scholarly journals YsxC, a Putative GTP-Binding Protein Essential for Growth of Bacillus subtilis 168

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (23) ◽  
pp. 6819-6823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Prágai ◽  
Colin R. Harwood

ABSTRACT YsxC is a member of a family of GTP-binding proteins carried by a diverse range of organisms from bacteria to yeasts, plants, and humans. To resolve the issue of whether ysxC of Bacillus subtilis is essential for growth, we attempted to construct mutants in which ysxC was either inactivated or placed under the control of an inducible promoter. Viable mutants were obtained only in the latter case, and these were inducer dependent, demonstrating unambiguously that ysxC is an essential gene.

1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (09) ◽  
pp. 1177-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert de Leeuw ◽  
Pauline Wijers-Koster ◽  
Jan van Mourik ◽  
Jan Voorberg

SummaryIn endothelial cells von Willebrand factor (vWF) and P-selectin are stored in dense granules, so-called Weibel-Palade bodies. Upon stimulation of endothelial cells with a variety of agents including thrombin, these organelles fuse with the plasma membrane and release their content. Small GTP-binding proteins have been shown to control release from intracellular storage pools in a number of cells. In this study we have investigated whether small GTP-binding proteins are associated with Weibel-Palade bodies. We isolated Weibel-Palade bodies by centrifugation on two consecutive density gradients of Percoll. The dense fraction in which these subcellular organelles were highly enriched, was analysed by SDS-PAGE followed by GTP overlay. A distinct band with an apparent molecular weight of 28,000 was observed. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by GTP overlay revealed the presence of a single small GTP-binding protein with an isoelectric point of 7.1. A monoclonal antibody directed against RalA showed reactivity with the small GTP-binding protein present in subcellular fractions that contain Weibel-Palade bodies. The small GTPase RalA was previously identified on dense granules of platelets and on synaptic vesicles in nerve terminals. Our observations suggest that RalA serves a role in regulated exocytosis of Weibel-Palade bodies in endothelial cells.


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (04) ◽  
pp. 832-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Fischer ◽  
Christina Duffy ◽  
Gilbert White

SummaryPlatelet membrane glycoproteins (GP) IIb/IIIa and rap1b, a 21 kDa GTP binding protein, associate with the triton-insoluble, activation-dependent platelet cytoskeleton with similar rates and divalent cation requirement. To examine the possibility that GPIIb/IIIa was required for rap1b association with the cytoskeleton, experiments were performed to determine if the two proteins were linked under various conditions. Chromatography of lysates from resting platelets on Sephacryl S-300 showed that GPIIb/IIIa and rap1b were well separated and distinct proteins. Immunoprecipitation of GPIIb/IIIa from lysates of resting platelets did not produce rap1b or other low molecular weight GTP binding proteins and immunoprecipitation of rap1b from lysates of resting platelets did not produce GPIIb/IIIa. Finally, rap1b was associated with the activation-dependent cytoskeleton of platelets from a patient with Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia who lacks surface expressed glycoproteins IIb and IIIa. Based on these findings, we conclude that no association between GPIIb/IIIa and rap1b is found in resting platelets and that rap1b association with the activation-dependent cytoskeleton is at least partly independent of GPIIb/IIIa.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo G Lapetina

