The endothelin-converting enzyme from human umbilical vein is a membrane-bound metalloprotease similar to that from bovine aortic endothelial cells.

A phosphoramidon-sensitive, membrane-bound metalloprotease that cleaves big endothelin 1 (big-ET-1) to ET-1 was obtained from human umbilical vein endothelial cells and also from bovine aortic endothelial cells by isolation of plasma-membrane vesicles free of lysosomes. The enzyme was characterized by RIA with an antibody specific for ET-1 and also by reverse-phase HPLC. For both sources, the pH rate profile of the membrane fraction had a very sharp maximum at pH 7.0; little or no activity was seen at more acidic pH values. In contrast, the cytosolic fraction had a major peak at acidic pH values, as well as a broad peak in the neutral region. The activity at pH 7.0 in the membrane fraction was shown by reverse-phase HPLC to produce ET-1 and C-terminal fragment as products. This activity was abolished by phosphoramidon, EDTA, and 1,10-phenanthroline but was not inhibited by pepstatin A, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, soybean trypsin inhibitor, leupeptin, or E-64--consistent with the characteristics of a metalloprotease. These results suggest that this activity is from the physiologically relevant, phosphoramidon-inhibitable, endothelin-converting enzyme. The activity found at neutral pH values in the cytosolic fraction was only partially inhibited by EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline but was not inhibited by phosphoramidon. The membrane-bound endothelin-converting enzyme from human umbilical vein endothelial cells and bovine aortic endothelial cells showed marked similarities, including IC50 values for phosphoramidon of 2.7 and 1.8 microM and Km values for big-ET-1 of 45.4 and 20.9 microM, respectively. The apparent molecular mass by gel filtration was approximately 300-350 kDa for the enzyme from either source. This report characterizes human endothelin-converting enzyme, which may be an important therapeutic target for cardiovascular disease.