Screening for neuropeptide-metabolizing peptidases during the differentiation of chick embryo retina

In ovo and in culture development of chick retinal angiotensin converting enzyme

The activity of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE, EC 3.4.15.1), measured using Hip-His-Leu as substrate, was determined in the developing chick retina, and in monolayer and aggregate cultures of embryonic retinal cells. ACE specific activity in chick retinal homogenate increased 86-fold from embryonic day 13 until the 7th post-hatching day. The development of ACE activity occurred in parallel with that reported for synapse and photoreceptors. ACE activity expression in aggregates, but not in monolayer culture, was similar to that observed in the developing retina in ovo. At culture, day 13, ACE specific activity was 11.8-fold higher in the aggregate than in the dispersed cell culture, and was comparable to that in a 21-day-old embryonic intact retina. Our results suggest that histotypic association of retinal cells during development may be an important event controlling the expression of ACE activity in the CNS.

Effect of p-mercuribenzoate on the subestimation of angiotensin-converting enzyme measurement during chick retina development

The time course of dipeptidase activity and the effect of p-mercuribenzoate (PCMB) on the subestimation of the fluorometric determination of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE, EC 3.4.15.1) during development was studied. ACE and dipeptidase activities were measured fluorometrically in homogenates of the developing chick retina using Hip-His-Leu and His-Leu as substrates, respectively, both either in the presence or in the absence of 1 mM PCMB. ACE activity was inhibited by captopril (IC50 1.7 nM), MK 422 (IC50 4.8 nM), BPP9a (IC50 0.25 microM) and BPP5a (IC50 1.2 microM), thus suggesting that avian retinal ACE catalytically resembles the mammalian enzyme. Dipeptidase activity varied 3.4-fold throughout development, leading to a large and variable (28-83%) subestimation of ACE activity during chick retina ontogenesis. PCMB (1 mM) inhibited 67-94% dipeptidase activity during development, thus greatly reducing any subestimation of ACE activity determination during the development of the chick retina.

Enzymatic inactivation of bradykinin by rat brain neuronal perikarya

1. Bradykinin (Bk; Arg1-Pro2-Pro3-Gly4-Phe5-Ser6-Pro7-Phe8-Arg8) inactivation by bulk isolated neurons from rat brain is described. 2. Bk is rapidly inactivated by neuronal perikarya (4.2 +/- 0.6 fmol/min/cell body). 3. Sites of inactivating cleavages, determined by a kininase bioassay combined with a time-course Bk-product analysis, were the Phe5-Ser6, Pro7-Phe8, Gly4-Phe5, and Pro3-Gly4 peptide bonds. The cleavage of the Phe5-Ser6 bond inactivated Bk at least five fold faster than the other observed cleavages. 4. Inactivating peptidases were identified by the effect of inhibitors on Bk-product formation. The Phe5-Ser6 bond cleavage is attributed mainly to a calcium-activated thiol-endopeptidase, a predominantly soluble enzyme which did not behave as a metalloenzyme upon dialysis and was strongly inhibited by N-[1(R,S)-carboxy-2-phenylethyl]-Ala-Ala-Phe-p-aminobenzoate and endo-oligopeptidase A antiserum. Thus, neuronal perikarya thiol-endopeptidase seems to differ from endo-oligopeptidase A and endopeptidase 24.15. 5. Endopeptidase 24.11 cleaves Bk at the Gly4-Phe5 and, to a larger extent, at the Pro7-Phe8 bond. The latter bond is also cleaved by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and prolyl endopeptidase (PE). PE also hydrolyzes Bk at the Pro3-Gly4 bond. 6. Secondary processing of Bk inactivation products occurs by (1) a rapid cleavage of Ser6-Pro7-Phe8-Arg8 at the Pro7-Phe8 bond by endopeptidase 24.11, 3820ACE, and PE; (2) a bestatin-sensitive breakdown of Phe8-Arg9; and (3) conversion of Arg1-Pro7 to Arg1-Phe5, of Gly4-Arg9 to both Gly4-Pro7 and Ser6-Arg9, and of Phe5-Arg9 to Ser6-Arg9, Phe8-Arg9, and Ser6-Pro7, by unidentified peptidases. 7. A model for the enzymatic inactivation of bradykinin by rat brain neuronal perikarya is proposed.

