scholarly journals In and Out of the ER: Protein Folding, Quality Control, Degradation, and Related Human Diseases

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 1377-1408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel N. Hebert ◽  
Maurizio Molinari

A substantial fraction of eukaryotic gene products are synthesized by ribosomes attached at the cytosolic face of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. These polypeptides enter cotranslationally in the ER lumen, which contains resident molecular chaperones and folding factors that assist their maturation. Native proteins are released from the ER lumen and are transported through the secretory pathway to their final intra- or extracellular destination. Folding-defective polypeptides are exported across the ER membrane into the cytosol and destroyed. Cellular and organismal homeostasis relies on a balanced activity of the ER folding, quality control, and degradation machineries as shown by the dozens of human diseases related to defective maturation or disposal of individual polypeptides generated in the ER.

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 123-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Williams

Calnexin is an integral membrane protein of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that binds transiently to a wide array of newly synthesized membrane and secretory proteins. It also exhibits prolonged binding to misfolded or incompletely folded proteins. Recent studies have demonstrated that calnexin functions as a molecular chaperone to facilitate the folding and assembly of proteins in the ER. It is also a component of the quality control system that prevents proteins from progressing along the secretory pathway until they have acquired proper tertiary or quaternary structure. Most proteins that are translocated into the ER are glycosylated at Asn residues, and calnexin's interactions are almost exclusively restricted to proteins that possess this posttranslational modification. The preference for glycoproteins resides in calnexin's ability to function as a lectin with specificity for the GlC1Man9GlcNAc2 oligosaccharide, an early intermediate in the processing of Asn-linked oligosaccharides. Calnexin also has the capacity to bind to polypeptide segments of unfolded glycoproteins. Available evidence suggests that calnexin utilizes its lectin property during initial capture of a newly synthesized glycoprotein and that subsequent association (and chaperone function) is mediated through polypeptide interactions. Unlike other molecular chaperones that are soluble proteins, calnexin is an intrinsic component of the ER membrane. Its unique ability to capture unfolded glycoproteins through their large oligosaccharide moieties may have evolved as a means to overcome accessibility problems imposed by being constrained within a lipid bilayer.Key words: protein folding, molecular chaperones, calnexin, quality control, endoplasmic reticulum.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1185
Author(s):  
Deepa Kumari ◽  
Jeffrey L. Brodsky

All proteins are subject to quality control processes during or soon after their synthesis, and these cellular quality control pathways play critical roles in maintaining homeostasis in the cell and in organism health. Protein quality control is particularly vital for those polypeptides that enter the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Approximately one-quarter to one-third of all proteins synthesized in eukaryotic cells access the ER because they are destined for transport to the extracellular space, because they represent integral membrane proteins, or because they reside within one of the many compartments of the secretory pathway. However, proteins that mature inefficiently are subject to ER-associated degradation (ERAD), a multi-step pathway involving the chaperone-mediated selection, ubiquitination, and extraction (or “retrotranslocation”) of protein substrates from the ER. Ultimately, these substrates are degraded by the cytosolic proteasome. Interestingly, there is an increasing number of native enzymes and metabolite and solute transporters that are also targeted for ERAD. While some of these proteins may transiently misfold, the ERAD pathway also provides a route to rapidly and quantitatively downregulate the levels and thus the activities of a variety of proteins that mature or reside in the ER.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 2537-2548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satomi Nadanaka ◽  
Hiderou Yoshida ◽  
Fumi Kano ◽  
Masayuki Murata ◽  
Kazutoshi Mori

Newly synthesized secretory and transmembrane proteins are folded and assembled in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where an efficient quality control system operates so that only correctly folded molecules are allowed to move along the secretory pathway. The productive folding process in the ER has been thought to be supported by the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is activated by the accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER. However, a dilemma has emerged; activation of ATF6, a key regulator of mammalian UPR, requires intracellular transport from the ER to the Golgi apparatus. This suggests that unfolded proteins might be leaked from the ER together with ATF6 in response to ER stress, exhibiting proteotoxicity in the secretory pathway. We show here that ATF6 and correctly folded proteins are transported to the Golgi apparatus via the same route and by the same mechanism under conditions of ER stress, whereas unfolded proteins are retained in the ER. Thus, activation of the UPR is compatible with the quality control in the ER and the ER possesses a remarkable ability to select proteins to be transported in mammalian cells in marked contrast to yeast cells, which actively utilize intracellular traffic to deal with unfolded proteins accumulated in the ER.


