Meta-Biol

• Pathways

Glycosylphosphatidyl inositol (GPI) acts as a membrane anchor for many cell surface proteins. GPI is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum. In humans, a single pathway consisting of nine reactions appears to be responsible for the synthesis of the major GPI species involved in membrane protein anchoring. This pathway is shown in the figure. Two additional reactions, not shown, allow the synthesis of variant forms of GPI, one with an additional mannose residue and one with an additional ethanolamine (Tauron et al. 2004; Shishioh et al. 2005). These variant GPI molecules may be used for tissue-specific protein modifications, or may function independently.

The steps of GPI synthesis were first identified by isolating large numbers of mutant cell lines that had lost the ability to express GPI anchored proteins on their surfaces. Somatic cell hybrid analyses of these lines allowed the definition of complementation groups corresponding to distinct mutated genes, and cDNAs corresponding to normal forms of these genes were identified on the basis of their abilities to restore normal cell surface protein expression in mutant cells. Co-precipitation experiments with tagged cloned proteins have allowed the identification of additional proteins involved in GPI anchor biosynthesis.

After translation, many newly formed proteins undergo further covalent modifications that alter their functional properties. Modifications associated with protein localization include the attachment of oligosaccharide moieties to membrane-bound and secreted proteins (N-linked and O-linked glycosylation), the attachment of lipid (RAB geranylgeranylation) or glycolipid moieties (GPI-anchored proteins) that anchor proteins to cellular membranes, and the vitamin K-dependent attachment of carboxyl groups to glutamate residues. Modifications associated with functions of specific proteins include gamma carboxylation of clotting factors, hypusine formation on eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A, conversion of a cysteine residue to formylglycine (arylsulfatase activation), methylation of lysine and arginine residues on non-histone proteins (protein methylation), protein phosphorylation by secretory pathway kinases, and carboxyterminal modifications of tubulin involving the addition of polyglutamate chains.

Protein ubiquitination and deubiquitination play a major role in regulating protein stability and, together with SUMOylation and neddylation, can modulate protein function as well.

Metabolism of proteins, as annotated here, covers the full life cycle of a protein from its synthesis to its posttranslational modification and degradation, at various levels of specificity. Protein synthesis is accomplished through the process of Translation of an mRNA sequence into a polypeptide chain. Protein folding is achieved through the function of molecular chaperones which recognize and associate with proteins in their non-native state and facilitate their folding by stabilizing the conformation of productive folding intermediates (Young et al. 2004). Following translation, many newly formed proteins undergo Post-translational protein modification, essentially irreversible covalent modifications critical for their mature locations and functions (Knorre et al. 2009), including gamma carboxylation, synthesis of GPI-anchored proteins, asparagine N-linked glycosylation, O-glycosylation, SUMOylation, ubiquitination, deubiquitination, RAB geranylgeranylation, methylation, carboxyterminal post-translational modifications, neddylation, and phosphorylation. Peptide hormones are synthesized as parts of larger precursor proteins whose cleavage in the secretory system (endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, secretory granules) is annotated in Peptide hormone metabolism. After secretion, peptide hormones are modified and degraded by extracellular proteases (Chertow, 1981 PMID:6117463). Protein repair enables the reversal of damage to some amino acid side chains caused by reactive oxygen species. Pulmonary surfactants are lipids and proteins that are secreted by the alveolar cells of the lung that decrease surface tension at the air/liquid interface within the alveoli to maintain the stability of pulmonary tissue (Agassandian and Mallampalli 2013). Nuclear regulation, transport, metabolism, reutilization, and degradation of surfactant are described in the Surfactant metabolism pathway. Amyloid fiber formation, the accumulation of mostly extracellular deposits of fibrillar proteins, is associated with tissue damage observed in numerous diseases including late phase heart failure (cardiomyopathy) and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's.