It is now widely recognized that the activation of phospholipase C by specific agonists leads to the formation of two second messengers: (1) inositol trisphosphate, which releases Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cytosol and (2) 1,2- diacylglycerol, which stimulates protein kinase C. In the past few years, GTP-binding proteins have been associated with the regulation of phospholipase C. However, the identity of the GTP-binding protein involved and the type of association with phospholipase C is not yet known. It is now recognized that there are two types of phospholipase C enzymes: (a) a soluble enzyme that has been characterized in several tissues and does not preferentially hydrolyze polyphospholinositides and (b) membrane-bound enzymes that are coupled to the receptors, specifically hydrolyzing polyphosphoinositides and activated by membrane guanine nucleotide-binding proteins. Recent reports have tried to assess the involvement of GTP-binding proteins in the agonist-induced stimulation of phospholipase C, and various related aspects have been reported. These are concerned with: (a) detection of various GTP-binding proteins in platelets, (b) the effects of known inhibitors of GTP-binding proteins such as GDPgS or pertussis toxin on the agonist-induced stimulation of phospholipase C, (c) the direct effects of stimulators of GTP-binding proteins such as GTP, GTP-analogs and fluoride on phospholipase C activity, (d) the possible association of GTP-binding proteins to cytosolic phospholipase C that would then lead to degradation of the membrane-bound inositides and (e) cytosolic phospholipase C response to the activation of cell surface receptors. The emerging information has had contradictory conclusions. (1) Pretreatment of saponin-permeabilized platelets with pertussis toxin has been shown to enhance and to inhibit the thrombin-induced activation of phospholipase C. Therefore, it is not clear if a G protein that is affected by pertussis toxin in a manner similar to Gi or Go plays a central role in activation of phospholipase C. (2) Studies on the effect of GDPβ;S are also conflicting indicating that there may be GTP-independent and/or -dependent pathways for the activation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis. (3) A cytosolic phospholipase C is activated by GTP, and it has been advanced that this activity might trigger the hydrolysis of membrane-bound inositides. A cytosolic GTP-binding protein might be involved in this action, and it is speculated that an α-subunit might be released to the cytoplasm by a receptor-coupled mechanism to activate phospholipase C. However, no direct evidence exists to support this conclusion. Moreover, the exact contribution of phospholipase C from the membranes or the cytosol to inositide hydrolysis in response to cellular agonists and the relationship of those activites to membrane-bound or soluble GTP-binding proteins are unknown. Our results indicate that the stimulation of phospholipase C in platelets by GDPβS and thrombin are affected differently by GDPβS. GDPgSinhibits the formation of inositol phosphates produced by GTPγS but not that induced by thrombin. Thrombin, therefore, can directly stimulate phospholipase C without the involvement of a “stimulatory” GTP-binding protein, such as Gs, for the agonist stimulation of adenylate cyclase. However, an “inhibitory” GTP-binding protein might have some influence on thrombin-stimulated phospholipase C, since in the presence of GDPγS thrombin produces a more profound stimulation of phospholipase C.This “inhibitory” GTP-binding protein might be ADP-ribosylated by pertussis toxin because pertussis toxin can also enhance thrombin action on phospholipase C activity. Therefore, phospholipase C that responds to thrombin could be different from the one that responds to GTPγS. Cytosolic phospholipase C can be activated by GTP or GTP analogs, and the one that responds to thrombin should be coupled to the receptors present in the plasma membrane. The initial action of thrombin is to directly activate the plasma membrane-bound phospholipase C and the mechanism of this activation is probably related to the proteolytic action of thrombin or the activation of platelet proteases by thrombin. In agreement with this, trypsin can also directly activate platelet phospholipase C and, subsequently, GTPyS produces further activation of phospholipase C. If these two mechanisms are operative in platelets, the inhibition of cytosolic phospholipase C by GDPβS would allow a larger fraction of inositides for degradation of the thrombin-stimulated phospholipase C, as our results show.


1996 ◽  
Vol 317 (2) ◽  
pp. 475-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taro OKADA ◽  
Osamu HAZEKI ◽  
Michio UI ◽  
Toshiaki KATADA

Stimulation of differentiated THP-1 cells by insulin led to rapid accumulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, a product of PtdIns 3-kinase. Stimulation of the GTP-binding-protein-linked receptor by N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) also induced the accumulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 in the cells. The effect of insulin was, while that of fMLP was not, accompanied by increased PtdIns 3-kinase activity in the anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitate. The combination of insulin and fMLP induced more PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 production than the sum of the individual effects. The insulin-induced recruitment of PtdIns 3-kinase activity in the anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitate was unaffected by the combined treatment with fMLP. To investigate the mechanism underlying the synergistic accumulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, we separated the cytosolic proteins of THP-1 cells on a Mono Q column. PtdIns 3-kinase activities were eluted in two peaks, and one of the peaks markedly increased on the addition of βγ-subunits of GTP-binding proteins (Gβγ). The other peak was affected only slightly by Gβγ, but was synergistically increased by Gβγ and a tyrosine-phosphorylated peptide which was synthesized according to the amino acid sequence of insulin receptor substrate-1. The activity in the latter fraction was completely immunoprecipitated by an antibody against the regulatory subunit of PtdIns 3-kinase (p85). These results suggest that the conventional PtdIns 3-kinase (p85/p110), which has been implicated in insulin-induced cellular events, or a closely related isoenzyme is controlled by a combination of a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein and a GTP-binding protein in intact cells.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo G Lapetina ◽  
Bryan R Reep ◽  
Luis Molina Y Vedia

We have assessed the binding of (α-32P)GTP to platelet proteins from cytosolic and membrane fractions. Proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and electrophoretically transferred to nitrocellulose. Incubation of the nitrocellulose blots with (α-32p)GTP indicated the presence of specific and distinct GTP-binding proteins in cytosol and membranes. Binding was prevented by 10-100 nM GTP or GTPyS and by 100 nM GDP; binding was unaffected by 1 nM-1 μM ATP. One main GTP-binding protein (29.5 KDa) was detected in the membrane fraction while three others (29, 27, and 21 KDa) were detected in the soluble fraction. Two cytosolic GTP-binding proteins (29 and 27 KDa) were degraded by trypsin; another cytosolic protein (21 KDa) and the membrane-bound protein (29.5 KDa) were resistant to the action of trypsin. Treatment of intact platelets with trypsin or thrombin, followed by lysis and fractionation, did not affect the binding of (α-32P)GTP to the membrane-bound protein. GTPyS still stimulates phospholipase C in permeabilized platelets already preincubated with trypsin. This suggests that trypsin-resistant GTP-binding proteins might regulate phospholipase C stimulated by GTPyS. We have started to purify the membrane-bound, trypsin-resistant, GTP-binding protein. Purification includes 1 M NaCl extraction and the use of an FPLC system with successive phenyl superose and superose 12 columns.


