doi:10.1369/jhc.5A6900.2006
Volume 54 (9): 991-996, 2006 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Detection of Tripeptidyl Peptidase I Activity in Living Cells by Fluorogenic Substrates
Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany (RS,JG), and Centre for Molecular Neurobiology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany(JCF) Correspondence to: Dr. Robert Steinfeld, Pädiatrie II, Zentrum Kinderheilkunde und Jugendmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany. E-mail: rsteinfeld{at}med.uni-goettingen.de
Tripeptidyl peptidase I (TPP-I) is a lysosomal peptidase with unclear physiological function. TPP-I deficiency is associated with late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), a fatal neurodegenerative disease of childhood that is characterized by loss of neurons and photoreceptor cells. We have developed two novel fluorogenic substrates, [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine 110 and [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine 110, that are cleaved by TPP-I in living cells. Fluorescence of liberated rhodamine 110 was detected by flow cytometry and was dependent on the level of TPP-I expression. Rhodamine-related fluorescence could be suppressed by preincubation with a specific inhibitor of TPP-I. When investigated by fluorescent confocal microscopy, rhodamine signals colocalized with lysosomal markers. Thus, cleavage of these rhodamide-derived substrates is a marker for mature enzymatically active TPP-I. In addition, TPP-I-induced cleavage of [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine 110 could be visualized in primary neurons. We conclude that [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine 110 and [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine 110 are specific substrates for determining TPP-I activity and intracellular localization in living cells. Further, these substrates could be a valuable tool for studying the neuronal pathology underlying classical late-infantile NCL. This article contains online supplemental material at http://www.jhc.org. Please visit this article online to view these materials. (J Histochem Cytochem 54:991996, 2006)
Key Words: neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis tripeptidyl peptidase I neurodegeneration living cell cytochemistry protease
TRIPEPTIDYL PEPTIDASE I (TPP-I, EC 3.4.14.9) is encoded by the CLN2 gene, which is associated with a fatal genetic neurodegenerative disease of childhood, classical late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) (Sleat et al. 1997
TPP-I shows homology to the sedolisin family of carboxyl proteinases (Wlodawer et al. 2003
The activity of TPP-I in cell lysates can be measured with the peptide substrate Ala-Ala-Phe-7-(4-methyl)coumarylamide (Vines and Warburton 1998
Reagents [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine 110 and [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine 110 were synthesized by Thermo Electron, Ulm, Germany according to published methods (Klingel et al. 1994
Cells
K562 cells (American Type Culture Collection; Manassas, VA) were transfected with a pcDNA3-TPP-I construct as described previously (Steinfeld et al. 2004
TPP-I activity in cellular homogenates was assayed using the substrate Ala-Ala-Phe-[7-amido-4-methylcoumarin] as described previously (Vines and Warburton 1998
For cytofluorometric enzyme assays, EBV-transformed lymphocytes and wild-type, TPP-I, or mock-transfected K562 cells were grown in DMEM/10% fetal calf serum (FCS) at 37C and 5% CO2 before analysis. EBV-transformed lymphocytes were washed twice in Hepes-buffered saline (HBS/2 mM EDTA) and then incubated with 5 µM of either [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine or [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine for 10 min at 37C. Washed wild-type or transfected K562 cells were preincubated with either Ala-Ala-Phe-chloromethylketone or Pro-Phe-Arg-chloromethylketone at concentrations of 0.2, 1, 5, and 25 µM for 10 min at 37C before the substrate [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine (5 µM) was added and incubated for 10 min at 37C. After a short incubation period at 37C, the cells were cooled, the incubation volume was increased 10-fold by the addition of cold PBS, and the cells were kept at 8C for up to 8 hr before analysis in a FACSORT flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson; Mountain View, CA). Excitation was done at 488 nm and emission scanned between 500 nm and an emission peak at 529 nm (Leytus et al. 1983
Fluorescent Confocal Microscopy
Using cytofluorometry, we measured the enzymatic conversion from the non-fluorescent bis-amide substrates [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine 110 and [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine 110 into the fluorescent free rhodamine 110. Immortalized lymphocytes derived from late-infantile NCL patients carrying pathogenic CLN2 mutations showed considerably less fluorescent signal intensity when compared with immortalized lymphocytes from control individuals (Figure 1 ). Incubation of control and TPP1/ lymphoblasts with the cell supernatant containing free rhodamine 110 resulted in only minor diffusion of rhodamine 110 into cells (Supplemental Figure 1). K562 cells overexpressing TPP-I showed an increase in fluorescent signal intensity when compared with wild-type K562 cells. Preincubation of wild-type and TPP-I-overexpressing K562 cells with the specific inhibitor Ala-Ala-Phe-chloromethylketone caused a dose-dependent decrease in fluorescent signal intensity (Figures 2A and 2B). Extension of the incubation period at low temperature resulted in a considerable increase in the fluorescent signal intensities (Figures 2C and 2D). Preincubation with a non-inhibitory tripeptide-chloromethylketone compound (Pro-Phe-Arg-chloromethylketone) had only a minor effect on the fluorescent signal intensity (Figures 2E and 2F). Preincubation with the protease inhibitors PMSF, pepstatin A, E64, leupeptin, bestatin, and apstatin did not significantly change the resulting fluorescent signal intensity (data not shown). These results underline that the substrate [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine is preferentially cleaved by intracellular TPP-I.
