Native and oxidized alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1-PI) were compared as substrates for the metalloproteinase macrophage elastase. At substrate concentrations at which native alpha 1-PI was readily degraded by macrophage elastase, oxidized alpha 1-PI was hardly degraded at all. Incubation of macrophage elastase with oxidized alpha 1-PI before the addition of native alpha 1-PI showed that oxidized alpha 1-PI was not an inhibitor of macrophage elastase. Competition experiments with up to twofold excess oxidized alpha 1-PI did not interfere with the degradation of native alpha 1-PI by macrophage elastase. Sequence analysis of amino acids in degraded native alpha 1-PI showed that macrophage elastase attacked a single peptide bond between Pro-357 and Met-358, the latter representing the P1 reactive-site residue of alpha 1-PI. In oxidized alpha 1-PI, Met-358 was converted to methionine sulfoxide and macrophage elastase hydrolyzed the bond between Phe-352 and Leu-353. These data suggest that methionine may be the primary cleavage site for macrophage elastase and not leucine, as previously thought.
M J Banda, E J Clark, S Sinha, J Travis
The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.