Dimerization of Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Phosphatase alpha in living cells

BACKGROUND: Dimerization is an important regulatory mechanism of single membrane-spanning receptors. For instance, activation of receptor protein-tyrosine kinases (RPTKs) involves dimerization. Structural, functional and biochemical studies suggested that the enzymatic counterparts of RPTKs, the receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs), are inhibited by dimerization, but whether RPTPs actually dimerize in living cells remained to be determined. RESULTS: In order to assess RPTP dimerization, we have assayed Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between chimeric proteins of cyan- and yellow-emitting derivatives of green fluorescent protein, fused to RPTPα, using three different techniques: dual wavelength excitation, spectral imaging and fluorescence lifetime imaging. All three techniques suggested that FRET occurred between RPTPα -CFP and -YFP fusion proteins, and thus that RPTPα dimerized in living cells. RPTPα dimerization was constitutive, extensive and specific. RPTPα dimerization was consistent with cross-linking experiments, using a non-cell-permeable chemical cross-linker. Using a panel of deletion mutants, we found that the transmembrane domain was required and sufficient for dimerization. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate here that RPTPα dimerized constitutively in living cells, which may be mediated by the transmembrane domain, providing strong support for the model that dimerization is involved in regulation of RPTPs

CHEMOTAXONOMIC AND KARYOTAXONOMIC STUDIES ON SOME RHIZOMATOUS SPECIES OF THE GENUS SYMPHYTUM (BORAGINACEAE)

InS. tuberosum subspp.tuberosum andnodosum, S. grandiflorum andS. ibericum the presence of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids lycopsamine, echimidine and symphytine could be demonstrated. The taxonS. tuberosum contains an unknown compound that seems to be specific for this taxon. This compound is not the pyrrolizidine alkaloid anadoline which has previously been reported for this species. It is possibly represented by a peak on GC/MS with a molecular ion peak at m/z 623 (as TMS derivative) and can be used as a chemotaxonomic marker for the speciesS. tuberosum. The pyrrolizidine alkaloid pattern of the two subspecies ofS. tuberosum reinforces the close relationship. Fresh material ofS. tuberosum contained the triterpene isobauerenol, but in herbarium material isobauerenol was lacking. InS. grandiflorum, neither fresh nor dried material contains isobauerenol. In herbarium material ofS. ibericum also no isobauerenol could be found. More extensive chemotaxonomical research is necessary to support the view thatS. abchasicum is more closely related toS. ibericum than toS. grandiflorum

Uniform cAMP Stimulation of Dictyostelium Cells Induces Localized Patches of Signal Transduction and Pseudopodia

The chemoattractant cAMP induces the translocation of cytosolic PH(Crac)-GFP to the plasma membrane. PH(Crac)-GFP is a green fluorescent protein fused to a PH domain that presumably binds to phosphatydylinositol polyphosphates in the membrane. We determined the relative concentration of PH(Crac)-GFP in the cytosol and at different places along the cell boundary. In cells stimulated homogeneously with 1μM cAMP we observed two distinct phases of PH(Crac)-GFP translocation. The first translocation is transient and occurs to nearly the entire boundary of the cell; the response is maximal at 6-8 s after stimulation and disappears after ∼20 s. A second translocation of PH(Crac)-GFP starts after ∼30 s and persists as long as cAMP remains present. Translocation during this second response occurs to small patches with radius of ∼4-5 μm, each covering ∼10% of the cell surface. Membrane patches of PH(Crac)-GFP are both temporally and spatially closely associated with pseudopodia, which are extended at ∼10 s from the area with a PH(Crac)-GFP patch. These signaling patches in pseudopodia of homogeneously stimulated cells resemble the single patch of PH(Crac)-GFP at the leading edge of a cell in a gradient of cAMP, suggesting that PH(Crac)-GFP is a spatial cue for pseudopod formation also in uniform cAMP

In Vivo Imaging of Diacylglycerol at the Cytoplasmic Leaflet of Plant Membranes.

Diacylglycerol (DAG) is an important intermediate in lipid biosynthesis and plays key roles in cell signaling, either as a second messenger itself or as a precursor of phosphatidic acid. Methods to identify distinct DAG pools have proven difficult because biochemical fractionation affects the pools, and concentrations are limiting. Here, we validate the use of a genetically encoded DAG biosensor in living plant cells. The sensor is composed of a fusion between yellow fluorescent protein and the C1a domain of protein kinase C (YFP-C1aPKC) that specifically binds DAG, and was stably expressed in suspension-cultured tobacco BY-2 cells and whole Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Confocal imaging revealed that the majority of the YFP-C1aPKC fluorescence did not locate to membranes but was present in the cytosol and nucleus. Treatment with short-chain DAG or PMA (phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate), a phorbol ester that binds the C1a domain of PKC, caused the recruitment of the biosensor to the plasma membrane. These results indicate that the biosensor works and that the basal DAG concentration in the cytoplasmic leaflet of membranes (i.e. accessible to the biosensor) is in general too low, and confirms that the known pools in plastids, the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria are located at the luminal face of these compartments (i.e. inaccessible to the biosensor). Nevertheless, detailed further analysis of different cells and tissues discovered four novel DAG pools, namely at: (i) the trans-Golgi network; (ii) the cell plate during cytokinesis; (iii) the plasma membrane of root epidermal cells in the transition zone, and (iv) the apex of growing root hairs. The results provide new insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics of DAG in plants and offer a new tool to monitor this in vivo