PCSK9-mediated degradation of the LDL receptor generates a 17 kDa C-terminal LDL receptor fragment.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) binds to the LDL receptor (LDLR) at the cell surface and reroutes the internalized LDLR to intracellular degradation. In this study, we have shown that PCSK9-mediated degradation of the full-length 160 kDa LDLR generates a 17 kDa C-terminal LDLR fragment. This fragment was not generated from mutant LDLRs resistant to PCSK9-mediated degradation or when degradation was prevented by chemicals such as ammonium chloride or the cysteine cathepsin inhibitor E64d.