Limited proteolysis of yeast phosphofructokinase

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Abstract
Purified phosphofructokinase 1 from baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was subjected to proteolysis by thermolysin, endoproteinase lys-C, trypsin and chymotrypsin under defined solvent conditions. In the absence of substrates and allosteric effectors, the catalytic activity of phosphofructokinase rapidly disappeared in the presence of each proteolytic enzyme. The presence of a saturating concentration of ATP protected phosphofructokinase activity from proteolytic inactivation while the collective presence of fructose 6-phosphate, AMP and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate provided transient activation during proteolysis. Changes in the quaternary structure of phosphofructokinase resulting from proteolysis were estimated by high performance size exclusion chromatography while changes in the primary sequence of the individual α and β polypeptide chains were estimated by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecylsulfate. The site(s) of proteolytic cleavage were identified by N-terminal sequence analysis of resolved electrophoretic components. The presence of ATP protects phosphofructokinase from thermolysin proteolysis, while the collective presence of fructose 6-phosphate, AMP and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate restricts proteolysis to one site in each polypeptide chain involving the peptide bonds preceding Leu199 in the α chain and Leu192 in the β chain. The truncated phosphofructokinase retains its octameric structure. The presence of ATP largely restricts endoproteinase lys-C proteolysis to a single site in the α chain involving the peptide bond preceding Val914. This cleavage results in the dissociation of the octameric form of phosphofructokinase into two tetramers. The presence of ATP restricts both trypsin and chymotrypsin proteolysis to the N-terminal and C-terminal regions described above, resulting in the preferential stabilization of the tetrameric form of phosphofructokinase. It would appear that the first 200 and last 80 residues which are unique to the sequence of the yeast phosphosphofructokinase are not directly involved in catalysis or its allosteric regulation. However, the last 80 residues of the α polypeptide chain do appear to stabilize an octameric structure which is unique to yeast phosphofructokinase.