Cloning of the alpha subunit of prolyl 4-hydroxylase from Drosophila and expression and characterization of the corresponding enzyme tetramer with some unique properties.

Prolyl 4-hydroxylase catalyzes the formation of 4-hydroxyproline in collagens. The vertebrate enzymes are alpha2beta2 tetramers, whereas the Caenorhabditis elegans enzyme is an alphabeta dimer, the beta subunit being identical to protein-disulfide isomerase (PDI). We report here that the processed Drosophila melanogaster alpha subunit is 516 amino acid residues in length and shows 34 and 35% sequence identities to the two types of human alpha subunit and 31% identity to the C. elegans alpha subunit. Its coexpression in insect cells with the Drosophila PDI polypeptide produced an active enzyme tetramer, and small amounts of a hybrid tetramer were also obtained upon coexpression with human PDI. Four of the five recently identified critical residues at the catalytic site were conserved, but a histidine that probably helps the binding of 2-oxoglutarate to the Fe2+ and its decarboxylation was replaced by arginine 490. The enzyme had a higher Km for 2-oxoglutarate, a lower reaction velocity, and a higher percentage of uncoupled decarboxylation than the human enzymes. The mutation R490H reduced the percentage of uncoupled decarboxylation, whereas R490S increased the Km for 2-oxoglutarate, reduced the reaction velocity, and increased the percentage of uncoupled decarboxylation. The recently identified peptide-binding domain showed a relatively low identity to those from other species, and the Km of the Drosophila enzyme for (Pro-Pro-Gly)10 was higher than that of any other animal prolyl 4-hydroxylase studied. A 1. 9-kilobase mRNA coding for this alpha subunit was present in Drosophila larvae.

The novel type II prolyl 4-hydroxylase is the main enzyme form in chondrocytes and capillary endothelial cells, whereas the type I enzyme predominates in most cells.

Procollagen-proline dioxygenase (EC 1.14.11.2), an alpha2beta2 tetramer in vertebrates, plays a central role in the synthesis of all collagens. Recently an isoform of the alpha subunit, the alpha(II) subunit, was characterized in man and mouse and found to form a tetramer with the same beta subunit as the previously known alpha(I) subunit. We report here that the (alpha(I))2beta2 type I tetramer is the main enzyme form in most cell types and tissues and that its contribution to total prolyl 4-hydroxylase activity in cultured cells increases in confluence. Surprisingly, however, the (alpha(II))2beta2 type II enzyme was found to represent at least about 70% of the total prolyl 4-hydroxylase activity in cultured mouse chondrocytes and about 80% in mouse cartilage, the corresponding percentage in mouse bone being about 45% and that in many other mouse tissues about 10% or less. Immunofluorescence studies on samples from a fetal human foot confirmed these data and additionally indicated that the type II enzyme represents the main or only enzyme form in capillary endothelial cells. Thus the type II prolyl 4-hydroxylase is likely to play a major role in the development of cartilages and cartilaginous bones and also of capillaries.

Cloning of the human prolyl 4-hydroxylase alpha subunit isoform alpha(II) and characterization of the type II enzyme tetramer. The alpha(I) and alpha(II) subunits do not form a mixed alpha(I)alpha(II)beta2 tetramer.

Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (proline hydroxylase, EC 1.14.11.2) catalyzes the formation of 4-hydroxyproline in collagens. The vertebrate enzyme is an alpha2beta2 tetramer, the beta subunit of which is identical to protein disulfide-isomerase (PDI, EC 5.3.4.1). We report here on cloning of the recently discovered alpha(II) subunit from human sources. The mRNA for the alpha(II) subunit was found to be expressed in a variety of human tissues, and the presence of the corresponding polypeptide and the (alpha(II))2beta2 tetramer was demonstrated in cultured human WI-38 and HT-1080 cells. The type II tetramer was found to represent about 30% of the total prolyl 4-hydroxylase in these cells and about 5-15% in various chick embryo tissues. The results of coexpression in insect cells argued strongly against the formation of a mixed alpha(I)alpha(II)beta2 tetramer. PDI/beta polypeptide containing a histidine tag in its N terminus was found to form prolyl 4-hydroxylase tetramers as readily as the wild-type PDI/beta polypeptide, and histidine-tagged forms of prolyl 4-hydroxylase appear to offer an excellent source for a simple large scale purification of the recombinant enzyme. The properties of the purified human type II enzyme were very similar to those of the type I enzyme, but the Ki of the former for poly(L-proline) was about 200-1000 times that of the latter. In agreement with this, a minor difference, about 3-6-fold, was found between the two enzymes in the Km values for three peptide substrates. The existence of two forms of prolyl 4-hydroxylase in human cells raises the possibility that mutations in one enzyme form may not be lethal despite the central role of this enzyme in the synthesis of all collagens.

Baculovirus expression of two protein disulphide isomerase isoforms from Caenorhabditis elegans and characterization of prolyl 4-hydroxylases containing one of these polypeptides as their beta subunit.

