Intracellular Proteolysis and Biological Control

蛋白水解酶在细胞控制机制中的重要作用需要对相关的蛋白水解酶进行鉴定。我们建议通过结合生化和分子生物学技术来研究二相性真菌总状毛霉中依赖于蛋白酶作用的过程。在孢子、膨大的孢子和发芽的酵母菌转化为菌丝的过程中，氨肽酶和羧基肽酶的水平都有增加。初步研究表明，一种39kodalton的蛋白水解酶(CP2)在菌丝细胞中表达，但在孢子或酵母细胞中不表达。我们建议用生化和蛋白质化学的方法来分离和研究CP2。阐明CP2的基本生物化学将为发展其生理功能假说提供基础。此外，这些研究还将为我们克隆和鉴定CP2基因奠定基础。这些研究应该会增加对蛋白酶与生物控制过程的关系的理解，并可能提供关于形态发生控制的信息。这些研究，使用真菌模型系统，对于我们理解这种有机体的生长是重要的。从长远来看，这些研究对我们理解蛋白质合成和新陈代谢以及许多生物体中的营养都有意义。蛋白质的合成、功能和转化在所有生物体中都是至关重要的，但我们对重要的生化事件及其调控知之甚少。这些研究旨在增加我们对这些重要过程的了解。

The essential role of proteases in cellular control mechanisms warrants the identification of the proteases involved. We propose to investigate processes dependent upon protease action in the dimorphic fungus Mucor racemosus by combining biochemical and molecular biological techniques. During spore, swollen spore, and budding yeast-to-hyphal conversions, increases in aminopeptidase as well as carboxypeptidase levels were observed. Preliminary studies indicate that a 39 kilodalton protease (carboxypeptidase; CP2) is expressed in hyphal cells, but not in spore or yeast cells. We propose to isolate and study CP2 by using biochemical and protein chemical methods. The elucidation of the basic biochemistry of CP2 will provide a basis for developing hypotheses about its physiological functions. In addition, these studies should lay the foundation which will lead to our cloning and characterizing the CP2 gene. These investigations should increase the understanding of the relationship of protease to biological control processes in general and could provide information about the control of morphogenesis. These studies, using a fungal model system, are important to our understanding of the growth of this organism. In the long term, these studies have implications for our understanding of protein synthesis and metabolism, and nutrition in many organisms. Protein synthesis, function and transformation is vital in all organisms, yet we know little about the important biochemical events and their regulation. These studies are aimed at increasing our understanding of these important processes.