Mammalian cells proteolytically release (shed) the extracellular domains of many cell-surface proteins. Modification of the cell surface in this way can alter the cell's responsiveness to its environment and release potent soluble regulatory factors. The release of soluble tumour-necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) from its membrane-bound precursor is one of the most intensively studied shedding events because this inflammatory cytokine is so physiologically important. The inhibition of TNF-alpha release (and many other shedding phenomena) by hydroxamic acid-based inhibitors indicates that one or more metalloproteinases is involved. We have now purified and cloned a metalloproteinase that specifically cleaves precursor TNF-alpha. Inactivation of the gene in mouse cells caused a marked decrease in soluble TNF-alpha production. This enzyme (called the TNF-alpha-converting enzyme, or TACE) is a new member of the family of mammalian adamalysins (or ADAMs), for which no physiological catalytic function has previously been identified. Our results should facilitate the development of therapeutically useful inhibitors of TNF-alpha release, and they indicate that an important function of adamalysins may be to shed cell-surface proteins.

The ectodomains of numerous proteins are released from cells by proteolysis to yield soluble intercellular regulators. The responsible protease, tumor necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE), has been identified only in the case when tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) is released. Analyses of cells lacking this metalloproteinase-disintegrin revealed an expanded role for TACE in the processing of other cell surface proteins, including a TNF receptor, the L-selectin adhesion molecule, and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFalpha). The phenotype of mice lacking TACE suggests an essential role for soluble TGFalpha in normal development and emphasizes the importance of protein ectodomain shedding in vivo.

Tumor necrosis factor-␣ (TNF␣) is a cytokine that induces protective inf lammatory reactions and kills tumor cells but also causes severe damage when produced in excess, as in rheumatoid arthritis and septic shock. Soluble TNF␣ is released from its membrane-bound precursor by a membrane-anchored proteinase, recently identified as a multidomain metalloproteinase called TNF␣-converting enzyme or TACE. We have cocrystallized the catalytic domain of TACE with a hydroxamic acid inhibitor and have solved its 2.0 Å crystal structure. This structure reveals a polypeptide fold and a catalytic zinc environment resembling that of the snake venom metalloproteinases, identifying TACE as a member of the adamalysin͞ADAM family. However, a number of large insertion loops generate unique surface features. The pro-TNF␣ cleavage site fits to the active site of TACE but seems also to be determined by its position relative to the base of the compact trimeric TNF␣ cone. The active-site cleft of TACE shares properties with the matrix metalloproteinases but exhibits unique features such as a deep S3 pocket merging with the S1 specificity pocket below the surface. The structure thus opens a different approach toward the design of specific synthetic TACE inhibitors, which could act as effective therapeutic agents in vivo to modulate TNF␣-induced pathophysiological effects, and might also help to control related shedding processes.Tumor necrosis factor-␣ (TNF␣) (1), a major immunomodulatory and proinflammatory cytokine, is synthesized as a 223-aa membrane-anchored precursor. The soluble form of TNF␣, comprising the C-terminal two-thirds of this precursor, is released into extracellular space by limited proteolysis at the Ala-76 3 Val-77 bond. The proteinase responsible for this cleavage, called TACE or ADAM 17, has recently been identified (2, 3) as a zinc-endopeptidase consisting of a multidomain extracellular part, an apparent transmembrane helix and an intracellular C-terminal tail. The extracellular part comprises an N-terminal pro domain, a 259-residue catalytic domain, and a Cys-rich moiety that has been hypothesized to be composed of a disintegrin-like, an epidermal growth factorlike, and a crambin-like domain (2). Its polypeptide sequence, in particular, that accounting for the catalytic domain, indicates some similarity with other metzincins (4, 5), especially with the adamalysins͞ADAMs (6-8) (a protein family comprising snake venom metalloproteinases and membraneanchored surface proteins containing an adamalysin-like catalytic domain) and the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In comparison to enzymes in these families, however, the polypeptide chain of the TACE catalytic domain is clearly longer and is stable in the absence of calcium. Further, in contrast to the MMPs, TACE is relatively insensitive to the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) (9) and exhibits a different inhibition pattern toward synthetic inhibitors (9-12). In contrast to the MMPs, TACE cleaves a 12-mer peptide spanning the cleavage site in...

Inherited mutations in the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 are associated with high risk for developing breast and ovarian cancers. Several studies link BRCA1 to transcriptional regulation, DNA repair, apoptosis and growth/tumor suppression. BRCA1 associates with p53 and stimulates transcription in both p53 dependent and p53-independent manners. BRCA1 splice variants BRCA1a (p110) and BRCA1b (p100) associates with CBP/p300 co-activators. Here we show that BRCA1a and BRCA1b proteins stimulate p53-dependent transcription from the p21 WAF1/CIP1 promoter. In addition, the C-terminal second BRCA1 (BRCT) domain is su cient for p53 mediated transactivation of the p21 promoter. Previous studies emphasized the importance of the BRCT domain, which shows homology with p53 binding protein (53BP1), in transcriptional activation, growth inhibition and tumor suppression. Our ®ndings demonstrate an additional function for this domain in protein ± protein interaction and co-activation of p53. We also found that BRCA1a and BRCA1b proteins interact with p53 in vitro and in vivo. The p53 interaction domain of BRCA1a/1b maps, in vitro, to the second BRCT domain (aa 1760 ± 1863). The BRCT domain binds to the central domain of p53 which is required for sequence speci®c DNA binding. These results demonstrate for the ®rst time the presence of a second p53 interaction domain in BRCA1 proteins and suggests that BRCA1a and BRCA1b proteins, like BRCA1, function as p53 co-activators. This BRCT domain also binds in vitro to CBP. These results suggest that one of the mechanisms by which BRCA1 proteins function is through recruitment of CBP/p300 associated HAT/FAT activity for acetylation of p53 to speci®c promoters resulting in transcriptional activation.