid beta (Abeta) lead to presenile dementia or stroke. Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) can hydrolyze Abeta wild type, yet whether IDE is capable of degrading Abeta bearing pathogenic substitutions is not known. We studied the degradation of all of the published Abeta genetic variants by recombinant rat IDE (rIDE). Monomeric Abeta wild type, Flemish (A21G), Italian (E22K), and Iowa (D23N) variants were readily degraded by rIDE with a similar efficiency. However, proteolysis of Abeta Dutch (E22Q) and Arctic (E22G) was significantly lower as compared with Abeta wild type and the rest of the mutant peptides. In the case of Abeta Dutch, inefficient proteolysis was related to a high content of beta structure as assessed by circular dichroism. All of the Abeta variants were cleaved at Glu3-Phe4 and Phe4-Arg5 in addition to the previously described major sites within positions 13-15 and 18-21. SDS-stable Abeta dimers were highly resistant to proteolysis by rIDE regardless of the variant, suggesting that IDE recognizes a conformation that is available for interaction only in monomeric Abeta. These results raise the possibility that upregulation of IDE may promote the clearance of soluble Abeta in hereditary forms of Abeta diseases.

Amyloid beta-Peptides↗
PubMed2003

Kinetics of amyloid beta-protein degradation determined by novel fluorescence- and fluorescence polarization-based assays.

Proteases that degrade the amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) are important regulators of brain Abeta levels in health and in Alzheimer's disease, yet few practical methods exist to study their detailed kinetics. Here, we describe robust and quantitative Abeta degradation assays based on the novel substrate, fluorescein-Abeta-(1-40)-Lys-biotin (FAbetaB). Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric analysis shows that FAbetaB is hydrolyzed at closely similar sites as wild-type Abeta by neprilysin and insulin-degrading enzyme, the two most widely studied Abeta-degrading proteases. The derivatized peptide is an avid substrate and is suitable for use with biological samples and in high throughput compound screening. The assays we have developed are easily implemented and are particularly useful for the generation of quantitative kinetic data, as we demonstrate by determining the kinetic parameters of FAbetaB degradation by several Abeta-degrading proteases, including plasmin, which has not previously been characterized. The use of these assays should yield additional new insights into the biology of Abeta-degrading proteases and facilitate the identification of activators and inhibitors of such enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Insulin-degrading enzyme in brain microvessels: proteolysis of amyloid {beta} vasculotropic variants and reduced activity in cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

The accumulation of amyloid beta (Abeta) in the walls of small vessels in the cerebral cortex is associated with diseases characterized by dementia or stroke. These include Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome, and sporadic and hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathies (CAAs) related to mutations within the Abeta sequence. A higher tendency of Abeta to aggregate, a defective clearance to the systemic circulation, and insufficient proteolytic removal have been proposed as mechanisms that lead to Abeta accumulation in the brain. By using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we show that insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) from isolated human brain microvessels was capable of degrading (125)I-insulin and cleaved Abeta-(1-40) wild type and the genetic variants Abeta A21G (Flemish), Abeta E22Q (Dutch), and Abeta E22K (Italian) at the predicted sites. In microvessels from Alzheimer's disease cases with CAA, IDE protein levels showed a 44% increase as determined by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot. However, the activity of IDE upon radiolabeled insulin was significantly reduced in CAA as compared with age-matched controls. These results support the notion that a defect in Abeta proteolysis by IDE contributes to the accumulation of this peptide in the cortical microvasculature. Moreover they raise the possibility that IDE inhibition or inactivation is a pathogenic mechanism that may open novel strategies for the treatment of cerebrovascular Abeta amyloidoses.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Yeast as a tractable genetic system for functional studies of the insulin-degrading enzyme.

