Activation of phospholipase C beta 2 by the alpha and beta gamma subunits of trimeric GTP-binding protein

Cotransfection assays were used to show that the members of the GTP-binding protein Gq class of alpha subunits could activate phospholipase C (PLC) beta 2. Similar experiments also demonstrated that G beta 1 gamma 1, G beta 1 gamma 5, and G beta 2 gamma 5 could activate the beta 2 isoform of PLC but not the beta 1 isoform, while G beta 2 gamma 1 did not activate PLC beta 2. To determine which portions of PLC beta 2 are required for activation by G beta gamma or G alpha, a number of PLC beta 2 deletion mutants and chimeras composed of various portions of PLC beta 1 and PLC beta 2 were prepared. We identified the N-terminal segment of PLC beta 2 with amino acid sequence extending to the end of the Y box as the region required for activation by G beta gamma and the C-terminal region as the segment containing amino acid sequences required for activation by G alpha. Furthermore, we found that coexpression of G alpha 16 and G beta 1 gamma 1 but not G beta 1 gamma 5 in COS-7 cells was able to synergistically activate recombinant PLC beta 2. We suggest that G alpha 16 may act together with free G beta 1 gamma 1 to activate PLC beta 2, while G alpha 16 may form heterotrimeric complexes with G beta 1 gamma 5 and be stabilized in an inactive form. We conclude that the regions of PLC beta 2 required for activation by G beta gamma and G alpha are physically separate and that the nature of the G beta subunit may play a role in determining the relative specificity of the G beta gamma complex for effector activation while the nature of the G gamma subunit isoform may be important for determining the affinity of the G beta gamma complex for specific G alpha proteins

The G alpha q and G alpha 11 proteins couple the thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor to phospholipase C in GH3 rat pituitary cells

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone stimulates the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) in GH3 cell membranes. The stimulation of the phosphoinositide phospholipase C (PI/PLC) activity can be blocked by incubation of GH3 membranes with polyclonal antibodies directed against a peptide derived from the C-terminal region of G alpha q and G alpha 11. Antibodies directed against the C- terminal region of other G alpha-subunits had no detectable effect. The inhibition was specific since addition of the peptide that was used to prepare the antibody completely reversed the inhibition. Further evidence for the coupling of the TRH receptor to G alpha q or G alpha 11 comes from a reconstitution experiment in which human embryonic kidney cells were transiently transfected with cDNAs corresponding to the TRH receptor, G alpha q or G alpha 11. The PIP2 hydrolysis detected with membranes from cells that over-expressed the TRH receptor alone was low, however, co-expression with the G alpha q or G alpha 11 subunits produced a synergistic stimulation of PI-PLC activity. In contrast, co-expression of these alpha-subunits with the M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor induced a weak stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis. The results presented here suggest that the TRH-dependent stimulation of PI-PLC in GH3 cells is mediated through the G-protein alpha- subunits, G alpha q and/or G alpha 11

A segment of the C-terminal half of the G-protein .31 subunit specifies its interaction with the γ4 subunit

The β and γ subunits of the heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding (G protein) act as a dimer and directly regulate various signal transduction pathways. By using cotransfection assays, we tested the ability of several βγ combinations to activate inositol phospholipid-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC)-β2. Our findings indicate that only βγ combinations that form dimers will activate PI-PLC-beta 2. Since G beta 1 interacts with Gγ1, while G beta 2 cannot, chimeras between Gβ1 and Gβ2 were used to identify the regions in beta 1 that determine its specific association with γ1. Our evidence demonstrates that a chimera between β2 and β1 that contains the C-terminal 173 amino acids of beta 1 can interact and activate PI-PLC-β2 with γ1. Chimeras that contain portions of the β1 C-terminal region display a weaker association with γ1. Furthermore, the contribution of each of these regions depends on the sequence context of each chimeric protein. However, the segment between residues 210 and 293 of β1 consistently plays a critical role in specifying association with γ1

