scholarly journals The N-terminus of the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase Sgk1 specifies mitochondrial localization and rapid turnover

2006 ◽  
Vol 399 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Engelsberg ◽  
Franziska Kobelt ◽  
Dietmar Kuhl

The serine/threonine protein kinase Sgk1 (serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1) is characterized by a short half-life and has been implicated in the control of a large variety of functions in different subcellular compartments and tissues. Here, we analysed the influence of the N-terminus of Sgk1 on protein turnover and subcellular localization. Using green fluorescent protein-tagged Sgk1 deletion variants, we identified amino acids 17–32 to function as an anchor for the OMM (outer mitochondrial membrane). Subcellular fractionation of mouse tissue revealed a predominant localization of Sgk1 to the mitochondrial fraction. A cytosolic orientation of the kinase at the OMM was determined by in vitro import of Sgk1 and protease protection assays. Pulse–chase experiments showed that half-life and subcellular localization of Sgk1 are inseparable and determined by identical amino acids. Our results provide evidence that Sgk1 is primarily localized to the OMM and shed new light on the role of Sgk1 in the control of cellular function.

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1767) ◽  
pp. 20180315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Lu ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
Deqing Huang ◽  
Qiufang Xu ◽  
Xueping Zhou ◽  
...  

Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) was known to be transmitted by the small brown planthopper (SBPH) in a persistent, circulative and propagative manner in nature. Here, we show that RBSDV major outer capsid protein (also known as P10) suppresses the protein kinase C (PKC) activity of SBPH through interacting with the receptor for activated protein kinase C 1 (LsRACK1). The N terminal of P10 (amino acids (aa) 1–270) and C terminal of LsRACK1 (aa 268–315) were mapped as crucial for the interaction. Confocal microscopy and subcellular fractionation showed that RBSDV P10 fused to enhanced green fluorescent protein formed vesicular structures associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes in Spodoptera frugiperda nine cells. Our results also indicated that RBSDV P10 retargeted the initial subcellular localization of LsRACK1 from cytoplasm and cell membrane to ER and affected the function of LsRACKs to activate PKC. Inhibition of RACK1 by double stranded RNA-induced gene silencing significantly promoted the replication of RBSDV in SBPH. In addition, the PKC pathway participates in the antivirus innate immune response of SBPH. This study highlights that RACK1 negatively regulates the accumulation of RBSDV in SBPH through activating the PKC signalling pathway, and RBSDV P10 changes the subcellular localization of LsRACK1 and affects its function to activate PKC. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Biotic signalling sheds light on smart pest management’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine P. Chia ◽  
Noriko Inoguchi ◽  
Kyle C. Varon ◽  
Bradley M. Bartholomai ◽  
Hideaki Moriyama

Abstract Objective The nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of Dictyostelium discoideum, a unicellular eukaryote, have relatively high A+T-contents of 77.5% and 72.65%, respectively. To begin to investigate how the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway fulfills the demand for dTTP, we determined the catalytic properties and structure of the key enzyme deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) that hydrolyzes dUTP to dUMP, the precursor of dTTP. Results The annotated genome of D. discoideum identifies a gene encoding a polypeptide containing the five conserved motifs of homotrimeric dUTPases. Recombinant proteins, comprised of either full-length or core polypeptides with all conserved motifs but lacking residues 1-37 of the N-terminus, were active dUTPases. Crystallographic analyses of the core enzyme indicated that the C-termini, normally flexible, were constrained by interactions with the shortened N-termini that arose from the loss of residues 1-37. This allowed greater access of dUTP to active sites, resulting in enhanced catalytic parameters. A tagged protein comprised of the N-terminal forty amino acids of dUTPase fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) was expressed in D. discoideum cells. Supporting a prediction of mitochondrial targeting information within the N-terminus, localization and subcellular fractionation studies showed GFP to be in mitochondria. N-terminal sequencing of immunoprecipitated GFP revealed the loss of the dUTPase sequence upon import into the organelle.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Chia ◽  
Noriko Inoguchi ◽  
Kyle C. Varon ◽  
Bradley M. Bartholomai ◽  
Hideaki Moriyama

