Activated factor X cleaves factor VIII at arginine 562, limiting its cofactor efficiency.

BACKGROUND: Factor VIII (FVIII) and its activated form (FVIIIa) are subject to proteolysis that dampens their cofactor function. Among the proteases that attack FVIII (activated factor X (FXa), activated protein C (APC) and plasmin), only APC cleaves within the FVIII A2 domain at R562 to fully abolish FVIII activity. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the possible involvement of the FXa cleavage at R562 within the A2 domain in the process of FVIII inactivation. METHODS: An antibody (GMA012/R8B12) that recognizes the carboxy-terminus extremity of the A2 domain (A2C) was used to evaluate FXa action. A molecule mutated at R562 was also generated to assess the functional role of this particular residue. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The appearance of the A2C domain as a function of time evidenced the identical cleavage within the A2 domain of FVIII and FVIIIa by FXa. This cleavage required phospholipids and occurred within minutes. In contrast, the isolated A2 domain was not cleaved by FXa. Von Willebrand factor and activated FIX inhibited the cleavage in a dose-dependent manner. Mutation R562K increased both the FVIII specific activity and the generation of FXa due to an increase in FVIII catalytic efficiency. Moreover, A2C fragment could not be identified from FVIII-R562K cleavage. In summary, this study defines a new mechanism for A2 domain-mediated FVIII degradation by FXa and implicates the bisecting of the A2 domain at R562.

PARP-2, A novel mammalian DNA damage-dependent poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.

Poly(ADP-ribosylation) is a post-translational modification of nuclear proteins in response to DNA damage that activates the base excision repair machinery. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase which we will now call PARP-1, has been the only known enzyme of this type for over 30 years. Here, we describe a cDNA encoding a 62-kDa protein that shares considerable homology with the catalytic domain of PARP-1 and also contains a basic DNA-binding domain. We propose to call this enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 2 (PARP-2). The PARP-2 gene maps to chromosome 14C1 and 14q11.2 in mouse and human, respectively. Purified recombinant mouse PARP-2 is a damaged DNA-binding protein in vitro and catalyzes the formation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymers in a DNA-dependent manner. PARP-2 displays automodification properties similar to PARP-1. The protein is localized in the nucleus in vivo and may account for the residual poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis observed in PARP-1-deficient cells, treated with alkylating agents or hydrogen peroxide.

A dual approach in the study of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase: in vitro random mutagenesis and generation of deficient mice.

A dual approach to the study of poly (ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) in terms of its structure and function has been developed in our laboratory. Random mutagenesis of the DNA binding domain and catalytic domain of the human PARP, has allowed us to identify residues that are crucial for its enzymatic activity. In parallel PARP knock-out mice were generated by inactivation of both alleles by gene targeting. We showed that: (i) they are exquisitely sensitive to gamma-irradiation, (ii) they died rapidly from acute radiation toxicity to the small intestine, (iii) they displayed a high genomic instability to gamma-irradiation and MNU injection and, (iv) bone marrow cells rapidly underwent apoptosis following MNU treatment, demonstrating that PARP is a survival factor playing an essential and positive role during DNA damage recovery and survival.

Involvement of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in base excision repair.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is a zinc-finger DNA binding protein that detects and signals DNA strand breaks generated directly or indirectly by genotoxic agents. In response to these lesions, the immediate poly(ADP-ribosylation) of nuclear proteins converts DNA interruptions into intracellular signals that activate DNA repair or cell death programs. To elucidate the biological function of PARP in vivo, the mouse PARP gene was inactivated by homologous recombination to generate mice lacking a functional PARP gene. PARP knockout mice and the derived mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were acutely sensitive to monofunctional alkylating agents and gamma-irradiation demonstrating that PARP is involved in recovery from DNA damage that triggers the base excision repair (BER) process. To address the issue of the role of PARP in BER, the ability of PARP-deficient mammalian cell extracts to repair a single abasic site present on a circular duplex plasmid molecule was tested in a standard in vitro repair assay. The results clearly demonstrate, for the first time, the involvement of PARP in the DNA synthesis step of the base excision repair process.

Importance of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and its cleavage in apoptosis. Lesson from an uncleavable mutant.

