Original article

α²-Plasmin Inhibitor is a Substrate for Tissue Transglutaminase: An in Vitro Study

Musculoskeletal injuries and degenerative conditions constitute a bottleneck to the healthcare system. Tissue grafts and scaffolds based on extracellular matrix molecules have received much attention since they closely imitate the structural, biochemical, biophysical and biological properties of the tissue to be replaced. This review summarises the most abundant extracellular matrix components that are used in tissue engineering applications for bone, intervertebral disc, cartilage and tendon.

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is secreted by a non-classical pathway into the extracellular space, where it has several activities pertinent to fibronectin (FN), including binding to the gelatin-binding domain of FN and acting as an integrin co-receptor. Glutamines in the N-terminal tail of FN are known to be susceptible to transamidation by both TG2 and activated blood coagulation factor XIII (FXIIIa). We used immunoblotting, limited proteolysis, and mass spectrometry to localize glutamines within FN that are subject to TG2-catalyzed incorporation of dansylcadaverine in comparison to residues modified by FXIIIa. Such analysis of plasma FN indicated that Gln-3, Gln-7, and Gln-9 in the N-terminal tail and Gln-246 of the linker between fifth and sixth type I modules (⁵F1 and ⁶F1) are transamidated by both enzymes. Only minor incorporation of dansylcadaverine was detected elsewhere. Labeling of C-terminally truncated FN constructs revealed efficient TG2- or FXIIIa-catalyzed dansylcadaverine incorporation into the N-terminal residues of constructs as small as the 29-kDa fragment that includes ^1–5F1 and lacks modules from the adjacent gelatin-binding domain. However, when only ^1–3F1 were present, dansylcadaverine incorporation into the N-terminal residues of FN was lost and instead was in the enzymes, near the active site of TG2 and terminal domains of FXIIIa. Thus, these results demonstrate that FXIIIa and TG2 act similarly on glutamines at either end of ^1–5F1 and transamidation specificity of both enzymes is achieved through interactions with the intact 29K fragment.

Tissue transglutaminase (TG2) catalyzes the Ca²⁺-dependent posttranslational modification of proteins via formation of isopeptide bonds between their glutamine and lysine residues. Although substrate specificity of TG2 has been studied repeatedly at the sequence level, no clear consensus sequences have been determined so far. With the use of the extensive structural information on TG2 substrate proteins listed in TRANSDAB Wiki database†, a slight preference of TG2 for glutamine and lysine residues situated in turns could be observed. When the spatial environment of the favored glutamine and lysine residues was analyzed with logistic regression, the presence of specific amino acid patterns was identified. By using the occurrence of the predictor amino acids as selection criteria, several polypeptides were predicted and later identified as novel in vitro substrates for TG2. By studying the sequence of TG2 substrate proteins lacking available crystal structure, the strong favorable influence on substrate selection of the presence of substrate glutamine and lysine residues in intrinsically disordered regions could also be revealed. The collected structural data have provided novel understanding of how this versatile enzyme selects its substrates in various cell compartments and tissues.

Modification of the enzymatic functions of tissue transglutaminase (TG2) by anti-TG2 autoantibodies may play a role in manifestations of coeliac disease. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of coeliac autoantibodies on reactions catalysed by TG2 by a systematic biochemical approach, and in relation to observed clinical presentation type. Coeliac antibodies did not have significant inhibitory effect on transamidation/deamidation activity of TG2 as measured by amine-incorporation into solid and immobilised casein and by ultraviolet kinetic assay. In contrast, immunoglobulins from patients with severe malabsorption enhanced the reaction velocity to 105.4–242.2%. This activating effect was dose-dependent, most pronounced with immobilised glutamine-acceptor substrates, and correlated inversely with the basal specific activity of the enzyme and with dietary treatment. A similar activation could be demonstrated also with the TG2-specific fraction of autoantibodies and in transamidation activity assays which use fibronectin-bound TG2 and thereby mimic in vivo conditions. These results suggest that coeliac antibodies may stabilise the enzyme in a catalytically advantageous conformation. GTPase activity of TG2 decreased to 67.0–73.4% in the presence of antibodies raising the possibility that inhibition of GTPase activity may affect cellular signalling in case coeliac autoantibodies would reach intracellular compartments.