scholarly journals R-Ras Regulates Exocytosis by Rgl2/Rlf-mediated Activation of RalA on Endosomes

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1850-1860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiyuki Takaya ◽  
Takahiro Kamio ◽  
Michitaka Masuda ◽  
Naoki Mochizuki ◽  
Hirofumi Sawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Small Gtpase ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Recycling Endosomes ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ras Family

R-Ras is a Ras-family small GTPase that regulates various cellular functions such as apoptosis and cell adhesion. Here, we demonstrate a role of R-Ras in exocytosis. By the use of specific anti-R-Ras antibody, we found that R-Ras was enriched on both early and recycling endosomes in a wide range of cell lines. Using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based probe for R-Ras activity, R-Ras activity was found to be higher on endosomes than on the plasma membrane. This high R-Ras activity on the endosomes correlated with the accumulation of an R-Ras effector, the Rgl2/Rlf guanine nucleotide exchange factor for RalA, and also with high RalA activity. The essential role played by R-Ras in inducing high levels of RalA activity on the endosomes was evidenced by the short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated suppression of R-Ras and by the expression of R-Ras GAP. In agreement with the reported role of RalA in exocytosis, the shRNA of either R-Ras or RalA was found to suppress calcium-triggered exocytosis in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. These data revealed that R-Ras activates RalA on endosomes and that it thereby positively regulates exocytosis.

scholarly journals Dynamic remodeling of scaffold interactions in dendritic spines controls synaptic excitability

2012 ◽  
Vol 198 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enora Moutin ◽  
Fabrice Raynaud ◽  
Jonathan Roger ◽  
Emilie Pellegrino ◽  
Vincent Homburger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Membrane Receptors ◽  
Physical Interaction ◽  
Scaffolding Proteins ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Living Neurons ◽  
Activity Dependent

Scaffolding proteins interact with membrane receptors to control signaling pathways and cellular functions. However, the dynamics and specific roles of interactions between different components of scaffold complexes are poorly understood because of the dearth of methods available to monitor binding interactions. Using a unique combination of single-cell bioluminescence resonance energy transfer imaging in living neurons and electrophysiological recordings, in this paper, we depict the role of glutamate receptor scaffold complex remodeling in space and time to control synaptic transmission. Despite a broad colocalization of the proteins in neurons, we show that spine-confined assembly/disassembly of this scaffold complex, physiologically triggered by sustained activation of synaptic NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) receptors, induces physical association between ionotropic (NMDA) and metabotropic (mGlu5a) synaptic glutamate receptors. This physical interaction results in an mGlu5a receptor–mediated inhibition of NMDA currents, providing an activity-dependent negative feedback loop on NMDA receptor activity. Such protein scaffold remodeling represents a form of homeostatic control of synaptic excitability.

scholarly journals Development of Noonan syndrome by deregulation of allosteric SOS autoactivation

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (39) ◽  
pp. 13651-13663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hope Gloria Umutesi ◽  
Hanh My Hoang ◽  
Hope Elizabeth Johnson ◽  
Kwangho Nam ◽  
Jongyun Heo
Keyword(s):  
Noonan Syndrome ◽  
Genetic Disorder ◽  
Active Form ◽  
The Body ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Allosteric Site ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Son Of Sevenless ◽  
Ras Family

Ras family proteins play an essential role in several cellular functions, including growth, differentiation, and survival. The mechanism of action of Ras mutants in Costello syndrome and cancers has been identified, but the contribution of Ras mutants to Noonan syndrome, a genetic disorder that prevents normal development in various parts of the body, is unknown. Son of Sevenless (SOS) is a Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor. In response to Ras-activating cell signaling, SOS autoinhibition is released and is followed by accelerative allosteric feedback autoactivation. Here, using mutagenesis-based kinetic and pulldown analyses, we show that Noonan syndrome Ras mutants I24N, T50I, V152G, and D153V deregulate the autoactivation of SOS to populate their active form. This previously unknown process has been linked so far only to the development of Noonan syndrome. In contrast, other Noonan syndrome Ras mutants—V14I, T58I, and G60E—populate their active form by deregulation of the previously documented Ras GTPase activities. We propose a novel mechanism responsible for the deregulation of SOS autoactivation, where I24N, T50I, V152G, and D153V Ras mutants evade SOS autoinhibition. Consequently, they are capable of forming a complex with the SOS allosteric site, thus aberrantly promoting SOS autoactivation, resulting in the population of active Ras mutants in cells. The results of this study elucidate the molecular mechanism of the Ras mutant–mediated development of Noonan syndrome.

Integrin-Independent Role of CalDAG-GEFI in Neutrophil Chemotaxis.

