scholarly journals Species-specificity in endoplasmic reticulum signal peptide utilization revealed by proteins from Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania

1998 ◽  
Vol 331 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed AL-QAHTANI ◽  
Meredith TEILHET ◽  
Kojo MENSA-WILMOT

N-Terminal signal peptides direct secretory and most membrane proteins into the exocytic pathway at the endoplasmic reticulum. Signal sequences can function across kingdoms. However, our attempts at translocating variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) 117, VSG MVAT7, VSG 221 and BiP from Trypanosoma brucei and gp63 from Leishmania chagasi into canine pancreas microsomes failed. On replacing the signal peptide of VSG 117 with that from yeast prepro-α-mating factor (ppαMF) the chimaeric protein was imported, indicating that the signal sequence of VSG 117 was incompatible with the protein-import machinery of mammalian microsomes. Replacement of the gp63-h-region with a hybrid composed of the N-terminal nine residues from the h-region of gp67 from Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus and the C-terminal 10 residues from the h-region of gp63 from L. major produced a functional signal peptide. Thus, the h-region of kinetoplastid signal peptides appears to be the subdomain that is non-functional at the mammalian translocon. The calculated biophysical properties and computed discriminant scores (predictive of importability of signal peptides into mammalian microsomes) of the kinetoplastid signal sequences nevertheless are similar to those of ppαMF and Escherichia coliβ-lactamase both of which were imported. These signal peptides are the first collection from one biological family that have been found to fail to function across a species barrier. They indicate that signal peptides are not as universally interchangeable as previously believed. Intriguingly, endoplasmic reticulum signal peptides from Leishmania and Crithidia fasciculata are reminiscent of signal peptides from Gram-positive bacteria.

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1243-1247 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Martoglio

Signal sequences are the addresses of proteins destined for secretion. In eukaryotic cells, they mediate targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and insertion into the translocon. Thereafter, signal sequences are cleaved from the pre-protein and liberated into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. We have recently reported that some liberated signal peptides are further processed by the intramembrane-cleaving aspartic protease signal peptide peptidase. Cleavage in the membrane-spanning portion of the signal peptide promotes the release of signal peptide fragments from the lipid bilayer. Typical processes that include intramembrane proteolysis is the regulatory or signalling function of cleavage products. Likewise, signal peptide fragments liberated upon intramembrane cleavage may promote such post-targeting functions in the cell.


2010 ◽  
Vol 426 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh Duffy ◽  
Bhargavi Patham ◽  
Kojo Mensa-Wilmot

N-terminal signal peptides direct secretory proteins into the ER (endoplasmic reticulum) of eukaryotes or the periplasmic space of prokaryotes. A hydrophobic core (h-region) is important for signal sequence function; however, the mechanism of h-region action is not resolved. To gain new insight into signal sequences, bioinformatic analysis of h-regions from humans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Trypanosoma brucei and Escherichia coli was performed. Each species contains a unique set of peptide motifs (h-motifs) characterized by identity components (i.e. sequence of conserved amino acids) joined by spacers. Human h-motifs have four identity components, whereas those from the other species utilize three identity components. Example of h-motifs are human Hs3 {L-x(2)-[AGILPV]-L-x(0,2)-L}, S. cerevisiae Sc1 [L-x(0,2)-S-x(0,3)-A], T. brucei Tb2 {L-x(1,2)-L-[AILV]} and E. coli Ec1 [A-x(0,2)-L-x(0,3)-A]. The physiological relevance of h-motifs was tested with a T. brucei microsomal system for translocation of a VSG (variant surface glycoprotein)-117 signal peptide. Disruption of h-motifs by scrambling of sequences in h-regions produced defective signal peptides, although the hydrophobicity of the peptide was not altered. We conclude that: (i) h-regions harbour h-motifs, and are not random hydrophobic amino acids; (ii) h-regions from different species contain unique sets of h-motifs; and (iii) h-motifs contribute to the biological activity of ER signal peptides. h-Regions are ‘scaffolds’ in which functional h-motifs are embedded. A hypothetical model for h-motif interactions with a Sec61p protein translocon is presented.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 3163-3173
Author(s):  
C A Kaiser ◽  
D Botstein

