Director of the Cell Sciences Imaging Facility, CSIF
confocal/electron microscopy services
http://microscopy.stanford.edu/
Beckman Center, B050
IMAGING - electron microscopy (SEM, TEM, immuno-EM), confocal, multi-photon microscopy, live cell imaging, super-resolution microscopy.
Yeast cell biology, cytoskeleton.
View details for Web of Science ID 000496473200467
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) enters its target cell via clathrin-mediated endocytosis. AP-2-associated protein kinase 1 (AAK1) and cyclin G-associated kinase (GAK) are host kinases that regulate clathrin adaptor protein (AP)-mediated trafficking in the endocytic and secretory pathways. We previously reported that AAK1 and GAK regulate HCV assembly by stimulating binding of the μ subunit of AP-2, AP2M1, to HCV core protein. We also discovered that AAK1 and GAK inhibitors, including the approved anticancer drugs sunitinib and erlotinib, could block HCV assembly. Here, we hypothesized that AAK1 and GAK regulate HCV entry independently of their effect on HCV assembly. Indeed, silencing AAK1 and GAK expression inhibited entry of pseudoparticles and cell culture grown-HCV and internalization of Dil-labeled HCV particles with no effect on HCV attachment or RNA replication. AAK1 or GAK depletion impaired epidermal growth factor (EGF)-mediated enhanced HCV entry and endocytosis of EGF receptor (EGFR), an HCV entry cofactor and erlotinib's cancer target. Moreover, either RNA interference-mediated depletion of AP2M1 or NUMB, each a substrate of AAK1 and/or GAK, or overexpression of either an AP2M1 or NUMB phosphorylation site mutant inhibited HCV entry. Last, in addition to affecting assembly, sunitinib and erlotinib inhibited HCV entry at a postbinding step, their combination was synergistic, and their antiviral effect was reversed by either AAK1 or GAK overexpression. Together, these results validate AAK1 and GAK as critical regulators of HCV entry that function in part by activating EGFR, AP2M1, and NUMB and as the molecular targets underlying the antiviral effect of sunitinib and erlotinib (in addition to EGFR), respectively.Understanding the host pathways hijacked by HCV is critical for developing host-centered anti-HCV approaches. Entry represents a potential target for antiviral strategies; however, no FDA-approved HCV entry inhibitors are currently available. We reported that two host kinases, AAK1 and GAK, regulate HCV assembly. Here, we provide evidence that AAK1 and GAK regulate HCV entry independently of their role in HCV assembly and define the mechanisms underlying AAK1- and GAK-mediated HCV entry. By regulating temporally distinct steps in the HCV life cycle, AAK1 and GAK represent "master regulators" of HCV infection and potential targets for antiviral strategies. Indeed, approved anticancer drugs that potently inhibit AAK1 or GAK inhibit HCV entry in addition to assembly. These results contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms of HCV entry and reveal attractive host targets for antiviral strategies as well as approved candidate inhibitors of these targets, with potential implications for other viruses that hijack clathrin-mediated pathways.
View details for DOI 10.1128/JVI.02705-14
View details for Web of Science ID 000352218400030
View details for PubMedID 25653444
Accumulation of misfolded proteins on intracellular membranes has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. One cellular pathway that clears such aggregates is endoplasmic reticulum autophagy (ER-phagy), a selective autophagy pathway that delivers excess ER to the lysosome for degradation. Not much is known about the regulation of ER-phagy. The conserved Ypt/Rab GTPases regulate all membrane trafficking events in eukaryotic cells. We recently showed that a Ypt module, consisting of Ypt1 and autophagy-specific upstream activator and downstream effector, regulates the onset of selective autophagy in yeast. Here we show that this module acts at the ER. Autophagy-specific mutations in its components cause accumulation of excess membrane proteins on aberrant ER structures and induction of ER stress. This accumulation is due to a block in transport of these membranes to the lysosome, where they are normally cleared. These findings establish a role for an autophagy-specific Ypt1 module in the regulation of ER-phagy. Moreover, because Ypt1 is a known key regulator of ER-to-Golgi transport, these findings establish a second role for Ypt1 at the ER. We therefore propose that individual Ypt/Rabs, in the context of distinct modules, can coordinate alternative trafficking steps from one cellular compartment to different destinations.