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 1266-1266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Carbo ◽  
Tobias Goerge ◽  
Hidenori Hattori ◽  
Daniel Duerschmied ◽  
Stephen M. Cifuni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Neutrophil Migration ◽  
Small Gtpase ◽  
Calcium Flux ◽  
Migration Speed ◽  
Neutrophil Chemotaxis ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Transwell Assay ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor

Abstract Neutrophil chemotaxis and transmigration towards a source of inflammation are two crucial processes for host defense against infection that rely on integrin function. Recently, integrin-independent migration of dendritic cells to the lymph node has been brought to light, although neutrophil migration in the presence of EDTA was reported many years ago. Ca2+ and diacylglycerol-regulated guanine nucleotide exchange factor I (CalDAG-GEFI), is a small signaling protein that plays a key role in the activation of beta-1, beta-2, and beta-3 integrins in platelets and neutrophils by activating the small GTPase Rap1. We explored the role of CalDAG-GEFI in integrin-independent chemotaxis in neutrophils. Here we report that CalDAG-GEFI−/− neutrophils have impaired chemotaxis that is independent of integrin function. In a chemotaxis transwell assay towards LTB4 and in the presence of 10mM EDTA, CalDAG-GEFI−/− neutrophils had a 50% reduction in transmigration over 60 minutes compared to wild-type (WT) neutrophils (p<0.05). In separate experiments we confirmed that the transwell assay is independent of integrins using either CD18−/− neutrophils or WT neutrophils plus a blocking anti-CD18 monoclonal antibody. We previously showed that LTB4 signaling upstream of CalDAG-GEFI was not affected in CalDAG-GEFI−/− neutrophils, as assessed by intracellular calcium flux measurements. Using videomicroscopy to visualize the live migrating neutrophils in a horizontal plate in the presence of 10mM EDTA, we found that the reason CalDAG-GEFI−/− neutrophils fail to reach the chemotactic stimulus (10 pg/mL LTB4) is because they have a significantly reduced migration speed compared to WT neutrophils (16 um/sec vs. 23 um/sec, p<0.05), and also because they have an abnormal chemotactic directionality, with a directionality index (the distance between the start and finish points of a migrating neutrophil/total distance covered by the migrating neutrophil) of 0.84 vs 0.94 in WT neutrophils, p<0.05. We investigated whether the observed differences in chemotaxis between CalDAG-GEFI−/− and WT neutrophils could be explained by differences in F-actin polymerization. Using fluorescence microscopy, we found that the percentage of CalDAG-GEFI−/− neutrophils with F-actin pseudopodia after LTB4 stimulation was significantly lower compared to WT neutrophils (22% vs. 56.7%, p<0.05), suggesting that CalDAG-GEFI−/− neutrophils have a defect in F-actin polymerization. Overall, our studies suggest that CalDAG-GEFI plays a role in the mechanisms that regulate both the migration speed and direction of neutrophils during chemotaxis, independent of its established role in integrin activation.

scholarly journals A GAP that Divides

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angika Basant ◽  
Michael Glotzer
Keyword(s):  
Small Gtpase ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Rhoa Activation ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Parallel Pathway ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes

Cytokinesis in metazoan cells is mediated by an actomyosin-based contractile ring that assembles in response to activation of the small GTPase RhoA. The guanine nucleotide exchange factor that activates RhoA during cytokinesis, ECT-2, is highly regulated. In most metazoan cells, with the notable exception of the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo, RhoA activation and furrow ingression require the centralspindlin complex. This exception is due to the existence of a parallel pathway for RhoA activation in C. elegans. Centralspindlin contains CYK-4 which contains a predicted Rho family GTPase-activating protein (GAP) domain. The function of this domain has been the subject of considerable debate. Some publications suggest that the GAP domain promotes RhoA activation (for example, Zhang and Glotzer, 2015; Loria, Longhini and Glotzer, 2012), whereas others suggest that it functions to inactivate the GTPase Rac1 (for example, Zhuravlev et al., 2017). Here, we review the mechanisms underlying RhoA activation during cytokinesis, primarily focusing on data in C. elegans. We highlight the importance of considering the parallel pathway for RhoA activation and detailed analyses of cyk-4 mutant phenotypes when evaluating the role of the GAP domain of CYK-4.

scholarly journals Quantitative FRET Microscopy Reveals a Crucial Role of Cytoskeleton in Promoting PI(4,5)P2 Confinement

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 11727
Author(s):  
Maria J. Sarmento ◽  
Luís Borges-Araújo ◽  
Sandra N. Pinto ◽  
Nuno Bernardes ◽  
Joana C. Ricardo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Hela Cells ◽  
Membrane Trafficking ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Fluorescent Proteins ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Cytoskeleton Organization

Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2) is an essential plasma membrane component involved in several cellular functions, including membrane trafficking and cytoskeleton organization. This function multiplicity is partially achieved through a dynamic spatiotemporal organization of PI(4,5)P2 within the membrane. Here, we use a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) approach to quantitatively assess the extent of PI(4,5)P2 confinement within the plasma membrane. This methodology relies on the rigorous evaluation of the dependence of absolute FRET efficiencies between pleckstrin homology domains (PHPLCδ) fused with fluorescent proteins and their average fluorescence intensity at the membrane. PI(4,5)P2 is found to be significantly compartmentalized at the plasma membrane of HeLa cells, and these clusters are not cholesterol-dependent, suggesting that membrane rafts are not involved in the formation of these nanodomains. On the other hand, upon inhibition of actin polymerization, compartmentalization of PI(4,5)P2 is almost entirely eliminated, showing that the cytoskeleton network is the critical component responsible for the formation of nanoscale PI(4,5)P2 domains in HeLa cells.

