Cyclophilin and peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase are probably identical proteins

The enzyme peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) was recently discovered in mammalian tissues and purified from porcine kidney. It catalyses the slow cis-trans isomerization of proline peptide (Xaa-Pro) bonds in oligopeptides and accelerates slow, rate-limiting steps in the folding of several proteins. Here, we report the N-terminal sequence of PPIase together with further chemical and enzymatic properties. The results indicate that this enzyme is probably identical to cyclophilin, a recently discovered mammalian protein which binds tightly to cyclosporin A (CsA). Cyclophilin is thought to be linked to the immunosuppressive action of CsA. The first 38 amino-acid residues of porcine PPIase and of bovine cyclophilin are identical and the two proteins both have a relative molecular mass of about 17,000 (ref. 7). The catalysis of prolyl isomerization in oligopeptides and of protein folding by PPIase are strongly inhibited in the presence of low levels of CsA. The activities of both PPIase and cyclophilin depend on a single sulphydryl group. At present it is unknown whether the inhibition of prolyl isomerase activity is related with the immunosuppressive action of CsA.     

Sensitivity to cyclosporin A is mediated by cyclophilin in Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cyclosporin A, a cyclic fungal undecapeptide produced by Tolypocladium inflatum, is a potent immunosuppressive drug originally isolated as an antifungal antibiotic. Cyclosporin A (CsA) is widely used in humans to prevent rejection of transplanted organs such as kidney, heart, bone marrow and liver. The biochemical basis of CsA action is not known: its primary cellular target has been suggested to be calmodulin, the prolactin receptor or cyclophilin, a CsA-binding protein originally isolated from the cytosol of bovine thymocytes. Cyclophilin has been shown to be a highly conserved protein present in all eukaryotic cells tested and to be identical to peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase, a novel type of enzyme that accelerates the slow refolding phase of certain proteins in vitro. We demonstrate that in the lower eukaryotes N. crassa and S. cerevisiae, cyclo philin mediates the cytotoxic CsA effect. In CsA-resistant mutants of both organisms, the cyclophilin protein is either lost completely or, if present, has lost its ability to bind CsA.     

Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase is the cyclosporin A-binding protein cyclophilin

Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) catalyses the cis-trans isomerization of proline imidic peptide bonds in oligopeptides and has been shown to accelerate the refolding of several proteins in vitro. Its activity has been detected in yeast, insects and Escherichia coli as well as in mammals, and it is though to be essential for protein folding during protein synthesis in the cell. We purified PPIase from pig kidney and found that its amino-acid sequence is identical to that reported for bovine cyclophilin, a protein known to bind the immunosuppressive drug, cyclosporin A (ref. 5). To investigate the functional relationship between PPIase and cyclophilin we examined the effect of cyclosporin A on PPIase activity and found that it was inhibitory. Thus we propose that the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerizing activity of PPIase may be involved in events, such as those occurring early in T-cell activation, that are suppressed by cyclosporin A.     

High brain densities of the immunophilin FKBP colocalized with calcineurin.

The immunophilins cyclophilin and FK506 binding protein (FKBP) are small, predominantly soluble proteins that bind the immunosuppressant drugs cyclosporin A and FK506, respectively, with high affinity, and which seem to mediate their pharmacological actions. The Ca(2+)-dependent protein phosphatase, calcineurin, binds the cyclophilin-cyclosporin A and FKBP-FK506 complexes, indicating that calcineurin might mediate the actions of these drugs. A physiological role for the immunophilins in the nervous system is implied by a close homology between the structure of NINA A, a protein in the neural retina of Drosophila, and cyclophilin, as well as by the high density of FKBP messenger RNA in brain tissue. Here we report that the levels of FKBP and mRNA in rat brain are extraordinarily high and that their regional localization is virtually identical to that of calcineurin, indicating that there may be a physiological link between calcineurin and the immunophilins. We also show that at low concentrations FK506 and cyclosporin A enhance the phosphorylation of endogenous protein substrates in brain tissue and in intact PC12 cells, indicating that these drugs may inhibit phosphatase activity by interacting with the immunophilin-calcineurin complexes.     

