Amino exopeptidases

An exopeptidase that sequentially releases an amino acid from the N-terminus of a protein or peptide. Examples include cystinyl aminopeptidase (MEROPS M01.011), which removes a terminal cysteine from the biologically important peptides oxytocin and vasopressin, and methionyl aminopeptidase (M24.001), which removes the initiating methionine from cytosolic... 

There are two main classes of proteolytic digestive enzymes (proteases), with different specificities for the amino acids forming the peptide bond to be hydrolyzed. Endopeptidases hydrolyze peptide bonds between specific amino acids throughout the molecule. They are the first enzymes to act, yielding a larger number of smaller fragments, eg, pepsin in the gastric juice and trypsin, chymotrypsin, and elastase secreted into the small intestine by the pancreas. Exopeptidases catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds, one at a time, fi"om the ends of polypeptides. Carboxypeptidases, secreted in the pancreatic juice, release amino acids from rhe free carboxyl terminal, and aminopeptidases, secreted by the intestinal mucosal cells, release amino acids from the amino terminal. Dipeptides, which are not substrates for exopeptidases, are hydrolyzed in the brush border of intestinal mucosal cells by dipeptidases. 

The end product of the action of endopeptidases and exopeptidases is a mixmre of free amino acids, di- and tripeptides, and oligopeptides, all of which are absorbed. Free amino acids are absorbed across the intestinal mucosa by sodium-dependent active transport. There are... 

Proteases, which can be classified as either peptidases or proteinases. These cleave polypeptide chains eventually into their component amino acids. Peptidases can be further classified as endopeptidases (which act on the main-chain amido groups along the polypeptide molecule) or as exopeptidases (which act only at terminal amino acid residues). 

As mentioned earlier, by far the largest number of zinc enzymes are involved in hydrolytic reactions, frequently associated with peptide bond cleavage. Carboxypeptidases and ther-molysins are, respectively, exopeptidases, which remove amino acids from the carboxyl terminus of proteins, and endopeptidases, which cleave peptide bonds in the interior of a polypeptide chain. However, they both have almost identical active sites (Figure 12.4) with two His and one Glu ligands to the Zn2+. It appears that the Glu residue can be bound in a mono- or bi-dentate manner. The two classes of enzymes are expected to follow similar reaction mechanisms. 

The NC-IUBMB classifies peptidases (EC 3.4) into exopeptidases (EC 3.4.11-19), which remove one or a few amino acids, and endopeptidases (proteinases, EC 3.4.21-99), which catalyze the cleavage of peptide bonds away from either end of the polypeptide chain (Fig. 2.1). Exopeptidases are further subdivided into enzymes that carry out hydrolysis at the N-terminus or the C-terminus (Figs. 2.1 and 2.2). Thus, aminopeptidases (EC 3.4.11) cleave a single amino acid from the N-terminus [3] those removing a dipep-... 

The evolutionary classification has a rational basis, since, to date, the catalytic mechanisms for most peptidases have been established, and the elucidation of their amino acid sequences is progressing rapidly. This classification has the major advantage of fitting well with the catalytic types, but allows no prediction about the types of reaction being catalyzed. For example, some families contain endo- and exopeptidases, e.g., SB-S8, SC-S9 and CA-Cl. Other families exhibit a single type of specificity, e.g., all families in clan MB are endopeptidases, family MC-M14 is almost exclusively composed of carboxypeptidases, and family MF-M17 is composed of aminopeptidases. Furthermore, the same enzyme specificity can sometimes be found in more than one family, e.g., D-Ala-D-Ala carboxypeptidases are found in four different families (SE-S11, SE-S12, SE-S13, and MD-M15). 

The proteolytic activity of some multicatalytic peptidases is stimulated by ATP, whereas that of others is not influenced by ATP [32], The ATP-dependent proteolytic system first found in reticulocytes requires the presence of a heat-stable polypeptide called ubiquitin, one of the roles of which is to mark particular proteins for subsequent degradation [33. ATP-Indepen-dent multicatalytic peptidases can degrade proteins that have a free amino or an /V-acctylatcd terminus, as well as oxidatively altered or phosphorylat-ed proteins [34], The small peptides generated are resistant to multicatalytic peptidases and are further degraded by cytoplasmic endopeptidases and exopeptidases. 

Peptide hydrolases (peptidases or proteases, i.e., enzymes hydrolyzing peptide bonds in peptides and proteins, see Chapt. 2) have received particular attention among hydrolases. As already described in Chapt. 2, peptidases are divided into exopeptidases (EC 3.4.11 -19), which cleave one or a few amino acids from the N- or C-terminus, and endopeptidas-es (proteinases, EC 3.4.21-99), which act internally in polypeptide chains [2], The presentation of enzymatic mechanisms of hydrolysis in the following sections will begin with peptidases and continue with other hydrolases such as esterases. 

The metal ion is held in place by amino acid residues, generally His, Glu, Asp, or Lys. In many metallopeptidases, which may be exopeptidases or en-dopeptidases, only one zinc ion is required. In all Co2+ or Mn2+-dependent, and in some Zn2+-dependent metallopeptidases, two metal ions are present and act cocatalytically these enzymes are exopeptidases [2][73][74],... 

