Identification of the fourth member of the mammalian endoprotease family homologous to the yeast Kex2 protease. Its testis-specific expression.

We used the polymerase chain reaction to identify a mouse testis cDNA that represented another member of a growing class of mammalian endoproteases involved in the processing of precursor proteins. This cDNA encoded a 655-residue protein, designated PC4, containing a bacterial subtilisin-like catalytic domain closely related to those of the recently characterized precursor-processing endoproteases, furin, PC1/PC3, PC2, and Kex2. Within this domain, the amino acid sequence of PC4 was 70, 58, 55, and 45% identical with those of mouse furin, mouse PC1/PC3, mouse PC2, and yeast Kex2, respectively. Northern blot analysis indicated that the PC4 mRNA was detectable only in the testes after the 20th day of postnatal development. Moreover, this message was mainly expressed in the round spermatids. These data suggest that PC4 represents a prime candidate for a precursor-processing endoprotease in the testicular germ cells and that its gene expression is regulated during spermatogenesis.