J Biol Chem, Vol. 273, Issue 22, 13407-13414, May 29, 1998

Ectopic Epididymal Expression of Guinea Pig Intestinal Phospholipase B
POSSIBLE ROLE IN SPERM MATURATION AND ACTIVATION BY LIMITED PROTEOLYTIC DIGESTION

From the Institut Fédératif de Recherche en Immunologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Université Paul Sabatier and Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Toulouse, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 326, Phospholipides Membranaires, Signalisation Cellulaire et Lipoprotéines, Hôpital Purpan, F 31059 Toulouse Cedex, France and the ^§ Laboratoire de Biochimie des Protéines, Sanofi Elf-Biorecherches, F 31676 Labège Innopole, France

Guinea pig intestinal phospholipase B is a calcium-independent phospholipase hydrolyzing sequentially the acyl ester bonds at sn-2 and sn-1 positions of glycerophospholipids, promoting the formation of sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine from phosphatidylcholine. This 140-kDa glycoprotein from the brush border membrane of differentiated enterocytes contributes to lipid digestion as an ectoenzyme. The cDNA coding for guinea pig phospholipase B was revealed to be the homologue of AdRab-B, an mRNA appearing in rabbit upon intestine development. The sequence predicts a polypeptide of 1463 amino acids displaying four homologous repeats, two of them containing the lipase consensus sequence GXSXG. A 5-kilobase transcript was particularly abundant in mature ileal and jejunal enterocytes but was also detected in epididymis, where phospholipase B displayed a higher molecular mass (170 kDa versus 140 kDa in intestine), with no obvious evidence for enzyme activity. Trypsin treatment of phospholipase B immunoprecipitated from epididymal membranes reduced its size to 140 kDa, coinciding with the appearance of a significant phospholipase A₂ activity. The same results were obtained in COS cells transfected with phospholipase B cDNA. Since sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine present at high concentrations in seminal plasma mainly stems from epididymis, this suggests a possible role of phospholipase B in male reproduction. This novel localization also unravels a mechanism of phospholipase B activation by limited proteolysis involving either trypsin in the intestinal lumen or a trypsin-like endopeptidase in the male reproductive tract.