Screening for mutants defective in secretory protein maturation and ER quality control

Methods ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davis T.W. Ng
2005 ◽  
Vol 169 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric D. Spear ◽  
Davis T.W. Ng

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) maintains an environment essential for secretory protein folding. Consequently, the premature transport of polypeptides would be harmful to the cell. To avert this scenario, mechanisms collectively termed “ER quality control” prevent the transport of nascent polypeptides until they properly fold. Irreversibly misfolded molecules are sorted for disposal by the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway. To better understand the relationship between quality control and ERAD, we studied a new misfolded variant of carboxypeptidase Y (CPY). The molecule was recognized and retained by ER quality control but failed to enter the ERAD pathway. Systematic analysis revealed that a single, specific N-linked glycan of CPY was required for sorting into the pathway. The determinant is dependent on the putative lectin-like receptor Htm1/Mnl1p. The discovery of a similar signal in misfolded proteinase A supported the generality of the mechanism. These studies show that specific signals embedded in glycoproteins can direct their degradation if they fail to fold.


Author(s):  
Patrick Lajoie ◽  
Elena N. Fazio ◽  
Erik L. Snapp

AbstractThe endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the point of entry of proteins into the secretory pathway. Nascent peptides interact with the ER quality control machinery that ensures correct folding of the nascent proteins. Failure to properly fold proteins can lead to loss of protein function and cytotoxic aggregation of misfolded proteins that can lead to cell death. To cope with increases in the ER unfolded secretory protein burden, cells have evolved the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). The UPR is the primary signaling pathway that monitors the state of the ER folding environment. When the unfolded protein burden overwhelms the capacity of the ER quality control machinery, a state termed ER stress, sensor proteins detect accumulation of misfolded peptides and trigger the UPR transcriptional response. The UPR, which is conserved from yeast to mammals, consists of an ensemble of complex signaling pathways that aims at adapting the ER to the new misfolded protein load. To determine how different factors impact the ER folding environment, various tools and assays have been developed. In this review, we discuss recent advances in live cell imaging reporters and model systems that enable researchers to monitor changes in the unfolded secretory protein burden and activation of the UPR and its associated signaling pathways.


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.


2010 ◽  
Vol 188 (5) ◽  
pp. 707-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazue Kanehara ◽  
Wei Xie ◽  
Davis T.W. Ng

Secretory protein folding is monitored by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control mechanisms. Misfolded proteins are retained and targeted to ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathways. At their core are E3 ubiquitin ligases, which organize factors that recognize, ubiquitinate, and translocate substrates. Of these, we report that the Hrd1 complex manages three distinct substrate classes. A core complex is required for all classes and is sufficient for some membrane proteins. The accessory factors Usa1p and Der1p adapt the complex to process luminal substrates. Their integration is sufficient to process molecules bearing glycan-independent degradation signals. The presence of Yos9p extends the substrate range by mediating the recognition of glycan-based degradation signals. This modular organization enables the Hrd1 complex to recognize topologically diverse substrates. The Hrd1 system does not directly evaluate the folding state of polypeptides. Instead, it does so indirectly, by recognizing specific embedded signals displayed upon misfolding.


2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Vavassori ◽  
Margherita Cortini ◽  
Shoji Masui ◽  
Sara Sannino ◽  
Tiziana Anelli ◽  
...  

1998 ◽  
Vol 332 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry WILBOURN ◽  
Darren N. NESBETH ◽  
Linda J. WAINWRIGHT ◽  
Mark C. FIELD

Improperly processed secretory proteins are degraded by a hydrolytic system that is associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and appears to involve re-export of lumenal proteins into the cytoplasm for ultimate degradation by the proteasome. The chimaeric protein hGHDAF28, which contains a crippled glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) C-terminal signal peptide, is degraded by a pathway highly similar to that for other ER-retained proteins and is characterized by formation of disulphide-linked aggregates, failure to reach the Golgi complex and intracellular degradation with a half life of ∼ 2 h. Here we show that N-acetyl-leucinal-leucinal-norleucinal, MG-132 and lactacystin, all inhibitors of the proteasome, protect hGHDAF28; hGHDAF28 is still proteolytically cleaved in the presence of lactacystin or MG-132, by the removal of ∼ 2 kDa, but the truncated fragment is not processed further. We demonstrate that the ubiquitination system accelerates ER-degradation of hGHDAF28, but is not essential to the process. Overall, these findings indicate that GPI quality control is mediated by the cytoplasmic proteasome. We also show that the presence of a cysteine residue in the GPI signal of hGHDAF28 is required for retention and degradation, as mutation of this residue to serine results in secretion of the fusion protein, implicating thiol-mediated retention as a mechanism for quality control of some GPI signals. Removal of the cysteine also prevents inclusion of hGHDAF28 in disulphide-linked aggregates, indicating that aggregate formation is an additional retention mechanism for this class of protein. Therefore our data suggest that an unpaired terminal cysteine is the retention motif of the hGHDAF28 GPI-processing signal and that additional information may be required for efficient engagement of ER quality control systems by the majority of GPI signals which lack cysteine residues.


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