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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 275, Issue 37, 28569-28574, September 15, 2000
From the Friedrich-Miescher Institut, CH-4058 Basel,
Switzerland
Received for publication, March 2, 2000, and in revised form, June 22, 2000
Properdin is the positive regulator of the
alternative pathway of complement activation. The 53-kDa protein is
essentially composed of six thrombospondin type 1 repeats, all
of which contain the WXXW motif, the recognition
sequence for C-mannosylation. C-Mannosylation
is a post-translational modification of tryptophan residues in which,
in contrast to the well known N- and
O-glycosylation, the carbohydrate is attached via a C-C
bond to C-2 of the indole moiety of tryptophan.
C-Mannosylation was first found in human RNase 2 and
interleukin-12. The terminal complement proteins C6-C9 also carry this
modification as part of their thrombospondin type 1 repeats. We studied
the C-mannosylation pattern of human properdin by mass
spectrometry and Edman degradation. Properdin contains 20 tryptophans
of which 17 are part of a WXXW motif. Fourteen tryptophans
were found to be modified 100%. This is the first example of a protein
in which the majority of tryptophan residues occurs in the
C-mannosylated form. These results show that
C-mannosylated proteins occur at several steps along the
complement activation cascade. Therefore, this system would be ideal to
investigate the function of C-mannosylation.
Glycosylation is one of the most abundant and widespread
post-translational modifications of proteins. In the common cases of
N- and O-glycosylation the glycan is attached via
an amide or a hydroxyl group of an amino acid side chain to the
protein. In human RNase 2 a fundamentally different type of
glycosylation was discovered (1-3). An The complement system is an innate first line host defense mechanism
against microbes. Its activation pathways are composed of three
proteolytic cascades, which merge at the cleavage step of (inactive)
C3, converting it into active C3b (Fig.
2; reviewed in Ref. 8). Properdin (or
factor P) is a positive regulator of the complement system. It
stabilizes the C3 convertase (C3bBb) in the feedback loop of the
alternative pathway (Fig. 2), protecting it from rapid inactivation
(9-11). In addition, the C5 convertase (C3bBbC3b), which converts C5
into C5b, can also bind properdin. This eventually leads to the
formation of the membrane attack complex, the actual lytic moiety of
complement that will kill the attacked microbe. The importance of
properdin is demonstrated in properdin-deficient individuals. These
patients have a higher susceptibility to meningococcal infections by
Neisseria, leading to fulminant meningitis with mortality
rates as high as 75% (reviewed in Ref. 12).
Mature properdin monomer is a 53-kDa protein that occurs in plasma at a specific ratio of dimers, trimers, and tetramers of 26:54:20 (13) and a concentration of 15-25 mg/liter. It consists of six TSRs, which are enclosed by N- and C-terminal parts (14) that show no homology to other proteins. Five of the TSRs contain a WXXWXXWXXC motif, but in the fourth repeat the last tryptophan has been replaced by a valine. One N-glycosylation site is found in the sixth TSR, which is not essential for activity of the protein (15, 16). Finding C-mannosylation in the TSRs of the terminal
complement proteins prompted the question of whether properdin, being composed mainly of TSRs, is also C-mannosylated. In this
paper we show that properdin is the first protein in which the majority of tryptophans occurs in the C-mannosylated form. This,
together with its clearly defined biological function, makes properdin an ideal protein for functional studies on
C-mannosylation.
Materials-- Human properdin was purchased from Advanced Research Technologies (San Diego, CA). N-(Iodoethyl)trifluoroacetamide was from Sigma. Endoproteinase Lys-C (Achromobacter) was from Wako BioProducts (Richmond, VA). Protein Chemistry--
Properdin was reduced and aminoethylated
according to Ref. 17. In brief, 50 µg of properdin were dissolved in
50 µl of 0.5 M Tris-HCl, 6 M guanidine
HCl, 10 mM EDTA and reduced with 0.56 µmol of
dithiothreitol for 4 h at room temperature under argon. After
adding Nano ESIMSMS and solid-phase Edman degradation were performed according to Refs. 19 and 20. The elution position of PTH-(C-2-Man-)Trp was established by comparison to standard runs of residues 5-10 of human RNase 2 [FT(C-2-Man-)WAQW] (1) directly before or after analysis of each of the properdin peptides as described (7).
