Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Iijima, R.
Right arrow Articles by Natori, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Iijima, R.
Right arrow Articles by Natori, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

J. Biochem, 2003, Vol. 134, No. 3 467-471
© 2003 Japanese Biochemical Society

CELL

Participation of Proteasomes in Xenopus Embryogenesis

Ryoko Iijima1,2, Koichi J. Homma1 and Shunji Natori*,2

1 Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033; and 2 The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198

We examined the effects of various protease substrates on Xenopus laevis embryogenesis. Thirty-three peptidyl-MCA substrates were added to the culture medium in which Xenopus embryos were developing. Five of the 33 substrates were found to inhibit embryogenesis at the early gastrula stage or much earlier ones. These results suggest that proteases that hydrolyze these substrates are involved in embryonic development. We found that the developmental stage of embryos is crucial for these substrates to inhibit their development. We purified a protease that hydrolyzes Pyr-Arg-Thr-Lys-Arg-MCA, a substrate that inhibits embryogenesis, from Xenopus embryos. This protease turned out to be a component of proteasomes. We found that 4 of the 5 substrates that inhibit embryogenesis are among the proteasome substrates. Thus, we concluded that proteasomes play a crucial role in the development of Xenopus embryos. Possibly, various catalytic subunits in proteasomes function independently, in stage-specific manners.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81-48-467-9437, Fax: +81-48-462-4693


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.