Cell-type specific processing of neuroendocrine precursor proteins using vaccinia recombinants.

The cell-type specific processing of human pro-enkephalin was determined using a vaccinia recombinant (VV:hPE). The results show that all cell types infected with VV:hPE efficiently synthesize pro-enkephalin following cleavage of the signal peptide after Ala24. In addition, pro-enkephalin is shown to undergo N-linked glycosylation as well as other post-translational modifications. However, only one cell line. AtT-20, was able to efficiently cleave pro-enkephalin to smaller peptides including Met-enkephalin. Some results have been previously reported (Science 232, 1641-1643).