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Aminopeptidases catalyze the cleavage of amino acids from the amino terminus of protein or peptide substrates. They are widely distributed throughout the animal and plant kingdoms and are found in many subcellular organelles, in cytoplasm, and as membrane components. Several aminopeptidases perform essential cellular functions. Many, but not all, of these peptidases are zinc metalloenzymes and are inhibited by the transition-state analog bestatin. Some are monomeric, and others are assemblies of relatively high mass (50 kDa) subunits. cDNA sequences are available for several aminopeptidases, and a 3-dimensional structure is available for the bovine lens enzyme. Crystallographic, electron micrographic, NMR, and photoaffinity labeling studies indicate that lens leucine aminopeptidase protomers are bilobal and that bestatin and substrates are bound in an active site, which is found in the larger lobe on each protomer. Zn2+ is involved in substrate liganding in most aminopeptidases. There is no evidence of an acyl-enzyme intermediate in hydrolysis. Amino acid sequences determined directly or deduced from cDNAs indicate some amino acid sequence homologies in organisms as diverse as Escherichia coli and mammals, particularly in catalytically important residues or in residues involved in metal ion binding.

The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) is the primary cytosolic proteolytic machinery for the selective degradation of various forms of damaged proteins. Thus, the UPP is an important protein quality control mechanism. In the canonical UPP, both ubiquitin and the 26S proteasome are involved. Substrate proteins of the canonical UPP are first tagged by multiple ubiquitin molecules and then degraded by the 26S proteasome. However, in non-canonical UPP, proteins can be degraded by the 26S or the 20S proteasome without being ubiquitinated. It is clear that a proteasome is responsible for selective degradation of oxidized proteins, but the extent to which ubiquitination is involved in this process remains a subject of debate. While many publications suggest that the 20S proteasome degrades oxidized proteins independent of ubiquitin, there is also solid evidence indicating that ubiquitin and ubiquitination are involved in degradation of some forms of oxidized proteins. A fully functional UPP is required for cells to cope with oxidative stress and the activity of the UPP is also modulated by cellular redox status. Mild or transient oxidative stress up-regulates the ubiquitination system and proteasome activity in cells and tissues and transiently enhances intracellular proteolysis. Severe or sustained oxidative stress impairs the function of the UPP and decreases intracellular proteolysis. Both the ubiquitin conjugation enzymes and the proteasome can be inactivated by sustained oxidative stress, especially the 26S proteasome. Differential susceptibilities of the ubiquitin conjugation enzymes and the 26S proteasome to oxidative damage lead to an accumulation of ubiquitin conjugates in cells in response to mild oxidative stress. Thus, increased levels of ubiquitin conjugates in cells appear to be an indicator of mild oxidative stress.

Upon oxidative stress cells show an increase in the oxidized glutathione (GSSG) to reduced glutathione (GSH) ratio with a concomitant decrease in activity of the ubiquitinylation pathway. Because most of the enzymes involved in the attachment of ubiquitin to substrate proteins contain active site sulfhydryls that might be covalently modified (thiolated) upon enhancement of GSSG levels (glutathiolation), it appeared plausible that glutathiolation might alter ubiquitinylation rates upon cellular oxidative stress. This hypothesis was explored using intact retina and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell models. Exposure of intact bovine retina and RPE cells to H 2 O 2 (0.1-1.7 mol/mg) resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the GSSG:GSH ratio and coincident dose-dependent reductions in the levels of endogenous ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1)-ubiquitin thiol esters and endogenous protein-ubiquitin conjugates and in the ability to form de novo retinal protein-125 I-labeled ubiquitin conjugates. Oxidant-induced decrements in ubiquitin conjugates were associated with 60 -80% reductions in E1 and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2) activities as measured by formation of ubiquitin thiol esters. When GSH levels in RPE cells recovered to preoxidation levels following H 2 O 2 removal, endogenous E1 activity and protein-ubiquitin conjugates were restored. Evidence that S thiolation of E1 and E2 enzymes is the biochemical link between cellular redox state and E1/E2 activities includes: (i) 5-fold increases in levels of immunoprecipitable, dithiothreitollabile 35 S-E1 adducts in metabolically labeled, H 2 O 2 -treated, RPE cells; (ii) diminished formation of E1-and E2-125 I-labeled ubiquitin thiol esters, oligomerization of E2 25K , and coincident reductions in protein-125 I-labeled ubiquitin conjugates in supernatants from nonstressed retinas upon addition of levels of GSSG equivalent to levels measured in oxidatively stressed retinas; and (iii) partial restoration of E1 and E2 activities and levels of protein-125 I-labeled ubiquitin conjugates in supernatants from H 2 O 2 -treated retinas when GSSG:GSH ratios were restored to preoxidation levels by the addition of physiological levels of GSH. These data suggest that the cellular redox status modulates protein ubiquitinylation via reversible S thiolation of E1 and E2 enzymes, presumably by glutathione.Oxidative stress damages cells, and this damage is causally implicated in "normal" aging (1, 2) and in the pathogenesis of human diseases, including eye lens cataract and retinopathy (1), neurodegenerative diseases (reviewed in Ref. 3), diabetes (4), and cancer (5). Thus, elucidation of biochemical mechanisms that protect cells from or promote cellular recovery following oxidative stress are of vital importance. Studies suggest that ubiquitin, a highly conserved 76-residue protein, is essential for viability following stress (6 -8) and that ubiquitin-dependent processes play an important role in cellular resistance to oxidative insult (6, 9, 10).The principle mechanism of ubiqui...