View details for DOI 10.1091/mbc.E13-05-0269
View details for PubMedID 23924895
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3784386
TRAPP is a multi-subunit complex that acts as a Ypt/Rab activator at the Golgi apparatus. TRAPP exists in two forms: TRAPP I is comprised of five essential and conserved subunits and TRAPP II contains two additional essential and conserved subunits, Trs120 and Trs130. Previously, we have shown that Trs65, a nonessential fungi-specific TRAPP subunit, plays a role in TRAPP II assembly. TRS33 encodes another nonessential but conserved TRAPP subunit whose function is not known. Here, we show that one of these two subunits, nonessential individually, is required for TRAPP II assembly. Trs33 and Trs65 share sequence, intracellular localization and interaction similarities. Specifically, Trs33 interacts genetically with both Trs120 and Trs130 and physically with Trs120. In addition, trs33 mutant cells contain lower levels of TRAPP II and exhibit aberrant localization of the Golgi Ypts. Together, our results indicate that in yeast, TRAPP II assembly is an essential process that can be accomplished by either of two related TRAPP subunits. Moreover, because humans express two Trs33 homologues, we propose that the requirement of Trs33 for TRAPP II assembly is conserved from yeast to humans.
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2009.00988.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000271714300010
View details for PubMedID 19843283
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2794200
Rab GTPases recruit myosin motors to endocytic compartments, which in turn are required for their motility. However, no Ypt/Rab GTPase has been shown to regulate the motility of exocytic compartments. In yeast, the Ypt31/32 functional pair is required for the formation of trans-Golgi vesicles. The myosin V motor Myo2 attaches to these vesicles through its globular-tail domain (GTD) and mediates their polarized delivery to sites of cell growth. Here, we identify Myo2 as an effector of Ypt31/32 and show that the Ypt31/32-Myo2 interaction is required for polarized secretion. Using the yeast-two hybrid system and coprecipitation of recombinant proteins, we show that Ypt31/32 in their guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound form interact directly with Myo2-GTD. The physiological relevance of this interaction is shown by colocalization of the proteins, genetic interactions between their genes, and rescue of the lethality caused by a mutation in the Ypt31/32-binding site of Myo2-GTD through fusion with Ypt32. Furthermore, microscopic analyses show a defective Myo2 intracellular localization in ypt31Delta/32ts and in Ypt31/32-interaction-deficient myo2 mutant cells, as well as accumulation of unpolarized secretory vesicles in the latter mutant cells. Together, these results indicate that Ypt31/32 play roles in both the formation of trans-Golgi vesicles and their subsequent Myo2-dependent motility.
View details for DOI 10.1091/mbc.E08-02-0220
View details for Web of Science ID 000260472200015
View details for PubMedID 18653471
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2555963
The conserved modular complex TRAPP is a guanine nucleotide exchanger (GEF) for the yeast Golgi Ypt-GTPase gatekeepers. TRAPP I and TRAPP II share seven subunits and act as GEFs for Ypt1 and Ypt31/32, respectively, which in turn regulate transport into and out of the Golgi. Trs65/Kre11 is one of three TRAPP II-specific subunits. Unlike the other two subunits, Trs120 and Trs130, Trs65 is not essential for viability, is conserved only among some fungi, and its contribution to TRAPP II function is unclear. Here, we provide genetic, biochemical, and cellular evidence for the role of Trs65 in TRAPP II function. First, like Trs130, Trs65 localizes to the trans-Golgi. Second, TRS65 interacts genetically with TRS120 and TRS130. Third, Trs65 interacts physically with Trs120 and Trs130. Finally, trs65 mutant cells have low levels of Trs130 protein, and they are defective in the GEF activity of TRAPP II and the intracellular distribution of Ypt1 and Ypt31/32. Together, these results show that Trs65 plays a role in the Ypt GEF activity of TRAPP II in concert with the two other TRAPP II-specific subunits. Elucidation of the role played by Trs65 in intracellular trafficking is important for understanding how this process is coordinated with two other processes in which Trs65 is implicated: cell wall biogenesis and stress response.
