Revisiting the Roco G-protein cycle

2014 ◽  
Vol 465 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Terheyden ◽  
Franz Y. Ho ◽  
Bernd K. Gilsbach ◽  
Alfred Wittinghofer ◽  
Arjan Kortholt
Keyword(s):  
G Protein ◽  
G Proteins ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

Roco G-proteins have low nucleotide affinity and do not need helper proteins [guanine-nucleotide-exchange factors (GEFs)] to activate the protein. Roco proteins dimerize via the C-terminal of Roc (COR) domain, and efficient hydrolysis of active Roco–GTP to inactive Roco–GDP is dependent on dimerization of the G-domains.

scholarly journals Activation of G proteins by guanine nucleotide exchange factors relies on GTPase activity

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob J Stanley ◽  
Geraint MH Thomas
Keyword(s):  
G Protein ◽  
G Proteins ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Gtpase Activity ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Signalling Molecules ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Experimental Strategies

G proteins are an important family of signalling molecules controlled by guanine nucleotide exchange and GTPase activity in what is commonly called an 'activation/inactivation cycle'. The molecular mechanism by which guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) catalyse the activation of monomeric G proteins is well-established, however the complete reversibility of this mechanism is often overlooked. Here, we use a theoretical approach to prove that GEFs are unable to positively control G protein systems at steady-state in the absence of GTPase activity. Instead, positive regulation of G proteins must be seen as a product of the competition between guanine nucleotide exchange and GTPase activity -- emphasising a central role for GTPase activity beyond merely signal termination. We conclude that a more accurate description of the regulation of G proteins via these processes is as a 'balance/imbalance' mechanism. This result has implications for the understanding of many intracellular signalling processes, and for experimental strategies that rely on modulating G protein systems.

scholarly journals Regulation of the G-protein Regulatory-GαiSignaling Complex by Nonreceptor Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors

2012 ◽  
Vol 288 (5) ◽  
pp. 3003-3015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukru Sadik Oner ◽  
Ellen M. Maher ◽  
Meital Gabay ◽  
Gregory G. Tall ◽  
Joe B. Blumer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
G Protein ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factors

Arf, Sec7 and Brefeldin A: a model towards the therapeutic inhibition of guanine nucleotide-exchange factors

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1265-1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Zeghouf ◽  
B. Guibert ◽  
J.-C. Zeeh ◽  
J. Cherfils
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Reaction ◽  
G Proteins ◽  
Brefeldin A ◽  
Membrane Traffic ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Small G Proteins

GEFs (guanine nucleotide-exchange factors), which stimulate GDP dissociation from small G-proteins, are pivotal regulators of signalling pathways activated by small G-proteins. In the case of Arf proteins, which are major regulators of membrane traffic in the cell and have recently been found to be involved in an increasing number of human diseases, GDP/GTP exchange is stimulated by GEFs that carry a catalytic Sec7 domain. Recent structural results captured snapshots of the exchange reaction, revealing that Sec7 domains secure Arf-GDP to membranes before nucleotide exchange takes place, taking advantage of a built-in structural device in Arf proteins that couples their affinity for membranes to the nature of the bound nucleotide. One of the Arf–Sec7 intermediates was trapped by BFA (Brefeldin A), an uncompetitive inhibitor of Arf activation that has been instrumental in deciphering the molecular principles of membrane traffic at the Golgi. BFA targets a low-affinity Arf–Sec7 intermediate of the exchange reaction. It binds at the Arf-GDP/Sec7 interface, thus freezing the complex in an abortive conformation that cannot proceed to nucleotide dissociation. In the cell, this results in the specific inhibition of Arf1 by a subset of its GEFs, and the efficient and reversible block of membrane traffic at the Golgi. The mechanism of BFA leads to the concept of ‘interfacial inhibition’, in which a protein–protein interaction of therapeutic interest is stabilized, rather than impaired, by a drug. Up-regulated activity of small G-proteins is involved in various human diseases, making their GEFs attractive candidates to interrupt specifically the corresponding signalling pathway. Interfacial inhibitors are proposed as an alternative to competitive inhibitors that may be explored for their inhibition.

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