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. 2007 Dec 11;581(29):5635-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.11.009. Epub 2007 Nov 20.

Metacaspase 2 of Trypanosoma brucei is a calcium-dependent cysteine peptidase active without processing

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Metacaspase 2 of Trypanosoma brucei is a calcium-dependent cysteine peptidase active without processing

Catherine X Moss et al. FEBS Lett. .
Free article

Abstract

Metacaspases are cysteine peptidases that are distantly related to the caspases, for which proteolytic processing is central to their activation. Here, we show that recombinant metacaspase 2 (MCA2) from Trypanosoma brucei has arginine/lysine-specific, Ca(2+)-dependent proteolytic activity. Autocatalytic processing of MCA2 occurred after Lys55 and Lys268; however, this was shown not to be required for the enzyme to be proteolytically active. The necessity of Ca(2+), but not processing, for MCA2 enzymatic activity clearly distinguishes MCA2 from the caspases and would be consistent with different physiological roles.

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