View details for Web of Science ID 000247604000015
View details for PubMedID 17475775
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC1924837
View details for Web of Science ID 000179569102842
View details for Web of Science ID 000176466400004
View details for PubMedID 12073367
We studied the ligand-induced endocytosis of the yeast alpha-factor receptor Ste2p by immuno-electron microscopy. We observed and quantitated time-dependent loss of Ste2p from the plasma membrane of cells exposed to alpha-factor. This ligand-induced internalization of Ste2p was blocked in the well-characterized endocytosis-deficient mutant sac6Delta. We provide evidence that implicates furrow-like invaginations of the plasma membrane as the site of receptor internalization. These invaginations are distinct from the finger-like plasma membrane invaginations within actin cortical patches. Consistent with this, we show that Ste2p is not located within the cortical actin patch before and during receptor-mediated endocytosis. In wild-type cells exposed to alpha-factor we also observed and quantitated a time-dependent accumulation of Ste2p in intracellular, membrane-bound compartments. These compartments have a characteristic electron density but variable shape and size and are often located adjacent to the vacuole. In immuno-electron microscopy experiments these compartments labeled with antibodies directed against the rab5 homologue Ypt51p (Vps21p), the resident vacuolar protease carboxypeptidase Y, and the vacuolar H+-ATPase Vph1p. Using a new double-labeling technique we have colocalized antibodies against Ste2p and carboxypeptidase Y to this compartment, thereby identifying these compartments as prevacuolar late endosomes.
View details for Web of Science ID 000079475800021
View details for PubMedID 10069819
Diploid cells of budding yeast produce haploid cells through the developmental program of sporulation, which consists of meiosis and spore morphogenesis. DNA microarrays containing nearly every yeast gene were used to assay changes in gene expression during sporulation. At least seven distinct temporal patterns of induction were observed. The transcription factor Ndt80 appeared to be important for induction of a large group of genes at the end of meiotic prophase. Consensus sequences known or proposed to be responsible for temporal regulation could be identified solely from analysis of sequences of coordinately expressed genes. The temporal expression pattern provided clues to potential functions of hundreds of previously uncharacterized genes, some of which have vertebrate homologs that may function during gametogenesis.
