scholarly journals Alteration of CFTR transmembrane span integration by disease-causing mutations

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (23) ◽  
pp. 4461-4471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna E. Patrick ◽  
Andrey L. Karamyshev ◽  
Linda Millen ◽  
Philip J. Thomas

Many missense mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein (CFTR) result in its misfolding, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) accumulation, and, thus, cystic fibrosis. A number of these mutations are located in the predicted CFTR transmembrane (TM) spans and have been projected to alter span integration. However, the boundaries of the spans have not been precisely defined experimentally. In this study, the ER luminal integration profiles of TM1 and TM2 were determined using the ER glycosylation machinery, and the effects of the CF-causing mutations G85E and G91R thereon were assessed. The mutations either destabilize the integrated conformation or alter the TM1 ER integration profile. G85E misfolding is based in TM1 destabilization by glutamic acid and loss of glycine and correlates with the temperature-insensitive ER accumulation of immature full-length CFTR harboring the mutation. By contrast, temperature-dependent misfolding owing to the G91R mutation depends on the introduction of the basic side chain rather than the loss of the glycine. This work demonstrates that CF-causing mutations predicted to have similar effects on CFTR structure actually result in disparate molecular perturbations that underlie ER accumulation and the pathology of CF.

2008 ◽  
Vol 413 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tip W. Loo ◽  
M. Claire Bartlett ◽  
David M. Clarke

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is most commonly caused by deletion of a residue (ΔF508) in the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) protein. The misfolded mutant protein is retained in the ER (endoplasmic reticulum) and is not trafficked to the cell surface (misprocessed mutant). Corrector molecules such as corr-2b or corr-4a are small molecules that increase the amount of functional CFTR at the cell surface. Correctors may function by stabilizing CFTR at the cell surface or by promoting folding in the ER. To test whether correctors promoted folding of CFTR in the ER, we constructed double-cysteine CFTR mutants that would be retained in the ER and only undergo cross-linking when the protein folds into a native structure. The mature form, but not the immature forms, of M348C(TM6)/T1142C(TM12) (where TM is transmembrane segment), T351C(TM6)/T1142C(TM12) and W356C(TM6)/W1145C(TM12) mutants were efficiently cross-linked. Mutations to the COPII (coatamer protein II) exit motif (Y563KDAD567) were then made in the cross-linkable cysteine mutants to prevent the mutant proteins from leaving the ER. Membranes were prepared from the mutants expressed in the absence or presence of correctors and subjected to disulfide cross-linking analysis. The presence of correctors promoted folding of the mutants as the efficiency of cross-linking increased from approx. 2–5% to 22–35%. The results suggest that correctors interact with CFTR in the ER to promote folding of the protein into a native structure.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsukasa Okiyoneda ◽  
Kazutsune Harada ◽  
Motohiro Takeya ◽  
Kaori Yamahira ◽  
Ikuo Wada ◽  
...  

The most common cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutant in cystic fibrosis patients, ΔF508 CFTR, is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is consequently degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway known as ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Because the prolonged interaction of ΔF508 CFTR with calnexin, an ER chaperone, results in the ERAD of ΔF508 CFTR, calnexin seems to lead it to the ERAD pathway. However, the role of calnexin in the ERAD is controversial. In this study, we found that calnexin overexpression partially attenuated the ERAD of ΔF508 CFTR. We observed the formation of concentric membranous bodies in the ER upon calnexin overexpression and that the ΔF508 CFTR but not the wild-type CFTR was retained in the concentric membranous bodies. Furthermore, we observed that calnexin overexpression moderately inhibited the formation of aggresomes accumulating the ubiquitinated ΔF508 CFTR. These findings suggest that the overexpression of calnexin may be able to create a pool of ΔF508 CFTR in the ER.


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