scholarly journals A conserved tripeptide sorts proteins to peroxisomes.

1989 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 1657-1664 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Gould ◽  
G A Keller ◽  
N Hosken ◽  
J Wilkinson ◽  
S Subramani

The firefly luciferase protein contains a peroxisomal targeting signal at its extreme COOH terminus (Gould et al., 1987). Site-directed mutagenesis of the luciferase gene reveals that this peroxisomal targeting signal consists of the COOH-terminal three amino acids of the protein, serine-lysine-leucine. When this tripeptide is appended to the COOH terminus of a cytosolic protein (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase), it is sufficient to direct the fusion protein into peroxisomes. Additional mutagenesis experiments reveal that only a limited number of conservative changes can be made in this tripeptide targeting signal without abolishing its activity. These results indicate that peroxisomal protein import, unlike other types of transmembrane translocation, is dependent upon a conserved amino acid sequence.

Author(s):  
G-A. Keller ◽  
S. J. Gould ◽  
S. Subramani ◽  
S. Krisans

Subcellular compartments within eukaryotic cells must each be supplied with unique sets of proteins that must be directed to, and translocated across one or more membranes of the target organelles. This transport is mediated by cis- acting targeting signals present within the imported proteins. The following is a chronological account of a series of experiments designed and carried out in an effort to understand how proteins are targeted to the peroxisomal compartment.-We demonstrated by immunocryoelectron microscopy that the enzyme luciferase is a peroxisomal enzyme in the firefly lantern. -We expressed the cDNA encoding firefly luciferase in mammalian cells and demonstrated by immunofluorescence that the enzyme was transported into the peroxisomes of the transfected cells. -Using deletions, linker insertions, and gene fusion to identify regions of luciferase involved in its transport to the peroxisomes, we demonstrated that luciferase contains a peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS) within its COOH-terminal twelve amino acid.


1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 1579-1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.C. Chang ◽  
S. South ◽  
D. Warren ◽  
J. Jones ◽  
A.B. Moser ◽  
...  

Zellweger syndrome and related disorders represent a group of lethal, genetically heterogeneous diseases. These peroxisome biogenesis disorders (PBDs) are characterized by defective peroxisomal matrix protein import and comprise at least 10 complementation groups. The genes defective in seven of these groups and more than 90% of PBD patients are now known. Here we examine the distribution of peroxisomal membrane proteins in fibroblasts from PBD patients representing the seven complementation groups for which the mutant gene is known. Peroxisomes were detected in all PBD cells, indicating that the ability to form a minimal peroxisomal structure is not blocked in these mutants. We also observed that peroxisome abundance was reduced fivefold in PBD cells that are defective in the PEX1, PEX5, PEX12, PEX6, PEX10, and PEX2 genes. These cell lines all display a defect in the import of proteins with the type-1 peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS1). In contrast, peroxisome abundance was unaffected in cells that are mutated in PEX7 and are defective only in the import of proteins with the type-2 peroxisomal targeting signal. Interestingly, a fivefold reduction in peroxisome abundance was also observed for cells lacking either of two PTS1-targeted peroxisomal beta-oxidation enzymes, acyl-CoA oxidase and 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase/D-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase. These results indicate that reduced peroxisome abundance in PBD cells may be caused by their inability to import these PTS1-containing enzymes. Furthermore, the fact that peroxisome abundance is influenced by peroxisomal 105-oxidation activities suggests that there may be metabolic control of peroxisome abundance.


1999 ◽  
Vol 144 (6) ◽  
pp. 1151-1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Girzalsky ◽  
Peter Rehling ◽  
Katharina Stein ◽  
Julia Kipper ◽  
Lars Blank ◽  
...  