View details for Web of Science ID 000076607500041
View details for PubMedID 9784122
View details for Web of Science ID A1997YF09601127
Many yeast actin cytoskeleton mutants accumulate large secretory vesicles and exhibit phenotypes consistent with defects in polarized growth. This, together with actin's polarized organization, has suggested a role for the actin cytoskeleton in the vectorial transport of late secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane. By using ultrastructural and biochemical analysis, we have characterized defects manifested by mutations in the SLA2 gene (also known as the END4 gene), previously found to affect both the organization of the actin cytoskeleton and endocytosis in yeast. Defects in cell wall morphology, accumulated vesicles, and protein secretion kinetics were found in sla2 mutants similar to defects found in act1 mutants. Vesicles that accumulate in the sla2 and act1 mutants are immunoreactive with antibodies directed against the small GTPase Ypt1p but not with antibodies directed against the homologous Sec4p found on classical "late" secretory vesicles. In contrast, the late-acting secretory mutants sec1-1 and sec6-4 are shown to accumulate anti-Sec4p-positive secretory vesicles as well as vesicles that are immunoreactive with antibodies directed against Ypt1p. The late sec mutant sec4-8 is also shown to accumulate Ypt1p-containing vesicles and to exhibit defects in actin cytoskeleton organization. These results indicate the existence of at least two classes of morphologically similar, late secretory vesicles (associated with Ypt1p+ and Sec4p+, respectively), one of which appears to accumulate when the actin cytoskeleton is disorganized.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997XU24500008
View details for PubMedID 9285820
Small GTPases of the Ypt/rab family are involved in the regulation of vesicular transport. These GTPases apparently function during the targeting of vesicles to the acceptor compartment. Two members of the Ypt/rab family, Ypt1p and Sec4p, have been shown to regulate early and late steps of the yeast exocytic pathway, respectively. Here we tested the role of two newly identified GTPases, Ypt31p and Ypt32p. These two proteins share 81% identity and 90% similarity, and belong to the same protein subfamily as Ypt1p and Sec4p. Yeast cells can tolerate deletion of either the YPT31 or the YPT32 gene, but not both. These observations suggest that Ypt31p and Ypt32p perform identical or overlapping functions. Cells deleted for the YPT31 gene and carrying a conditional ypt32 mutation exhibit protein transport defects in the late exocytic pathway, but not in vacuolar protein sorting. The ypt31/ 32 mutant secretory defect is clearly downstream from that displayed by a ypt1 mutant and is similar to that of sec4 mutant cells. However, electron microscopy revealed that while sec4 mutant cells accumulate secretory vesicles, ypt31/32 mutant cells accumulate aberrant Golgi structures. The ypt31/32 phenotype is epistatic to that of a sec1 mutant, which accumulates secretory vesicles. Together, these results indicate that the Ypt31/32p GTPases are required for a step that occurs in the trans-Golgi compartment, between the reactions regulated by Ypt1p and Sec4p. This step might involve budding of vesicles from the trans-Golgi. Alternatively, Ypt31/32p might promote secretion indirectly, by allowing fusion of recycling vesicles with the trans-Golgi compartment.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WY01900004
View details for PubMedID 9151665
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2139891
A search for Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteins that interact with actin in the two-hybrid system and a screen for mutants that affect the bipolar budding pattern identified the same gene, AIP3/BUD6. This gene is not essential for mitotic growth but is necessary for normal morphogenesis. MATa/alpha daughter cells lacking Aip3p place their first buds normally at their distal poles but choose random sites for budding in subsequent cell cycles. This suggests that actin and associated proteins are involved in placing the bipolar positional marker at the division site but not at the distal tip of the daughter cell. In addition, although aip3 mutant cells are not obviously defective in the initial polarization of the cytoskeleton at the time of bud emergence, they appear to lose cytoskeletal polarity as the bud enlarges, resulting in the formation of cells that are larger and rounder than normal. aip3 mutant cells also show inefficient nuclear migration and nuclear division, defects in the organization of the secretory system, and abnormal septation, all defects that presumably reflect the involvement of Aip3p in the organization and/or function of the actin cytoskeleton. The sequence of Aip3p is novel but contains a predicted coiled-coil domain near its C terminus that may mediate the observed homo-oligomerization of the protein. Aip3p shows a distinctive localization pattern that correlates well with its likely sites of action: it appears at the presumptive bud site prior to bud emergence, remains near the tips of small bund, and forms a ring (or pair of rings) in the mother-bud neck that is detectable early in the cell cycle but becomes more prominent prior to cytokinesis. Surprisingly, the localization of Aip3p does not appear to require either polarized actin or the septin proteins of the neck filaments.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WU80300016
