Protein prenylation farnesylation

The farnesylation and subsequent processing of the Ras protein. Following farnesylation by the FTase, the carboxy-terminal VLS peptide is removed by a prenyl protein-specific endoprotease (PPSEP) in the ER, and then a prenylprotein-specific methyltransferase (PPSMT) donates a methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to the carboxy-terminal S-farnesylated cysteine. Einally, palmitates are added to cysteine residues near the C-terminus of the protein. 

The polyisoprenoids dolichol (Figure 14-20 and Chapter 47) and ubiquinone (Figure 12-5) are formed from farnesyl diphosphate by the further addition of up to 16 (dolichol) or 3-7 (ubiquinone) isopentenyl diphosphate residues, respectively. Some GTP-binding proteins in the cell membrane are prenylated with farnesyl or geranylgeranyl (20 carbon) residues. Protein prenylation is believed to facilitate the anchoring of proteins into lipoid membranes and may also be involved in protein-protein interactions and membrane-associated protein trafficking. 

Lipidation of proteins may involve N-terminal myristoylation,131 S-prenylation (farnesyl- and geranylgeranyl groups) of cysteine residues at or close to the C-terminus, and S-palmitoylation[31 of cysteines throughout proteins (Scheme 2). 

Protein prenylation (also called isoprenylation) attaches a 15-carbon, farnesyl diphosphate or a 20-carbon geranylgeranyl diphosphate to the cysteine residue near the C termini of the target proteins (Overmeyer et al., 1998 Rodrfguez-Concepcion et al., 1999a). This reaction is conserved both in animals and plants. The functions of the target proteins include signal transduction, nuclear architecture, and vesicular transport. 

Protein prenylation leads to an increased hydrophobicity of proteins, typically resulting in an increased affinity for membranes. In 2004 studies on the cellular location of prenylated RhoB proteins showed that RhoB can undergo farnesylation (RhoB-F) as well as geranylgeranylation (RhoB-GG). With the aid of specific prenyl transferase inhibitors, it was revealed that RhoB-GG is localized to multivesicular late endosomes. 

Keywords Farnesyl transferase inhibitor Protein prenylation Ras protein ... 

In addition to protein farnesylation, two other pathways exist for protein prenylation. As mentioned above, GGTase I also utilizes the C-terminal... 

Prenylation (covalent attachment of an isoprenoid see Fig. 27-30) is a common mechanism by which proteins are anchored to the inner surface of cellular membranes in mammals (see Fig. 11-14). In some of these proteins the attached lipid is the 15-carbon farnesyl group others have the 20-carbon geranylgeranyl group. Different enzymes attach the two types of lipids. It is possible that prenylation reactions target proteins to different membranes, depending on which lipid is attached. Protein prenylation is another important role for the isoprene derivatives of the pathway to cholesterol. 

The presence of a nitrogen-containing side chain facilitates interaction with the catalytic site of FPPS, an enzyme in the metabolic pathway that is required for the production of the isoprenoid hpids farnesyl diphosphate and geranylgeranyl diphosphate, essential metabolites for posttranslational protein prenylation [5, 8]. Inhibiting the prenylation of guanosine triphosphate-binding proteins such as Ras, Rho, and Rac disrupts the normal cellular signal transduction that is required for osteoclast function and survival [5]. 

Similar to Ras and Rho proteins, Rab proteins are posttranslationally modified at the C-terminus with prenyl (geranylgeranyl) groups that function as membrane anchors. Protein prenylation involves covalent attachment of the farnesyl (C-15 isoprenyl) or the geranylgeranyl (C-20 isoprenyl) moiety to one or two C-terminal cysteine residues of the protein substrate via a stable thioether linkage. 

FIGURE 9.19 Proteins containing the C-terminal sequence CAAX can undergo prenylation reactions that place thioether-linked farnesyl or geranylgeranyl groups at the cysteine side chain. Prenylation is accompanied by removal of the AAX peptide and methylation of the carboxyl group of the cysteine residue, which has become the C-terminal residue. 

In another application of coupling proteins to surfaces using click chemistry, Duckworth et al. (2006) carried out prenylation of a protein using a farnesyl azide derivative and the enzyme farnesyl transferase for subsequent chemoselective ligation to alkyne-functionalized agarose beads. The result is a highly discrete, site-specific attachment of the protein to the solid phase at a single location. 

Some proteins can be posttranslationally modified by the addition of prenyl groups. Prenyl groups are long-chain, unsaturated hydrocarbons that are intermediates in isoprenoid synthesis. The farnesyl group has 15 carbons, and the geranylgeranyl has 20 carbons. They are attached to a cysteine residue near the end of the protein as a thiol ether (Protein-S-R). Other proteins can have a long-chain fatty acid (C14=myristoyl, C16=palmitoyl) attached to the amino terminus as an amide. These fatty acid modifications can increase the association of proteins with the membrane. 

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