scholarly journals Crystal and cryo-EM structures of the cytosolic G protein alpha chaperone and guanine nucleotide exchange factor Ric-8A bound to Gαi1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levi J. McClelland ◽  
Kaiming Zhang ◽  
Tung-Chung Mou ◽  
Jake Johnston ◽  
Cindee Yates-Hansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
G Protein ◽  
Domain Architecture ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Chaperone Activity ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Exchange Factor ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor

Ric-8A is a cytosolic Guanine Nucleotide exchange Factor (GEF) that activates heterotrimeric G protein alpha subunits (Gα)1. Ric-8A is essential to life in multicellular eukaryotes by virtue of its chaperone activity that is required for Gα biogenesis and membrane localization2, 3. Ric-8A adopts an armadillo (ARM)/HEAT repeat domain architecture and is structurally unrelated to G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCR)4. Both GEF and chaperone activities are stimulated by Casein Kinase II phosphorylation5. The mechanisms by which Ric-8A catalyzes GDP release and GTP binding to Gα, or exerts chaperone activity are unknown. Here, we report the structure of the nanobody-stabilized complex of nucleotide-free Gαi1 (isoform 1 of Gα family i) and phosphorylated Ric-8A at near atomic resolution by cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography. We find that Ric-8A envelops the GTPase domain of Gα, disrupting all three switch regions that convey Gα nucleotide-binding and signaling activity, and displaces the C-terminal helix and helical domain of Gα. These cooperative interactions dismantle the GDP binding site and promote GDP release, while protecting structural elements of Gα that are dynamic in the nucleotide-free state. The structures also show how in vivo phosphorylation stabilizes Gα-binding elements of Ric-8A, thereby enhancing its GEF and chaperone activities.

scholarly journals The guanine nucleotide exchange factor Ric-8A induces domain separation and Ras domain plasticity in Gαi1

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1404-1409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ned Van Eps ◽  
Celestine J. Thomas ◽  
Wayne L. Hubbell ◽  
Stephen R. Sprang
Keyword(s):  
G Protein ◽  
Bound States ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Nucleotide Binding ◽  
Conformational Ensemble ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Exchange Factor ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor

Heterotrimeric G proteins are activated by exchange of GDP for GTP at the G protein alpha subunit (Gα), most notably by G protein-coupled transmembrane receptors. Ric-8A is a soluble cytoplasmic protein essential for embryonic development that acts as both a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and a chaperone for Gα subunits of the i, q, and 12/13 classes. Previous studies demonstrated that Ric-8A stabilizes a dynamically disordered state of nucleotide-free Gα as the catalytic intermediate for nucleotide exchange, but no information was obtained on the structures involved or the magnitude of the structural fluctuations. In the present study, site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) together with double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy is used to provide global distance constraints that identify discrete members of a conformational ensemble in the Gαi1:Ric-8A complex and the magnitude of structural differences between them. In the complex, the helical and Ras-like nucleotide-binding domains of Gαi1 pivot apart to occupy multiple resolved states with displacements as large as 25 Å. The domain displacement appears to be distinct from that observed in Gαs upon binding of Gs to the β2 adrenergic receptor. Moreover, the Ras-like domain exhibits structural plasticity within and around the nucleotide-binding cavity, and the switch I and switch II regions, which are known to adopt different conformations in the GDP- and GTP-bound states of Gα, undergo structural rearrangements. Collectively, the data show that Ric-8A induces a conformationally heterogeneous state of Gαi and provide insight into the mechanism of action of a nonreceptor Gα GEF.

scholarly journals The Rho-Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Domain of Obscurin Activates RhoA Signaling in Skeletal Muscle

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (17) ◽  
pp. 3905-3917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana L. Ford-Speelman ◽  
Joseph A. Roche ◽  
Amber L. Bowman ◽  
Robert J. Bloch
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Small Gtpases ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Exchange Factor ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor

Obscurin is a large (∼800-kDa), modular protein of striated muscle that concentrates around the M-bands and Z-disks of each sarcomere, where it is well positioned to sense contractile activity. Obscurin contains several signaling domains, including a rho-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (rhoGEF) domain and tandem pleckstrin homology domain, consistent with a role in rho signaling in muscle. We investigated the ability of obscurin's rhoGEF domain to interact with and activate small GTPases. Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches, we found that the rhoGEF domain of obscurin binds selectively to rhoA, and that rhoA colocalizes with obscurin at the M-band in skeletal muscle. Other small GTPases, including rac1 and cdc42, neither associate with the rhoGEF domain of obscurin nor concentrate at the level of the M-bands. Furthermore, overexpression of the rhoGEF domain of obscurin in adult skeletal muscle selectively increases rhoA expression and activity in this tissue. Overexpression of obscurin's rhoGEF domain and its effects on rhoA alter the expression of rho kinase and citron kinase, both of which can be activated by rhoA in other tissues. Injuries to rodent hindlimb muscles caused by large-strain lengthening contractions increases rhoA activity and displaces it from the M-bands to Z-disks, similar to the effects of overexpression of obscurin's rhoGEF domain. Our results suggest that obscurin's rhoGEF domain signals at least in part by inducing rhoA expression and activation, and altering the expression of downstream kinases in vitro and in vivo.

scholarly journals Ric-8B Is a GTP-dependent G Protein αs Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor

2011 ◽  
Vol 286 (22) ◽  
pp. 19932-19942 ◽  
Author(s):  
PuiYee Chan ◽  
Meital Gabay ◽  
Forrest A. Wright ◽  
Gregory G. Tall
Keyword(s):  
G Protein ◽  
Asymmetric Cell Division ◽  
Odorant Receptor ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Exchange Factor ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factor ◽  
Gtpγs Binding

ric-8 (resistance to inhibitors of cholinesterase 8) genes have positive roles in variegated G protein signaling pathways, including Gαq and Gαs regulation of neurotransmission, Gαi-dependent mitotic spindle positioning during (asymmetric) cell division, and Gαolf-dependent odorant receptor signaling. Mammalian Ric-8 activities are partitioned between two genes, ric-8A and ric-8B. Ric-8A is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Gαi/αq/α12/13 subunits. Ric-8B potentiated Gs signaling presumably as a Gαs-class GEF activator, but no demonstration has shown Ric-8B GEF activity. Here, two Ric-8B isoforms were purified and found to be Gα subunit GDP release factor/GEFs. In HeLa cells, full-length Ric-8B (Ric-8BFL) bound endogenously expressed Gαs and lesser amounts of Gαq and Gα13. Ric-8BFL stimulated guanosine 5′-3-O-(thio)triphosphate (GTPγS) binding to these subunits and Gαolf, whereas the Ric-8BΔ9 isoform stimulated Gαs short GTPγS binding only. Michaelis-Menten experiments showed that Ric-8BFL elevated the Vmax of Gαs steady state GTP hydrolysis and the apparent Km values of GTP binding to Gαs from ∼385 nm to an estimated value of ∼42 μm. Directionality of the Ric-8BFL-catalyzed Gαs exchange reaction was GTP-dependent. At sub-Km GTP, Ric-BFL was inhibitory to exchange despite being a rapid GDP release accelerator. Ric-8BFL binds nucleotide-free Gαs tightly, and near-Km GTP levels were required to dissociate the Ric-8B·Gα nucleotide-free intermediate to release free Ric-8B and Gα-GTP. Ric-8BFL-catalyzed nucleotide exchange probably proceeds in the forward direction to produce Gα-GTP in cells.

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