To further confirm our findings, we investigated by confocal microscopy the intracellular localization of the cleavage of the rhodamine substrates. Mouse fibroblasts were incubated with the substrate [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine or the substrate [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine before they were immunostained with markers specific for subcellular organelles. Rhodamine-dependent fluorescent signals colocalized with the lysosomal marker lamp-1 (Figure 3 ) and thus are associated with the localization of enzymatically active TPP-I (Steinfeld et al. 2004
In our studies, we established a method to investigate the intracellular activity of TPP-I in living cells by fluorescent cytometry and fluorescent microscopy. We present experimental data indicating that TPP-I specifically cleaves the substrates [Ala-Ala-Phe]2-rhodamine and [Arg-Nle-Nle]2-rhodamine. TPP-I-deficient lymphocytes reveal significantly lower fluorescent signal intensity than control lymphocytes. Cells overexpressing TPP-I not only showed a greater signal of free fluorescent rhodamine 110 but also had consistently higher residual enzymatic activity when preincubated with increasing concentrations of the specific inhibitor Ala-Ala-Phe-chloromethylketone. In contrast, preincubation with comparable concentrations of the structurally similar compound Pro-Phe-Arg-chloromethylketone only slightly reduced the released fluorescent signal. Studies with TPP-I purified from rat spleen demonstrated the specific inhibition by Ala-Ala-Phe-chloromethylketone (Vines and Warburton 1998 In summary, we have developed novel fluorogenic substrates for the analysis of intracellular TPP-I activity that are helpful in the study of the enzymatic activity of TPP-I in living cells and also its intracellular localization. These novel substrates are not only applicable to patients' lymphocytes and cultured fibroblasts but also to primary neurons. Thus, they will be an important future tool in the further elucidation of the specific pathomechanisms of neuronal degeneration associated with TPP-I deficiency and a key feature in understanding the disease pathogenesis of late-infantile NCL.
We thank Prof. Dr. Schneppenheim and Mrs. Grabowski, Department of Pediatric Oncology, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg for their support and their technical assistance in the usage of the FACSORT flow cytometer. We are grateful to Thomas Jentsch, in whose lab part of this work was done, and to W. Huttner for the secretogranin II antibody.