Abstract Objective The nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of Dictyostelium discoideum , a unicellular eukaryote, have relatively high A+T-contents of 77.5% and 72.65%, respectivey. To begin to investigate how the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway fulfills the demand for dTTP, we determined the catalytic properties and structure of the key enzyme deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) that hydrolyzes dUTP to dUMP, the precursor of dTTP. Results The annotated genome of D. discoideum identifies a gene encoding a polypeptide containing the five conserved motifs of homotrimeric dUTPases. Recombinant proteins, comprised of either full-length or core polypeptides with all conserved motifs but lacking residues 1-37 of the N-terminus, were active dUTPases. Crystallographic analyses of the core enzyme indicated that the C-termini, normally flexible, were constrained by interactions with the truncated N-termini. This allowed greater access of dUTP to active sites, resulting in enhanced catalytic parameters. A tagged protein comprised of the N-terminal forty amino acids of dUTPase fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) was expressed in D. discoideum cells. Supporting a prediction of mitochondrial targeting information within the N-terminus, localization and subcellular fractionation studies showed GFP to be in mitochondria. N-terminal sequencing of immunoprecipitated GFP revealed the loss of the dUTPase sequence upon import into the organelle.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Chia ◽  
Noriko Inoguchi ◽  
Kyle C. Varon ◽  
Bradley M. Bartholomai ◽  
Hideaki Moriyama

Abstract Objective The nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of Dictyostelium discoideum , a unicellular eukaryote, have relatively high A+T-contents of 77.5% and 72.65%, respectivey. To begin to investigate how the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway fulfills the demand for dTTP, we determined the catalytic properties and structure of the key enzyme deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) that hydrolyzes dUTP to dUMP, the precursor of dTTP. Results The annotated genome of D. discoideum identifies a gene encoding a polypeptide containing the five conserved motifs of homotrimeric dUTPases. Recombinant proteins, comprised of either full-length or core polypeptides with all conserved motifs but lacking residues 1-37 of the N-terminus, were active dUTPases. Crystallographic analyses of the core enzyme indicated that the C-termini, normally flexible, were constrained by interactions with the truncated N-termini. This allowed greater access of dUTP to active sites, resulting in enhanced catalytic parameters. A tagged protein comprised of the N-terminal forty amino acids of dUTPase fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) was expressed in D. discoideum cells. Supporting a prediction of mitochondrial targeting information within the N-terminus, localization and subcellular fractionation studies showed GFP to be in mitochondria. N-terminal sequencing of immunoprecipitated GFP revealed the loss of the dUTPase sequence upon import into the organelle.


2007 ◽  
Vol 282 (38) ◽  
pp. 27744-27753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changkeun Lee ◽  
Gisela Kramer ◽  
David E. Graham ◽  
Dean R. Appling

The TRM5 gene encodes a tRNA (guanine-N1-)-methyltransferase (Trm5p) that methylates guanosine at position 37 (m1G37) in cytoplasmic tRNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we show that Trm5p is also responsible for m1G37 methylation of mitochondrial tRNAs. The TRM5 open reading frame encodes 499 amino acids containing four potential initiator codons within the first 48 codons. Full-length Trm5p, purified as a fusion protein with maltose-binding protein, exhibited robust methyltransferase activity with tRNA isolated from a Δtrm5 mutant strain, as well as with a synthetic mitochondrial initiator tRNA (tRNAMetf). Primer extension demonstrated that the site of methylation was guanosine 37 in both mitochondrial tRNAMetf and tRNAPhe. High pressure liquid chromatography analysis showed the methylated product to be m1G. Subcellular fractionation and immunoblotting of a strain expressing a green fluorescent protein-tagged version of the TRM5 gene revealed that the enzyme was localized to both cytoplasm and mitochondria. The slightly larger mitochondrial form was protected from protease digestion, indicating a matrix localization. Analysis of N-terminal truncation mutants revealed that a Trm5p active in the cytoplasm could be obtained with a construct lacking amino acids 1–33 (Δ1–33), whereas production of a Trm5p active in the mitochondria required these first 33 amino acids. Yeast expressing the Δ1–33 construct exhibited a significantly lower rate of oxygen consumption, indicating that efficiency or accuracy of mitochondrial protein synthesis is decreased in cells lacking m1G37 methylation of mitochondrial tRNAs. These data suggest that this tRNA modification plays an important role in reading frame maintenance in mitochondrial protein synthesis.


