Disulfide bond assignments of secreted Frizzled-related protein-1 provide insights about Frizzled homology and netrin modules

J Biol Chem. 2002 Feb 15;277(7):5134-44. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M108533200. Epub 2001 Dec 10.

Abstract

Secreted Frizzled-related protein-1 (sFRP-1), a soluble protein that binds to Wnts and modulates Wnt signaling, contains an N-terminal domain homologous to the putative Wnt-binding site of Frizzled (Fz domain) and a C-terminal heparin-binding domain with weak homology to netrin. Both domains are cysteine-rich, having 10 and 6 cysteines in the Fz and heparin-binding domains, respectively. In this study, the disulfide linkages of recombinant sFRP-1 were determined. Numbering sFRP-1 cysteines sequentially from the N terminus, the five disulfide linkages in the Fz domain are 1-5, 2-4, 3-8, 6-10, and 7-9, consistent with the disulfide pattern determined for homologous domains of several other proteins. The disulfide linkages of the heparin-binding domain are 11-14, 12-15, and 13-16. This latter set of assignments provides experimental verification of one of the disulfide patterns proposed for netrin (NTR) modules and thereby supports the prediction that the C-terminal heparin-binding domain of sFRP-1 is an NTR-type domain. Interestingly, two subsets of sFRPs appear to have alternate disulfide linkage patterns compared with sFRP-1, one of which involves the loss of a disulfide due to deletion of a single cysteine from the NTR module, whereas the remaining cysteine may pair with a new cysteine introduced in the Fz domain of the protein. Analysis of glycosylation sites showed that sFRP-1 contains a relatively large carbohydrate moiety on Asn(172) (approximately 2.8 kDa), whereas Asn(262), the second potential N-linked glycosylation site, is not modified. No O-linked carbohydrate groups were detected. There was evidence of heterogeneous proteolytic processing at both the N and C termini of the recombinant protein. The predominant N terminus was Ser(31), although minor amounts of the protein with Asp(41) and Phe(50) as the N termini were observed. The major C-terminal processing event was removal of the terminal amino acid (Lys(313)) with only a trace amount of unprocessed protein detected.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Asparagine / chemistry
  • Binding Sites
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Cysteine / chemistry
  • Cystine / chemistry
  • Disulfides
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Frizzled Receptors
  • Glycosylation
  • Heparin / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Lysine / chemistry
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Netrin Receptors
  • Phenylalanine / chemistry
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / chemistry*
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Serine / chemistry
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
  • Subtilisin / chemistry
  • Time Factors
  • Xenopus

Substances

  • Disulfides
  • Frizzled Receptors
  • Netrin Receptors
  • Proteins
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Serine
  • Phenylalanine
  • Cystine
  • Asparagine
  • Heparin
  • Subtilisin
  • Lysine
  • Cysteine