A critical role for peptide C-terminal amidation was apparent when the first bioactive peptides were identified. The conversion of POMC into adrenocorticotropic hormone and then into α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, an amidated peptide, provided a model system for identifying the amidating enzyme. Peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), the only enzyme that catalyzes this modification, is essential; mice lacking PAM survive only until mid-gestation. Purification and cloning led to the discovery that the amidation of peptidylglycine substrates proceeds in two steps: peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase catalyzes the copper- and ascorbate-dependent α-hydroxylation of the peptidylglycine substrate; peptidyl-α-hydroxyglycine α-amidating lyase cleaves the N–C bond, producing amidated product and glyoxylate. Both enzymes are contained in the luminal domain of PAM, a type 1 integral membrane protein. The structures of both catalytic cores have been determined, revealing how they interact with metals, molecular oxygen, and substrate to catalyze both reactions. Although not essential for activity, the intrinsically disordered cytosolic domain is essential for PAM trafficking. A phylogenetic survey led to the identification of bifunctional membrane PAM inChlamydomonas, a unicellular eukaryote. Accumulating evidence points to a role for PAM in copper homeostasis and in retrograde signaling from the lumen of the secretory pathway to the nucleus. The discovery of PAM in cilia, cellular antennae that sense and respond to environmental stimuli, suggests that much remains to be learned about this ancient protein.

The actin cytoskeleton, essential for neuronal development, is regulated in part by small GTP binding proteins of the Rho subfamily. Kalirin-9, with two Rho subfamily-specific GDP/GTP exchange factor (GEF) domains, localizes to neurites and growth cones of primary cortical neurons. Kalirin-9 overexpression in cultured cortical neurons induces longer neurites and altered neuronal morphology. Expression of the first GEF domain alone results in drastically shortened axons and excessive growth cones, mediated by Rac1. Expression of the second GEF domain alone induces axonal over-elongation and abundant filopodial neurites, mediated by RhoA. Coordination of the actions of the individual GEF domains through their presence in Kalirin-9, with its Sec14p, spectrin, and Src homology domain 3 motifs, is essential for regulating neurite extension and neuronal morphology.