The ninaA gene required for visual transduction in Drosophila encodes a homologue of cyclosporin A-binding protein

Mutations of the Drosophila melanogaster ninaA gene affect phototransduction: ninaA mutant flies have a 10-fold reduction in the levels of rhodopsin in the R1-R6 photoreceptor cells. The ninaA gene was isolated and found to encode a 237-amino-acid protein that has over 40% amino-acid sequence identity with the vertebrate cyclosporin A-binding protein, cyclophilin, a protein that seems to be involved in T-lymphocyte activation. The remarkable evolutionary conservation of cyclophilin in two phylogenetically distant organisms and its involvement in diverse transduction processes suggests that this protein plays an important role in cellular metabolism. Indeed, cyclophilin has recently been shown to be a prolyl cis-trans isomerase that catalyses, in vitro, rate-limiting steps in the folding of a number of proteins. Here, we present evidence for the involvement of cyclophilin-like molecules in a defined cellular process. The availability of mutations in a cyclophilin gene provides a new model system for the study of cyclophilin and cyclosporin action.     

亲环素A抗原表位在三维结构中的初步定位

以抗人亲环素A单克隆抗体D4作捕获抗体，用噬菌体展示库鉴定出亲环素A模拟抗原表位的氨基酸序列为WSLQSFL，在亲环素A的一级结构中没有相同的序列，提示亲环素A抗原表位为构象型的，亲环素A的三维空间结构已测定，利用RasMol等蛋白质三维结构观察软件，可以初步确定亲环素A的抗原表位的时间位置，此抗原表位与环孢素的结合位点有重叠。     

A cytosolic binding protein for the immunosuppressant FK506 has peptidyl-prolyl isomerase activity but is distinct from cyclophilin

CYCLOSPORIN A and the newly discovered immunosuppressant, FK-506, are potent inhibitors of T cell activation. In addition to their clinical importance in the prevention of allograft rejection, cyclosporin A and FK-506 represent important reagents for the study of the molecular mechanisms of lymphocyte activation. Cyclosporin A, a cyclic undecapeptide and FK-506, a macrolide, although chemically distinct, inhibit similar lymphocyte activation responses. The earliest responses inhibited in the T cell seem to be the expression of early phase T cell-activation genes for interleukins 2, 3 and 4, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and gamma interferon. Although FK-506 and cyclosporin A seem to inhibit similar signal transduction processes, they do so be interacting with distinct cytosolic proteins. We report here the purification to homogeneity of a specific FK-506 binding protein that is distinct from the cyclosporin A-binding protein, cyclophilin. In addition, we show that this FK-506 binding protein, like cyclophilin, has peptidyl-prolyl isomerase activity.     

A receptor for the immunosuppressant FK506 is a cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerase

The structurally novel macrolide FK506 (refs 1,2) has recently been demonstrated to have potent immunosuppressive activity at concentrations several hundredfold lower than cyclosporin A (CsA). Cyclosporin A, a cyclic peptide, has found widespread clinical use in the prevention of graft rejection following bone marrow and organ transplantation. The mechanisms of immunosuppression mediated by FK506 and CsA appear to be remarkably similar, suggesting that these unrelated structures act on a common receptor or on similar molecular targets, perhaps the CsA receptor, cyclophilin, which has recently been shown by Fischer et al. and Takahashi et al. to have cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerase activity. We have prepared an FK506 affinity matrix and purified a binding protein for FK506 from bovine thymus and from human spleen. This FK506-binding protein (FKBP) has a relative molecular mass (Mr) of approximately 14,000(14K), a pI of 8.8-8.9, and does not cross-react with antisera against cyclophilin. The first 40 N-terminal residues of the bovine and 16 residues of the human FKBP were determined; the 16-residue fragments are identical to each other and unrelated to any known sequences. This protein catalyses the cis-trans isomerization of the proline amide in a tetrapeptide substrate and FK506 inhibits the action of this new isomerase. The FKBP and cyclophilin appear to be members of an emerging class of novel proteins that regulate T cell activation and other metabolic processes, perhaps by the recognition (and possibly the isomerization) of proline-containing epitopes in target proteins.     

