N-terminal proteolytic processing by cathepsin G converts RANTES/CCL5 and related analogs into a truncated 4-68 variant.

N-terminal proteolytic processing modulates the biological activity and receptor specificity of RANTES/CCL5. Previously, we showed that an unidentified protease associated with monocytes and neutrophils digests RANTES into a variant lacking three N-terminal residues (4-68 RANTES). This variant binds CCR5 but exhibits lower chemotactic and antiviral activities than unprocessed RANTES. In this study, we characterize cathepsin G as the enzyme responsible for this processing. Cell-mediated production of the 4-68 variant was abrogated by Eglin C, a leukocyte elastase and cathepsin G inhibitor, but not by the elastase inhibitor elastatinal. Further, anti-cathepsin G antibodies abrogated RANTES digestion in neutrophil cultures. In accordance, reagent cathepsin G specifically digested recombinant RANTES into the 4-68 variant. AOP-RANTES and Met-RANTES were also converted into the 4-68 variant upon exposure to cathepsin G or neutrophils, while PSC-RANTES was resistant to such cleavage. Similarly, macaque cervicovaginal lavage samples digested Met-RANTES and AOP-RANTES, but not PSC-RANTES, into the 4-68 variant and this processing was also inhibited by anti-cathepsin G antibodies. These findings suggest that cathepsin G mediates a novel pathway for regulating RANTES activity and may be relevant to the role of RANTES and its analogs in preventing HIV infection.