Abstract
Cathepsin E is an aspartic endosomal proteinase, expressed at high levels in some epithelial and haemopoetic cells. The enzyme has been implicated in a variety of functions, including antigen processing. This study documents strain-specific variation in expression of cathepsin E in mice. The levels of cathepsin E protein and message are profoundly decreased in haemopoetic cells from C57BL/6J mice, compared to levels in 129S2/Sv or Balb/c. The deficiency is cell-type-specific, as protein levels in gut are not affected. Deficiency affects B cell, T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. The low cathepsin E phenotype cosegregates with the C57BL/6J genotype in a panel of C57BL/6J × 129S2/Sv F2 mice. Analysis of the promoter region of cathepsin E reveals a polymorphism which destroys a previously described functional PU.1 transcription binding consensus sequence in the C57BL/6J genome. Antigen processing of ovalbumin by dendritic cells, which has previously been shown to require cathepsin E, is impaired in C57BL/6J-derived dendritic cells. C57BL/6J mice thus exhibit a profound tissue-specific deficiency in cathepsin E expression, which may have important implications for the immune phenotype of this mouse strain.
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Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the BBSRC. The MF2 hybridoma was kindly provided by Dr. Kenneth Rock, University of Massachusetts Medical School.
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Tulone, C., Tsang, J., Prokopowicz, Z. et al. Natural cathepsin E deficiency in the immune system of C57BL/6J mice. Immunogenetics 59, 927–935 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-007-0256-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-007-0256-0