Abstract
HtrA2/Omi, a mitochondrial serine protease, is pivotal in regulating apoptotic cell death. To determine the location of antigenic determinants in HtrA2/Omi, we expressed a series of the N-terminally truncated HtrA2/Omi as GST fusion proteins in E. coli. We assessed protein solubility and antigenic reactivity of various N-terminally truncated HtrA2/Omi proteins by binding to glutathione beads and immunoblot analyses, respectively. We identified that the region encoded by exon8 of HtrA2/Omi was expressed as a highly soluble form and contains an antigenic determinant specifically recognized by a polyclonal serum against HtrA2/Omi. Our data provide evidence that protein solubility of the specific region in target proteins may contribute to the antigenicity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Choi JY, Sung YM, Park HJ, Hur EH, Lee SJ, Hahn C, Min BR, Kim IK, Kang S, Rhim H (2002) Rapid purification and analysis of alpha-synuclein proteins: C-terminal truncation promotes the conversion of alpha-synuclein into a protease-sensitive form in Escherichia coli. Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem. 36: 33–40.
Clausen T, Southan C, Ehrmann M (2002) The HtrA family of proteases: implications for protein composition and cell fate. Mol. Cell. 10: 443–455.
Faccio L, Fusco C, Chen A, Martinotti S, Bonventre JV, Zervos AS (2000) Characterization of a novel human serine protease that has extensive homology to bacterial heat shock endoprotease HtrA and is regulated by kidney ischemia. J. Biol. Chem. 275: 2581–2588.
Fanning AS, Anderson JM (1996) Protein-protein interactions: PDZ domain networks. Curr. Biol. 6: 1385–1388.
Fanning AS, Anderson JM (1998) PDZ domains and the formation of protein networks at the plasma membrane. Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 228: 209–233.
Gray CW, Ward RV, Karran E, Turconi S, Rowles A, Viglienghi D, Southan C, Barton A, Fantom KG, West A, Savopoulos J, Hassan NJ, Clinkenbeard H, Hanning C, Amegadzie B, Davis JB, Dingwall C, Livi GP, Creasy CL (2000) Characterization of human HtrA2, a novel serine protease involved in the mammalian cellular stress response. Eur. J. Biochem. 267: 5699–5710.
Hegde R, Srinivasula SM, Zhang Z, Wassell R, Mukattash R, Cilenti L, DuBois G, Lazebnik Y, Zervos AS, Fernandes-Alnemri T, Alnemri ES (2002) Identification of Omi/HtrA2 as a mitochondrial apoptotic serine protease that disrupts inhibitor of apoptosis protein-caspase interaction. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 432–438.
Hopp TP, Woods KR (1981) Prediction of protein antigenic determinants from amino acid sequences. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78: 3824–3828.
Kuhn LA, Swanson CA, Pique ME, Tainer JA, Getzoff ED (1995) Atomic and residue hydrophilicity in the context of folded protein structures. Proteins 23: 536–547.
Kyte J, Doolittle RF (1982) A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J. Mol. Biol. 157: 105–132.
Li W, Srinivasula SM, Chai J, Li P, Wu JW, Zhang Z, Alnemri ES, Shi Y (2002) Structural insights into the pro-apoptotic function of mitochondrial serine protease HtrA2/Omi. Nat. Struct. Biol. 9: 436–441.
Lipinska B, Sharma S, Georgopoulos C (1988) Sequence analysis and regulation of the htrA gene of Escherichia coli: a sigma 32-independent mechanism of heat-inducible transcription. Nucl. Acids Res. 16: 10053–10067.
Martins LM, Iaccarino I, Tenev T, Gschmeissner S, Totty NF, Lemoine NR, Savopoulos J, Gray CW, Creasy CL, Dingwall C, Downward J (2002) The serine protease Omi/HtrA2 regulates apoptosis by binding XIAP through a reaper-like motif. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 439–444.
Pallen MJ, Wren BW (1997) The HtrA family of serine proteases. Mol. Microbiol. 26: 209–221.
Savopoulos JW, Carter PS, Turconi S, Pettman GR, Karran EH, Gray CW, Ward RV, Jenkins O, Creasy CL (2000) Expression, purification, and functional analysis of the human serine protease HtrA2. Protein Expr. Purif. 19: 227–234.
Songyang Z, Fanning AS, Fu C, Xu J, Marfatia SM, Chishti AH, Crompton A, Chan AC, Anderson JM, Cantley LC (1997) Recognition of unique carboxyl-terminal motifs by distinct PDZ domains. Science 275: 73–77.
Soreghan B, Pike C, Kayed R, Tian W, Milton S, Cotman C, Glabe CG (2002) The influence of the carboxyl terminus of the Alzheimer Abeta peptide on its conformation, aggregation, and neurotoxic properties. Neuromol. Med. 1: 81–94.
Spiess C, Beil A, Ehrmann M (1999) A temperature-dependent switch from chaperone to protease in a widely conserved heat shock protein. Cell. 97: 339–347.
Strauch KL, Beckwith J (1988) An Escherichia coli mutation preventing degradation of abnormal periplasmic proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85: 1576–1580.
Suzuki Y, Imai Y, Nakayama H, Takahashi K, Takio K, Takahashi R (2001) A serine protease, HtrA2, is released from the mitochondria and interacts with XIAP, inducing cell death. Mol. Cell. 8: 613–621.
Uversky VN, Li J, Souillac P, Millett IS, Doniach S, Jakes R, Goedert M, Fink AL (2002) Biophysical properties of the synucleins and their propensities to fibrillate: inhibition of alphasynuclein assembly by beta-and gamma-synucleins. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 11970–11978.
Verhagen AM, Silke J, Ekert PG, Pakusch M, Kaufmann H, Connolly LM, Day CL, Tikoo A, Burke R, Wrobel C, Moritz RL, Simpson RJ, Vaux DL (2002) HtrA2 promotes cell death through its serine protease activity and its ability to antagonize inhibitor of apoptosis proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 445–454.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Park, HJ., Choi, JY., Seong, YM. et al. Antigenicity of the region encoded by exon8 of the human serine protease, HtrA2/Omi, is associated with its protein solubility. Biotechnology Letters 25, 1597–1603 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025630013679
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025630013679