Purification and characterization of bradykinin-hydrolyzing enzyme from 2-day-old rat epidermis

Bradykinin-hydrolyzing enzyme was purified 200-fold from a soluble fraction of cornified cells from 2-day-old rat epidermis. The enzyme has an Mr of 80,000 as identified by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and HPLC gel filtration. The isoelectric point of the enzyme is 5.05. The enzyme hydrolyzed Phe5-Ser6 of bradykinin and seven bradykinin-related peptides, and Tyr5-Ser6 of Tyr5-bradykinin. Production of bradykinin fragments, Arg-Pro-Pro-Gly-Phe and Ser-Pro-Phe-Arg, proceeded in a stoichiometric fashion. Km and Vmax values for bradykinin were 33 microM and 22.2 mumol/min per mg, respectively. The enzyme did not hydrolyze azocasein, denatured hemoglobin or synthetic substrates for other epidermal proteinases. The enzyme activity was enhanced by reducing agents and inhibited by sulfhydryl-blocking agents and divalent cations. Diisopropyl fluorophosphate and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride had no effects. The enzyme has a pH optimum of 7.0-7.5 and is stable at 4 degrees C for 1 month, but loses activity completely at 60 degrees C for 10 min. The epidermal endopeptidase differs in several properties from endooligopeptidase A purified from brain which hydrolyzes Phe5-Ser6 of bradykinin.

Ontogenesis of prolyl endopeptidase in the chick retina

The time course of prolyl endopeptidase (PE) activity, measured using 7-(N-succinyl-Gly-Pro)-4-methyl-coumarinamide as substrate, was determined in the developing chick retina, and in monolayer and aggregate culture of embryonic retinal cells. PE activity/retina increased 12.5-fold between embryonic days 7 and 12 and remained constant from the 12th embryonic day until the 3rd post-hatched day. PE activity/retina decreased 2.3-fold from the 3rd to the 9th post-hatched day. The levels of PE specific activity in aggregates and in retina were similar, whereas they were 44-81% higher in monolayer than in aggregate cultures between 3 and 13 days in culture. The data suggest that the development of PE activity and of plexiform layers occurs in parallel during chick retina ontogenesis, and that the chick retina can be an adequate in vivo and in vitro model to study PE development.

Neuropeptide-metabolizing peptidases in neuro-2a neuroblastoma and C6 glioma cells

Mouse Neuro-2a neuroblastoma and rat C6 glioma cloned cells were screened for neuropeptide-metabolizing peptidases using a kininase bioassay combined with a time-course bradykinin-product analysis, and a fluorimetric assay for prolyl endopeptidase. The complementary peptide products Arg1----Phe5/Ser6----Arg9 and Arg1----Pro7/Phe8-Arg9 were released during bradykinin (Arg1-Pro2-Pro3-Gly4-Phe5-Ser6-Pro7-Phe8-Arg9) inactivation by homogenates of Neuro-2a and C6 cells. The 1:1 stoichiometry of the complementary fragments and their high yields, at 10% bradykinin inactivation, demonstrated the sites of hydrolysis. The initial rate of Phe5-Ser6 bond cleavage was six-fold higher than that of the Pro7-Phe8 bond. These sites of cleavage can be attributed to enzymes similar to endopeptidase A (Phe5-Ser6) and prolyl endopeptidase (Pro7-Phe8) on the basis of the specificity and sensitivity to inhibitors of the kininase activity in Neuro-2a and C6 cell homogenates. Kininase and prolyl endopeptidase specific activities (fmol/min/cell) were 10.5 and 12.4 for Neuro-2a, and 1.5 and 2 for C6 homogenate, respectively. The recovery of kininase activity was 2.2-fold higher in the particulate than in the soluble (105,000 g for 1 h) neuronal fraction, whereas the amount of prolyl endopeptidase activity was about the same in both fractions. Kininase and prolyl endopeptidase activities in C6 cells were recovered mostly in the soluble fraction. Prolyl endopeptidase specific activity decreased 10-fold in serum-starved Neuro-2a cultured cells, with no change in activity in similarly treated C6 cells. In contrast, kininase specific activity in both cell types was essentially unaffected on serum-deprivation-induced differentiation.