Kinetic studies of the branched chain amino acid preferring peptidase activity of the 20S proteasome: development of a continuous assay and inhibition by tripeptide aldehydes and clasto-lactacystin beta-lactone.

We have developed an assay to continuously monitor the branched amino acid preferring peptidase (BrAAP) activity of the proteasome. This assay is based on the hydrolysis of the fluorogenic peptide, Abz-Gly-Pro-Ala-Leu-Ala-Nba (Abz is 2-aminobenzoyl and Nba is 4-nitrobenzylamide) which is cleaved exclusively at the Leu-Ala bond by the 20S proteasome with a kc/Km value of 13 000 M-1 s-1. Hydrolysis of this peptide is accompanied by an increase in fluorescence intensity (lambda ex = 340 nm, lambda em = 415 nm) due to release of the internally quenched 2-aminobenzoyl fluorescence that accompanies diffusion apart of the hydrolysis products, Abz-Gly-Pro-Ala-Leu and Ala-Nba. Using this assay, we examined inhibition of the BrAAP activity of the proteasome by a series of tripeptide aldehydes, Z-Leu-Leu-Xaa-H. When Xaa = Phe, (p-Cl)Phe, and Trp we observe biphasic or partial inhibition of the BrAAP activity. In contrast, when Xaa = Nva and Leu, simple inhibition kinetics are observed and allow us to calculate Ki values of 120 nM and 12 nM, respectively. The inhibitors that exhibit simple inhibition kinetics for BrAAP activity are also approximately equipotent for inhibition of the chymotrypsin-like (ChT-L) and peptidyl-glutamyl peptide hydrolyzing (PGPH) activities, dissociation constants varying by less than 25-fold, whereas the inhibitors that exhibit biphasic inhibition kinetics for BrAAP activity are >300-fold more potent for inhibiting ChT-L activity than for PGPH activity. Inactivation of the BrAAP activity of the proteasome by clasto-lactacystin beta-lactone is also biphasic. beta-Lactone inactivates approximately 60% of the BrAAP activity rapidly, with kinetics indistinguishable from its inactivation of the chymotrypsin-like activity. The remaining 40% of the BrAAP activity is inactivated by beta-lactone at a 50-fold slower rate, with kinetics indistinguishable from its inactivation of the PGPH activity. These results suggest a mechanism in which hydrolysis of Abz-Gly-Pro-Ala-Leu-Ala-Nba (i.e., BrAAP activity) occurs at two different active sites in the 20S proteasome, and that these two active sites are the same ones that catalyze the previously described ChT-L and PGPH activities.