D. Coates et al., Functional conservation of the active sites of human and Drosophila angiotensin I-converting enzyme, BIOCHEM, 39(30), 2000, pp. 8963-8969
Human somatic angiotensin I-converting enzyme (sACE) has two active sites p
resent in two homologous protein domains, resulting from a tandem gene dupl
ication. It has been proposed that the N-and C-terminal active sites can ha
ve specific in vivo roles. In Drosophila melanogaster, Ance and Acer code f
or two ACE-like single-domain proteins, also predicted to have distinct phy
siological roles. We have investigated the relationship of Ance and Acer to
the N- and C-domains of human sACE by genomic sequence analysis and by usi
ng domain-selective inhibitors, including RXP 407, a selective inhibitor of
the human N-domain. These phosphinic peptides were potent inhibitors of Ac
er. but not of Ance, We conclude that the active sites of the N-domain and
of Acer share structural features that permit the binding of the unusual RX
P307 inhibitor and the hydrolysis of a broader range of peptide structures.
In comparison, Ance, like the human C-domain of ACE, displays greater inhi
bitor selectivity. From the analysis of the published sequence of the Adh r
egion of Drosophila chromosome 2, which carries Ance, Acer, and four additi
onal ACE-like genes, we also suggest that this functional conservation is r
eflected in an ancestral gene structure identifiable in both protostome and
deuterostome lineages and that the duplication seen in vertebrate genomes
predates the divergence of these lineages. The conservation of ACE enzymes
with distinct active sites in the evolution of both vertebrate and inverteb
rate species provides further evidence that these two kinds of active sites
have different physiological functions.