HUMAN SPUTUM CATHEPSIN-B DEGRADES PROTEOGLYCAN, IS INHIBITED BY ALPHA-2-MACROGLOBULIN AND IS MODULATED BY NEUTROPHIL ELASTASE CLEAVAGE OF CATHEPSIN-B PRECURSOR AND CYSTATIN-C

The high-M(r) alkali-stable form of cathepsin B was purified from purulent human sputum. It was shown to solubilize proteoglycan monomer entrapped in polyacrylamide at a rate comparable with that of human lysosomal cathepsin B. Like the enzyme from lysosomes, sputum cathepsin B was bound by human alpha-2-macroglobulin, which inhibited its action on proteoglycan. Cystatin C in purulent sputum was shown to be the N-terminally truncated form generated by neutrophil elastase cleavage, and sputum cathepsin B was only weakly inhibited by recombinant cystatin C that had been cleaved by neutrophil elastase in vitro. Addition of neutrophil elastase to mucoid sputum led to a 5-fold increase in cathepsin B activity concomitant with a lowering in M(r) of the cysteine proteinase from 40 000 to 37 000, i.e. the size of the active enzyme purified from purulent sputum. It is concluded that the high-M(r) form of cathepsin B present in purulent sputum is a functional proteinase, unlike similar forms of the enzyme secreted by mammary gland in organ culture. The activity of cathepsin B in sputum is modulated by neutrophil elastase, by a combination of inhibitor inactivation and zymogen activation.