Processing of ADP-ribosylated integrin alpha 7 in skeletal muscle myotubes

Integrin alpha 7 is a major substrate in skeletal muscle cells for the cell surface, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored, arginine-specific ADP-ribosyltransferase. Since ADP-ribosylarginine hydrolase, the enzyme responsible for cleavage of the ADP-ribosylarginine bond and a component with the transferase of a putative ADP-ribosylation cycle, is cytosolic, the processing of ADP-ribosylated integrin alpha 7 was investigated. Following incubation of differentiated mouse C2C12 myoblasts with [adenylate-32P]NAD and analysis by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions, two [32P]ADP-ribosylated forms of integrin alpha 7 were resolved. By pulse-chase and purification of the radiolabeled proteins on a laminin affinity column, it was demonstrated that a 105-kDa ADP-ribosylated form originated from a mono-ADP-ribosylated 102-kDa form and represented integrin alpha 7 modified at more than one site. The additional site(s) of modification, utilized at higher NAD concentrations, were located in the 63-kDa N-terminal segment of integrin alpha 7. Both [32P]ADP-ribosylated integrins were loosely associated with the cytoskeleton, bound to laminin affinity columns, and immunoprecipitated with antibodies to integrin beta 1. 32P label was rapidly removed from [32P]ADP-ribosylated integrin alpha 7 at either site of modification, a process inhibited by free ADP-ribose or p-nitrophenylthymidine-5'-monophosphate, an alternative substrate of 5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase. The processed integrin alpha 7 was unavailable for subsequent ADP-ribosylation, although the amount of surface integrin alpha 7 remained constant. During the processing, no loss of label was observed from integrin alpha 7 radiolabeled with [14C]NAD, containing 14C in the nicotinamide proximal ribose, consistent with degradation of the ADP-ribose moiety by a cell surface 5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase. Thus, cell surface ADP-ribosylation, in contrast to intracellular ADP-ribosylation, is not readily reversed by ADP-ribosylarginine hydrolase and seems to operate outside the postulated ADP-ribosylation cycle.