Yr. Chan et Rl. Gallo, PR-39, A SYNDECAN-INDUCING ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDE, BINDS AND AFFECTS P130(CAS), The Journal of biological chemistry, 273(44), 1998, pp. 28978-28985
PR-39 is a proline-arginine-rich antimicrobial peptide and an importan
t component of innate immunity, In addition to its antimicrobial effec
ts, PR-39 can alter mammalian cell gene expression and behavior. To de
termine the mechanism through which PR-39 affects mesenchymal cells, w
e identify a number of binding targets for PR-39 using a biologically
active fragment of PR-39 (PR-39(15)), We found that PR-39 binds NIH 3T
3 in a saturable manner consistent with the existence of a binding tar
get. Similar to full-length PR-39, PR-39(15) interacts with lipid bila
yers, After interacting with the membrane, PR-39(15) rapidly enters hu
man microvascular endothelial cells and binds a number of cytoplasmic
proteins, PR-39 selectively binds recombinant SH3-containing proteins
and was also found to bind a native SH3-containing protein, p130(Cas).
PR-39(15) treatment of endothelial cells results in altered p130 loca
lization, These results show that PR-39(15) binds an SH3-containing si
gnal transduction molecule that has the potential to explain a myriad
of effects PR-39 has on mammalian cell behaviors.