2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (20) ◽  
pp. 6625-6635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shrin Kuo ◽  
Borries Demeler ◽  
W. G. Haldenwang

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis Obg is a ribosome-associating GTP binding protein that is needed for growth, sporulation, and induction of the bacterium's general stress regulon (GSR). It is unclear whether the roles of Obg in sporulation and stress responsiveness are direct or a secondary effect of its growth-promoting functions. The present work addresses this question by an analysis of two obg alleles whose phenotypes argue for direct roles for Obg in each process. The first allele [obg(G92D)] encodes a missense change in the protein's highly conserved “obg fold” region. This mutation impairs cell growth and the ability of Obg to associate with ribosomes but fails to block sporulation or the induction of the GSR. The second obg mutation [obg(Δ22)] replaces the 22-amino-acid carboxy-terminal sequence of Obg with an alternative 26-amino-acid sequence. This Obg variant cofractionates with ribosomes and allows normal growth but blocks sporulation and impairs the induction of the GSR. Additional experiments revealed that the block on sporulation occurs early, preventing the activation of the essential sporulation transcription factor Spo0A, while inhibition of the GSR appears to involve a failure of the protein cascade that normally activates the GSR to effectively catalyze the reactions needed to activate the GSR transcription factor (σB).


Blood ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
BA Miller ◽  
K Foster ◽  
JD Robishaw ◽  
CF Whitfield ◽  
L Bell ◽  
...  

Abstract Human progenitor-derived erythroblasts have been recently shown to respond to erythropoietin (Epo) with an increase in intracellular free calcium concentration [Cac]. To explore the role of guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins in mediating the rise in [Cac], single day 10 erythroid burst forming unit (BFU-E)-derived erythroblasts loaded with Fura-2 were pretreated with pertussis toxin (PT), stimulated with Epo, and [Cac] measured over 18 minutes with fluorescence microscopy coupled to digital video imaging. The [Cac] increase in day 10 erythroblasts stimulated with Epo was blocked by pretreatment with PT in a dose-dependent manner but not by heat- inactivated PT. These observations provided strong evidence that a PT- sensitive GTP-binding protein is involved. To further characterize the GTP-binding protein, day 10 erythroblast membrane preparations were solubilized, electrophoresed, and immunoblotted with antibodies specific for the known PT-sensitive G-protein subunits: the three subtypes of Gia (1,2, and 3) and Goa, Gia1 or Gia3 and Gia2 were identified but no Goa was found. To examine the influence of Epo on adenylate cyclase activity, day 10 erythroblasts were initially treated with Epo, isolated membrane preparations made, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production by adenylate cyclase in membrane preparations in the presence of theophylline measured. Epo did not inhibit but significantly stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. However, the mechanism of increase of [Cac] appears to be independent of adenylate cyclase stimulation because treatment of erythroblasts with the cell-permeant dibutyryl cAMP failed to increase [Cac]. In summary, pertussis toxin blocks the increase in [Cac] in erythroblasts after Epo stimulation suggesting that this response is mediated through a pertussis toxin-sensitive GTP-binding protein. Candidate PT-sensitive GTP-binding proteins identified on day 10 erythroblasts were Gia 1, 2, or 3, but not Goa.


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (3) ◽  
pp. F347-F352
Author(s):  
C. P. Thomas ◽  
M. Kester ◽  
M. J. Dunn

The mechanisms of stimulation of phospholipase C (PLC) by endothelin, specifically the role of guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (GTP-binding proteins) in coupling the endothelin receptor to PLC, were investigated in rat mesangial cells. Endothelin-1 (ET) synergistically released inositol polyphosphates in the presence of the stimulatory GTP analogue guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) in permeabilized cells. In addition, in intact cells, pertussis toxin partially inhibited the stimulation of total inositol phosphates (IPn) by ET. Pertussis toxin also reduced the peak ET-stimulated intracellular free calcium level ([Ca2+]i) in these cells, both in the presence and absence of extracellular calcium. Pertussis toxin induced ADP ribosylation of a 41- to 43-kDa protein in mesangial cell membranes, and this effect was inhibited by prior exposure to ET and augmented by the inhibitory GDP analogue, guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP beta S). Thus a pertussis toxin-sensitive GTP-binding protein is involved in the activation of PLC by ET in glomerular mesangial cells.


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