Peptides have been numbered as they occur in the sequence of the mature
protein and labeled with the prefix "K" to indicate that they were
generated by endoproteinase Lys-C.
To obtain peptides from properdin that were suitable for analysis,
we took advantage of the spacing of the cysteine residues of its TSRs
by aminoethylation and endoproteinase Lys-C digestion. This yielded
peptides ranging from 12 to 21 residues in length. Fractionation of an
endoproteinase Lys-C digest of reduced and aminoethylated properdin was
achieved by reversed phase LC-ESIMS (Fig.
3). The mass spectrometry data were
extracted for the masses of the expected peptides containing
tryptophan(s) without and with one, two, or three hexosyl residue(s),
which corresponds to an additional mass of 162 Da per hexosyl residue.
The fractions were analyzed by ESIMSMS and Edman degradation.
Peptide K52 from the Sixth TSR (TSR 6)--
A peptide with a mass
of 1928 Da was found to elute at 35.1 min, corresponding to peptide K52
(residues 353-364) with all three tryptophans
C-mannosylated. In the same fraction a second peptide
with a mass of 1149 Da was observed, which was identified by
ESIMSMS as peptide K5 (GLLGGGVSVEDCae). ESIMSMS of the
doubly charged ion of peptide K52 with an m/z
value of 965 gave the spectrum shown in Fig.
4. Three times the parent ion [M + 2H]2+ showed the loss of 120 Da (corresponding to an
m/z value of 60 in the case of a doubly charged
ion; indicated with dotted lines in Fig. 4).
This loss of 120 Da is characteristic for
aromatic C-glycosides (21, 22) and has been instrumental in
determining the presence of (C-2-Man-)Trp in several proteins (1, 6, 7). Moreover, multiple water losses can be seen (labeled with #), which
together with the 120-Da loss, form the fingerprint for a
C-linked hexosyl residue. A nearly complete series of y ions
together with several b ions confirmed the identity of peptide K52. For
all y ions and for some b ions containing a C-mannosylated tryptophan, at least one loss of 120 Da (indicated with dashed lines),
often together with the multiple water losses, was observed. This has
been illustrated in Fig. 4. Edman degradation of this peptide confirmed
that all tryptophans were C-mannosylated. Cycles 3, 6, and 9 of peptide K52 showed a PTH-derivative that comigrated with
(C-2-Man-)Trp from RNase 2. No signal for the PTH-derivative of
unmodified tryptophan was observed. The C-mannosylation
pattern of this peptide is another example of the modification of the last tryptophan in a WXXWXXC context, as it was
first found in the terminal complement proteins (7). These results have
been summarized in Table I.
Peptide K10 from TSR 1-- At 40.3 min a peptide with a mass of 2099 Da was found that was 324 Da heavier than expected from the cDNA sequence for residues 49-66 (14, 23), corresponding to a modification with two hexosyl moieties. The pure peptide was directly analyzed by ESIMSMS and Edman degradation. The tandem mass spectrum of the doubly charged peptide twice showed a loss of 120 Da from the parent ion. Furthermore, a nearly complete series of b ions was observed, and all of the b ions containing a C-mannosylated tryptophan showed the 120-Da loss (Table I). Interestingly, the spectrum also showed a series of a ions, again with all possible 120-Da losses (data not shown). This experiment allowed us to localize the modified tryptophans to position 56 and 59 (Table I). The assignment was confirmed by Edman degradation. Peptide K17-18 from TSR 2-- At 34.8 min a peptide with a mass of 2352 Da was found. This mass fitted to peptide K17-18 (residues 106-121), with an N-terminally aminoethylated cysteine and all three tryptophans C-mannosylated. The series of b and y ions observed in the ESIMSMS spectrum, the triple loss of 120 Da from the parent ion, and Edman degradation of the pure peptide confirmed this (Table I). Peptide K26-27 from TSR 3-- A peptide with a mass of 2753 Da was found at 37.7 min that corresponded to the combination peptide K26-27 (residues 158-178) with two hexosyl residues. Apparently, endoproteinase Lys-C had not cleaved the (aminoethyl)Cys-Pro bond at position 163-164. ESIMSMS analysis showed two 120-Da losses from the parent ion. A series of b and y ions confirmed the identity of the peptide and localized the two modified tryptophans to