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The microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) is a heterodimer composed of the ubiquitous multifunctional protein, protein disulfide isomerase, and a unique 97-kDa subunit. Mutations that lead to the absence of a functional 97-kDa subunit cause abetalipoproteinemia, an autosomal recessive disease characterized by a defect in the assembly and secretion of apolipoprotein B (apoB) containing lipoproteins. Previous studies of abetalipoproteinemic patient, C.L., showed that the 97-kDa subunit was undetectable. In this report, [35S]methionine labeling showed that this tissue was capable of synthesizing the 97-kDa MTP subunit. Electrophoretic analysis showed two bands, one with a molecular mass of the wild type 97-kDa subunit and the other with a slightly lower molecular weight. Sequence analysis of cDNAs from additional intestinal biopsies showed this patient to be a compound heterozygote. One allele contained a perfect in-frame deletion of exon 10, explaining the lower molecular weight band. cDNAs of the second allele were found to contain 3 missense mutations: His297 --> Gln, Asp384 --> Ala, and Arg540 --> His. Transient expression of each mutant showed that only the Arg540 --> His mutant was non-functional based upon its inability to reconstitute apoB secretion in a cell culture system. The other amino acid changes are silent polymorphisms. High level coexpression in a baculovirus system of the wild type 97-kDa subunit or the Arg540 --> His mutant along with human protein disulfide isomerase showed that the wild type was capable of forming an active MTP complex while the mutant was not. Biochemical analysis of lysates from these cells showed that the Arg to His conversion interrupted the interaction between the 97-kDa subunit and protein disulfide isomerase. Replacement of Arg540 with a lysine residue maintained the ability of the 97-kDa subunit to complex with protein disulfide isomerase and form the active MTP holoprotein. These results indicate that a positively charged amino acid at position 540 in the 97-kDa subunit is critical for the productive association with protein disulfide isomerase. Of the 13 mutant MTP 97-kDa subunit alleles described to date, this is the first encoding a missense mutation.

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is composed of structurally autonomous domains. From the N-terminus of t-PA, a finger-like domain (F), an epidermal growth factor-like domain (G), two kringle domains (K1 and K2) and a serine protease domain (P) can be discerned. The K2 domain of t-PA is known to be involved in lysine binding, fibrin binding and fibrin-dependent plasminogen activation. To study the functional autonomy of the K2 domain in t-PA we constructed, with the aid of a cassette t-PA gene [Rehberg et al. (1989) Protein Engng, 2, 371-377], mutant t-PA genes coding for four molecules (FGK1K2P, FGK2K1P, GK1K2P and GK2K1P) in which the K2 domain was placed in two different positions in t-PA. The DNAs of wild-type t-PA and the t-PA variants were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and the recombinant proteins were purified by affinity chromatography. All molecules were expressed in their single-chain form and could be converted to their two-chain form. With these molecules, lysine binding, fibrin binding and fibrin-dependent plasminogen activation were studied. All variants showed affinity for lysyl-Sepharose and aminohexyl-Sepharose. Reversal of the K domains (FGK2K1P versus FGK2K1P and GK1K2P versus GK2K1P) resulted in a 23-47% weaker interaction to both lysyl-Sepharose and aminohexyl-Sepharose. Deleting the F domain (FGK1K2P versus GK1K2P and FGK2K1P versus GK2K1P) resulted in a 20-70% improvement of the interactions lysyl-Sepharose and aminohexyl-Sepharose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Human cholesteryl ester transfer protein was purified from lipoprotein-depleted serum or plasma in a three-step procedure utilizing commercially available triazine dyes immobilized on agarose. The method used consisted of successive chromatography steps on Reactive Red 120 agarose (Procion Red H-E3B, Cibachron Brilliant Red 4G-E), CM Sepharose, and Reactive Yellow 86 agarose (Procion Yellow M-8G). Upon analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the resultant protein preparation displayed two bands of variable intensity. The two components had apparent molecular weights of approximately 64,000 and approximately 65,000, respectively. Both bands reacted strongly to a monoclonal antibody directed against an epitope consisting of the last eight amino acids at the carboxy terminus of human CETP. Yields of cholesteryl ester transfer activity are 10-40% of the activity present in lipoprotein-depleted serum. The activity is approximately 50,000- to 100,000-fold purified relative to the starting material.