Protein disulphide isomerase (PDI; EC 5.3.4.1) is a multifunctional polypeptide that is identical to the beta subunit of prolyl 4-hydroxylases. We report here on the cloning and expression of the Caenorhabditis elegans PDI/beta polypeptide and its isoform. The overall amino acid sequence identity and similarity between the processed human and C. elegans PDI/beta polypeptides are 61% and 85% respectively, and those between the C. elegans PDI/beta polypeptide and the PDI isoform 46% and 73%. The isoform differs from the PDI/beta and ERp60 polypeptides in that its N-terminal thioredoxin-like domain has an unusual catalytic site sequence -CVHC-. Expression studies in insect cells demonstrated that the C. elegans PDI/beta polypeptide forms an active prolyl 4-hydroxylase alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer with the human alpha subunit and an alpha beta dimer with the C. elegans alpha subunit, whereas the C. elegans PDI isoform formed no prolyl 4-hydroxylase with either alpha subunit. Removal of the 32-residue C-terminal extension from the C. elegans alpha subunit totally eliminated alpha beta dimer formation. The C. elegans PDI/beta polypeptide formed less prolyl 4-hydroxylase with both the human and C. elegans alpha subunits than did the human PDI/beta polypeptide, being particularly ineffective with the C. elegans alpha subunit. Experiments with hybrid polypeptides in which the C-terminal regions had been exchanged between the human and C. elegans PDI/beta polypeptides indicated that differences in the C-terminal region are one reason, but not the only one, for the differences in prolyl 4-hydroxylase formation between the human and C. elegans PDI/beta polypeptides. The catalytic properties of the C. elegans prolyl 4-hydroxylase alpha beta dimer were very similar to those of the vertebrate type II prolyl 4-hydroxylase tetramer, including the K(m) for the hydroxylation of long polypeptide substrates.

ERp60 does not substitute for protein disulphide isomerase as the beta-subunit of prolyl 4-hydroxylase.

Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (EC 1.14.11.2) catalyses the formation of 4-hydroxyproline in collagens. The vertebrate enzymes are alpha 2 beta 2 tetramers while the Caenorhabditis elegans enzyme is an alpha beta dimer. The beta-subunit is identical to protein disulphide isomerase (PDI), a multifunctional endoplasmic reticulum luminal polypeptide. ERp60 is a PDI isoform that was initially misidentified as a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C. We report here on the cloning and expression of the human and Drosophila ERp60 polypeptides. The overall amino acid sequence identity and similarity between the processed human ERp60 and PDI polypeptides are 29% and 56% respectively, and those between the Drosophila ERp60 and human PDI polypeptides 29% and 55%. The two ERp60 polypeptides were found to be similar to human PDI within almost all their domains, the only exception being the extreme C-terminal region. Nevertheless, when the human or Drosophila ERp60 was expressed in insect cells together with an alpha-subunit of human prolyl 4-hydroxylase, no tetramer was formed and no prolyl 4-hydroxylase activity was generated in the cells. Additional experiments with hybrid polypeptides in which the C-terminal regions had been exchanged between the human ERp60 and PDI polypeptides demonstrated that the differences in the C-terminal region are not the only reason for the lack of prolyl 4-hydroxylase tetramer formation by ERp60.

Cloning, baculovirus expression, and characterization of a second mouse prolyl 4-hydroxylase alpha-subunit isoform: formation of an alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer with the protein disulfide-isomerase/beta subunit.

Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (EC 1.14.11.2) catalyzes the posttranslational formation of 4-hydroxyproline in collagens. The vertebrate enzyme is an alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer, the beta subunit of which is a highly unusual multifunctional polypeptide, being identical to protein disulfide-isomerase (EC 5.3.4.1). We report here the cloning of a second mouse alpha subunit isoform, termed the alpha (II) subunit. This polypeptide consists of 518 aa and a signal peptide of 19 aa. The processed polypeptide is one residue longer than the mouse alpha (I) subunit (the previously known type), the cloning of which is also reported here. The overall amino acid sequence identity between the mouse alpha (II) and alpha (I) subunits is 63%. The mRNA for the alpha (II) subunit was found to be expressed in a variety of mouse tissues. When the alpha (II) subunit was expressed together with the human protein disulfide-isomerase/beta subunit in insect cells by baculovirus vectors, an active prolyl 4-hydroxylase was formed, and this protein appeared to be an alpha (II) 2 beta 2 tetramer. The activity of this enzyme was very similar to that of the human alpha (I) 2 beta 2 tetramer, and most of its catalytic properties were also highly similar, but it differed distinctly from the latter in that it was inhibited by poly(L-proline) only at very high concentrations. This property may explain why the type II enzyme was not recognized earlier, as an early step in the standard purification procedure for prolyl 4-hydroxylase is affinity chromatography on a poly(L-proline) column.

Cloning, baculovirus expression, and characterization of the alpha subunit of prolyl 4-hydroxylase from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This alpha subunit forms an active alpha beta dimer with the human protein disulfide isomerase/beta subunit.

Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (EC 1.14.11.2) catalyzes the formation of 4-hydroxyproline in collagens. The vertebrate enzyme is an alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer, the beta subunit of which is identical to protein disulfide-isomerase (PDI). We report here on the cloning of the catalytically important alpha subunit from Caenorhabditis elegans. This polypeptide consists of 542 amino acids and signal peptide of 16 additional residues. The C. elegans alpha subunit is 25 amino acids longer than the human alpha subunit, mainly because of a 32-amino-acid C-terminal extension present only in the former. The overall amino acid sequence identity between these two alpha subunits is 45%, a 127-amino acid region close to the C terminus being especially well conserved. When the C. elegans alpha subunit was expressed together with the human PDI/beta subunit in insect cells by baculovirus vectors, an active prolyl 4-hydroxylase was formed, but surprisingly this C. elegans/human enzyme appeared to be an alpha beta dimer. The specific activity of this C. elegans/human enzyme was comparable with that of the human enzyme, and most of the other catalytic properties were also highly similar. Nevertheless, the C. elegans/human enzyme was not inhibited by poly(L-proline). The data indicate that the multifunctional PDI/beta subunit can form an active prolyl 4-hydroxylase with alpha subunits having marked differences in their amino acid sequences.