Mammalian ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is a very unstable protein which is
degraded in an ATP-dependent manner by proteasome 26S, after making contac
t with the regulatory protein antizyme. PEST regions are sequences describe
d as signals for protein degradation. The C-terminal PEST region of mammali
an ODC is essential for its degradation by proteasome 26S. Mammalian histid
ine decarboxylase (HDC) is also a short-lived protein. The full primary seq
uence of mammalian HDC contains PEST-regions at both the N- and C-termini.
Rat ODC and different truncated and full versions of rat HDC were expressed
in vitro. In vitro degradation of rat ODC and rat 1-512 HDC were compared.
Like ODC, rat 1-512 HDC is degraded mainly by an ATP-dependent mechanism.
However, antizyme has no effect on the degradation of 1-512 HDC. The use of
the inhibitors MG-132 and lactacystine significantly inhibited the degrada
tion of 1-512 HDC, suggesting that a ubiquitin-dependent, proteasome 26S pr
oteolytic pathway is involved. Results obtained with the different modifica
tions of rat HDC containing all three PEST regions (full version, 1-656 HDC
), only the N-terminal PEST region (1-512 HDC), or no PEST region (69-512 H
DC), indicate that the N-terminal (1-69) fragment, but not the C-terminal f
ragment, determines that the HDC protein is a proteasome substrate in vitro
.