scholarly journals The influenza hemagglutinin insertion signal is not cleaved and does not halt translocation when presented to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane as part of a translocating polypeptide.

1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (6) ◽  
pp. 1705-1714 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Finidori ◽  
L Rizzolo ◽  
A Gonzalez ◽  
G Kreibich ◽  
M Adesnik ◽  
...  

The co-translational insertion of polypeptides into endoplasmic reticulum membranes may be initiated by cleavable amino-terminal insertion signals, as well as by permanent insertion signals located at the amino-terminus or in the interior of a polypeptide. To determine whether the location of an insertion signal within a polypeptide affects its function, possibly by affecting its capacity to achieve a loop disposition during its insertion into the membrane, we have investigated the functional properties of relocated insertion signals within chimeric polypeptides. An artificial gene encoding a polypeptide (THA-HA), consisting of the luminal domain of the influenza hemagglutinin preceded by its amino-terminal signal sequence and linked at its carboxy-terminus to an intact prehemagglutinin polypeptide, was constructed and expressed in in vitro translation systems containing microsomal membranes. As expected, the amino-terminal signal initiated co-translational insertion of the hybrid polypeptide into the membranes. The second, identical, interiorized signal, however, was not recognized by the signal peptidase and was translocated across the membrane. The failure of the interiorized signal to be cleaved may be attributed to the fact that it enters the membrane as part of a translocating polypeptide and therefore cannot achieve the loop configuration that is thought to be adopted by signals that initiate insertion. The finding that the interiorized signal did not halt translocation of downstream sequences, even though it contains a hydrophobic region and must enter the membrane in the same configuration as natural stop-transfer signals, indicates that the HA insertion signal lacks essential elements of halt transfer signals that makes the latter effective membrane-anchoring domains. When the amino-terminal insertion signal of the THA-HA chimera was deleted, the interior signal was incapable of mediating insertion, probably because of steric hindrance by the folded preceding portions of the chimera. Several chimeras were constructed in which the interiorized signal was preceded by polypeptide segments of various lengths. A signal preceded by a segment of 111 amino acids was also incapable of initiating insertion, but insertion took place normally when the segment preceding the signal was only 11-amino acids long.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 2263-2272 ◽  
Author(s):  
E M Eskridge ◽  
D Shields

To investigate putative sorting domains in precursors to polypeptide hormones, we have constructed fusion proteins between the amino terminus of preproinsulin (ppI) and the bacterial cytoplasmic enzyme chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). Our aim is to identify sequences in ppI, other than the signal peptide, that are necessary to mediate the intracellular sorting and secretion of the bacterial enzyme. Here we describe the in vitro translation of mRNAs encoding two chimeric molecules containing 71 and 38 residues, respectively, of the ppI NH2 terminus fused to the complete CAT sequence. The ppI signal peptide and 14 residues of the B-chain were sufficient to direct the translocation and segregation of CAT into microsomal membrane vesicles. Furthermore, the CAT enzyme underwent N-linked glycosylation, presumably at a single cryptic site, with an efficiency that was comparable to that of native glycoproteins synthesized in vitro. Partial amino-terminal sequencing demonstrated that the downstream sequences in the fusion proteins did not alter the specificity of signal peptidase, hence cleavage of the ppI signal peptide occurred at precisely the same site as in the native precursor. This is in contrast to results found in prokaryotic systems. These data demonstrate that the first 38 residues of ppI encode all the information necessary for binding to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, translocation, and proteolytic (signal sequence) processing.


1984 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 1076-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
M G Rosenfeld ◽  
E E Marcantonio ◽  
J Hakimi ◽  
V M Ort ◽  
P H Atkinson ◽  
...  