2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 111-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Okazawa ◽  
Lei Tang ◽  
Yoshiko Itoh ◽  
Ei’ichiro Fukusaki ◽  
Akio Kobayashi

Abstract Chlorophyllase (Chlase) catalyzes the initial step of chlorophyll (Chl)-degradation, but the physiological significance of this reaction is still ambiguous. Common understanding of its role is that Chlase is involved in de-greening processes such as fruit ripening, leaf senescence, and flowering. But there is a possibility that Chlase is also involved in turnover and homeostasis of Chls. Among the de-greening processes, autumnal coloration is one of the most striking natural phenomena, but the involvement of Chlase during autumnal coloration is not clear. Previously, it was shown that Chlase activity and expression level of the Chlase gene were not increased during autumnal coloration in Ginkgo biloba, indicating that Chlase does not work specially in the de-greening processes in G. biloba. In this study, we characterized the recombinant Chlase and analyzed its subcellular localization to understand the role of the cloned Chlase of G. biloba (GbCLH). GbCLH exhibited its highest activity at pH 7.5, 40 °C. Kinetic analysis revealed that GbCLH hydrolyzes pheophytin (Pheo) a and Chl a more rapidly than Pheo b and Chl b. Transient expression analysis of 40 N-terminus amino acids of GbCLH fused with GFP (green fluorescent protein) and subcellular fractionation showed that GbCLH localizes within chloroplasts. Together with our previous results, property of GbCLH and its location within the chloroplasts suggest that GbCLH plays a role in the turnover and homeostasis of Chls in green leaves of G. biloba


2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (21) ◽  
pp. 7175-7185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Szeto ◽  
Sudeep Acharya ◽  
Nelson F. Eng ◽  
Jo-Anne R. Dillon

ABSTRACT MinD is involved in regulating the proper placement of the cytokinetic machinery in some bacteria, including Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Escherichia coli. Stimulation of the ATPase activity of MinD by MinE has been proposed to induce dynamic, pole-to-pole oscillations of MinD in E. coli. Here, we investigated the effects of deleting or mutating conserved residues within the N terminus of N. gonorrhoeae MinD (MinDNg) on protein dynamism, localization, and interactions with MinDNg and with MinENg. Deletions or mutations were generated in the first five residues of MinDNg, and mutant proteins were evaluated by several functional assays. Truncation or mutation of N-terminal residues disrupted MinDNg interactions with itself and with MinE. Although the majority of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-MinDNg mutants could still oscillate from pole to pole in E. coli, the GFP-MinDNg oscillation cycles were significantly faster and were accompanied by increased cytoplasmic localization. Interestingly, in vitro ATPase assays indicated that MinDNg proteins lacking the first three residues or with an I5E substitution possessed higher MinENg-independent ATPase activities than the wild-type protein. These results indicate that determinants found within the extreme N terminus of MinDNg are implicated in regulating the enzymatic activity and dynamic localization of the protein.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (3) ◽  
pp. 961-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Prince ◽  
Ruanbao Zhou ◽  
Lee Kroos

