Processing protease for gp160 human immunodeficiency virus type I envelope glycoprotein precursor in human T4+ lymphocytes. Purification and characterization.

A processing protease for the human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-I) envelope glycoprotein gp160 precursor has been purified to homogeneity from the post-nuclear membrane fraction of a human T4+ lymphocyte clone. Most of the processing activity was found to be present in the fractions of endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus of the cells. The purified enzyme has a monomeric structure with a molecular mass of 26 +/- 3 kDa, as judged by gel-permeation liquid chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing and nonreducing conditions. The purified enzyme converted gp160 to gp120 and gp41, showing a pH optimum of 6.5-7.0. Direct amino acid sequencing of the amino terminus of the product gp41 revealed that the cleavage site of gp160 was between Arg511 and Ala512. The enzyme activity was inhibited by trypsin-type protease inhibitors, but was not affected by CaCl2, MgCl2 or chelating agents. The properties of the purified enzyme are clearly distinct from those of processing proteases reported previously. Although the significance of the enzyme in vivo is not currently certain, judging from its cleavage specificity and subcellular localization, this endopeptidase appears to be a processing enzyme for the human immunodeficiency virus type I gp160 precursor protein in human T cells.