The Charcot–Leyden crystal protein revisited—A lysopalmitoylphospholipase and more

The Charcot–Leyden crystal protein (CLC‐P), a constituent of human and not mouse eosinophils, is one of the most abundant proteins within human eosinophils. It has a propensity to form crystalline structures, Charcot–Leyden crystals, which are hallmarks in their distinctive extracellular crystalline forms as markers of eosinophilic inflammation. The functions of CLC‐P within eosinophils have been uncertain. Although the action of CLC‐P as a lysophospholipase has been questioned, assays of chromatographically purified CLC‐P and crystal‐derived CLC‐P as well as studies of transfected recombinant CLC‐P have consistently documented that CLC‐P endogenously expresses lysophospholipase activity, releasing free palmitate from substrate lysopalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Rather than acting solely as a hydrolytic enzyme to release palmitate from a lysolipid substrate, some other lysophospholipases function more dominantly as acyl‐protein thioesterases (APTs), enzymes that catalyze the removal of thioester‐linked, long chain fatty acids, such as palmitate, from cysteine residues of proteins. As such APTs participate in palmitoylation, a post‐translational modification that can affect membrane localization, vesicular transport, and secretion. CLC‐P has attributes of an APT. Thus, whereas CLC‐P expresses inherent lysophospholipase activity, like some other lysophospholipase enzymes, it likely also functions in regulating the dynamic palmitoylation cycle, including, given its dominant subplasmalemmal location, at the human eosinophil's plasma membrane. The Charcot‐Leyden crystal protein expresses inherent lysophospholipase activity; and like some other lysophospholipases, it likely also functions in regulating dynamic palmitoylation at the eosinophil's plasma membrane.