Structural principles of intramembrane proteases

Structural basis for intramembrane proteolysis by rhomboid serine proteases.

Intramembrane proteases catalyze peptide bond cleavage of integral membrane protein substrates. This activity is crucial for many biological and pathological processes. Rhomboids are evolutionarily widespread intramembrane serine proteases. Here, we present the 2.3-A-resolution crystal structure of a rhomboid from Escherichia coli. The enzyme has six transmembrane helices, five of which surroun...

Intriguing parasites and intramembrane proteases.

Rhomboid intramembrane proteases occur throughout the kingdoms of life. In this issue of Genes & Development, Baxt and colleagues (pp. 1636-1646) report that the single proteolytic rhomboid (EhROM1) from Entamoeba histolytica cleaves cell surface galactose-binding or N-acetylgalactosamine-binding (Gal/Gal-NAc) lectins. EhROM1 and lectins colocalize during phagocytosis and receptor capping. EhRO...

Sheddases and intramembrane-cleaving proteases: RIPpers of the membrane. Symposium on regulated intramembrane proteolysis.

Intramembrane cleaving proteases (I-CLiPs) as guardians of shuttling proteins

The concept of proteases cleaving their substrates within the hydrophobic core of their transmembrane domains is very well established. in the past 15 years, various intramembrane cleaving proteases (i-CliPs) and their respective substrates have been identified.1 Besides the involvement in specific signaling pathways, for instance regulation of cholesterol metabolism or Notch signaling,1 a prot...

The roles of intramembrane proteases in protozoan parasites.

Intramembrane proteolysis is widely conserved throughout different forms of life, with three major types of proteases being known for their ability to cleave peptide bonds directly within the transmembrane domains of their substrates. Although intramembrane proteases have been extensively studied in humans and model organisms, they have only more recently been investigated in protozoan parasite...