Despite the high overall similarity in primary structure between kringle one (K1) and kringle two (K2) of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) there exists an enormous functional difference. It is thought that, in contrast to K1, K2 mediates lysine binding and fibrin binding and is involved in stimulation of plasminogen activation by fibrin or derivatives as CNBr fragments of fibrinogen. Hypothesizing that sequence differences are responsible for differences in function, we compared the amino acid sequences of K1 and K2 with a consensus kringle sequence. Six consecutive amino acids unique to K2 of t-PA were found, i.e. from Asn248 to Trp253. To test whether these residues are involved in lysine binding, fibrin binding, and fibrin-dependent plasminogen activation, we constructed a set of t-PA mutant proteins containing only a kringle and the protease (P) domain: K2P, K1P, and k1P. In the latter molecule the original amino acid residues Ala160-Ser165 from K1 were substituted by Asn248-Trp253 from K2. As expected, K2P showed enhanced plasminogen activation in the presence of CNBr fragments of fibrinogen, bound to lysine-Sepharose and to a forming fibrin clot. K1P did not show any of these features. In contrast, k1P could be stimulated by CNBr fragments of fibrinogen and bound to lysine-Sepharose and a forming fibrin clot. These results indicate that at least a part of the functional differences between K1 and K2 of t-PA can be localized to a stretch of 6 amino acid residues from Asn248 to Trp253 present in K2.

To assess the effects of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) on the primate lipoprotein profile, a transgenic mouse expressing cynomolgus monkey CETP was developed. The C57BL/6 mouse was used, and four lines expressing the primate CETP were established. The level of CETP activity in the plasma of the transgenic mice ranged from values similar to those obtained for the monkey to levels approximately sixfold higher than that in the normal monkey. When all of the lines were taken into consideration, there was a strong (r = -0.81 or higher, p less than 0.01) negative correlation between plasma CETP activity and total plasma cholesterol, plasma apolipoprotein (apo) A-I levels, and plasma apo A-I to apo B ratio. There was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.77) between plasma CETP activity and plasma apo B levels. The size of the apo A-I-containing lipoproteins was significantly reduced in mice with high plasma CETP activity, and that reduction in size was due to the absence of the larger (HDL1 and HDL2) apo A-I-containing particles in the plasma. When the transgenic mice were fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, the effects of the diet on lipoprotein profile were more prominent in the CETP transgenic mice than the controls. The CETP transgenic mice had, for example, substantially higher plasma cholesterol and plasma apo B levels (p less than 0.01), and the apo B-containing lipoproteins were generally larger than those in the nontransgenic C57BL/6 mice consuming the same diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A cDNA clone containing the coding region for cynomolgus monkey cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) was isolated by the polymerase chain reaction with primers based on the human CETP cDNA sequence and cDNA synthesized from liver poly (A+) RNA. Analysis of that cDNA indicated that the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of cynomolgus monkey CETP were greater than 95% homologous with the human sequences. A fragment of the cDNA was used to develop an internal-standard/RNAse protection assay that allowed precise quantification of CETP mRNA levels. Analysis of total RNA from various tissues with this assay revealed that the liver and thoracic aorta expressed high levels of CETP mRNA; the mesenteric fat, adrenal gland, spleen, and abdominal aorta had low but detectable levels of the mRNA; and the brain, kidney, intestine, and skeletal muscle had undetectable levels of that mRNA. When the monkeys were made hypercholesterolemic by a high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet, hepatic levels of CETP mRNA increased from 1.6 +/- 0.4 pg/micrograms total RNA (mean +/- SEM) to 4.1 +/- 0.8 pg/micrograms (p less than 0.005); mesenteric fat CETP mRNA increased from 0.4 +/- 0.1 pg/micrograms total RNA to 5.3 +/- 2.2 pg/micrograms (p less than 0.05); and plasma CET activity increased approximately fourfold. The CETP mRNA levels in the thoracic and abdominal aortas were not significantly increased in monkeys fed the HFHC diet, even though those animals had gross atherosclerosis. The apoprotein E mRNA levels, however, were markedly increased in the aortas of monkeys with atherosclerosis, with the largest increase occurring in the abdominal aorta. Taken together, these data suggest that lipid deposition in the artery was not accompanied by increased expression of the CETP gene in that tissue. Statistical analysis showed that a strong, negative correlation existed between hepatic CETP mRNA levels and both high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = -0.85, p less than 0.001) and apoprotein A-I (r = -0.84, p less than 0.001). These data suggest that HFHC diet-induced changes in high density lipoprotein metabolism may be linked to altered expression of a function CETP gene.

