scholarly journals An ER translocon for multi-pass membrane protein biogenesis

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip T McGilvray ◽  
S Andrei Anghel ◽  
Arunkumar Sundaram ◽  
Frank Zhong ◽  
Michael J Trnka ◽  
...  

Membrane proteins with multiple transmembrane domains play critical roles in cell physiology, but little is known about the machinery coordinating their biogenesis at the endoplasmic reticulum. Here we describe a ~ 360 kDa ribosome-associated complex comprising the core Sec61 channel and five accessory factors: TMCO1, CCDC47 and the Nicalin-TMEM147-NOMO complex. Cryo-electron microscopy reveals a large assembly at the ribosome exit tunnel organized around a central membrane cavity. Similar to protein-conducting channels that facilitate movement of transmembrane segments, cytosolic and luminal funnels in TMCO1 and TMEM147, respectively, suggest routes into the central membrane cavity. High-throughput mRNA sequencing shows selective translocon engagement with hundreds of different multi-pass membrane proteins. Consistent with a role in multi-pass membrane protein biogenesis, cells lacking different accessory components show reduced levels of one such client, the glutamate transporter EAAT1. These results identify a new human translocon and provide a molecular framework for understanding its role in multi-pass membrane protein biogenesis.

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Ekaitz Errasti-Murugarren ◽  
Paola Bartoccioni ◽  
Manuel Palacín

Accounting for nearly two-thirds of known druggable targets, membrane proteins are highly relevant for cell physiology and pharmacology. In this regard, the structural determination of pharmacologically relevant targets would facilitate the intelligent design of new drugs. The structural biology of membrane proteins is a field experiencing significant growth as a result of the development of new strategies for structure determination. However, membrane protein preparation for structural studies continues to be a limiting step in many cases due to the inherent instability of these molecules in non-native membrane environments. This review describes the approaches that have been developed to improve membrane protein stability. Membrane protein mutagenesis, detergent selection, lipid membrane mimics, antibodies, and ligands are described in this review as approaches to facilitate the production of purified and stable membrane proteins of interest for structural and functional studies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (38) ◽  
pp. 10559-10564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Öjemalm ◽  
Takashi Higuchi ◽  
Patricia Lara ◽  
Erik Lindahl ◽  
Hiroaki Suga ◽  
...  

Cotranslational translocon-mediated insertion of membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum is a key process in membrane protein biogenesis. Although the mechanism is understood in outline, quantitative data on the energetics of the process is scarce. Here, we have measured the effect on membrane integration efficiency of nonproteinogenic analogs of the positively charged amino acids arginine and lysine incorporated into model transmembrane segments. We provide estimates of the influence on the apparent free energy of membrane integration (ΔGapp) of “snorkeling” of charged amino acids toward the lipid–water interface, and of charge neutralization. We further determine the effect of fluorine atoms and backbone hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) on ΔGapp. These results help establish a quantitative basis for our understanding of membrane protein assembly in eukaryotic cells.


1996 ◽  
Vol 318 (2) ◽  
pp. 645-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Y TAM ◽  
Carolina LANDOLT-MARTICORENA ◽  
Reinhart A. F. REITHMEIER

N-glycosylated sites in polytopic membrane proteins are usually localized to single extracytosolic (EC) loops containing more than 30 residues [Landolt-Marticorena and Reithmeier (1994) Biochem. J. 302, 253–260]. This may be due to a biosynthetic restriction whereby only a single loop of nascent polypeptide is available to the oligosaccharyl transferase in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. To test this hypothesis, two types of N-glycosylation mutants were constructed using Band 3, a polytopic membrane protein that contains up to 14 transmembrane segments and a single endogenous site of N-glycosylation at Asn-642 in EC loop 4. In the first set of mutants, an additional N-glycosylation acceptor site (Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr) was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis in EC loop 3, with or without retention of the endogenous site. In the second set of mutants, EC loop 4 was duplicated and inserted into EC loop 2, again with or without retention of the endogenous site. Cell-free translation experiments using reticulocyte lysates showed that microsomes were able to N-glycosylate multiple EC loops in these Band 3 mutants. The acceptor site in EC loop 3 was poorly N-glycosylated, probably due to the suboptimal size (25 residues) of this EC loop. The localization of N-glycosylation sites to single EC loops in multi-span membrane proteins is probably due to the absence of suitably positioned acceptor sites on multiple loops.


eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Angiulli ◽  
Harveer Singh Dhupar ◽  
Hiroshi Suzuki ◽  
Irvinder Singh Wason ◽  
Franck Duong Van Hoa ◽  
...  

Previously we introduced peptidiscs as an alternative to detergents to stabilize membrane proteins in solution (Carlson et al., 2018). Here, we present ‘on-gradient’ reconstitution, a new gentle approach for the reconstitution of labile membrane-protein complexes, and used it to reconstitute Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction center complexes, demonstrating that peptidiscs can adapt to transmembrane domains of very different sizes and shapes. Using the conventional ‘on-bead’ approach, we reconstituted Escherichia coli proteins MsbA and MscS and find that peptidiscs stabilize them in their native conformation and allow for high-resolution structure determination by cryo-electron microscopy. The structures reveal that peptidisc peptides can arrange around transmembrane proteins differently, thus revealing the structural basis for why peptidiscs can stabilize such a large variety of membrane proteins. Together, our results establish the gentle and easy-to-use peptidiscs as a potentially universal alternative to detergents as a means to stabilize membrane proteins in solution for structural and functional studies.


2009 ◽  
Vol 185 (5) ◽  
pp. 889-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin R. Pool

Membrane protein integration occurs predominantly at the endoplasmic reticulum and is mediated by the translocon, which is formed by the Sec61p complex. The translocon binds to the ribosome at the polypeptide exit site such that integration occurs in a cotranslational manner. Ribosomal protein Rpl17 is positioned such that it contacts both the ribosome exit tunnel and the surface of the ribosome near the exit site, where it is intimately associated with the translocon. The presence of a trans-membrane (TM) segment inside the ribosomal exit tunnel leads to the recruitment of RAMP4 to the translocon at a site adjacent to Rpl17. This suggests a signaling function for Rpl17 such that it can recognize a TM segment inside the ribosome and triggers rearrangements of the translocon, priming it for subsequent TM segment integration.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Leznicki ◽  
Hayden O. Schneider ◽  
Jada V. Harvey ◽  
Wei Q. Shi ◽  
Stephen High

Membrane proteins destined for lipid droplets (LDs), a major intracellular storage site for neutral lipids, are inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and then trafficked to LDs where they reside in a hairpin loop conformation. Here, we show that LD membrane proteins can be delivered to the ER either co- or post-translationally and that their membrane-embedded region specifies pathway selection. The co-translational route for LD membrane protein biogenesis is insensitive to a small molecule inhibitor of the Sec61 translocon, Ipomoeassin F, and instead relies on the ER membrane protein complex (EMC) for membrane insertion. This route may even result in a transient exposure of the short N-termini of some LD membrane proteins to the ER lumen, followed by putative topological rearrangements that would enable their transmembrane segment to form a hairpin loop and N-termini to face the cytosol. Our study reveals an unexpected complexity to LD membrane protein biogenesis and identifies a role for the EMC during their co-translational insertion into the ER.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abid Javed ◽  
Tomasz Wlodarski ◽  
Anaïs. M.E. Cassaignau ◽  
Lisa D. Cabrita ◽  
John Christodoulou ◽  
...  