ABSTRACT During sporulation of Bacillus subtilis, pro-σK is activated by regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) in response to a signal from the forespore. RIP of pro-σK removes its prosequence (amino acids 1 to 20), releasing σK from the outer forespore membrane into the mother cell cytoplasm, in a reaction catalyzed by SpoIVFB, a metalloprotease in the S2P family of intramembrane-cleaving proteases. The requirements for pro-σK to serve as a substrate for RIP were investigated by producing C-terminally truncated pro-σK fused at different points to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) or hexahistidine in sporulating B. subtilis or in Escherichia coli engineered to coexpress SpoIVFB. Nearly half of pro-σK (amino acids 1 to 117), including part of sigma factor region 2.4, was required for RIP of pro-σK-GFP chimeras in sporulating B. subtilis. Likewise, pro-σK-hexahistidine chimeras demonstrated that the N-terminal 117 amino acids of pro-σK are sufficient for RIP, although the N-terminal 126 amino acids, which includes all of region 2.4, allowed much better accumulation of the chimeric protein in sporulating B. subtilis and more efficient processing by SpoIVFB in E. coli. In contrast to the requirements for RIP, a much smaller N-terminal segment (amino acids 1 to 27) was sufficient for membrane localization of a pro-σK-GFP chimera. Addition or deletion of five amino acids near the N terminus allowed accurate processing of pro-σK, ruling out a mechanism in which SpoIVFB measures the distance from the N terminus to the cleavage site. A charge reversal at position 13 (substituting glutamate for lysine) reduced accumulation of pro-σK and prevented detectable RIP by SpoIVFB. These results elucidate substrate requirements for RIP of pro-σK by SpoIVFB and may have implications for substrate recognition by other S2P family members.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1005
Author(s):  
Olga Chervyakova ◽  
Elmira Tailakova ◽  
Nurlan Kozhabergenov ◽  
Sandugash Sadikaliyeva ◽  
Kulyaisan Sultankulova ◽  
...  

Capripoxviruses with a host range limited to ruminants have the great potential to be used as vaccine vectors. The aim of this work was to evaluate attenuated sheep pox virus (SPPV) vaccine strain NISKHI as a vector expressing several genes. Open reading frames SPPV020 (ribonucleotide kinase) and SPPV066 (thymidine kinase) were selected as sites for the insertion of foreign genes. Two integration plasmids with expression cassette were designed and constructed. Recombinant SPPVs expressing an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) (rSPPV(RRΔ)EGFP and rSPPV(TKΔ)EGFP), Foot-and-mouth disease virus capsid protein (VP1), and Brucella spp. outer membrane protein 25 (OMP25) (rSPPV(RRΔ)VP1A-(TKΔ)OMP25) were generated under the transient dominant selection method. The insertion of foreign genes into the SPPV020 and SPPV066 open reading frames did not influence the replication of the recombinant viruses in the cells. Successful foreign gene expression in vitro was assessed by luminescent microscopy (EGFP) and Western blot (VP1 and OMP25). Our results have shown that foreign genes were expressed by rSPPV both in permissive (lamb testicles) and non-permissive (bovine kidney, saiga kidney, porcine kidney) cells. Mice immunized with rSPPV(RRΔ)VP1A-(TKΔ)OMP25 elicited specific antibodies to both SPPV and foreign genes VP1 and OMP25. Thus, SPPV NISKHI may be used as a potential safe immunogenic viral vector for the development of polyvalent vaccines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 379
Author(s):  
Breanne M. Head ◽  
Christopher I. Graham ◽  
Teassa MacMartin ◽  
Yoav Keynan ◽  
Ann Karen C. Brassinga

Legionnaires’ disease incidence is on the rise, with the majority of cases attributed to the intracellular pathogen, Legionella pneumophila. Nominally a parasite of protozoa, L. pneumophila can also infect alveolar macrophages when bacteria-laden aerosols enter the lungs of immunocompromised individuals. L. pneumophila pathogenesis has been well characterized; however, little is known about the >25 different Legionella spp. that can cause disease in humans. Here, we report for the first time a study demonstrating the intracellular infection of an L. bozemanae clinical isolate using approaches previously established for L. pneumophila investigations. Specifically, we report on the modification and use of a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing plasmid as a tool to monitor the L. bozemanae presence in the Acanthamoeba castellanii protozoan infection model. As comparative controls, L. pneumophila strains were also transformed with the GFP-expressing plasmid. In vitro and in vivo growth kinetics of the Legionella parental and GFP-expressing strains were conducted followed by confocal microscopy. Results suggest that the metabolic burden imposed by GFP expression did not impact cell viability, as growth kinetics were similar between the GFP-expressing Legionella spp. and their parental strains. This study demonstrates that the use of a GFP-expressing plasmid can serve as a viable approach for investigating Legionella non-pneumophila spp. in real time.


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