No abstract

Voltage-dependent cation channls are large heterooligomeric proteins. Heterologous expression of cDNAs encoding the a subunits alone of K+, Na+, or Ca2+ channels produces functional multimeric proteins; however, coexpression of those for the latter two with their auxiliary proteins causes dramatic changes in the resultant membrane currents. Fast-activating, voltage-sensitive K+ channels from brain contain four a and 13 subunits, tightly associated in a 400-kDa complex; although molecular details of the a-subunit proteins have been determined, little is known about the f-subunit constituent. Proteolytic fragments of a 13 subunit from bovine a-dendrotoxin-sensitive neuronal K+ channels yielded nine different sequences. In the polymerase chain reaction, primers corresponding to two of these peptides amplified a 329-basepair fragment in a AgtlO cDNA library from bovine brain; a full-length clone subsequently isolated encodes a protein of 367 amino acids (Mr 40,983). It shows no significant homology with any known protein. Unlike the channels' a subunits, the hydropathy profile of this sequence failed to reveal transmembrane domains. Several consensus phosphorylation motifs are apparent and, accordingly, the 13 subunit could be phosphorylated in the intact K+ channels. These results, including the absence of a leader sequence and N-glycosylation, are consistent with the 13 subunit being firmly associated on the inside of the membrane with a subunits, as speculated in a simplified model of these authentic K+ channels. Importantly, this first primary structure of a K+-channel 13 subunit indicates that none of the cloned auxiliary proteins of voltage-dependent cation channels, unlike their a subunits, belong to a superfamily of genes.

The 2a isoenzyme of tomato polygalacturonase was purified from ripe fruit and characterised. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the protein was determined in order to identify polygalacturonase cDNA clones. The nucleotide sequence of a ripening-related cDNA (pTOM 6) was determined and found to encode the N-terminal sequence of mature polygalacturonase 2a. The complete open reading frame encodes a polypeptide of molecular weight 50,051, including a putative pre-sequence of 71 amino acids.

Ghrelin is a 28-residue peptide hormone that is principally released from the stomach during fasting and prior to eating. Two forms are present in human plasma: the unmodified peptide and a less abundant acylated version, in which octanoic acid is attached to the third residue, a serine, via an ester linkage. The acylated form of ghrelin acts as a ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor and can stimulate the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. It also initiates behavioral and metabolic adaptations to fasting. Here we show that an immobilized form of ghrelin specifically binds a species of high density lipoprotein associated with the plasma esterase, paraoxonase, and clusterin. Both free ghrelin and paraoxon, a substrate for paraoxonase, can inhibit this interaction. An endogenous species of ghrelin is found to co-purify with high density lipoprotein during density gradient centrifugation and subsequent gel filtration. This interaction links the orexigenic peptide hormone ghrelin to lipid transport and metabolism. Furthermore, the interaction of the esterified hormone ghrelin with a species of HDL containing an esterase suggests a possible mechanism for the conversion of ghrelin to des-acyl ghrelin.Ghrelin is a peptide hormone that was purified from the stomach that can cause the release of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary gland (1). It has subsequently been found that ghrelin is predominantly released from the stomach prior to feeding (2), although other tissues have been shown to express the gene as well (3). Peripheral injections of ghrelin have been shown to increase feeding in both rats (4) and humans (5), and a course of injections leads to increased obesity in rats (4). Therefore, ghrelin can be seen as an important link between the stomach, appetite, and metabolism as well as playing a role in growth hormone release.The aim of this study was to establish whether ghrelin interacts with any other component of plasma. It was hypothesized that any interaction might be an important factor in determining the activity or longevity of ghrelin in plasma. Furthermore, an interaction in the plasma might be involved in the creation of the two distinct forms of ghrelin (6): the acylated form, in which octanoic acid is covalently bound to the peptide, and the more prevalent des-acyl form in which the peptide is unmodified. The acylated form of ghrelin stimulates the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland, therefore any mechanism that might convert one form of ghrelin into the other could be an important factor in controlling the activity of ghrelin. MATERIALS AND METHODSA peptide corresponding to mature human ghrelin, with a cysteine residue substituted for the serine residue at the third position (S3C ghrelin), was synthesized by Fmoc 1 chemistry using a Rainin PS3 automatic peptide synthesizer (Protein Technologies). The peptide was purified to over 90% homogeneity by reverse-phase chromatography using a Varian 500LC HPLC. The molecular weight of the purified peptide ...

The Ricinus communis (castor bean) 2S albumin is a heterodimer of glutamine-rich, disulphide-linked 4 and 7 kDa polypeptide. A cDNA library was constructed using mRNA from maturing castor bean endosperm as template. Clones containing sequences complementary to albumin mRNA were isolated by hybridization using as a probe a mixture of synthetic oligonucleotides representing sequences predicted for a peptide present in the 2S albumin large subunit. The nucleotide sequence contained an open reading frame encoding a preproprotein of 258 amino acid residues. The preproprotein included both polypeptides of the previously sequenced 2S albumin. In addition, this precursor included two further glutamine-rich sequences which, in term of their size and conserved cystein residues typically found in seed proteins of the 2S albumin superfamily, possible represent the small and large polypeptide subunits of a second heterodimeric storage protein. A post-translational processing scheme is proposed which would result in a single preproprotein generating two distinct heterodimeric 2S albumins. The generation of a second heterodimer seems likely since polypeptide candidates for its small and large subunits were found in the Ricinus 2S albumin fraction, and N-terminal protein sequencing confirmed the existence of the putative small subunit.