Pex13p is the putative docking protein for peroxisomal targeting signal 1 (PTS1)-dependent protein import into peroxisomes. Pex14p interacts with both the PTS1- and PTS2-receptor and may represent the point of convergence of the PTS1- and PTS2-dependent protein import pathways. We report the involvement of Pex13p in peroxisomal import of PTS2-containing proteins. Like Pex14p, Pex13p not only interacts with the PTS1-receptor Pex5p, but also with the PTS2-receptor Pex7p; however, this association may be direct or indirect. In support of distinct peroxisomal binding sites for Pex7p, the Pex7p/Pex13p and Pex7p/ Pex14p complexes can form independently. Genetic evidence for the interaction of Pex7p and Pex13p is provided by the observation that overexpression of Pex13p suppresses a loss of function mutant of Pex7p. Accordingly, we conclude that Pex7p and Pex13p functionally interact during PTS2-dependent protein import into peroxisomes. NH2-terminal regions of Pex13p are required for its interaction with the PTS2-receptor while the COOH-terminal SH3 domain alone is sufficient to mediate its interaction with the PTS1-receptor. Reinvestigation of the topology revealed both termini of Pex13p to be oriented towards the cytosol. We also found Pex13p to be required for peroxisomal association of Pex14p, yet the SH3 domain of Pex13p may not provide the only binding site for Pex14p at the peroxisomal membrane.


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (15) ◽  
pp. 2917-2928 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Rodrigues ◽  
I. S. Alencastre ◽  
T. Francisco ◽  
P. Brites ◽  
M. Fransen ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 749-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Sommer ◽  
Q L Cheng ◽  
G A Keller ◽  
C C Wang

The compartmentalization of glycolytic enzymes into specialized organelles, the glycosomes, allows the bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei to rely solely on glycolysis for its energy production. The biogenesis of glycosomes in these parasites has been studied intensively as a potential target for chemotherapy. We have adapted the recently developed methods for stable transformation of T. brucei to the in vivo analysis of glycosomal protein import. Firefly luciferase, a peroxisomal protein in the lantern of the insect, was expressed in stable transformants of the procyclic form of T. brucei, where it was found to accumulate inside the glycosomes. Mutational analysis of the peroxisomal targeting signal serine-lysine-leucine (SKL) located at the C-terminus of luciferase showed that replacement of the serine residue (Serine548) with a small neutral amino acid (A, C, G, H, N, P, T) still resulted in an import efficiency of 50-100% of the wild-type luciferase. Lysine549 could be substituted with an amino acid capable of hydrogen bonding (H, M, N, Q, R, S), whereas the C-terminal leucine550 could be replaced with a subset of hydrophobic amino acids (I, M, Y). Thus, a peroxisome-like C-terminal SKL-dependent targeting mechanism may function in T. brucei to import luciferase into the glycosomes. However, a few significant differences exist between the glycosomal targeting signals identified here and the tripeptide sequences that direct proteins to mammalian or yeast peroxisomes.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Gould ◽  
S Krisans ◽  
G A Keller ◽  
S Subramani

We have previously shown that the peroxisomal targeting signal in firefly luciferase consists of the COOH-terminal three amino acids of the protein, serine-lysine-leucine (Gould, S.J., G.A. Keller, N. Hosken, J. Wilkinson, and S. Subramani, 1989. J. Cell Biol. 108:1657-1664). Antibodies were raised against a synthetic peptide that contained this tripeptide at its COOH terminus. Immunofluorescence and immunocryoelectron microscopy revealed that the anti-peptide antibodies specifically detected peroxisomes in mammalian cells. Further characterization revealed that the antibodies were primarily directed against the COOH-terminal three amino acids of the peptide. In Western blot experiments, the antibodies recognized 15-20 rat liver peroxisomal proteins, but reacted with only a few proteins from other subcellular compartments. These results provide independent immunological evidence that the peroxisomal targeting signal identified in firefly luciferase is present in many peroxisomal proteins.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. e25316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola H. Gonzalez ◽  
Gregor Felsner ◽  
Frederic D. Schramm ◽  
Andreas Klingl ◽  
Uwe-G. Maier ◽  
...  

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