P35

This viral protein functions to block the host apoptotic response caused by infection by the virus. The apoptosis preventing protein (or early 35kD protein, P35) acts by blocking caspase protease activity.

Peptide proteinase inhibitors can be found as single domain proteins or as single or multiple domains within proteins; these are referred to as either simple or compound inhibitors, respectively. In many cases they are synthesised as part of a larger precursor protein, either as a prepropeptide or as an N-terminal domain associated with an inactive peptidase or zymogen. Removal of the N-terminal inhibitor domain either by interaction with a second peptidase or by autocatalytic cleavage activates the zymogen.

The anti-apoptotic protein p35 from baculovirus is thought to prevent the suicidal response of infected insect cells by inhibiting caspases. Ectopic expression of p35 in a number of transgenic animals or cell lines is also anti-apoptotic, giving rise to the hypothesis that the protein is a general inhibitor of caspases.

Purified recombinant p35 inhibits human caspase-1, -3, -6, -7, -8, and -10 with k_ass values from 1.2 _ 103 to 7 _ 105 (M-1 s-1), and with upper limits of Ki values from 0.1 to 9 nM. Inhibition of 12 unrelated serine or cysteine proteases was insignificant, implying that p35 is a potent caspase-specific inhibitor, which belongs to MEROPS proteinase inhibitor family I50, clan IQ. The interaction of p35 with caspase-3, as a model of the inhibitory mechanism,revealed classic slow-binding inhibition, with both active-sites of the caspase-3 dimer acting equally and independently. Inhibition resulted from complex formation between the enzyme and inhibitor, which could be visualised under non-denaturing conditions, but was dissociated by SDS to give p35 cleaved at Asp87, the P1 residue of the inhibitor. Complex formation requires the substrate-binding cleft to be unoccupied PUBMED:9692966.

Infecting the insect cell line IPLB-Ld652Y with the baculovirus Autographa californica multinucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) results in global translation arrest, which correlates with the presence of the AcMNPV apoptotic suppressor, p35. However, the anti-apoptotic function of p35 in translation arrest is not solely due to caspase inactivation, but its activity enhances signalling to a separate translation arrest pathway, possibly by stimulating the late stages of the baculovirus infection cycle PUBMED:14980489.

Alignment

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Species distribution