View details for PubMedID 9247651
Previous studies showed that, in wild-type (MATa) cells, alpha-factor causes an essential rise in cytosolic Ca2+. We show that calcineurin, the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, is one target of this Ca2+ signal. Calcineurin mutants lose viability when incubated with mating pheromone, and overproduction of constitutively active (Ca(2+)-independent) calcineurin improves the viability of wild-type cells exposed to pheromone in Ca(2+)-deficient medium. Thus, one essential consequence of the pheromone-induced rise in cytosolic Ca2+ is activation of calcineurin. Although calcineurin inhibits intracellular Ca2+ sequestration in yeast cells, neither increased extracellular Ca2+ nor defects in vacuolar Ca2+ transport bypasses the requirement for calcineurin during the pheromone response. These observations suggest that the essential function of calcineurin in the pheromone response may be distinct from its modulation of intracellular Ca2+ levels. Mutants that do not undergo pheromone-induced cell cycle arrest (fus3, far1) show decreased dependence on calcineurin during treatment with pheromone. Thus, calcineurin is essential in yeast cells during prolonged exposure to pheromone and especially under conditions of pheromone-induced growth arrest. Ultrastructural examination of pheromone-treated cells indicates that vacuolar morphology is abnormal in calcineurin-deficient cells, suggesting that calcineurin may be required for maintenance of proper vacuolar structure or function during the pheromone response.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WK47200006
View details for PubMedID 9190206
View details for Web of Science ID A1996WB01801540
View details for Web of Science ID A1996WB01801323
gamma-Tubulin is a conserved component of microtubule-organizing centers and is thought to be involved in microtubule nucleation. A recently discovered Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene (TUB4) encodes a tubulin that is related to, but divergent from, gamma-tubulins. TUB4 is essential for cell viability, and epitope-tagged Tub4 protein (Tub4p) is localized to the spindle pole body (Sobel, S.G., and M. Snyder. 1995.J. Cell Biol. 131:1775-1788). We have characterized the expression of TUB4, the association of Tub4p with the spindle pole body, and its role in microtubule organization. Tub4p is a minor protein in the cell, and expression of TUB4 is regulated in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Wild-type Tub4p is localized to the spindle pole body, and a Tub4p-green fluorescent protein fusion is able to associate with a preexisting spindle pole body, suggesting that there is dynamic exchange between cytoplasmic and spindle pole body forms of Tub4p. Perturbation of Tub4p function, either by conditional mutation or by depletion of the protein, results in spindle as well as spindle pole body defects, but does not eliminate the ability of microtubules to regrow from, or remain attached to, the spindle pole body. The spindle pole bodies in tub4 mutant cells duplicate but do not separate, resulting in a monopolar spindle. EM revealed that one spindle pole body of the duplicated pair appears to be defective for the nucleation of microtubules. These results offer insight into the role of gamma-tubulin in microtubule-organizing center function.
View details for Web of Science ID A1996UX94600015
View details for PubMedID 8707828
We characterized the yeast actin cytoskeleton at the ultrastructural level using immunoelectron microscopy. Anti-actin antibodies primarily labeled dense, patchlike cortical structures and cytoplasmic cables. This localization recapitulates results obtained with immunofluorescence light microscopy, but at much higher resolution. Immuno-EM double-labeling experiments were conducted with antibodies to actin together with antibodies to the actin binding proteins Abp1p and cofilin. As expected from immunofluorescence experiments, Abp1p, cofilin, and actin colocalized in immuno-EM to the dense patchlike structures but not to the cables. In this way, we can unambiguously identify the patches as the cortical actin cytoskeleton. The cortical actin patches were observed to be associated with the cell surface via an invagination of plasma membrane. This novel cortical cytoskeleton-plasma membrane interface appears to consist of a fingerlike invagination of plasma membrane around which actin filaments and actin binding proteins are organized. We propose a possible role for this unique cortical structure in wall growth and osmotic regulation.