The cAMP Sensor Epac2 Is a Direct Target of Antidiabetic Sulfonylurea Drugs

Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 325 (5940) ◽  
pp. 607-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Liang Zhang ◽  
Megumi Katoh ◽  
Tadao Shibasaki ◽  
Kohtaro Minami ◽  
Yasuhiro Sunaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Secretion ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Gut Hormones ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Promising Target ◽  
Guanosine Triphosphatase

Epac2, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the small guanosine triphosphatase Rap1, is activated by adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer and binding experiments revealed that sulfonylureas, widely used antidiabetic drugs, interact directly with Epac2. Sulfonylureas activated Rap1 specifically through Epac2. Sulfonylurea-stimulated insulin secretion was reduced both in vitro and in vivo in mice lacking Epac2, and the glucose-lowering effect of the sulfonylurea tolbutamide was decreased in these mice. Epac2 thus contributes to the effect of sulfonylureas to promote insulin secretion. Because Epac2 is also required for the action of incretins, gut hormones crucial for potentiating insulin secretion, it may be a promising target for antidiabetic drug development.

scholarly journals Direct Spatial Control of Epac1 by Cyclic AMP

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 2521-2531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bas Ponsioen ◽  
Martijn Gloerich ◽  
Laila Ritsma ◽  
Holger Rehmann ◽  
Johannes L. Bos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cell Adhesion ◽  
Cyclic Amp ◽  
Conformational Change ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Cell Junction ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor

ABSTRACT Epac1 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for the small G protein Rap and is directly activated by cyclic AMP (cAMP). Upon cAMP binding, Epac1 undergoes a conformational change that allows the interaction of its GEF domain with Rap, resulting in Rap activation and subsequent downstream effects, including integrin-mediated cell adhesion and cell-cell junction formation. Here, we report that cAMP also induces the translocation of Epac1 toward the plasma membrane. Combining high-resolution confocal fluorescence microscopy with total internal reflection fluorescence and fluorescent resonance energy transfer assays, we observed that Epac1 translocation is a rapid and reversible process. This dynamic redistribution of Epac1 requires both the cAMP-induced conformational change as well as the DEP domain. In line with its translocation, Epac1 activation induces Rap activation predominantly at the plasma membrane. We further show that the translocation of Epac1 enhances its ability to induce Rap-mediated cell adhesion. Thus, the regulation of Epac1-Rap signaling by cAMP includes both the release of Epac1 from autoinhibition and its recruitment to the plasma membrane.

scholarly journals Rab7a and Mitophagosome Formation

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Tan ◽  
Bor Tang
Keyword(s):  
Retrograde Transport ◽  
Small Gtpase ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Autophagosome Formation ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Gtpase Activating Proteins ◽  
Retromer Complex ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor

The small GTPase, Rab7a, and the regulators of its GDP/GTP-binding status were shown to have roles in both endocytic membrane traffic and autophagy. Classically known to regulate endosomal retrograde transport and late endosome-lysosome fusion, earlier work has indicated a role for Rab7a in autophagosome-lysosome fusion as well as autolysosome maturation. However, as suggested by recent findings on PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1)-Parkin-mediated mitophagy, Rab7a and its regulators are critical for the correct targeting of Atg9a-bearing vesicles to effect autophagosome formation around damaged mitochondria. This mitophagosome formation role for Rab7a is dependent on an intact Rab cycling process mediated by the Rab7a-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and GTPase activating proteins (GAPs). Rab7a activity in this regard is also dependent on the retromer complex, as well as phosphorylation by the TRAF family-associated NF-κB activator binding kinase 1 (TBK1). Here, we discuss these recent findings and broadened perspectives on the role of the Rab7a network in PINK1-Parkin mediated mitophagy.

scholarly journals MERLIN: a novel BRET-based proximity biosensor for studying mitochondria–ER contact sites

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e201900600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Hertlein ◽  
Hector Flores-Romero ◽  
Kushal K Das ◽  
Sebastian Fischer ◽  
Michael Heunemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dynamics ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Contact Site ◽  
Contact Sites ◽  
Spatiotemporal Regulation

The contacts between the ER and mitochondria play a key role in cellular functions such as the exchange of lipids and calcium between both organelles, as well as in apoptosis and autophagy signaling. The molecular architecture and spatiotemporal regulation of these distinct contact regions remain obscure and there is a need for new tools that enable tackling these questions. Here, we present a new bioluminescence resonance energy transfer–based biosensor for the quantitative analysis of distances between the ER and mitochondria that we call MERLIN (Mitochondria–ER Length Indicator Nanosensor). The main advantages of MERLIN compared with available alternatives are that it does not rely on the formation of artificial physical links between the two organelles, which could lead to artifacts, and that it allows to study contact site reversibility and dynamics. We show the applicability of MERLIN by characterizing the role of the mitochondrial dynamics machinery on the contacts of this organelle with the ER.

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