Secretase-Mediated Cell Surface Shedding of the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is an example of a membrane-bound protein, which is shed from the cell surface in a soluble form by a post-translational proteolytic cleavage event involving a secretase. The secretase cleavage site in somatic ACE has been mapped to Arg-1203 / Ser-1204, 24 residues proximal to the membrane-anchoring domain and the ADAM (‘a d isintegrin a nd m etalloprotease’) family of proteins may be involved in ACE shedding.