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NF96500013
View details for PubMedID 8163554
The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cdc42 protein, a member of the Ras superfamily of low-molecular-weight GTP-binding proteins, is involved in the control of cell polarity during the yeast cell cycle. This protein has a consensus sequence (CAAX) for geranylgeranyl modification and is likely to be associated, at least in part, with cell membranes. Using cell fractionation and immunolocalization techniques, we have investigated the subcellular localization of Cdc42p. Cdc42p was found in both soluble and particulate pools, and neither its abundance nor its distribution varied through the cell cycle. The particulate form of Cdc42p could be solubilized with detergents but not with NaCl or urea, suggesting that it is tightly associated with membranes. An increase in soluble Cdc42p was observed in a geranylgeranyltransferase mutant strain (cdc43-2ts) grown at the restrictive temperature. In addition, Cdc42p from a cdc42C188S mutant strain (that has an alteration at the prenylation consensus site) was almost exclusively in the soluble fraction, suggesting that membrane localization is dependent on geranylgeranyl modification at Cys-188. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy experiments demonstrated that Cdc42p localizes to the plasma membrane in the vicinity of secretory vesicles that were found at the site of bud emergence, at the tips and sides of enlarging buds, and within mating projections (shmoo tips) in alpha-factor-arrested cells. These results indicate that Cdc42p is localized to the bud site early in the cell cycle and suggest that this localization is critical for the selection of the proper site for bud emergence and for polarized cell growth.
View details for Web of Science ID A1993MU41300007
View details for PubMedID 8167411
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC275766
Yeast vacuolar acidification-defective (vph) mutants were identified using the pH-sensitive fluorescence of 6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (Preston, R. A., Murphy, R. F., and Jones, E. W. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 7027-7031). Vacuoles purified from yeast bearing the vph1-1 mutation had no detectable bafilomycin-sensitive ATPase activity or ATP-dependent proton pumping. The peripherally bound nucleotide-binding subunits of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (60 and 69 kDa) were no longer associated with vacuolar membranes yet were present in wild type levels in yeast whole cell extracts. The VPH1 gene was cloned by complementation of the vph1-1 mutation and independently cloned by screening a lambda gt11 expression library with antibodies directed against a 95-kDa vacuolar integral membrane protein. Deletion disruption of the VPH1 gene revealed that the VPH1 gene is not essential for viability but is required for vacuolar H(+)-ATPase assembly and vacuolar acidification. VPH1 encodes a predicted polypeptide of 840 amino acid residues (molecular mass 95.6 kDa) and contains six putative membrane-spanning regions. Cell fractionation and immunodetection demonstrate that Vph1p is a vacuolar integral membrane protein that co-purifies with vacuolar H(+)-ATPase activity. Multiple sequence alignments show extensive homology over the entire lengths of the following four polypeptides: Vph1p, the 116-kDa polypeptide of the rat clathrin-coated vesicles/synaptic vesicle proton pump, the predicted polypeptide encoded by the yeast gene STV1 (Similar To VPH1, identified as an open reading frame next to the BUB2 gene), and the TJ6 mouse immune suppressor factor.
View details for Web of Science ID A1992JD32500078
View details for PubMedID 1385813
The membrane compartments responsible for Golgi functions in wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae were identified and characterized by immunoelectron microscopy. Using improved fixation methods, Golgi compartments were identified by labeling with antibodies specific for alpha 1-6 mannose linkages, the Sec7 protein, or the Ypt1 protein. The compartments labeled by each of these antibodies appear as disk-like structures that are apparently surrounded by small vesicles. Yeast Golgi typically are seen as single, isolated cisternae, generally not arranged into parallel stacks. The location of the Golgi structures was monitored by immunoelectron microscopy through the yeast cell cycle. Several Golgi compartments, apparently randomly distributed, were always observed in mother cells. During the initiation of new daughter cells, additional Golgi structures cluster just below the site of bud emergence. These Golgi enter daughter cells at an early stage, raising the possibility that much of the bud's growth might be due to secretory vesicles formed as well as consumed entirely within the daughter. During cytokinesis, the Golgi compartments are concentrated near the site of cell wall synthesis. Clustering of Golgi both at the site of bud formation and at the cell septum suggests that these organelles might be directed toward sites of rapid cell surface growth.