Ribophorins are two transmembrane glycoproteins characteristic of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, which are thought to be involved in the binding of ribosomes. Their biosynthesis was studied in vivo using lines of cultured rat hepatocytes (clone 9) and pituitary cells (GH 3.1) and in cell-free synthesis experiments. In vitro translation of mRNA extracted from free and bound polysomes of clone 9 cells demonstrated that ribophorins are made exclusively on bound polysomes. The primary translation products of ribophorin messengers obtained from cultured hepatocytes or from regenerating livers co-migrated with the respective mature proteins, but had slightly higher apparent molecular weights (2,000) than the unglycosylated forms immunoprecipitated from cells treated with tunicamycin. This indicates that ribophorins, in contrast to all other endoplasmic reticulum membrane proteins previously studied, contain transient amino-terminal insertion signals which are removed co-translationally. Kinetic and pulse-chase experiments with [35S]methionine and [3H]mannose demonstrated that ribophorins are not subjected to electrophoretically detectable posttranslational modifications, such as proteolytic cleavage or trimming and terminal glycosylation of oligosaccharide side chain(s). Direct analysis of the oligosaccharides of ribophorin l showed that they do not contain the terminal sugars characteristic of complex oligosaccharides and that they range in composition from Man8GlcNAc to Man5GlcNAc. These findings, as well as the observation that the mature proteins are sensitive to endoglycosidase H and insensitive to endoglycosidase D, are consistent with the notion that the biosynthetic pathway of the ribophorins does not require a stage of passage through the Golgi apparatus.


1994 ◽  
Vol 107 (9) ◽  
pp. 2403-2416 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. van de Velde ◽  
A.J. Roebroek ◽  
N.H. Senden ◽  
F.C. Ramaekers ◽  
W.J. Van de Ven

The novel NSP gene was previously shown to encode, among a variety of neuroendocrine cell types, two 3′-overlapping transcripts, a 3.4 kb one for NSP-A (776 amino acids) and a 1.8 kb one for NSP-C (208 amino acids). The deduced proteins, which were predicted to possess distinct amino-terminal regions, appeared to exhibit some architectural resemblance to known neuroendocrine proteins. In this paper the biochemical characterization and subcellular localization of the two proteins is addressed. In vitro translation of NSP-A and -C RNA produced proteins of about 135 and 23 kDa, respectively. Proteins of similar molecular mass were also detected in immunoprecipitation and western blot analyses of neural and endocrine cells using specific anti-NSP-A or -C antisera; some heterogeneity of NSP-A was observed. NSP-A, but not NSP-C, appeared to be highly phosphorylated and preferentially on serine residues. In immunocytochemical studies, we demonstrated that NSP-A and -C are associated with the endoplasmic reticulum; NSP-A was found to co-localize with SERCA2b, a membrane-associated Ca(2+)-ATPase of the endoplasmic reticulum. In Purkinje cells, we found NSP-immunostaining in the perikaryon, the extensive dendritic tree and the axon, also suggesting association with the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Biochemical studies of NSP-A provided evidence that NSP-A is strongly associated with microsomal membranes and analysis of deletion mutants of NSP-A revealed that the hydrophobic carboxy-terminal portion of the protein, which is also present in NSP-C, is critical for membrane binding. Through database searches, finally, we found two different NSP-related sequences, one in a sequenced region of human chromosome 19, and the second in a human, pancreatic islet-derived partial cDNA, suggesting that the NSP gene is the prototype of a larger gene family. The results of our studies seem to indicate that the NSP-encoded proteins are novel, membrane-anchored components of the endoplasmic reticulum for which we propose the name reticulons.


1992 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 481-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
G H Miao ◽  
Z Hong ◽  
D P Verma

Soybean nodulin-26, a homologue of bovine eye lens major intrinsic protein (MIP-26), is an integral protein of the peribacteroid membrane in symbiotic root nodules. It comprises 271 amino acids with six potential transmembrane domains and lacks an amino-terminal signal sequence. A full-length nodulin-26 cDNA and its various deletion derivatives were transcribed in vitro after linking them to bacteriophage T3 promoter. In vitro translation of these transcripts in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate, in the presence or absence of canine pancreatic microsomal membranes, suggested that nodulin-26 is cotranslationally inserted into the microsomes without a cleavable signal peptide. The first two transmembrane domains (103 amino acids) of the protein are sufficient for microsomal membrane insertion. Membrane-translocated nodulin-26 binds to Con-A and is sensitive to endoglycosidase-H treatment, suggesting that it is glycosylated. Native nodulin-26 from root nodules retains its sugar moiety as it, too, binds to Con-A. Chemical cleavage mapping at cysteine residues, a trypsin protection assay, and the Con-A binding affinity of nodulin-26 suggested that both the NH2 and COOH termini of this protein are on the cytoplasmic surface of the peribacteroid membrane, while the glycosidic residue is on the surface of the membrane facing the bacteroids. In vitro phosphorylation experiments showed that nodulin-26 is a major phosphorylated protein in the peribacteroid membrane. This phosphorylation is mediated by a Ca(2+)-dependent, calmodulin-independent protein kinase located in the peribacteriod membrane. Externally supplied acid phosphatase dephosphorylates this protein, but alkaline phosphatase does not. Based on its homology with several eukaryotic and prokaryotic channel-type membrane proteins, nodulin-26 may form a channel translocating specific molecules to the bacteroids during endosymbiosis in legume plants.