positions 169 and 172 and one unmodified tryptophan to position 175. Edman degradation showed the same pattern of modified and unmodified tryptophans (Table I). Peptide K37 from TSR 4-- In the case of peptide K37, endoproteinase Lys-C in the presence of guanidine HCl did not cleave the (aminoethyl)Cys-Pro bonds at positions 227-228 and 242-243. This resulted in the combination peptide K36-38 (eluting at 36.6 min), which was too large for analysis by ESIMSMS and Edman degradation. To obtain peptide K37, the peptide K36-38 was subjected to a Lys-C digest, but now without guanidine HCl. Its mass of 1834 Da matched that of peptide K37 (residues 228-242) modified with two hexosyl residues. The peptide was purified to apparent homogeneity by LC-ESIMS using a pH 6 buffer system (data not shown). The ESIMSMS spectrum showed two 120-Da losses from the parent ion and a complete y ion series with nearly all possible (C-2-Man-)Trp-related 120-Da losses. Edman degradation confirmed that both tryptophans are C-mannosylated (Table I). Peptide K43 from TSR 5--
The sequence of interest was found in
two different Lys-C cleavage products: the fully cleaved peptide K43
(at 36.9 min) and the combination peptide K42-43 (at 38.3 min). In
both cases the masses were 324 Da heavier than predicted from the
cDNA sequence, suggesting the presence of two hexosyl residues
(Table I). The ESIMSMS spectra of both peptides showed two
characteristic 120-Da losses from the parent ions. Both spectra allowed
the assignment of the C-mannosylated tryptophans to position
294 and 297, with Trp-291 unmodified. The ESIMSMS spectrum of K43
showed a complete y ion series and a nearly complete b ion series, both
with several secondary C-linked sugar losses. Edman
degradation of K43 confirmed the modification pattern (Table I).
The results presented in this paper (Fig.
5) show that 14 of 20 tryptophans in
properdin are stoichiometrically C-mannosylated. These
tryptophans were identified by tandem mass spectrometry experiments and
confirmed by Edman degradation (Table I). Mass spectrometry experiments
cannot distinguish between different hexoses but enable the
establishment of the presence of a C-C bond between the hexosyl
residue and tryptophan by observing the 120-Da loss, typical for
aromatic C-glycosides (21, 22). Therefore, it was verified
by Edman degradation that all PTH-derivatives of modified tryptophans
comigrated with authentic PTH-(C-2-Man-)Trp (Table I). For three
proteins, RNase 2 (2, 3), interleukin-12 (6), and C9 (7), NMR always
identified the hexosyl group to be
So far seven polypeptides have been shown to contain a total of 22 C-mannosylated tryptophans. Properdin increases this number substantially, further supporting the notion that C-mannosylation is not a rare post-translational modification (7). In the case of RNase 2 (4, 5) and interleukin-12 (6) it has been well established that WXXW is the recognition signal for C-mannosylation, where only the first tryptophan becomes modified. In properdin, only the C-mannosylation of TSR 3 follows this rule (Fig. 5). In the other TSRs, tryptophans occur that are not followed by a second tryptophan (or another aromatic residue) at position +3. Most of the time a cysteine is found at this position; however, in TSR 4 a valine is present. C-Mannosylation of tryptophan residues in such a context has also been observed in the terminal components of complement. This led to the hypothesis that in addition to the WXXW motif, another signal must exist in these proteins (7). At present, it is not known what constitutes such a signal. In vitro experiments using synthetic substrates strongly suggest that the additional signal is not formed by the residue at the +3 position (7). If this signal were solely encoded in the primary structure, the signal would lie outside the amino acid sequence used in these studies, and a second kind of C-mannosyltransferase would be involved (7). Alternatively, the signal could be formed by a three-dimensional signal patch, as has been described for substrates of UDP-GlcNAc lysosomal enzyme:GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase (26). In TSRs 1 and 5 of properdin the first tryptophan is not C-mannosylated, indicating that negative signals must exist. These could be either neighboring amino acids or three-dimensional