Propeptides of eukaryotic proteases encode histidines to exploit organelle pH for regulation.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic cells maintain strict control over protein secretion, in part by using the pH gradient maintained within their secretory pathway. How eukaryotic proteins evolved from prokaryotic orthologs to exploit the pH gradient for biological functions remains a fundamental question in cell biology. Our laboratory previously demonstrated that protein domains located within precursor proteins, propeptides, encode histidine-driven pH sensors to regulate organelle-specific activation of the eukaryotic proteases furin and proprotein convertase-1/3. Similar findings have been reported in other unrelated protease families. By analyzing >10,000 unique proteases within evolutionarily unrelated families, we show that eukaryotic propeptides are enriched in histidines compared with prokaryotic ortholo

SUBMITTER: Elferich J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3714588 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature