Rabbit alpha-1-antiproteinase E: a novel recombinant serpin which does not inhibit proteinases

A cDNA coding for the E isoform of alpha-1-antiproteinase (also called alpha-1-antitrypsin or alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor) was isolated by oligonucleotide hybridization following immunochemical screening of the rabbit liver cDNA library. The deduced amino acid sequence of the E isoform showed 96.4% identity in 413 residues of the F and S-1 isoforms of rabbit alpha-1-antiproteinase. The N-terminal half of the amino acid residues of the three isoforms was almost identical, but the putative reactive-site loop structure (P8-P'8) was significantly different in the various forms, the P1 site of the E form being glutamic acid. Interaction of the recombinant E form with the various proteinases was investigated by SDS/PAGE, followed by immunoblot analysis. The recombinant protein and trypsin formed a 62 kDa equimolar complex, which gradually became graded to the 37 kDa fragment through several intermediates. The E form also formed a complex of a similar size with elastase and became degraded to the 31 kDa fragment. Several proteinases which cleaved the E form without forming a detectable complex on SDS/PAGE are chymotrypsin, protease V8, pancreas kallikrein, thermolysin, papain and ficin. Other proteinases, with a stringent substrate specificity, such as thrombin, factor Xa, plasmin, plasma kallikrein and cathepsin G, did not attack the E form. Unlike the F and S-1 forms of rabbit plasma alpha-1-antiproteinase, the recombinant E form did not inhibit the amidolytic and proteolytic activities of trypsin. Neither elastase nor protease V8 was inhibited by the E form. Thus the change in the amino acid residues in the reactive-site loop, probably in the P1 site, is responsible for the loss of inhibitory activity of rabbit alpha-1-antiproteinase E. The novel character of the E form could provide a new insight into the interaction of serpin and proteinases.