Interaction of Cystatin C Variants with Papain and Human Cathepsins B, H and L

Abstract

Recombinant human cystatin C and two of its mutants were expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant inhibitor was found to be identical to authentic cystatin C as judged by isoelectnc focusing (pl 9.2) and kinetics of inhibition of papain and human cathepsins B, H and L. N-terminal truncation of 8 residues resulted in a decrease of isoelectric point (pl 7.8). but the inhibitory properties were similar to those of recombinant cystatin C, suggesting that Leu9 is a critical residue for the inhibition. The mutation of Trp106 to Ser, however, resulted in a decreased affinity of the inhibitor for the enzymes tested, with the largest effect on cathepsin B inhibition (∼ 100-fold increase in K_i).

Key Words:

• Cathepsins B, H, L
• Human cystatin C
• Inhibition
• Papain
• W106S and L9-cystatin C mutants