Abstract

Protein carboxyl methyltransferase activity has been detected in extracts prepared from bacterial cells ( Salmonella typhimurium ), amphibian ( Xenopus laevis ) oocytes, and transformed mammalian cell lines. This activity appears to specifically recognize altered aspartyl residues based on the observation that the synthetic peptide L-Val-L-Tyr-L-Pro-L-isoAsp-Gly-L-Ala is a good methyl-accepting substrate for the methyltransferase activity, but that the corresponding peptide containing a normal L-aspartyl residue is not. These activities are similar to those of the previously described human erythrocyte and bovine brain enzymes which catalyze the formation of polypeptide D-aspartyl β-methyl esters and L-isoaspartyl α-methyl esters. The wide distribution of these enzymatic activites suggest that the methylation of atypical proteins is an essential function in cells.

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