1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Monier ◽  
P Van Luc ◽  
G Kreibich ◽  
D D Sabatini ◽  
M Adesnik

Cytochrome P450b is an integral membrane protein of the rat hepatocyte endoplasmic reticulum (ER) which is cotranslationally inserted into the membrane but remains largely exposed on its cytoplasmic surface. The extreme hydrophobicity of the amino-terminal portion of P450b suggests that it not only serves to initiate the cotranslational insertion of the nascent polypeptide but that it also halts translocation of downstream portions into the lumen of the ER and anchors the mature protein in the membrane. In an in vitro system, we studied the cotranslational insertion into ER membranes of the normal P450b polypeptide and of various deletion variants and chimeric proteins that contain portion of P450b linked to segments of pregrowth hormone or bovine opsin. The results directly established that the amino-terminal 20 residues of P450b function as a combined insertion-halt-transfer signal. Evidence was also obtained that suggests that during the early stages of insertion, this signal enters the membrane in a loop configuration since, when the amino-terminal hydrophobic segment was placed immediately before a signal peptide cleavage site, cleavage by the luminally located signal peptidase took place. After entering the membrane, the P450b signal, however, appeared to be capable of reorienting within the membrane since a bovine opsin peptide segment linked to the amino terminus of the signal became translocated into the microsomal lumen. It was also found that, in addition to the amino-terminal combined insertion-halt-transfer signal, only one other segment within the P450b polypeptide, located between residues 167 and 185, could serve as a halt-transfer signal and membrane-anchoring domain. This segment was shown to prevent translocation of downstream sequences when the amino-terminal combined signal was replaced by the conventional cleavable insertion signal of a secretory protein.


1987 ◽  
Vol 242 (3) ◽  
pp. 767-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Robinson ◽  
M A Kaderbhai ◽  
B M Austen

An azidophenacyl derivative of a chemically synthesized consensus signal peptide has been prepared. The peptide, when photoactivated in the presence of rough or high-salt-stripped microsomes from pancreas, leads to inhibition of their activity in cotranslational processing of secretory pre-proteins translated from their mRNA in vitro. The peptide binds specifically with high affinity to components in the microsomal membranes from pancreas and liver, and photoreaction of a radioactive form of the azidophenacyl derivative leads to covalent linkage to yield two closely related radiolabelled proteins of Mr about 45,000. These proteins are integrated into the membrane, with large 30,000-Mr domains embedded into the phospholipid bilayer to which the signal peptide binds. A smaller, endopeptidase-sensitive, domain is exposed on the cytoplasmic surface of the microsomal vesicles. The specificity and selectivity of the binding of azidophenacyl-derivatized consensus signal peptide was demonstrated by concentration-dependent inhibition of photolabelling by the ‘cold’ synthetic consensus signal peptide and by a natural internal signal sequence cleaved and isolated from ovalbumin. The properties of the labelled 45,000-Mr protein-signal peptide complexes, i.e. mass, pI, ease of dissociation from the membrane by detergent or salts and immunological properties, distinguish them from other proteins, e.g. subunits of signal recognition particle, docking protein and signal peptidase, already known to be involved in targetting and processing of nascent secretory proteins at the rough endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Although the 45,000-Mr signal peptide binding protein displays properties similar to those of the signal peptidase, a component of the endoplasmic reticulum, the azido-derivatized consensus signal peptide does not interact with it. It is proposed that the endoplasmic reticulum proteins with which the azidophenacyl-derivatized consensus signal peptide interacts to yield the 45,000-Mr adducts may act as receptors for signals in nascent secretory pre-proteins in transduction of changes in the endoplasmic reticulum which bring about translocation of secretory protein across the membrane.


