Penta-EF hand, calcium binding motifs, found in Drosophila melanogaster calpain-A (CalpA), calpain-B (CalpB), and similar proteins
The family contains two calpains that have been found in Drosophila, CalpA and CalpB. CalpA, also termed calcium-activated neutral proteinase A (CANP A), or calpain-A catalytic subunit, is a Drosophila calpain homolog specifically expressed in a few neurons in the central nervous system, in scattered endocrine cells in the midgut, and in blood cells. CalpB, also termed calcium-activated neutral proteinase B (CANP B), contains calpain-B catalytic subunit 1 and calpain-B catalytic subunit 2. Both CalpA and CalpB are closely related to that of vertebrate calpains, and they share similar domain architecture, which consists of four domains: the N-terminal domain I, the catalytic domain II carrying the three active site residues, Cys, His and Asn, the Ca2+-regulated phospholipid-binding domain III, and penta-EF-hand Ca2+-binding domain IV. Besides, CalpA and CalpB display some distinguishing structural features that are not found in mammalian typical calpains. CalpA harbors a 76 amino acid long hydrophobic stretch inserted in domain IV, which may be involved in membrane attachment of this enzyme. CalpB has an unusually long N-terminal tail of 224 amino acids, which belongs to the class of intrinsically unstructured proteins (IUP) and may become ordered upon binding to target protein(s). Moreover, they do not need small regulatory subunits for their catalytic activity, and their proteolytic function is not regulated by an intrinsic inhibitor as the Drosophila genome contains neither regulatory subunit nor calpastatin orthologs. As a result, they may exist as a monomer or perhaps as a homo- or heterodimer together with a second large subunit. Furthermore, both CalpA and CalpB are dispensable for viability and fertility and do not share vital functions during Drosophila development. Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-diphosphate, phosphatidylinositol 4-monophosphate, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidic acid can stimulate the activity and the rate of activation of CalpA, but not CalpB. Calpain A modulates Toll responses by limited Cactus/IkappaB proteolysis. CalpB directly interacts with talin, an important component of the focal adhesion complex, and functions as an important modulator in border cell migration within egg chambers, which may act via the digestion of talin. CalpB can be phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase A, PKA; EC 2.7.11.11) at Ser240 and Ser845, as well as by mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK1 and ERK2; EC 2.7.11.24) at Thr747. The activation of the ERK pathway by extracellular signals results in the phosphorylation and activation of calpain B. In Schneider cells (S2), calpain B was mainly in the cytoplasm and upon a rise in Ca2+ the enzyme adhered to intracellular membranes.
Jiyao W et al.(2023). "The conserved domain database in 2023.",