Low Resolution Structure Determination Shows Procollagen C-proteinase Enhancer to Be an Elongated Multidomain Glycoprotein

Procollagen C-proteinase enhancer (PCPE) is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein that can stimulate the action of tolloid metalloproteinases, such as bone morphogenetic protein-1, on a procollagen substrate, by up to 20-fold. The PCPE molecule consists of two CUB domains followed by a C-terminal NTR (netrin-like) domain. In order to obtain structural insights into the function of PCPE, the recombinant protein was characterized by a range of biophysical techniques, including analytical ultracentrifugation, transmission electron microscopy, and small angle x-ray scattering. All three approaches showed PCPE to be a rod-like molecule, with a length of approximately 150 A. Homology modeling of both CUB domains and the NTR domain was consistent with the low-resolution structure of PCPE deduced from the small angle x-ray scattering data. Comparison with the low-resolution structure of the procollagen C-terminal region supports a recently proposed model (Ricard-Blum, S., Bernocco, S., Font, B., Moali, C., Eichenberger, D., Farjanel, J., Burchardt, E. R., van der Rest, M., Kessler, E., and Hulmes, D. J. S. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 33864-33869) for the mechanism of action of PCPE.