View details for Web of Science ID A1992JJ39800007
View details for PubMedID 1381247
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and other secretory compartments of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have biochemical functions that closely parallel those described in higher eukaryotic cells, yet the morphology of the yeast organelles is quite distinct. In order to associate ER functions with the corresponding cellular structures, we localized several proteins, each of which is expected to be associated with the ER on the basis of enzymatic activity, biological function, or oligosaccharide content. These marker proteins were visualized by immunofluorescence or immunoelectron microscopy, allowing definition of the S. cerevisiae ER structure, both in intact cells and at the ultrastructural level. Each marker protein was most abundant within the membranes that envelop the nucleus and several were also found in extensions of the ER that frequently juxtapose the plasma membrane. Double-labeling experiments were entirely consistent with the idea that the marker proteins reside within the same compartment. This analysis has permitted, for the first time, a detailed characterization of the ER morphology as yeast cells proceed through their growth and division cycles.
View details for Web of Science ID A1991HB15500001
View details for PubMedID 1803815
In yeast, the cortical actin cytoskeleton seems to specify sites of growth of the cell surface. Because the actin-binding protein ABP1p is associated with the cortical cytoskeleton of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it might be involved in the spatial organization of cell surface growth. ABP1p is localized to the cortical cytoskeleton and its overproduction causes assembly of the cortical actin cytoskeleton at inappropriate sites on the cell surface, resulting in delocalized surface growth. We have now cloned and sequenced the gene encoding ABP1p. ABP1p is a novel protein with a 50 amino-acid C-terminal domain that is very similar to the SH3 domain in the non-catalytic region of nonreceptor tyrosine kinases (including those encoded by the proto-oncogenes c-src and c-abl), in phospholipase C gamma and in alpha-spectrin. We also identified an SH3-related motif in the actin-binding tail domain of myosin-I. The identification of SH3 domains in a family of otherwise unrelated proteins that associate with the membrane cytoskeleton indicates that this domain might serve to bring together signal transduction proteins and their targets or regulators, or both, in the membrane cytoskeleton.
View details for Web of Science ID A1990CJ68200080
View details for PubMedID 2405279
A yeast GTP-binding protein, the YPT1 gene product, has been found to function early in the secretion pathway. The ypt1-1 mutation causes a phenotype reminiscent of early secretion-defective mutants, including accumulation of membranes and vesicles as well as a partial defect in secretion and incomplete glycosylation of invertase. Immunofluorescence localization studies using affinity-purified antibody directed against the YPT1 protein showed punctate staining of the cytoplasm of growing yeast cells and very intense staining of small buds, where membrane growth and secretion are most active. The punctate cytoplasmic staining is changed in a mutant (sec7) under conditions that cause aberrant Golgi structures to accumulate. The pattern of immunofluorescence obtained when mouse cells were stained with the antibody coincided closely with the pattern observed with wheat germ agglutinin, suggesting that a mammalian counterpart of the yeast YPT1 protein is located in the Golgi apparatus. These results are interpreted as suggesting that GTP-binding proteins may act to direct intracellular vesicle traffic.
View details for Web of Science ID A1988M803100015
View details for PubMedID 3127057
Six independent secretion-defective mutations were found that result in failure to release protein from the membrane into the periplasmic space of Salmonella typhimurium after removal of the signal peptide. The mutant protein is found in a membrane-bound form accessible to trypsin added to intact spheroplasts. The phenotype of these mutations supports the existence in general of an intermediate in bacterial secretion. All six mutations changed one or the other of the two cysteine residues in the mature protein to tyrosine, suggesting that these residues are involved in the release of protein into the periplasmic space, most likely by affecting protein folding.
View details for Web of Science ID A1987L129600077
View details for PubMedID 3317414
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