| Structural highlights
Function
LEF_BACAN One of the three proteins composing the anthrax toxin, the agent which infects many mammalian species and that may cause death. LF is the lethal factor that, when associated with PA, causes death. LF is not toxic by itself. It is a protease that cleaves the N-terminal of most dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (MAPKKs or MAP2Ks) (except for MAP2K5). Cleavage invariably occurs within the N-terminal proline-rich region preceding the kinase domain, thus disrupting a sequence involved in directing specific protein-protein interactions necessary for the assembly of signaling complexes. There may be other cytosolic targets of LF involved in cytotoxicity. The proteasome may mediate a toxic process initiated by LF in the cell cytosol involving degradation of unidentified molecules that are essential for macrophage homeostasis. This is an early step in LeTx intoxication, but it is downstream of the cleavage by LF of MEK1 or other putative substrates.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Recent events have created an urgent need for new therapeutic strategies to treat anthrax. We have applied a mixture-based peptide library approach to rapidly determine the optimal peptide substrate for the anthrax lethal factor (LF), a metalloproteinase with an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Using this approach we have identified peptide analogs that inhibit the enzyme in vitro and that protect cultured macrophages from LF-mediated cytolysis. The crystal structures of LF bound to an optimized peptide substrate and to peptide-based inhibitors provide a rationale for the observed selectivity and may be exploited in the design of future generations of LF inhibitors.
The structural basis for substrate and inhibitor selectivity of the anthrax lethal factor.,Turk BE, Wong TY, Schwarzenbacher R, Jarrell ET, Leppla SH, Collier RJ, Liddington RC, Cantley LC Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2004 Jan;11(1):60-6. Epub 2003 Dec 29. PMID:14718924[6]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Duesbery NS, Webb CP, Leppla SH, Gordon VM, Klimpel KR, Copeland TD, Ahn NG, Oskarsson MK, Fukasawa K, Paull KD, Vande Woude GF. Proteolytic inactivation of MAP-kinase-kinase by anthrax lethal factor. Science. 1998 May 1;280(5364):734-7. PMID:9563949
- ↑ Vitale G, Pellizzari R, Recchi C, Napolitani G, Mock M, Montecucco C. Anthrax lethal factor cleaves the N-terminus of MAPKKs and induces tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation of MAPKs in cultured macrophages. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1998 Jul 30;248(3):706-11. PMID:9703991 doi:http://dx.doi.org/S0006-291X(98)99040-4
- ↑ Duesbery NS, Vande Woude GF. Anthrax lethal factor causes proteolytic inactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. J Appl Microbiol. 1999 Aug;87(2):289-93. PMID:10475971
- ↑ Vitale G, Bernardi L, Napolitani G, Mock M, Montecucco C. Susceptibility of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase family members to proteolysis by anthrax lethal factor. Biochem J. 2000 Dec 15;352 Pt 3:739-45. PMID:11104681
- ↑ Tang G, Leppla SH. Proteasome activity is required for anthrax lethal toxin to kill macrophages. Infect Immun. 1999 Jun;67(6):3055-60. PMID:10338520
- ↑ Turk BE, Wong TY, Schwarzenbacher R, Jarrell ET, Leppla SH, Collier RJ, Liddington RC, Cantley LC. The structural basis for substrate and inhibitor selectivity of the anthrax lethal factor. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2004 Jan;11(1):60-6. Epub 2003 Dec 29. PMID:14718924 doi:10.1038/nsmb708
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