Modification of glutamic and aspartic acid residues of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) with 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl)-carbodiimide leads to a decrease in affinity for lysine and fibrin, to a decrease of plasminogen activation activity in the presence of a fibrin mimic, but leaves amidolytic activity and plasminogen activation without fibrin mimic unaffected. Experiments with kringle-2 ligands and a deletion mutant of t-PA (K2P) suggests that glutamic or aspartic acid residues in K2 of t-PA are involved in stimulation of activity, lysine binding and fibrin binding. Mutant t-PA molecules were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis in which one or two of the five aspartic or glutamic acid residues in K2 were changed to asparagine or glutamine respectively. Mutation of Asp236 and/or Asp238 leads to t-PA molecules with 3- to 4-fold lower specific activity in the presence of fibrin mimic and having no detectable affinity for lysine analogs. However, fibrin binding was not influenced. Mutation of Glu254 also leads to a 3- to 4-fold lower activity, but to a much smaller reduction of lysine or fibrin binding. Residues Asp236 and Asp238 are both essential for binding to lysine derivatives, while Glu254 might be involved but is not essential. Residues Asp236, Asp238 and Glu254 are all three involved in stimulation of activity. Remarkably, mutation of residues Asp236 and/or Asp238 appears not to influence fibrin binding of t-PA whereas that of Glu254 does.

We have developed a simple screening procedure that allowed us to identify Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains able to secrete human tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) into the culture medium. The screen can be used to isolate more efficient secretor strains and to look for novel tPA analogs. Employing one of these strains to study the effect of glycosylation on secretion, we show that glycosylation in the catalytic domain of tPA plays an important role in folding and/or secretion of the molecule. Removing this glycosylation site resulted in a 3-5-fold reduction in the level of tPA secretion. We anticipate that this system will prove useful in studying yeast secretory pathway as well as structure-function relationships in the tPA molecule.

We have designed and constructed a DNA sequence encoding human tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) with convenient restriction sites that flank each of the domains of the heavy chain. To accomplish this, the first 1095 bases of the gene coding for the mature protein were synthesized with unique restriction sites engineered into the interdomainal regions. This synthetic construction was then ligated to a cDNA fragment of the tPA gene that encoded the active site, thus generating a full-length tPA gene. The gene products produced by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with either the tPA cassette gene or the tPA cDNA gene were then compared with the tPA produced by Bowes melanoma cells to determine whether or not synthetic interdomainal amino acid changes had an effect on the biochemical characteristics of the molecule. Specifically, molecular weight, specific activity, enhancement by fibrinogen fragments and kinetic constants were analysed. None of the properties examined were significantly different from those of the native melanoma tPA. Therefore, the cassette gene described herein should provide considerable versatility and precision in the construction of tPA mutants by facilitating the manipulation of the finger, growth factor and kringle domains, and likewise should be useful in assessing the function of these domains within the tPA molecule. We present this cassette gene system as a model for the analysis of protein domain function applicable to other multi-domain proteins.