Solution structure of the major binding protein for the immunosuppressant FK506

The major FK506 binding protein (FKBP, relative molecular mass approximately 11,800; Mr 11.8K) and cyclophilin (Mr approximately 17K) belong to a class of proteins termed immunophilins. Although unrelated at the amino-acid sequence level, they both possess peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activities which are inhibited by immunosuppressants that block signal transduction pathways leading to T-lymphocyte activation. FK506 and rapamycin strongly inhibit the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity of FKBP, whereas cyclosporin A inhibits that of cyclophilin. The significance of this enzyme activity and the role of the immunophilins in immunoregulation is unknown. To understand better the function of the immunophilins and their interaction with inhibitors, we are investigating the solution structures of FKBP and FKBP-inhibitor complexes by multidimensional NMR methods. Here we report the solution conformation of FKBP, as generated by NMR, distance geometry and molecular dynamics methods. The regular secondary structure of FKBP is composed mainly of beta sheet (approximately 35%) with little helical structure (less than 10%). The hydrophobic core of the molecule, containing the buried side chains of six of the protein's nine aromatic amino acids, is enclosed by a five-stranded antiparallel beta sheet on one side, a loop and a short helix at residues 51-56 and 57-65, and an aperiodic loop at residues 81-95. Examination of the structure suggests a possible site of interaction with FK506.     

肾小球疾病患儿环孢霉素亲合素基因表达及临床意义探讨

探讨肾小球疾病患儿急性期与恢复期血白细胞中环孢霉素亲合素基因（ＣｙＰｍＲＮＡ）的表达,同时研究其ＣｙＰ与２４ｈ尿蛋白定量、尿素氮、肌酐之间关系,以及探讨ＣｙＰ在肾小球疾病中的临床意义。通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（ＲＴ－ＰＣＲ）测定肾小球疾病患儿血白细胞中ＣｙＰｍＲＮＡ的表达及血尿素氮、肌酐、２４ｈ尿蛋白定量。肾小球疾病急性期血白细胞中ＣｙＰｍＲＮＡ的水平明显高于恢复期与对照组,同时发现肾小球疾病患儿血白细胞中ＣｙＰｍＲＮＡ表达的水平与ＣｓＡ血浓度呈负相关,与２４ｈ尿蛋白定量呈正相关,与尿素氮及肌酐间无相关关系。监测肾小球疾病患儿血白细胞中ＣｙＰ基因的表达,可反映肾小球疾病的发作、缓解与转归及指导ＣｓＡ的治疗     

人肽基脯氨酰顺反异构酶基因的克隆、表达、纯化及热变性交联

蛋白质分子间交联是普遍存在的现象．然而，蛋白质交联的分子机理还不太清楚．为了进一步探测蛋白质交联的分子机理，以及交联能否在异源肽链间发生，本实验室克隆了人肽基脯氨酰顺反异构酶(human Peptidylproly-Cis-trans-isomerase，hPPI)cyclophilin cDNA基因，并纯化出了PPI蛋白．最后，将PPI和．lysozyme蛋白进行热变性交联实验，结果显示在同源和异源肽链间都有二聚体和多聚体形成．并证实蛋白质交联可经三步完成：1)蛋白质构象包括二级结构改变；2)形成分子间二硫键；3)形成分子间异肽键．     

Intrinsic dynamics of an enzyme underlies catalysis

A unique feature of chemical catalysis mediated by enzymes is that the catalytically reactive atoms are embedded within a folded protein. Although current understanding of enzyme function has been focused on the chemical reactions and static three-dimensional structures, the dynamic nature of proteins has been proposed to have a function in catalysis. The concept of conformational substates has been described; however, the challenge is to unravel the intimate linkage between protein flexibility and enzymatic function. Here we show that the intrinsic plasticity of the protein is a key characteristic of catalysis. The dynamics of the prolyl cis-trans isomerase cyclophilin A (CypA) in its substrate-free state and during catalysis were characterized with NMR relaxation experiments. The characteristic enzyme motions detected during catalysis are already present in the free enzyme with frequencies corresponding to the catalytic turnover rates. This correlation suggests that the protein motions necessary for catalysis are an intrinsic property of the enzyme and may even limit the overall turnover rate. Motion is localized not only to the active site but also to a wider dynamic network. Whereas coupled networks in proteins have been proposed previously, we experimentally measured the collective nature of motions with the use of mutant forms of CypA. We propose that the pre-existence of collective dynamics in enzymes before catalysis is a common feature of biocatalysts and that proteins have evolved under synergistic pressure between structure and dynamics.     