Ribosomes maintain a healthy cellular proteome by synthesising proteins. The nascent chain (NC), emerges into the cellular milieu via the ribosomal exit tunnel, which is an active component that regulates the NC passage. How the NC dynamics at the exit tunnel affect NC folding remains to be an important question, the answer on which has strong implications to medicine. Here, we report high-resolution cryo-EM maps of ribosome nascent-chain complexes (RNCs) displaying distinct steps during biosynthesis. These RNC structures reveal a range of pathways adopted by the NC. The most pronounced diversity in the NC trajectories were found in the vestibule region. Rearrangements of several ribosomal components further suggest that these elements may actively monitor the emerging NC during translation. The ribosome-NC contacts within the vestibule define these NC pathways and modulate position of a folded immunoglobulin domain outside the ribosome.


Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana I. Reis ◽  
Isabel Moraes

Membrane proteins play a crucial role in cell physiology by participating in a variety of essential processes such as transport, signal transduction and cell communication. Hence, understanding their structure–function relationship is vital for the improvement of therapeutic treatments. Over the last decade, based on the development of detergents, amphipoles and styrene maleic-acid lipid particles (SMALPs), remarkable accomplishments have been made in the field of membrane protein structural biology. Nevertheless, there are still many drawbacks associated with protein–detergent complexes, depending on the protein in study or experimental application. Recently, newly developed membrane mimetic systems have become very popular for allowing a structural and functional characterisation of membrane proteins in vitro. The nanodisc technology is one such valuable tool, which provides a more native-like membrane environment than detergent micelles or liposomes. In addition, it is also compatible with many biophysical and biochemical methods. Here we describe the use of in situ dynamic light scattering to accurately and rapidly probe membrane proteins’ reconstitution into nanodiscs. The adenosine type 2A receptor (A2AR) was used as a case study.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1420-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Saftig ◽  
Bernd Schröder ◽  
Judith Blanz

Whereas we have a profound understanding about the function and biogenesis of the protein constituents in the lumen of the lysosomal compartment, much less is known about the functions of proteins of the lysosomal membrane. Proteomic analyses of the lysosomal membrane suggest that, apart from the well-known lysosomal membrane proteins, additional and less abundant membrane proteins are present. The identification of disease-causing genes and the in-depth analysis of knockout mice leading to mutated or absent membrane proteins of the lysosomal membrane have demonstrated the essential role of these proteins in lysosomal acidification, transport of metabolites resulting from hydrolytic degradation and interaction and fusion with other cellular membrane systems. In addition, trafficking pathways of lysosomal membrane proteins are closely linked to the biogenesis of this compartment. This is exemplified by the recent finding that LIMP-2 (lysosomal integral membrane protein type-2) is responsible for the mannose 6-phosphate receptor-independent delivery of newly synthesized β-glucocerebrosidase to the lysosome. Similar to LIMP-2, which could also be linked to vesicular transport processes in certain polarized cell types, the major constituents of the lysosomal membrane, the glycoproteins LAMP (lysosome-associated membrane protein)-1 and LAMP-2 are essential for regulation of lysosomal motility and participating in control of membrane fusion events between autophagosomes or phagosomes with late endosomes/lysosomes. Our recent investigations into the role of these proteins have not only increased our understanding of the endolysosomal system, but also supported their major role in cell physiology and the development of different diseases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Leznicki ◽  
Wei Q Shi ◽  
Stephen High

Membrane proteins destined for lipid droplets (LDs), a major intracellular storage site for neutral lipids, are inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and then trafficked to LDs where they reside in a hairpin loop conformation. Here, we show that LD membrane proteins can be delivered to the ER either co- or post-translationally and that their membrane-embedded region specifies pathway selection. The co-translational route for LD membrane protein biogenesis is insensitive to a small molecule inhibitor of the Sec61 translocon, Ipomoeassin F, and instead relies on the ER membrane protein complex (EMC) for membrane insertion. Strikingly, this route can also result in a transient exposure of the short N-termini of LD membrane proteins to the ER lumen, followed by topological rearrangements that enable their transmembrane segment to form a hairpin loop and N-termini to face the cytosol. Our study reveals an unexpected complexity to LD membrane protein biogenesis and identifies a role for the EMC during their co-translational insertion into the ER.


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