1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang P. Barz ◽  
Peter Walter

Many eukaryotic cell surface proteins are anchored in the lipid bilayer through glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). GPI anchors are covalently attached in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The modified proteins are then transported through the secretory pathway to the cell surface. We have identified two genes inSaccharomyces cerevisiae, LAG1 and a novel gene termed DGT1 (for “delayed GPI-anchored protein transport”), encoding structurally related proteins with multiple membrane-spanning domains. Both proteins are localized to the ER, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy. Deletion of either gene caused no detectable phenotype, whereas lag1Δ dgt1Δ cells displayed growth defects and a significant delay in ER-to-Golgi transport of GPI-anchored proteins, suggesting thatLAG1 and DGT1 encode functionally redundant or overlapping proteins. The rate of GPI anchor attachment was not affected, nor was the transport rate of several non–GPI-anchored proteins. Consistent with a role of Lag1p and Dgt1p in GPI-anchored protein transport, lag1Δ dgt1Δ cells deposit abnormal, multilayered cell walls. Both proteins have significant sequence similarity to TRAM, a mammalian membrane protein thought to be involved in protein translocation across the ER membrane. In vivo translocation studies, however, did not detect any defects in protein translocation in lag1Δ dgt1Δcells, suggesting that neither yeast gene plays a role in this process. Instead, we propose that Lag1p and Dgt1p facilitate efficient ER-to-Golgi transport of GPI-anchored proteins.


2012 ◽  
Vol 197 (6) ◽  
pp. 761-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Rubenstein ◽  
Stefan G. Kreft ◽  
Wesley Greenblatt ◽  
Robert Swanson ◽  
Mark Hochstrasser

Little is known about quality control of proteins that aberrantly or persistently engage the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized translocon en route to membrane localization or the secretory pathway. Hrd1 and Doa10, the primary ubiquitin ligases that function in ER-associated degradation (ERAD) in yeast, target distinct subsets of misfolded or otherwise abnormal proteins based primarily on degradation signal (degron) location. We report the surprising observation that fusing Deg1, a cytoplasmic degron normally recognized by Doa10, to the Sec62 membrane protein rendered the protein a Hrd1 substrate. Hrd1-dependent degradation occurred when Deg1-Sec62 aberrantly engaged the Sec61 translocon channel and underwent topological rearrangement. Mutations that prevent translocon engagement caused a reversion to Doa10-dependent degradation. Similarly, a variant of apolipoprotein B, a protein known to be cotranslocationally targeted for proteasomal degradation, was also a Hrd1 substrate. Hrd1 therefore likely plays a general role in targeting proteins that persistently associate with and potentially obstruct the translocon.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 908-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Huyer ◽  
Gaby L. Longsworth ◽  
Deborah L. Mason ◽  
Monica P. Mallampalli ◽  
J. Michael McCaffery ◽  
...  

The folding of nascent secretory and membrane proteins is monitored by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control system. Misfolded proteins are retained in the ER and can be removed by ER-associated degradation. As a model for the ER quality control of multispanning membrane proteins in yeast, we have been studying mutant forms of Ste6p. Here, we identify mislocalized mutant forms of Ste6p that induce the formation of, and localize to, prominent structures that are absent in normal cells. We have named these structures ER-associated compartments (ERACs), based on their juxtaposition to and connection with the ER, as observed by fluorescence and electron microscopy. ERACs comprise a network of tubulo-vesicular structures that seem to represent proliferated ER membranes. Resident ER lumenal and membrane proteins are present in ERACs in addition to their normal ER localization, suggesting there is no barrier for their entry into ERACs. However, the forms of Ste6p in ERACs are excluded from the ER and do not enter the secretory pathway; instead, they are ultimately targeted for ER-associated degradation. The presence of ERACs does not adversely affect secretory protein traffic through the ER and does not lead to induction of the unfolded protein response. We propose that ERACs may be holding sites to which misfolded membrane proteins are specifically diverted so as not to interfere with normal cellular functions. We discuss the likelihood that related ER membrane proliferations that form in response to certain other mutant or unassembled membrane proteins may be substantially similar to ERACs.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Pimpl ◽  
J. Philip Taylor ◽  
Christopher Snowden ◽  
Stefan Hillmer ◽  
David G. Robinson ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 2966-2971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Casini ◽  
Michele Olivieri ◽  
Lara Vecchi ◽  
Oscar R. Burrone ◽  
Anna Cereseto

During the HIV-1 replicative cycle, the gp160 envelope is processed in the secretory pathway to mature into the gp41 and gp120 subunits. Misfolded proteins located within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are proteasomally degraded through the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway, a quality control system operating in this compartment. Here, we exploited the ERAD pathway to induce the degradation of gp160 during viral production, thus leading to the release of gp120-depleted viral particles.


2008 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Ronchi ◽  
Sara Colombo ◽  
Maura Francolini ◽  
Nica Borgese

The length and hydrophobicity of the transmembrane domain (TMD) play an important role in the sorting of membrane proteins within the secretory pathway; however, the relative contributions of protein–protein and protein–lipid interactions to this phenomenon are currently not understood. To investigate the mechanism of TMD-dependent sorting, we used the following two C tail–anchored fluorescent proteins (FPs), which differ only in TMD length: FP-17, which is anchored to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by 17 uncharged residues, and FP-22, which is driven to the plasma membrane by its 22-residue-long TMD. Before export of FP-22, the two constructs, although freely diffusible, were seen to distribute differently between ER tubules and sheets. Analyses in temperature-blocked cells revealed that FP-17 is excluded from ER exit sites, whereas FP-22 is recruited to them, although it remains freely exchangeable with the surrounding reticulum. Thus, physicochemical features of the TMD influence sorting of membrane proteins both within the ER and at the ER–Golgi boundary by simple receptor-independent mechanisms based on partitioning.


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