Received for publication December 11, 2005; accepted May 31, 2006
Dikov A, Dimitrova M, Krieg R, Halbhuber KJ (2004) New fluorescent method for the histochemical detection of tripeptidyl peptidase I using glycyl-l-prolyl-l-met-2-anthraquinonyl hydrazide as substrate. Cell Mol Biol 50:565568. Published online December 31, 2004 (DOI:10.1170/70) Ezaki J, Takeda-Ezaki M, Oda K, Kominami E (2000) Characterization of endopeptidase activity of tripeptidyl peptidase-I/CLN2 protein which is deficient in classical late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 268:904908[CrossRef][Medline] Fuhrmann JC, Kins S, Rostaing P, El Far O, Kirsch J, Sheng M, Triller A, et al. (2002) Gephyrin interacts with Dynein light chains 1 and 2, components of motor protein complexes. J Neurosci 22:53935402 Hofmann SL, Peltonen L (2001) The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses. In Scriver CR, Beaudet AL, Sly WS, Valle D, eds. The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease. New York, McGraw-Hill, 38773894 Hug H, Los M, Hirt W, Debatin KM (1999) Rhodamine 110-linked amino acids and peptides as substrates to measure caspase activity upon apoptosis induction in intact cells. Biochemistry 38:1390613911[CrossRef][Medline] Kasper D, Planells-Cases R, Fuhrmann JC, Scheel O, Zeitz O, Ruether K, Schmitt A, et al. (2005) Loss of the chloride channel ClC-7 leads to lysosomal storage disease and neurodegeneration. EMBO J 24:10791091[CrossRef][Medline] Klingel S, Rothe G, Kellermann W, Valet G (1994) Flow cytometric determination of cysteine and serine proteinase activities in living cells with rhodamine 110 substrates. Methods Cell Biol 41:449459[Medline] Kloetzel PM (2004) Generation of major histocompatibility complex class I antigens: functional interplay between proteasomes and TPPII. Nat Immunol 5:661669[CrossRef][Medline] Kromer A, Glombik MM, Huttner WB, Gerdes HH (1998) Essential role of the disulfide-bonded loop of chromogranin B for sorting to secretory granules is revealed by expression of a deletion mutant in the absence of endogenous granin synthesis. J Cell Biol 140:13311346 Leytus SP, Melhado LL, Mangel WF (1983) Rhodamine-based compounds as fluorogenic substrates for serine proteinases. Biochem J 209:299307[Medline] Lin L, Sohar I, Lackland H, Lobel P (2001) The human CLN2 protein/tripeptidyl-peptidase I is a serine protease that autoactivates at acidic pH. J Biol Chem 276:22492255 Oyama H, Fujisawa T, Suzuki T, Dunn BM, Wlodawer A, Oda K (2005) Catalytic residues and substrate specificity of recombinant human tripeptidyl peptidase I (CLN2). J Biochem (Tokyo) 138:127134 Reits E, Neijssen J, Herberts C, Benckhuijsen W, Janssen L, Drijfhout JW, Neefjes J (2004) A major role for TPPII in trimming proteasomal degradation products for MHC class I antigen presentation. Immunity 20:495506[CrossRef][Medline] Sleat DE, Donnelly RJ, Lackland H, Liu CG, Sohar I, Pullarkat RK, Lobel P (1997) Association of mutations in a lysosomal protein with classical late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. Science 277:18021805 Sleat DE, Wiseman JA, El-Banna M, Kim KH, Mao Q, Price S, Macauley SL, et al. (2004) A mouse model of classical late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis based on targeted disruption of the CLN2 gene results in a loss of tripeptidyl-peptidase I activity and progressive neurodegeneration. J Neurosci 24:91179126 Sohar I, Lin L, Lobel P (2000) Enzyme-based diagnosis of classical late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis: comparison of tripeptidyl peptidase I and pepstatin-insensitive protease assays. Clin Chem 46:10051008 Steinfeld R, Steinke HB, Isbrandt D, Kohlschutter A, Gartner J (2004) Mutations in classical late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis disrupt transport of tripeptidyl-peptidase I to lysosomes. Hum Mol Genet 13:24832491 Tian Y, Sohar I, Taylor JW, Lobel P (2006) Determination of the substrate specificity of tripeptidyl-peptidase I using combinatorial peptide libraries and development of improved fluorogenic substrates. J Biol Chem 281:65596572 Vines D, Warburton MJ (1998) Purification and characterisation of a tripeptidyl aminopeptidase I from rat spleen. Biochim Biophys Acta 1384:233242[CrossRef][Medline] Warburton MJ, Bernardini F (2000) Tripeptidyl-peptidase I deficiency in classical late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis brain tissue. Evidence for defective peptidase rather than proteinase activity. J Inherit Metab Dis 23:145154[CrossRef][Medline] Wilson C, Gibson AM, McDermott JR (1993) Purification and characterization of tripeptidylpeptidase-II from post-mortem human brain. Neurochem Res 18:743749[CrossRef][Medline] Wlodawer A, Durell SR, Li M, Oyama H, Oda K, Dunn BM (2003) A model of tripeptidyl-peptidase I (CLN2), a ubiquitous and highly conserved member of the sedolisin family of serine-carboxyl peptidases. BMC Struct Biol 3:8[CrossRef][Medline]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||