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  • Inhibitors of protein geran...
    Chang, Sandy Y.; Hudon-Miller, Sarah E.; Yang, Shao H.; Jung, Hea-Jin; Lee, John M.; Farber, Emily; Subramanian, Thangaiah; Andres, Douglas A.; Spielmann, H.Peter; Hrycyna, Christine A.; Young, Stephen G.; Fong, Loren G.

    Journal of lipid research, June 2012, 2012-Jun, 2012-06-00, 20120601, 2012-06-01, Volume: 53, Issue: 6
    Journal Article

    Protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitors, generally called “FTIs,” block the farnesylation of prelamin A, inhibiting the biogenesis of mature lamin A and leading to an accumulation of prelamin A within cells. A recent report found that a GGTI, an inhibitor of protein geranylgeranyltransferase-I (GGTase-I), caused an exaggerated accumulation of prelamin A in the presence of low amounts of an FTI. This finding was interpreted as indicating that prelamin A can be alternately prenylated by GGTase-I and that inhibiting both protein prenyltransferases leads to more prelamin A accumulation than blocking FTase alone. Here, we tested an alternative hypothesis—GGTIs are not specific for GGTase-I, and they lead to prelamin A accumulation by inhibiting ZMPSTE24 (a zinc metalloprotease that converts farnesyl–prelamin A to mature lamin A). In our studies, commonly used GGTIs caused prelamin A accumulation in human fibroblasts, but the prelamin A in GGTI-treated cells exhibited a more rapid electrophoretic mobility than prelamin A from FTI-treated cells. The latter finding suggested that the prelamin A in GGTI-treated cells might be farnesylated (which would be consistent with the notion that GGTIs inhibit ZMPSTE24). Indeed, metabolic labeling studies revealed that the prelamin A in GGTI-treated fibroblasts is farnesylated. Moreover, biochemical assays of ZMPSTE24 activity showed that ZMPSTE24 is potently inhibited by a GGTI. Our studies show that GGTIs inhibit ZMPSTE24, leading to an accumulation of farnesyl–prelamin A. Thus, caution is required when interpreting the effects of GGTIs on prelamin A processing.