Peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase targeting and shaping of atrial secretory vesicles: inhibition by mutated N-terminal ProANP and PBA.

ANP (atrial natriuretic peptide) is widely recognized as an important vasorelaxant, diuretic, and cardioprotective hormone. Little is known, however, about how ANP-secretory vesicles form within the atrial myocytes. Secretory vesicles were visualized by fluorescence microscope imaging in live rat atrial myocytes expressing proANP-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), or N-terminal-mutated fusion proteins thought to suppress the calcium-dependent aggregation of proANP. Results showed the following: (1) aggregates of proANP and coexpressed proANP-EGFP recruited peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM)-1, an abundant atrial integral vesicle membrane protein; (2) coexpressed N-terminal-mutated (Glu23,24-->Gln23,24) and N-terminal-deleted proANP-EGFP inhibited recruitment of PAM-1 by up to 60%; (3) 4-phenyl-3-butenoic acid (PBA) (10 mumol/L), a pharmacological inhibitor of the lumenal peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase domain of PAM proteins, inhibited recruitment of endogenous PAM-1 and of coexpressed pro-EGFP-PAM-1; (4) PBA had no effect on exocytosis of the potassium inward rectifier KIR2.1; (5) PBA induced a deformation of the secretory vesicles but did not inhibit docking. These findings suggest that recruitment of PAM-1 to secretory vesicles depends on intact N-terminal proANP and on the lumenal domain of PAM-1. Conversely, PAM-1 participates in shaping the proANP-secretory vesicles. The full text of this article is available online at http://circres.ahajournals.org.