Characterization of the role of the "MT-loop": an eight-amino acid insertion specific to progelatinase A (MMP2) activating membrane-type matrix metalloproteinases

Progelatinase A (proGLA) activation is thought to be initiated almost exclusively by the type I transmembrane members of the membrane type matrix metalloproteinase family (MT-MMP): MT1, -2, -3, and -5-MMP (MMP14, -15, -16, and -24). One difference between these enzymes and the other MMP family members is the insertion of eight amino acids between strands betaII and III in the catalytic domain. In MT1-MMP, the best characterized of these enzymes to date, these residues consist of (163)PYAYIREG(170). To investigate the role of this region of MT1-MMP on its catalytic activities, we have made a variety of mutations and deletions in both soluble and membrane-bound forms of the enzyme. Characterization of the activity of the soluble forms toward peptides and fibrinogen revealed that neither mutation nor deletion of residues 163-170 significantly impaired catalytic function, suggesting these residues have little influence on conformation of the active site cleft. Equally none of the mutants showed significant differences in K(I)(app) for the N-terminal inhibitory domain of TIMP2, again indicating that mutation or deletion of resides 163-170 has no major effect on the overall topology of the active site of MT1-MMP. However, characterization of the kinetics of activation of proGLA with and without its gelatin binding region by the mutants generated have shown that efficient activation of proGLA is, at least in part, through an interaction with residues 163-170 of MT1-MMP. The expression, localization, and processing from the 63- to the 60/45-kDa forms of wild-type and key mutant forms of MT1-MMP were also examined by transient transfection in Chinese hamster ovary cells, but no differences were observed. Processing and activation of proGLA was also examined in transiently transfected cells. All the mutants examined were able process proGLA but, as found with the soluble forms, were kinetically impaired when compared with wild-type MT1-MMP.