We have developed yeast as an expression and genetic system for functional studies of the insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), which cleaves and inactivates certain small peptide molecules, including insulin and the neurotoxic A beta peptide. We show that heterologously expressed rat IDE is enzymatically active, as judged by the ability of IDE-containing yeast extracts to cleave insulin in vitro. We also show that IDE can promote the in vivo production of the yeast a-factor mating pheromone, a function normally attributed to the yeast enzymes Axl1p and Ste23p. However, IDE cannot substitute for the function of Axl1p in promoting haploid axial budding and repressing haploid invasive growth, activities that require an uncharacterized activity of Axl1p. Particulate fractions enriched for Axl1p or Ste23p are incapable of cleaving insulin, suggesting that the functional conservation of these enzymes may not be bidirectionally conserved. We have made practical use of our genetic system to confirm that residues composing the extended zinc metalloprotease motif of M16A family enzymes are required for the enzymatic activity of IDE, Ste23p, and Axl1p. We have determined that IDE and Axl1p both require an intact C terminus for optimal activity. We expect that the tractable genetic system that we have developed will be useful for investigating the enzymatic and structure/function properties of IDE and possibly for the identification of novel IDE alleles having altered substrate specificity.

Alleles↗
PubMed2005

Mutation of active site residues of insulin-degrading enzyme alters allosteric interactions.

The active site glutamate (Glu(111)) and the active site histidine (His(112)) of insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) were mutated. These mutant enzymes exhibit, in addition to a large decrease in catalytic activity, a change in the substrate-velocity response from a sigmoidal one seen with the native enzyme (Hill coefficient > 2), to a hyperbolic response. With 2-aminobenzoyl-GGFLRKHGQ-N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)ethylenediamine as substrate, ATP and triphosphate increase the reaction rate of the wild type enzyme some 50-80-fold. This effect is dampened with glutamate mutants to no effect or less than a 3-fold increase in activity and changed to inhibition with the histidine mutants. Sedimentation equilibrium shows the IDE mutants exhibit a similar oligomeric distribution as the wild type enzyme, being predominantly monomeric, with triphosphate having little if any effect on the oligomeric state. Triphosphate did induce aggregation of many of the IDE mutants. Thus, the oligomeric state of IDE does not correlate with kinetic properties. The His(112) mutants were shown to bind zinc, but with a lower affinity than the wild type enzyme. The glutamate mutants displayed an altered cleavage profile for the peptide beta-endorphin. Wild type IDE cleaved beta-endorphin at Leu(17)-Phe(18) and Phe(18)-Lys(19), whereas the glutamate mutants cleaved at these sites, but in addition at Lys(19)-Asn(20) and at Met(5)-Thr(6). Thus, active site mutations of IDE are suggested to not only reduce catalytic activity but also cause local conformational changes that affect the allosteric properties of the enzyme.

Allosteric Regulation↗
PubMed1995

Distribution of activity of hydrolytic enzymes in the digestive tract of rabbits.

Activities of twelve hydrolytic enzymes in the digestive tract of young rabbits before weaning (4 weeks old) and adult rabbits (3 months old) were measured. The principal digestive enzymes in both groups of rabbits appeared to be amylase (EC 3.2.1.1), maltase (EC 3.2.1.20), pectinase (EC 3.2.1.15) and proteinases. The stomach of young rabbits contained most of the lipolytic activity and 45.7% of the total proteolytic activity of the digestive tract. The highest specific activities (per g digesta) of amylase, maltase and proteinase in young rabbits were found in the small intestine. Total activities (per segment) of amylase and maltase in the small intestine and the caecum were similar. Activities of cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4), inulinase (EC 3.2.1.7) and beta-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21) were low and activity of pectinase was fairly high in all segments of the digestive tract. The highest activity of urease (EC 3.5.1.5) was found in the caecum. Enzymic profiles of the colonic chymus resembled those of the caecum. Total hydrolytic activity was lower in the colon than in the caecum. Specific activities of amylase and invertase (EC 3.2.1.26) were lower and those of inulinase and lactase (EC 3.2.1.23) higher in 4-week-old rabbits than in 3-month-old rabbits. Gastric proteinase represented almost half of the total proteolytic activity of the digestive tract, whereas lipolytic activity of gastric contents was not found in measurable quantities in adult rabbits. The caecal contents of adult rabbits contained most of the total activity of lipase (EC 3.1.1.3), cellulase, xylanase (EC 3.2.1.32), pectinase, lactase, invertase, beta-glucosidase and urease present in the digestive tract.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

Insulin clearance in obesity.

