부산대학교 도서관

The Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) are a group of recessive disorders of childhood with overlapping symptoms including vision loss, ataxia, cognitive regression and premature death. 14 different genes have been linked to NCLs ( CLN1-CLN14 ), but the functions of the proteins encoded by the majority of these genes have not been fully elucidated. Mutations in the CLN5 gene are responsible for the Finnish variant late-infantile form of NCL (Finnish vLINCL). CLN5 is translated as a 407 amino acid transmembrane domain containing protein that is heavily glycosylated, and subsequently cleaved into a mature soluble protein. Functionally, CLN5 is implicated in the recruitment of the retromer complex to endosomes, which is required to sort the lysosomal sorting receptors from endosomes to the trans-Golgi network. The mechanism that processes CLN5 into a mature soluble protein is currently not known. Herein, we demonstrate that CLN5 is initially translated as a type II transmembrane protein and subsequently cleaved by SPPL3, a member of the SPP/SPPL intramembrane protease family, into a mature soluble protein consisting of residues 93-407. The remaining N-terminal fragment is then cleaved by SPPL3 and SPPL2b and degraded in the proteasome. This work further characterizes the biology of CLN5 in the hopes of identifying a novel therapeutic strategy for affected children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]