Peptides, signal

Fig. 3. Processing steps of rat and bovine prepro-vasopressin lea ding to the hormone vasopressin and its carrier protein, neurophysin (14). (a) Putative signal peptide (b) vasopressin (c) neurophysin (d) glycopeptide. CHO = carbohydrate.

The protein contains an N-terminal signal peptide of 17 amino acid residues for secretion. The luminescence reaction of coelenterazine catalyzed by the recombinant luciferase shows a luminescence emission maximum at 485 nm, whereas the luminescence catalyzed by the native luciferase shows a maximum at 480 nm. 

Overexpression of apoaequorin (Inouye et al., 1989, 1991). To produce a large quantity of apoaequorin, an apoaequorin expression plasmid piP-HE containing the signal peptide coding sequence of the outer membrane protein A (ompA) of E. coli (Fig. 4.1.12) was constructed and expressed in E. coli. The expressed apoaequorin was secreted into the periplasmic space of bacterial cells and culture medium. The cleaving of ompA took place during secretion thus the... 

There are 17 human type I IFN genes, all clustering on chromosome 9. They are intronless and encode secretory signal peptide sequences that are proteolytically cleaved prior to secretion from the cell. Type I IFNs are genetically and structurally closely related. They range in length from 161 to 208 amino acids and have apparent molecular weights of 15-24 kDa (Table 1) (Chen et al. 2004). The different subtypes of human IFN-a have approximately 50% amino acid sequence identity, whereas IFN-a shares approximately 22% amino acid identity with human IFN-p and 37% with human IFN-m (Chen et al. 2004). 

Fig. 1 Primary structure of human tropoelastin isoform 3 (EBI accession no. P15502). The highlighted regions correspond to the signal peptide and hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains. Based on [2]...

After mRNA splicing, the tropoelastin mRNA is translated at the surface of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) in a variety of cells smooth muscle cells, endothelial and microvascular cells, chondrocytes and fibroblasts. The approximately 70 kDa precursor protein (depending on isoform) is synthesized with an N-terminal 26-amino-acid signal peptide. This nascent polypeptide chain is transported into the lumen of the RER, where the signal peptide is removed cotranslationally [9]. 

A major sorting decision is made early in protein biosynthesis, when specific proteins are synthesized either on free or on membrane-bound polyribosomes. This results in two sorting branches called the cytosolic branch and the rough endoplasmic reticulum (R R) branch (Figure 46-1). This sorting occurs because proteins synthesized on membrane-bound polyribosomes contain a signal peptide that mediates their attachment to the membrane of the ER. Further details on... 

The signal hypothesis was proposed by Blobel and Sabatini pardy to explain the distinction between free and membrane-bound polyribosomes. They found that proteins synthesized on membrane-bound polyribosomes contained a peptide extension (signal peptide)... 

Ribosomes remain attached to the ER during synthesis of signal peptide-containing proteins but are released and dissociated into their two types of subunits when the process is completed. The signal peptide is hydrolyzed by signal peptidase, located on the luminal side of the ER membrane (Figure 46-4), and then is apparently rapidly degraded by proteases. 

Many proteins are targeted to their destinations by signal sequences. A major sorting decision is made when proteins are partitioned between cytosohc and membrane-bound polyribosomes by virtue of the absence or presence of a signal peptide. 

Albumin (69 kDa) is the major protein of human plasma (3.4-4.7 g/dL) and makes up approximately 60% of the total plasma protein. About 40% of albumin is present in the plasma, and the other 60% is present in the extracellular space. The liver produces about 12 g of albumin per day, representing about 25% of total hepatic protein synthesis and half its secreted protein. Albumin is initially synthesized as a preproprotein. Its signal peptide is removed as it passes into the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and a hexapeptide at the resulting amino terminal is subsequently cleaved off farther along the secretory pathway. The synthesis of albumin is depressed in a variety of diseases, particularly those of the liver. The plasma of patients with liver disease often shows a decrease in the ratio of albumin to globulins (decreased albumin-globuhn ratio). The synthesis of albumin decreases rela-... 

---