1988 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 1093-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
P D Garcia ◽  
J H Ou ◽  
W J Rutter ◽  
P Walter

The major hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein is a viral structural protein involved in nucleic acid binding. Its coding sequence contains an extension of 29 codons (the "precore" region) at the amino terminus of the protein which is present in a fraction of the viral transcripts. This region is evolutionarily conserved among mammalian and avian HBVs, suggesting it has functional importance, although at least for duck HBV it has been shown to be nonessential for replication of infectious virions. Using in vitro assays for protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, we found that the precore region of the HBV genome encodes a signal sequence. This signal sequence was recognized by signal recognition particle, which targeted the nascent precore protein to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane with efficiencies comparable to those of other mammalian secretory proteins. A 19-amino acid signal peptide was removed by signal peptidase on the lumenal side of the microsomal membrane, generating a protein similar to the HBV major core protein, but containing 10 additional amino acids from the precore region at its amino terminus. Surprisingly, we found that 70-80% of this signal peptidase-cleaved product was localized on the cytoplasmic side of the microsomal vesicles and was not associated with the membranes. We conclude that translocation was aborted by an unknown mechanism, then the protein disengaged from the translocation machinery and was released back into the cytoplasm. Thus, a cytoplasmically disposed protein was created whose amino terminus resulted from signal peptidase cleavage. The remaining 20-30% appeared to be completely translocated into the lumen of the microsomes. A deletion mutant lacking the carboxy-terminal nucleic acid binding domain of the precore protein was similarly partitioned between the lumen of the microsomes and the cytoplasmic compartment, indicating that this highly charged domain is not responsible for the aborted translocation. We discuss the implications of our findings for the protein translocation process and suggest a possible role in the virus life cycle.


1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Yu ◽  
C V Nicchitta ◽  
J Kumar ◽  
M Becker ◽  
I Toyoshima ◽  
...  

Kinectin is a kinesin-binding protein (Toyoshima et al., 1992) that is required for kinesin-based motility (Kumar et al., 1995). A kinectin cDNA clone containing a 4.7-kilobase insert was isolated from an embryonic chick brain cDNA library by immunoscreening with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. The cDNA contained an open reading frame of 1364 amino acids encoding a protein of 156 kDa. A bacterially expressed product of the full length cDNA bound purified kinesin. Transient expression in CV-1 cells gave an endoplasmic reticulum distribution that depended upon the N-terminal domain. Analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence indicated a highly hydrophobic near N-terminal stretch of 28 amino acids and a large portion (326-1248) of predicted alpha helical coiled coils. The 30-kDa fragment containing the N-terminal hydrophobic region was produced by cell-free in vitro translation and found to assemble with canine pancreas rough microsomes. Cleavage of the N terminus was not observed confirming its role as a potential transmembrane domain. Thus, the kinectin cDNA encodes a cytoplasmic-oriented integral membrane protein that binds kinesin and is likely to be a coiled-coil dimer.


1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (5) ◽  
pp. 2033-2043 ◽  
Author(s):  
U C Krieg ◽  
A E Johnson ◽  
P Walter

The molecular environment of secretory proteins during translocation across the ER membrane was examined by photocross-linking. Nascent preprolactin chains of various lengths, synthesized by in vitro translation of truncated messenger RNAs in the presence of N epsilon-(5-azido-2-nitrobenzoyl)-Lys-tRNA, signal recognition particle, and microsomal membranes, were used to position photoreactive probes at various locations within the membrane. Upon photolysis, each nascent chain species was cross-linked to an integral membrane glycoprotein with a deduced mass of 39 kD (mp39) via photoreactive lysines located in either the signal sequence or the mature prolactin sequence. Thus, different portions of the nascent preprolactin chain are in close proximity to the same membrane protein during the course of translocation, and mp39 therefore appears to be part of the translocon, the specific site of protein translocation across the ER membrane. The similarity of the molecular and cross-linking properties of mp39 and the glyco-protein previously identified as a signal sequence receptor (Wiedmann, M., T. V. Kurzchalia, E. Hartmann, and T. A. Rapoport. 1987. Nature [Lond.]. 328: 830-833) suggests that these two proteins may be identical. Our data indicate, however, that mp39 does not (or not only) function as a signal sequence receptor, but rather may be part of a putative translocation tunnel.


1984 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
Bruce H. Nicholson ◽  
Peter Jones

SummaryThe mRNA coding for prochymosin (prorennin) has been partly purified from calf abomasum. The in vitro translation products of the total polyadenylated RNA show a major band on gel electrophoresis which reacts with antibody raised against purified chymosin. The mol. wt of 43000 is higher than expected from the reported amino acid sequence and would correspond to prochymosin with an unprocessed signal sequence of ∼ 17 amino acids. The synthesis of chymosin mRNA is age-related, and ceases by 3 months even in milk-fed calves.


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