Molecular characteristics of C. elegans CED-4, an adapter protein involved in apoptosis, were studied using recombinant proteins. It was shown that CED-4 assumes a perinuclear localisation in Sf9-cells. In solution, purified CED-4 spontaneously forms large complexes. A hydrolysis of ATP is required neither for complex stability nor for binding to CED-3. It was further shown that CED-4 can bind nucleotides and shows preference for ATP over dATP, in contrast to its mammalian homologue Apaf-1. Human CED-4 binding partners detected by Far Western blotting were identified: histones H2B, H3 and H4. The specifity of this binding was confirmed by expression of histone H4 in E. coli and Far Western blotting. Finally, a cellular protein cross-reacting with an antiserum raised against the viral apoptosis inhibitor P35 was purified and identified as RBP35, formerly described as »ribosome binding protein«. The identity of RBP34 as the protein cross-recognized was verified.
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Molecular characteristics of C. elegans CED-4, an adapter protein involved in apoptosis, were studied using recombinant proteins. It was shown that CED-4 assumes a perinuclear localisation in Sf9-cells. In solution, purified CED-4 spontaneously forms large complexes. A hydrolysis of ATP is required neither for complex stability nor for binding to CED-3. It was further shown that CED-4 can bind nucleotides and shows preference for ATP over dATP, in contrast to its mammalian homologue Apaf-1. Huma...
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