constraints. The high degree of C-mannosylation of properdin poses the question of degradation of (C-2-Man-)Trp. On the one hand, pathways could exist that degrade (C-2-Man-)Trp to intermediates suitable for entering metabolic pathways. On the other hand, (C-2-Man-)Trp could be excreted, either as part of a peptide or as free (C-2-Man-)Trp. The latter pathway is compatible with the recent finding of (C-2-Man-)Trp in human urine (27). Considering the number of C-mannosylated tryptophans in properdin and the terminal complement proteins (7), and the concentrations of these proteins in plasma, the amounts of (C-2-Man-)Trp found in urine could readily be explained by turnover of only 5% of these proteins per day. In addition to thrombospondin-1, properdin, and the terminal complement proteins, TSR modules occur in F-, M-, and SCO-spondin (28-31); semaphorin 5A and 5B (32); brain-specific angiogenin inhibitor-1, -2, and -3 (33, 34); the ADAMTS family (35-39); GON-1 (40); UNC-5 (41); procollagen I N-proteinase (42); lacunin (43); and the malaria parasite protein, thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (44). All of these proteins contain at least one WXXW motif and are interesting candidates for studying C-mannosylation (see also the discussion concerning the WSXWS box of cytokine receptors in Ref. 7). In thrombospondin-1 the TSR modules have been implicated in interactions with cells (45), proteins (46-49), and glycosaminoglycans (50). Like most of the above-mentioned proteins, properdin also acts at cell surfaces and is capable of protein-protein (10, 11, 51-53), protein-sulfatide (54), and direct protein-membrane interactions (55). Properdin stabilizes the C3 convertase by binding to its components C3b and Bb (Fig. 2). This inhibits the deactivation of the C3 convertase by factors H and I (11). In this way properdin is not only essential for the activation of the alternative pathway but also for the amplification of the classical and mannose-binding lectin pathways. Although there is no three-dimensional structure of properdin or a TSR module available, it seems very likely that the 14 C-linked mannoses, as hydrophilic moieties, will be exposed at the surface of properdin and therefore could influence the binding to C3b and Bb. Furthermore, it is known that many pathogenic microbes carry mannose-binding receptors on their surfaces (56). If properdin were to interact with these receptors through the C-linked mannoses and thereby get deposited on the surface of an invading microorganism, it could form a focus for attack through any of the three pathways of complement. Its stabilization of the C3 activation feedback loop would ensure local production of C3b, C5b, and the membrane attack complex. The same could be true for a possible interaction between the C-linked mannoses of properdin and the multivalent mannose-binding lectin from serum, which has been shown to bind a variety of microorganisms (57). Further studies are needed, however, as it is not known whether the (C-2-Man-)Trp residues in properdin are able to bind to lectins of bacterial or mammalian origin. In conclusion, it has been shown here that human properdin is a highly
C-mannosylated protein. The fact that, in addition to the
terminal components C6-C9, the positive regulator properdin (with its
well defined biological role) is C-mannosylated makes complement an ideal system to investigate the function of this post-translational modification.
We thank Renate Matthies for amino acid sequencing, Dr. Daniel Hess for advice throughout the project, and Drs. Jack Rohrer and Daniel Hess for reading the manuscript. We also thank Dr. K. B. Reid (Oxford) for the initial gift of properdin.
* The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Published, JBC Papers in Press, June 30, 2000, DOI 10.1074/jbc.M001732200
The abbreviations used are: TSR, thrombospondin type 1 repeat; LC-ESIMS, high performance liquid chromatography interfaced with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry; ESIMSMS, electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry; PTH-, phenylthiohydantoin; cae, aminoethylated cysteine.
Copyright © 2000 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. This article has been cited by other articles:
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