We have studied the apoptotic response of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-/- cells to different inducers and the consequences of the expression of an uncleavable mutant of PARP on the apoptotic process. The absence of PARP drastically increases the sensitivity of primary bone marrow PARP-/- cells to apoptosis induced by an alkylating agent but not by a topoisomerase I inhibitor CPT-11 or by interleukin-3 removal. cDNA of wild type or of an uncleavable PARP mutant (D214A-PARP) has been introduced into PARP-/- fibroblasts, which were exposed to anti-CD95 or an alkylating agent to induce apoptosis. The expression of D214A-PARP results in a significant delay of cell death upon CD95 stimulation. Morphological analysis shows a retarded cell shrinkage and nuclear condensation. Upon treatment with an alkylating agent, expression of wild-type PARP cDNA into PARP-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts results in the restoration of the cell viability, and the D214A-PARP mutant had no further effect on cell recovery. In conclusion, PARP-/- cells are extremely sensitive to apoptosis induced by triggers (like alkylating agents), which activates the base excision repair pathway of DNA, and the cleavage of PARP during apoptosis facilitates cellular disassembly and ensures the completion and irreversibility of the process.

The mechanism of the elongation and branching reaction of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase as derived from crystal structures and mutagenesis.

The binding site for the acceptor substrate poly(ADP-ribose) in the elongation reaction of the ADP-ribosyl transferase poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was detected by cocrystallizing the enzyme with an NAD+ analogue. The site was confirmed by mutagenesis studies. In conjunction with the binding site of the donor NAD+, the bound acceptor reveals the geometry of the elongation reaction. It shows in particular that the strictly conserved glutamate residue of all ADP-ribosylating enzymes (Glu988 of PARP) facilitates the reaction by polarizing both, donor and acceptor. Moreover, the binding properties of the acceptor site suggest a mechanism for the branching reaction, that also explains the dual specificity of this transferase for elongation and branching, which is unique among polymer-forming enzymes.

Random mutagenesis of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase catalytic domain reveals amino acids involved in polymer branching.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is a multifunctional nuclear zinc finger protein which participates in the immediate response of mammalian cells exposed to DNA damaging agents. Given the complexity of the poly(ADP-ribosylation) reaction, we developed a large-scale screening procedure in Escherichia coli to identify randomly amino acids involved in the various aspects of this mechanism. Random mutations were generated by the polymerase chain reaction in a cDNA sequence covering most of the catalytic domain. Out of 26 individual mutations that diversely inactivated the full-length PARP, 22 were found at conserved positions in the primary structure, and 24 were located in the core domain formed by two beta-sheets containing the active site. Most of the PARP mutants were altered in poly(ADP-ribose) elongation and/or branching. The spatial proximity of some residues involved in chain elongation (E988) and branching (Y986) suggests a proximity or a superposition of these two catalytic sites. Other residues affected in branching were located at the surface of the molecule (R847, E923, G972), indicating that protein-protein contacts are necessary for optimal polymer branching. This screening procedure provides a simple and efficient method to explore further the structure-function relationship of the enzyme.

Photoaffinity labelling of human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase catalytic domain.

Photoaffinity labelling of the human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) catalytic domain (40 kDa) with the NAD+ photoaffinity analogue 2-azido-[alpha-32P]NAD+ has been used to identify NAD+-binding residues. In the presence of UV, photo-insertion of the analogue was observed with a stoichiometry of 0.73 mol of 2-azido-[alpha-32P]NAD+ per mol of catalytic domain. Competition experiments indicated that 3-aminobenzamide strongly protected the insertion site. Residues binding the adenine ring of NAD+ were identified by trypsin digestion and boronate affinity chromatography in combination with reverse-phase HPLC. Two major NAD+-binding residues, Trp1014 of peptide Thr1011-Trp1014 and Lys893 of peptide Ile979-Lys893, were identified. The site-directed mutagenesis of these two residues revealed that Lys893, but not Trp1014, is critical for activity. The close positioning of Lys893 near the adenine ring of NAD+ has been confirmed by the recently solved crystallographic structure of the chicken PARP catalytic domain [Ruf, Menissier-de Murcia, de Murcia and Schulz (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93, 7481-7485].

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase: structure-function relationship.

Dissection of the human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) molecule in terms of its structure-function relationship has proved to be an essential step towards understanding the biological role of poly(ADP-ribosylation) as a cellular response to DNA damage in eukaryotes. Current approaches aimed at elucidating the implication of this multifunctional enzyme in the maintenance of the genomic integrity will be presented.