Peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerases

A cytosolic binding protein for CsA was first isolated in 1984 and named cyclophilin, later cyclophilin A (CyPA), in reference to its high affinity for CsA (18). CyPA is a basic, abundant protein with a mass of 18 kDa, and it is found in a variety of tissues. The first clue to its function came in 1989 when two independent groups isolated the enzyme that catalyzes pepti-dyl proline isomerization/peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerase (EC 5.2.1.8 PPIase), in protein chains and (re)discovered CyPA (19, 20). CyPA is a potent PPIase, and its enzymatic activity is strongly inhibited by CsA. 

This enzyme [EC 5.2.1.8] (also known as peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerase, peptidylprolyl isomerase, and cyclophilin) catalyzes the interconversion of a peptidylprolyl derivative (in which co = 180°) and a peptidylprolyl derivative (in which co = 0°). 

Kay, J. E. (1996). Structure-function relationships in the FK506-binding protein (FKBP) family of peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerases. Biochem.J. 314, 361-385. 

The search for an enzymatic activity that would catalyze prolyl peptide bond isomerization began soon after the proposal of the proline hypothesis. The success came in 1984, when Fischer and co-workers discovered a peptidylprolyl m—tram-isomerase activity in porcine kidney and other tissues by an assay that is based on the conformational specificity of chymotrypsin. This protease cleaves the 4-nitroanilide moiety from the peptide glutaryl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-4-nitroanilide only when the Ala-Pro peptide bond is in the trans conformation. In aqueous solution 90% of the molecules are trans in the assay peptide and only 10% are cis. Therefore, in the presence of a high concentration of chymotrypsin, 90% of the hydrolysis reaction occurs within the dead time of manual mixing. Hydrolysis of the remaining 10% is slow, limited in rate by the cis — ... 

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