Insulin uptake and degradation is a complex and not yet completely understood process involving not only insulin sensitive tissues. The most important degradative system is insulin degrading enzyme which is a highly conserved metalloendopeptidase requiring Zn(++) for its proteolytic action, although protein disulfide isomerase and cathepsin D are also involved in insulin metabolism. The liver and the kidney are the principal sites for insulin clearance. In obese subjects with hyperinsulinemia and high levels of free fatty acids, insulin hepatic clearance is impaired, while the glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow and albumin excretion are increased, suggesting a state of renal vasodilatation leading to an abnormally transmitted arterial pressure to the glomerular capillaries through a dilated afferent arteriole. Insulin can be cleared also by muscle, adipocytes, gastrointestinal cells, fibroblasts, monocytes and lymphocytes which contain insulin receptors and internalization and regulation mechanism for insulin metabolism.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1981

Degradation of pork insulin and biosynthetic human insulin in vitro and in vivo: a comparative study.

The clearance and the degradation of native pork insulin and human insulin prepared by recombinant DNA techniques (biosynthetic human insulin) were compared. Following intravenous injection in rats, biosynthetic human insulin was cleaved slightly more rapidly than pork insulin. Also in vitro, monoiodinated biosynthetic human insulin was degraded slightly more rapidly than pork insulin by the enzyme insulin protease. The apparent Km for pork insulin was 4.0 x 10-8 M and for the human product was 2.7 x 10-8 M. These results thus provide evidence for the integrity of the biosynthetic product.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

An evolutionarily conserved enzyme degrades transforming growth factor-alpha as well as insulin.

A single enzyme found in both Drosophila and mammalian cells is able to selectively bind and degrade transforming growth factor (TGF)-alpha and insulin, but not EGF, at physiological concentrations. These growth factors are also able to inhibit binding and degradation of one another by the enzyme. Although there are significant immunological differences between the mammalian and Drosophila enzymes, the substrate specificity has been highly conserved. These results demonstrate the existence of a selective TGF-alpha-degrading enzyme in both Drosophila and mammalian cells. The evolutionary conservation of the ability to degrade both insulin and TGF-alpha suggests that this property is important for the physiological role of the enzyme and its potential for regulating growth factor levels.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Cell fusion during yeast mating requires high levels of a-factor mating pheromone.

During conjugation, two yeast cells fuse to form a single zygote. Cell fusion requires extensive remodeling of the cell wall, both to form a seal between the two cells and to remove the intervening material. The two plasma membranes then fuse to produce a continuous cytoplasm. We report the characterization of two cell fusion defective (Fus-) mutants, fus5 and fus8, isolated previously in our laboratory. Fluorescence and electron microscopy demonstrated that the fus5 and fus8 mutant zygotes were defective for cell wall remodeling/removal but not plasma membrane fusion. Strikingly, fus5 and fus8 were a specific; both mutations caused the mutant phenotype when present in the MATa parent but not in the MAT alpha parent. Consistent with an a-specific defect, the fus5 and fus8 mutants produced less a-factor than the isogenic wild-type strain. FUS5 and FUS8 were determined to be allelic to AXL1 and RAM1, respectively, two genes known to be required for biogenesis of a-factor. Several experiments demonstrated that the partial defect in a-factor production resulted in the Fus- phenotype. First, overexpression of a-factor in the fus mutants suppressed the Fus- defect. Second, matings to an MAT alpha partner supersensitive to mating pheromone (sst2 delta) suppressed the Fus- defect in trans. Finally, the gene encoding a-factor, MFA1, was placed under the control of a repressible promoter; reduced levels of wild-type a-factor caused an identical cell fusion defect during mating. We conclude that high levels of pheromone are required as one component of the signal for prezygotes to initiate cell fusion.

Alleles↗