Three randomly derived sequences that can substitute for the signal peptide of Saccharomyces cerevisiae invertase were tested for the efficiency with which they can translocate invertase or beta-galactosidase into the endoplasmic reticulum. The rate of translocation, as measured by glycosylation, was estimated in pulse-chase experiments to be less than 6 min. When fused to beta-galactosidase, these peptides, like the normal invertase signal sequence, direct the hybrid protein to a perinuclear region, consistent with localization to the endoplasmic reticulum. The diversity of function of random peptides was studied further by immunofluorescence localization of proteins fused to 28 random sequences: 4 directed the hybrid to the endoplasmic reticulum, 3 directed it to the mitochondria, and 1 directed it to the nucleus.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uthman Okalang ◽  
Bar Mualem Bar-Ner ◽  
K. Shanmugha Rajan ◽  
Nehemya Friedman ◽  
Saurav Aryal ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIn the parasite Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African sleeping sickness, all mRNAs are trans-spliced to generate a common 5’ exon derived from the spliced leader RNA (SL RNA). Perturbations of protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) induce the spliced leader RNA silencing (SLS) pathway. SLS activation is mediated by a serine-threonine kinase, PK3, which translocates from the cytosolic face of the ER to the nucleus, where it phosphorylates the TATA binding protein TRF4, leading to the shut-off of SL RNA transcription, followed by induction of programmed cell death. Here, we demonstrate that SLS is also induced by depletion of the essential ER resident chaperones BiP and calreticulin, ER oxidoreductin 1 (ERO1), and the Golgi-localized quiescin sulfhydryl oxidase (QSOX1). Most strikingly, silencing of Rhomboid-like 1(TIMRHOM1) involved in mitochondrial protein import, also induces SLS. The PK3 kinase, which integrates SLS signals, is modified by phosphorylation on multiple sites. To determine which of the phosphorylation events activate PK3, several individual mutations or their combination were generated. These mutations failed to completely eliminate the phosphorylation or translocation of the kinase to the nucleus. The structure of PK3 kinase and its ATP binding domain were therefore modeled. A conserved phenylalanine at position 771 was proposed to interact with ATP, and the PK3F771L mutation completely eliminated phosphorylation under SLS, suggesting that the activation involves most if not all the phosphorylation sites. The study suggests that the SLS occurs broadly in response to failures in protein sorting, folding, or modification across multiple compartments.


1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 225-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josie McConnell ◽  
Anne M. Gurnett ◽  
John S. Cordingley ◽  
John E. Walker ◽  
Mervyn J. Turner

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Schorr ◽  
Duy Nguyen ◽  
Sarah Haßdenteufel ◽  
Nagarjuna Nagaraj ◽  
Adolfo Cavalié ◽  
...  

AbstractIn mammalian cells one-third of all polypeptides are integrated into the membrane or translocated into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via the Sec61-channel. While the Sec61-complex facilitates ER-import of most precursor polypeptides, the Sec61-associated Sec62/Sec63-complex supports ER-import in a substrate-specific manner. So far, mainly posttranslationally imported precursors and the two cotranslationally imported precursors of ERj3 and prion protein were found to depend on the Sec62/Sec63-complex in vitro. Therefore, we determined the rules for engagement of Sec62/Sec63 in ER-import in intact human cells using a recently established unbiased proteomics approach. In addition to confirming ERj3, we identified twenty-two novel Sec62/Sec63-substrates under these in vivo-like conditions. As a common feature, those previously unknown substrates share signal peptides with comparatively longer but less hydrophobic H-region and lower C-region polarity. Further analyses with four substrates, and ERj3 in particular, revealed the combination of a slowly-gating signal peptide and a downstream translocation-disruptive positively charged cluster of amino acid residues as decisive for the Sec62-/Sec63-requirement. In the case of ERj3, these features were found to be responsible for an additional BiP-requirement and to correlate with sensitivity towards the Sec61-channel inhibitor CAM741. Thus, the human Sec62/Sec63-complex may support Sec61-channel opening for precursor polypeptides with slowly-gating signal peptides by direct interaction with the cytosolic amino-terminal peptide of Sec61α or via recruitment of BiP and its interaction with the ER-lumenal loop 7 of Sec61α. These novel insights into the mechanism of human ER protein import contribute to our understanding of the etiology of SEC63-linked Polycystic Liver Disease.DatabasesThe mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/projects/Identifiers) with the dataset identifiers: PXD008178, PXD011993, and PXD012078. Supplementary information was deposited at Mendeley Data under the DOI:10.17632/6s5hn73jcv.1 (http://dx.doi.or/10.17632/6s5hn73jcv.1).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luchezar Karagyozov ◽  
Petar Grozdanov ◽  
Frank-D. Böhmer

