Glutamate carboxypeptidase II

Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), also known as N-acetyl-L-aspartyl-L-glutamate peptidase I (NAALADase I), NAAG peptidase, or prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the FOLH1 (folate hydrolase 1) gene. Human GCPII contains 750 amino acids and weighs approximately 84 kDa.

GCPII is a zinc metalloenzyme that resides in membranes. Most of the enzyme resides in the extracellular space. GCPII is a class II membrane glycoprotein. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) to glutamate and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) according to the reaction scheme to the right.

Neuroscientists primarily use the term NAALADase in their studies, while those studying folate metabolism use folate hydrolase, and those studying prostate cancer or oncology, PSMA. All of which refer to the same protein glutamate carboxypeptidase II.

Discovery

GCPII is expressed in many tissues, including the prostate, kidney, the small intestine, and the central and peripheral nervous system.

Proteasome (prosome, macropain) subunit, alpha 1

Proteasome subunit alpha type-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PSMA1 gene. This protein is one of the 17 essential subunits (alpha subunits 1-7, constitutive beta subunits 1-7, and inducible subunits including beta1i, beta2i, and beta5i) that contributes to the complete assembly of 20S proteasome complex.

Structure

Protein expression

Th gene PSMA1 encodes a member of the peptidase T1A family, that is a 20S core alpha subunit. In a study of mouse gene PSMA1 which share 98% homology with human gene, the gene was isolated and cloned, and then identified as C2 subunit of the 20S proteasome (old nomenclature). The gene has 10 exons that are distributed over a 12kb region on mouse chromosome 7. The same study showed that mouse genes Psma1 and Pde3b are closely linked, residing between cM 53 and 53.3 in a region syntenic to human chromosome 11p15. The human protein proteasome subunit alpha type-1 is also known as 20S proteasome subunit alpha-6 (based on systematic nomenclature). The protein is 30 kDa in size and composed of 263 amino acids. The calculated theoretical pI of this protein is 6.15.

PSMA6

Proteasome subunit alpha type-6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PSMA6 gene. This protein is one of the 17 essential subunits (alpha subunits 1-7, constitutive beta subunits 1-7, and inducible subunits including beta1i, beta2i, beta5i) that contributes to the complete assembly of 20S proteasome complex.

Structure

Protein expression

The gene PMSA6 encodes a member of the peptidase T1A family, that is a 20S core alpha subunit. A pseudogene has been identified on the Y chromosome. The gene has 8 exons and locates at chromosome band 14q13. The human protein proteasome subunit alpha type-6 is also known as 20S proteasome subunit alpha-1 (based on systematic nomenclature). The protein is 27 kDa in size and composed of 246 amino acids. The calculated theoretical pI (isoelectric point) of this protein is 6.35.

Complex assembly

The proteasome is a multicatalytic proteinase complex with a highly ordered 20S core structure. This barrel-shaped core structure is composed of 4 axially stacked rings of 28 non-identical subunits: the two end rings are each formed by 7 alpha subunits, and the two central rings are each formed by 7 beta subunits. Three beta subunits (beta1, beta2, and beta5) each contains a proteolytic active site and has distinct substrate preferences. Proteasomes are distributed throughout eukaryotic cells at a high concentration and cleave peptides in an ATP/ubiquitin-dependent process in a non-lysosomal pathway.