Lancelets are considered to take a key position in the evolution of lineages leading to vertebrates. Herein, a serpin from the lancelet Branchiostoma lanceolatum, Bl-Spn1, was identified that inhibits the PCs (proprotein convertases) PC1/3 and furin. The inhibitor forms SDS-stable complexes with either of its targets. Analysis of the inhibitor/furin reaction products by mass spectroscopy assigns the enzyme's cleavage position C-terminally to Met-Met-Lys-Arg downward arrow in the reactive site loop of Spn1, in concordance with the classical recognition/cleavage site of the principal vertebrate PCs. The inhibitor is equipped with a canonical ER (endoplasmic reticulum) retrieval signal, Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu (KDEL), marking the inhibitor as a guardian of the cellular secretory routes. Deletion of the ER retrieval signal results in the export of the inhibitor into the medium of transfected COS-7 cells, consistent with the assigned intracellular location. These results identify Bl-Spn1 as the first serpin that may inhibit PC1/3-like subtilases at their natural sites of action. Phylogenetic comparisons support a concept implying a general role for ER-residing serpins in the surveillance of subtilase-like enzymes along the constitutive and regulated secretory pathways of metazoans including a role in the defence of intruders that turn PCs to their propagation.

The serpin gene Spn4 from Drosophila melanogaster encodes multiple isoforms with alternative reactive site loops (RSL). Here, we show that isoform Spn4A inhibits human furin with an apparent kassoc of 5.5 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1). The serpin forms SDS-stable complexes with the enzyme and the RSL of Spn4A is cleaved C-terminally to the sequence -Arg-Arg-Lys-Arg/ in accord with the recognition/cleavage site of furin. Immunofluorescence studies show that Spn4A is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), suggesting that the inhibitor is an interesting tool for investigating the cellular mechanisms regulating furin and for the design of agents controlling prohormone convertases.

In the phototrophic non-sulfur bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, the biosynthesis of the conventional Mo-nitrogenase is strictly Mo-regulated. Significant amounts of both dinitrogenase and dinitrogenase reductase were only formed when the growth medium was supplemented with molybdate (1 microM). During cell growth under Mo-deficient conditions, tungstate, at high concentrations (1 mM), was capable of partially (approximately 25%) substituting for molybdate in the induction of nitrogenase synthesis. On the basis of such conditions, a tungsten-substituted nitrogenase was isolated from R. capsulatus with the aid of anfA (Fe-only nitrogenase defective) mutant cells and partially purified by Q-sepharose chromatography. Metal analyses revealed the protein to contain an average of 1 W-, 16 Fe-, and less than 0.01 Mo atoms per alpha(2)beta(2)-tetramer. The tungsten-substituted (WFe) protein was inactive in reducing N(2) and marginally active in acetylene reduction, but it was found to show considerable activity with respect to the generation of H(2) from protons. The EPR spectrum of the WFe protein, recorded at 4 K, exhibited three distinct signals: (i) an S = 3/2 signal, which dominates the low-field region of the spectrum (g = 4.19, 3.93) and is indicative of a tungsten-substituted cofactor (termed FeWco), (ii) a marginal S = 3/2 signal (g = 4.29, 3.67) that can be attributed to residual amounts of FeMoco present in the protein, and (iii) a broad S = 1/2 signal (g = 2.09, 1.95, 1.86) arising from at least two paramagnetic species. Redox titrational analysis of the WFe protein revealed the midpoint potential of the FeWco (E(m) < -200 mV) to be shifted to distinctly lower potentials as compared to that of the FeMoco (E(m) approximately -50 mV) present in the native enzyme. The P clusters of both the WFe and the MoFe protein appear indistinguishable with respect to their midpoint potentials. EPR spectra recorded with the WFe protein under turnover conditions exhibited a 20% decrease in the intensity of the FeWco signal, indicating that the cofactor can be enzymatically reduced only to a small extent. The data presented in the current study demonstrate the pivotal role of molybdenum in optimal N(2) fixation and provides direct evidence that the inability of a tungsten-substituted nitrogenase to reduce N(2) is due to the difficulty to effectively reduce the FeW cofactor beyond its semi-reduced state.