The in vitro synthesis and processing of the branched-chain amino acid binding proteins

The synthesis of the leucine-specific and LIV-binding proteins was examined in vitro in a coupled transcription/translation system using the hybrid plasmids pOX7 and pOX13 as templates. Plasmid pOX7 contains the livK gene coding for the leucine-specific binding protein and pOX13 contains the livJ gene coding for the LIV-binding protein. Both binding proteins were synthesized in vitro as precursor forms with molecular weights approximately 2,500 greater than their respective mature forms. Conversion of the precursor forms to their mature forms occurred during post-translational incubation following synthesis in the presence of membrane. The precursor of the LIV-binding protein was processed more rapidly than the leucine-specific binding protein precursor. Processing activity could be removed from the in vitro synthesis system by centrifugation, suggesting that the processing activity was membrane associated. Restoration of post-translational processing activity was achieved by adding inside-out membrane vesicles to membrane-depleted reaction mixtures.