A Sequence within the First Transmembrane Domain of PEN-2 Is Critical for PEN-2-mediated Endoproteolysis of Presenilin 1

Seong-Hun Kim,Sangram S Sisodia

doi:10.1074/jbc.m412404200

Abstract

Macromolecular complexes containing presenilins (PS), nicastrin (NCT), APH-1, and PEN-2 mediate the gamma-secretase cleavage of the beta-amyloid precursor protein and Notch. APH-1 and NCT stabilize the PS1 holoprotein, whereas PEN-2 is critical for endoproteolysis of PS1. To define the structural domains of PEN-2 that are necessary for mediating PS1 endoproteolysis and gamma-secretase activity, we coexpressed APH-1, NCT, and PS1 together with a series of PEN-2 mutants, which harbored deletions in hydrophilic segments, or chimeric PEN-2 molecules that contained heterologous transmembrane domains (TMDs). We now report that with the exception of the PEN-2 variants with deletions proximal to the TMDs, the vast majority of the deletion variants were functional. Mutants that were nonfunctional were also unstable but were rescued by transposition of a heterologous sequence containing conservative amino acid substitutions into the deleted region. Notably, the carboxyl-terminal hydrophilic domain of PEN-2 was dispensable for promoting PS1 endoproteolysis but was critical for stabilizing the resulting PS1 derivatives. More importantly, we demonstrated that a chimeric PEN-2 with a replacement of the TMD2 with the TMD1 from sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) is fully functional but that a chimeric PEN-2 with a replacement of the TMD1 with the TMD2 from SREBP-1 is not. The function of this latter chimera was rescued by the replacement of the proximal two-thirds of the SREBP-1 TMD2 with the proximal two-thirds of the authentic TMD1 from PEN-2. These results suggest that the proximal two-thirds of the PEN-2 TMD1 is functionally important for endoproteolysis of PS1 holoproteins and the generation of PS1 fragments, essential components of the gamma-secretase complex.

Highlights

We previously demonstrated that coexpression of PS1, APH-1, and NCT increases the level of stabilized full-length PS1, but the proteolytic conversion of the stabilized PS1 holoprotein into NTF and CTF only occurs by additional expression of PEN-2 (6)
Functional Effects of PEN-2 Deletion Variants on PS1 Endoproteolysis and APP intracellular domain (AICD) Production—We previously demonstrated that stable coexpression of PS1, APH-1, and NCT leads to increased steady-state levels of full-length PS1 and that the endoproteolytic conversion of the stabilized PS1 holoprotein into NTF and CTF is dependent upon added expression of PEN-2 (6)
Consistent with our previous results (6), coexpression of PS1, APH-1, and NCT led to elevated levels of the PS1 holoprotein (Fig. 1C, lane 1), and additional expression of WT PEN-2 promoted the conversion of the PS1 holoprotein into PS1 fragments (Fig. 1C, lane 2)

Summary

Introduction

We tested the function of a series of PEN-2 variants that either have deletions in hydrophilic domains or contain a heterologous TMD by coexpressing these molecules with APH-1, NCT, and PS1 and examining their effects on (1) the endoproteolysis of PS1 and (2) the ␥-secretase-mediated generation of the AICD.

Results

Conclusion