Lymphokine dependence of in vivo expression of MHC class II antigens by endothelium

Changes in the expression of class II antigens of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have an integral role in the regulation of immune responses, and are brought about in vitro by soluble mediators. However, the mechanism that underlies in vivo expression of MHC class II antigens in, for example, endothelial cells in the absence of immunological stimulation has not been studied. We demonstrate here that expression of MHC class II antigens is not a constitutive property of endothelial cells, for MHC class II antigen-positive endothelial cells do not express these antigens during treatment with the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin A. In vivo MHC class II antigen expression by canine endothelial cells is therefore dependent on factors, probably the lymphokine gamma-interferon produced by the immune system, whose secretion is inhibited by cyclosporin A.     

检测CyPA自身抗体滴金免疫测定法的建立

建立一更快速、简便的检测人血清抗ＣｙＰＡ自身抗体的方法．用重组人ＣｙＰＡ和胶体金标记的蛋白Ａ建立了检测抗ＣｙＰＡ自身抗体的滴金免疫测定法．将ｒｈＣｙＰＡ点样包被于硝酸纤维素膜,抗体在血清渗滤过程中与膜上抗原反应而固定,通过胶体金标记的蛋白Ａ直接显色,阳性结果在膜中央出现一红色斑点．整个测定过程在５ｍｉｎ内完成．与ＥＬＩＳＡ法对比检测了４５份ＳＬＥ病人血清,两法均阳性２０份,均阴性２３份,总符合率为９５．６％．本法简便易行,耗时短,试剂安全、灵敏、特异,便于常规应用     

A suppressor T-lymphocyte cell line for autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a model for the in vitro and in vivo study of T-cell activation. It is an autoimmune disease mediated by T lymphocytes of the helper T-cell (Th) subset. After sensitization to guinea-pig myelin basic protein in complete Freund's adjuvant, Lewis rats develop an autoimmune response to central nervous system (CNS) myelin basic protein, manifested clinically as paralysis and histologically by a perivascular mononuclear cell infiltrate of the CNS parenchyma. Suppressor cell regulation of EAE has long been suspected because Lewis rats, which spontaneously recover from active disease, are resistant to reinduction of active EAE, even though effector T-cell lines can be rescued from these recovered rats. Using cyclosporin A, an immunosuppressive agent believed to inhibit Th cell function, suppressor T-cell (Ts) lines have now been generated from recovered Lewis rats. These Ts cells, when admixed with guinea pig myelin basic protein-specific Th cells, will prevent the adoptive transfer of EAE. The Ts cells appear to be CD4+, which explains previous observations that CD8+ lymphocytes are not important in the recovery of EAE in the rat. This is the first direct demonstration of Ts-cell regulation of EAE.     

Cyclophilin D-dependent mitochondrial permeability transition regulates some necrotic but not apoptotic cell death

Mitochondria play an important role in energy production, Ca2+ homeostasis and cell death. In recent years, the role of the mitochondria in apoptotic and necrotic cell death has attracted much attention. In apoptosis and necrosis, the mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT), which leads to disruption of the mitochondrial membranes and mitochondrial dysfunction, is considered to be one of the key events, although its exact role in cell death remains elusive. We therefore created mice lacking cyclophilin D (CypD), a protein considered to be involved in the mPT, to analyse its role in cell death. CypD-deficient mice were developmentally normal and showed no apparent anomalies, but CypD-deficient mitochondria did not undergo the cyclosporin A-sensitive mPT. CypD-deficient cells died normally in response to various apoptotic stimuli, but showed resistance to necrotic cell death induced by reactive oxygen species and Ca2+ overload. In addition, CypD-deficient mice showed a high level of resistance to ischaemia/reperfusion-induced cardiac injury. Our results indicate that the CypD-dependent mPT regulates some forms of necrotic death, but not apoptotic death.