Functional Analysis of a Dominant Negative Mutant of Gαi2

The key event in receptor-catalyzed activation of heterotrimeric G proteins is binding of GTP, which leads to subunit dissociation generating GTP-bound alpha subunits and free beta complexes. We have previously identified a mutation that abolished GTP binding in Galpha(o) (S47C) and demonstrated that the mutant retained the ability to bind beta and could act in a dominant negative fashion when expressed in Xenopus oocytes (Slepak, V. Z., Quick, M. W., Aragay, A. M., Davidson, N., Lester, H. A., and Simon, M. I.(1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 21889-21894). In the current work, we investigated the effects of the homologous mutant of Galpha (S48C) upon signaling pathways reconstituted in transiently transfected COS-7 cells. We found that expression of the Galpha S48C mutant prevented stimulation of phospholipase C (PLC) beta2 by free beta subunit complexes. This effect of Galpha(i) S48C was not readily reversible in contrast to the inhibitory effect of wild-type Galpha, which could be reversed upon activation of the cotransfected muscarinic M2 receptor, presumably by release of beta from the G protein heterotrimer. Coexpression of Galpha(i) S48C or the wild-type Galpha also dramatically decreased G-mediated stimulation of PLC by C5a in the cells transfected with cDNAs encoding C5a receptor and Galpha. Activation of PLC via endogenous G(q) or G in the presence of alpha1C adrenergic receptors was similarly attenuated by coexpression of Galpha(i) or Galpha(i) S48C. Pertussis toxin treatment of the transfected cells enhanced the inhibition of the receptor-stimulated PLC by wild-type Galpha(i) subunits but did not influence the effects of the dominant negative mutant. The enhancement of the wild-type Galpha(i) inhibitory effect by pertussis toxin can be explained by stabilization of Galpha(i) binding to beta as a result of ADP-ribosylation, while Galpha(i) S48C mutant binds beta irreversibly even without pertussis toxin treatment. Therefore, a feasible mechanism to rationalize the attenuation of the Galpha and G-mediated activation of PLC by cotransfected Galpha(i) is the competition between Galpha(i) and Galpha or G for the beta complexes, which are necessary for the G protein coupling with receptors. These experiments provide new evidence for the role of beta in the integration of signals controlling phosphoinositide release through different Galpha families

The intercalated BSc (Med) Honours/MB ChB and integrated MB ChB/PhD tracks at the University of Cape Town: Models for a national medical student research training programme

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town is addressing the shortage of clinician-scientists in South Africa by introducing two research training tracks in parallel with the professional MB ChB programme, namely the intercalated BSc (Med) Hons/MB ChB track and the integrated MB ChB/PhD track. The BSc (Med) Hons/MB ChB track is available to MB ChB students who have completed the first two years of study. The track comprises a course in Molecular Medicine given concurrently with the MB ChB third-year curriculum, followed by a BSc (Med) Hons as a ‘year out’ of MB ChB. Subsequently students may enrol into the integrated MB ChB/PhD track that enables them to undertake a PhD concurrently with MB ChB studies, which will be spread over additional years, or alternatively to undertake a PhD after completion of the MB ChB. These tracks, which were launched in 2011, represent an opportunity to train a new cadre of young African clinician-scientists at the undergraduate level.

Exogenous Vimentin Supplementation Transiently Affects Early Steps during HPV16 Pseudovirus Infection

Understanding and modulating the early steps in oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection has great cancer-preventative potential, as this virus is the etiological agent of virtually all cervical cancer cases and is associated with many other anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. Previous work from our laboratory has identified cell-surface-expressed vimentin as a novel HPV16 pseudovirus (HPV16-PsVs)-binding molecule modulating its infectious potential. To further explore its mode of inhibiting HPV16-PsVs internalisation, we supplemented it with exogenous recombinant human vimentin and show that only the globular form of the molecule (as opposed to the filamentous form) inhibited HPV16-PsVs internalisation in vitro. Further, this inhibitory effect was only transient and not sustained over prolonged incubation times, as demonstrated in vitro and in vivo, possibly due to full-entry molecule engagement by the virions once saturation levels have been reached. The vimentin-mediated delay of HPV16-PsVs internalisation could be narrowed down to affecting multiple steps during the virus’ interaction with the host cell and was found to affect both heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG) binding as well as the subsequent entry receptor complex engagement. Interestingly, decreased pseudovirus internalisation (but not infection) in the presence of vimentin was also demonstrated for oncogenic HPV types 18, 31 and 45. Together, these data demonstrate the potential of vimentin as a modulator of HPV infection which can be used as a tool to study early mechanisms in infectious internalisation. However, further refinement is needed with regard to vimentin’s stabilisation and formulation before its development as an alternative prophylactic means

Binding of βγ subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins to the PH domain of Bruton tyrosine kinase

Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk) has been implicated as the defective gene in both human and murine B-cell deficiencies. The identification of molecules that interact with Btk may shed light on critical processes in lymphocyte development. The N-terminal unique region of Btk contains a pleckstrin homology domain. This domain is found in a broad array of signaling molecules and implicated to function in protein-protein interactions. By using an in vitro binding assay and an in vivo competition assay, the pleckstrin homology domain of Btk was shown to interact with the βγ dimer of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins). A highly conserved tryptophan residue in subdomain 6 of the pleckstrin homology domain was shown to play a critical role in the binding. The interaction of Btk with βγ suggests the existence of a unique connection between cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases and G proteins in cellular signal transduction

European-South Africa collaboration on the genetic basis of gonadotropin-releasing hormone deficiency in failure to progress through puberty and infertility

Reproductive capacity, the key element for species survival, depends on a complex organ network involving the hypothalamus, pituitary, gonads, and internal and external genitalia. This system is centrally controlled by incompletely understood neuroendocrine mechanisms integrated at the hypothalamic level, whose elucidation is the research focus. Vertebrate reproduction depends entirely upon the neurosecretion of the decapeptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from less than 4 000 GnRH neurons in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus.http://www.jemdsa.co.za/index.php/JEMDSAhb201