AbstractThe signal peptides, present at the N-terminus of many proteins, guide the proteins into cell membranes. In some proteins, the signal peptide contains an extended N-terminal region and a recessed hydrophobic signal sequence. Previously, it was demonstrated that the N-terminally extended signal peptide of the human PTPRJ contains a cluster of arginine residues, which attenuates translation. The analysis of the orthologous sequences revealed that this sequence is highly conserved among mammals. The PTPRJ transcripts in placentals, marsupials, and monotremes encode a stretch of 10 – 14 arginine residues, positioned 11-12 codons downstream of the initiating AUG. The remarkable conservation of the repeated arginine residues in the PTPRJ signal peptides points to their key role. Further, the presence of an arginine cluster in the extended signal peptides of other proteins (E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, NOTCH3) is noted and indicates a more general importance of this cis-acting mechanism of translational suppression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Shi Liu ◽  
Yicheng Wang ◽  
Xiaoman Zhou ◽  
LinPei Zhang ◽  
Ganglong Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract We previously reported that glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthesis is regulated by endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD); however, the underlying mechanistic basis remains unclear. Based on a genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9 screen, we show that a widely expressed GPI-anchored protein CD55 precursor and ER-resident ARV1 together upregulate GPI biosynthesis under ERAD-deficient conditions. In cells defective in GPI transamidase, GPI-anchored protein precursors fail to obtain GPI, remaining the uncleaved GPI-attachment signal at the C-termini. We show that ERAD deficiency causes accumulation of the CD55 precursor, which in turn upregulates GPI biosynthesis, where the GPI-attachment signal peptide is the active element. Among the 32 GPI-anchored proteins tested, only the GPI-attachment signal peptides of CD55 and CD48 enhance GPI biosynthesis. ARV1 is essential for the GPI upregulation by CD55 precursor. Our data demonstrate an ARV1-dependent regulatory connection between GPI biosynthesis and precursors of select GPI-anchored proteins that are under the control of ERAD.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 4977-4985
Author(s):  
D S Allison ◽  
E T Young

The effects of five single-amino-acid substitution mutations within the signal sequence of yeast prepro-alpha-factor were tested in yeast cells. After short pulse-labelings, virtually all of the alpha-factor precursor proteins from a wild-type gene were glycosylated and processed by signal peptidase. In contrast, the signal sequence mutations resulted in the accumulation of mostly unglycosylated prepro-alpha-factor after a short labeling interval, indicating a defect in translocation of the protein into the endoplasmic reticulum. Confirming this interpretation, unglycosylated mutant prepro-alpha-factor in cell extracts was sensitive to proteinase K and therefore in a cytosolic location. The signal sequence mutations reduced the rate of translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum by as much as 25-fold or more. In at least one case, mutant prepro-alpha-factor molecules were translocated almost entirely posttranslationally. Four of the five mutations also reduced the rate of proteolytic processing by signal peptidase in vivo, even though the signal peptide alterations are not located near the cleavage site. This study demonstrates that a single-amino-acid substitution mutation within a eucaryotic signal peptide can affect both translocation and proteolytic processing in vivo and may indicate that the recognition sequences for translocation and processing overlap within the signal peptide.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 2029-2040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph G. Grünfelder ◽  
Markus Engstler ◽  
Frank Weise ◽  
Heinz Schwarz ◽  
York-Dieter Stierhof ◽  
...  

Recently, proteins linked to glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) residues have received considerable attention both for their association with lipid microdomains and for their specific transport between cellular membranes. Basic features of trafficking of GPI-anchored proteins or glycolipids may be explored in flagellated protozoan parasites, which offer the advantage that their surface is dominated by these components. In Trypanosoma brucei, the GPI-anchored variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) is efficiently sorted at multiple intracellular levels, leading to a 50-fold higher membrane concentration at the cell surface compared with the endoplasmic reticulum. We have studied the membrane and VSG flow at an invagination of the plasma membrane, the flagellar pocket, the sole region for endo- and exocytosis in this organism. VSG enters trypanosomes in large clathrin-coated vesicles (135 nm in diameter), which deliver their cargo to endosomes. In the lumen of cisternal endosomes, VSG is concentrated by default, because a distinct class of small clathrin-coated vesicles (50–60 nm in diameter) budding from the cisternae is depleted in VSG. TbRAB11-positive cisternal endosomes, containing VSG, fragment by an unknown process giving rise to intensely TbRAB11- as well as VSG-positive, disk-like carriers (154 nm in diameter, 34 nm in thickness), which are shown to fuse with the flagellar pocket membrane, thereby recycling VSG back to the cell surface.


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