Increased permeability is just one prerequisite in the development of useful peptide prodrugs. Another condition is that efficient bioactivation must follow absorption. Mucosal cell enzymes able to hydrolyze peptides include exopeptidases such as aminopeptidases and carboxypeptidases, endopepti-dases, and dipeptidases such as cytosolic nonspecific dipeptidase (EC 3.4.13.18), Pro-X dipeptidase (prolinase, EC 3.4.13.4), and X-Pro dipeptidase (prolidase, EC 3.4.13.9). For example, L-a-methyldopa-Pro was shown to be a good substrate for both the peptide transporter and prolidase. This dual affinity is not shared by all dipeptide derivatives, and, indeed, dipeptides that lack an N-terminal a-amino group are substrates for the peptide transporter but not for prolidase [29] [33] [34],... 

The synthesis of active centers is not a small problem. The enzyme car-boxypeptidase A is a pancreatic exopeptidase that catalyzes the sequential release of amino acids from the C terminus of polypeptide chains as shown in reaction (1). Much work has been done on the structure 31). Although the... 

Protein digestion occurs in two stages endopeptidases catalyse the hydrolysis of peptide bonds within the protein molecule to form peptides, and the peptides are hydrolysed to form the amino acids by exopeptidases and dipeptidases. Enteropeptidase initiates pro-enzyme activation in the small intestine by catalysing the conversion of trypsinogen into trypsin. Trypsin is able to achieve further activation of trypsinogen, i.e. an autocatalytic process, and also activates chymotrypsinogen and pro-elastase, by the selective hydro-... 

These proteolytic enzymes are all endopeptidases, which hydrolyse links in the middle of polypeptide chains. The products of the action of these proteolytic enzymes are a series of peptides of various sizes. These are degraded further by the action of several peptidases (exopeptidases) that remove terminal amino acids. Carboxypeptidases hydrolyse amino acids sequentially from the carboxyl end of peptides. They are secreted by the pancreas in proenzyme form and are each activated by the hydrolysis of one peptide bond, catalysed by trypsin. Aminopeptidases, which are secreted by the absorptive cells of the small intestine, hydrolyse amino acids sequentially from the amino end of peptides. In addition, dipeptidases, which are structurally associated with the glycocalyx of the entero-cytes, hydrolyse dipeptides into their component amino acids. 

The proteolytic enzymes are classified into endopeptidases and exopeptidases, according to their site of attack in the substrate molecule. The endopeptidases or proteinases cleave peptide bonds inside peptide chains. They recognize and bind to short sections of the substrate s sequence, and then hydrolyze bonds between particular amino acid residues in a relatively specific way (see p. 94). The proteinases are classified according to their reaction mechanism. In serine proteinases, for example (see C), a serine residue in the enzyme is important for catalysis, while in cysteine proteinases, it is a cysteine residue, and so on. 

Proteins are first denatured by the stomach s hydrochloric acid (see p. 270), making them more susceptible to attack by the endopeptidases (proteinases) present in gastric and pancreatic juice. The peptides released by endopeptidases are further degraded into amino acids by exopeptidases. Finally, the amino acids are resorbed by the intestinal mucosa in cotransport with Na"" ions (see p. 220). There are separate transport systems for each of the various groups of amino acids. 

Elastase mainly cleaves on the C side of the aliphatic amino acids Gly, Ala, Val, and lie. Smaller peptides are attacked by carboxy-peptidases, which as exopeptidases cleave individual amino acids from the C-terminal end of the peptides (see p. 176). 

Several different proteases can attack a single protein at enzyme-selective amino-acid sequences. Proteases can be divided into two categories. Endopeptidases are enzymes that cleave peptide bonds between specific, nonterminal amino acids. There are endopeptidases specific for just about every amino acid. Exopeptidases are enzymes that cleave terminal peptide bonds at either the C-terminus or N-terminus. 

The luminal surface of the intestine contains aminopeptidase—an exopeptidase that repeatedly cleaves the N-terminal residue from oligopeptides to produce free amino acids and smaller peptides. 

Most of the lysosomal proteases called cathepsins are small 20- to 40-kDa glycoproteins found in all animal tissues.313 Most are cysteine proteases which function best and are most stable in the low pH reducing environment of lysosomes. They resemble papain in size, amino acid sequence, and active site structures. Papain is nonspecific but most cathepsins have definite substrate preferences. Cathepsin B is the most abundant. There are smaller amounts of related cathepsins H (an aminopeptidase)314 and L315 and still less of cathepsins C, K, and others. Cathepsin B is both an endopep-tidase and an exopeptidase.316 It acts on peptides with arginine at either Pj or P2 but also accepts bulky hydro-phobic residues in Pj and prefers tyrosine at P3.317 Cathepsin S is less stable at higher pH than other cathepsins and has a more limited tissue distribution, being especially active in the immune system.318 319... 

There are five distinct families of zinc proteases, classified by the nature of the zinc binding site. These families, and their variously proposed mechanisms, have recently been reviewed in depth.143 The most studied member is the digestive enzyme bovine pancreatic carboxypeptidase A, which is a metalloenzyme containing one atom of zinc bound to its single polypeptide chain of 307 amino acids and Mr 34 472. It is an exopeptidase, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of C-terminal amino acids from polypeptide substrates, and is specific for the large hydrophobic amino acids such as phenylalanine. The closely related carboxypeptidase B catalyzes the hydrolysis of C-terminal lysine and arginine residues. The two en-... 

Final degradation of substrates to oligopeptides and free amino acids may involve gastro-dermal exopeptidases such as a cathepsin C (Caffrey et al., 2004), which removes dipeptides from the N-terminus of proteins, and a leucine aminopeptidase (LAP McCarthy et al., 2004), which is capable of releasing free amino acids from peptides and dipeptides. However, it is notable that cathepsin B also exhibits carboxydipeptidase activity and, therefore, may well play a dual role (Tort et al., 1999 Caffrey et al., 2004). 

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