FURIN AT THE CUTTING EDGE: FROM PROTEIN TRAFFIC TO
EMBRYOGENESIS AND DISEASE Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 3, No 10, 753-766 (2002) | |
Furin catalyses a simple biochemical reaction — the proteolytic
maturation of proprotein substrates in the secretory pathway. But the
simplicity of this reaction belies furin's broad and important roles in
homeostasis, as well as in diseases ranging from Alzheimer's disease and
cancer to anthrax and Ebola fever. This review summarizes various features
of furin — its structural and enzymatic properties, intracellular
localization, trafficking, substrates, and roles in vivo.
(Рис.1.) | Schematic diagram of the proprotein convertase (PC) family. (Рис.2.) | Furin-processing compartments of the trans-Golgi network (TGN)/endosomal system. (Рис.3.) | The furin autoactivation pathway. (Рис.4.) | Model of furin trafficking. (Рис.5.) | The sorting motifs of the furin cytoplasmic domain. (Рис.6.) | Furin in development, homeostasis and disease. (Рис.7.) | Furin activation of the anthrax toxin. (Табл.1) | The proprotein convertase family BoxesBox 1 | The discovery of furin In 1990, the identification of furin as the first bona fide mammalian proprotein convertase (PC) ended a nearly quarter-century-long search for the mammalian enzymes that catalyse the proteolytic maturation of prohormones and proproteins The quest for the PCs began with seminal studies by Donald Steiner in 1967, who showed for the first time that peptide hormones are post-translationally excised from larger prohormones by cleavage of the precursor at doublets, or clusters, of basic amino acids (for example, –Lys–Arg↓– and –Arg–Arg↓–, where ↓ identifies the cleavage site). These studies were as revolutionary as those by Krebs and Fischer, which showed that protein phosphorylation is a universal modification in signal transduction. Concurrent studies by Michel Chrétien and Choh Hoh Li on the structural relationships between β-melanocyte stimulating hormone (β-MSH), γ-lipotropin (γ-LPH) and β-lipotropin (β-LPH) — a subset of peptides derived from a complex pituitary prohormone, proopiomelanocortin (POMC) — provided the first clues to the greater generality of proprotein processing. Together, these studies set the foundations of subsequent research in protein processing over the next 20 years, which showed that virtually all peptide hormones, numerous bioactive proteins (for example, growth factors, receptors and cell-adhesion molecules), and many bacterial toxins and viral envelope glycoproteins, follow this fundamental maturation scheme to generate the mature and biologically active molecule . The enzymes that catalyse these vital reactions, however, were not identified until 1984, when the yeast endoprotease, kexin or Kex2, was isolated. Kex2 excises α-MATING PHEROMONE and killer toxin from their precursors in late Golgi compartments. Because Kex2 could also correctly process mammalian proproteins, one or more of the mammalian PCs were anticipated to share structural features with the yeast enzyme. A database search identified a previously reported protein encoded by the FUR ('fes/fps upstream region') locus, an open reading frame adjacent to the fes/fps proto-oncogene, as the first mammalian Kex2 homologue. The product of this gene — furin — was soon shown to correctly process precursors for neurotrophic factors, serum proteins and pathogen molecules. PCR strategies were then used to identify the remaining six members of the PC family (Рис. 1; Табл. 1). Together, the PCs catalyse the proteolytic maturation of an enormous collection of bioactive peptides and proteins that regulate virtually every process controlling homeostasis and disease. Box 2 | Furin and bioterrorism The bioterrorism plot following the World Trade Center tragedy on 11 September 2001 attempted to inflict countless deaths by disseminating Bacillus anthracis spores through the mail system. Twenty-two people were diagnosed with anthrax that was contracted from contact with contaminated mail — five died within days of exposure. However, the affected sorting facilities processed 85 million pieces of mail after the contaminated letters were sent, reinforcing just how close we came to disaster. And anthrax is not alone in its capacity to ignite disaster. It is eerily reminiscent of the influenza pandemic that could have erupted in Hong Kong in 1997, when a renegade pathogenic avian influenza virus — able to jump directly from birds to humans — killed six of the 18 people who were clinically diagnosed as having 'bird flu' in a week. If it had not been for the attenuated infectivity of this H5N1 influenza virus, the death toll from the outbreak could have been far worse. As well as illustrating our vulnerability to deadly microbes, there is another link between these two close calls, and that link is furin, a host-cell endoprotease that activates the toxic agents of these pathogens (see text for more details). | LinksFURTHER INFORMATION |
Фурин является не только PC, которая ассоциируетс плохим прогнозом для большинства опухолей. Гомолог фурина,
Anthrax, AIDS, Ebola — what next?