Functional Dissection of the Proton Pumping Modules of Mitochondrial Complex I

A catalytically active subcomplex of respiratory chain complex I lacks 14 of its 42 subunits yet retains half of its proton-pumping capacity, indicating that its membrane arm has two pump modules

The serine/threonine kinase Stk and the phosphatase Stp regulate cell wall synthesis in Staphylococcus aureus

The cell wall synthesis pathway producing peptidoglycan is a highly coordinated and tightly regulated process. Although the major components of bacterial cell walls have been known for decades, the complex regulatory network controlling peptidoglycan synthesis and many details of the cell division machinery are not well understood. The eukaryotic-like serine/threonine kinase Stk and the cognate phosphatase Stp play an important role in cell wall biosynthesis and drug resistance in S. aureus. We show that stp deletion has a pronounced impact on cell wall synthesis. Deletion of stp leads to a thicker cell wall and decreases susceptibility to lysostaphin. Stationary phase Δstp cells accumulate peptidoglycan precursors and incorporate higher amounts of incomplete muropeptides with non-glycine, monoglycine and monoalanine interpeptide bridges into the cell wall. In line with this cell wall phenotype, we demonstrate that the lipid II:glycine glycyltransferase FemX can be phosphorylated by the Ser/Thr kinase Stk in vitro. Mass spectrometric analyses identify Thr32, Thr36 and Ser415 as phosphoacceptors. The cognate phosphatase Stp dephosphorylates these phosphorylation sites. Moreover, Stk interacts with FemA and FemB, but is unable to phosphorylate them. Our data indicate that Stk and Stp modulate cell wall synthesis and cell division at several levels

Rab7-a novel redox target that modulates inflammatory pain processing.

Chronic pain is accompanied by production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in various cells that are important for nociceptive processing. Recent data indicate that ROS can trigger specific redox-dependent signaling processes, but the molecular targets of ROS signaling in the nociceptive system remain largely elusive. Here, we performed a proteome screen for pain-dependent redox regulation using an OxICAT approach, thereby identifying the small GTPase Rab7 as a redox-modified target during inflammatory pain in mice. Prevention of Rab7 oxidation by replacement of the redox-sensing thiols modulates its GTPase activity. Immunofluorescence studies revealed Rab7 expression to be enriched in central terminals of sensory neurons. Knockout mice lacking Rab7 in sensory neurons showed normal responses to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli; however, their pain behavior during inflammatory pain and in response to ROS donors was reduced. The data suggest that redox-dependent changes in Rab7 activity modulate inflammatory pain sensitivity

Complexome profiling identifies TMEM126B as a component of the mitochondrial complex I assembly complex

Item does not contain fulltextMacromolecular complexes are essential players in numerous biological processes. They are often large, dynamic, and rather labile; approaches to study them are scarce. Covering masses up to approximately 30 MDa, we separated the native complexome of rat heart mitochondria by blue-native and large-pore blue-native gel electrophoresis to analyze its constituents by mass spectrometry. Similarities in migration patterns allowed hierarchical clustering into interaction profiles representing a comprehensive analysis of soluble and membrane-bound complexes of an entire organelle. The power of this bottom-up approach was validated with well-characterized mitochondrial multiprotein complexes. TMEM126B was found to comigrate with known assembly factors of mitochondrial complex I, namely CIA30, Ecsit, and Acad9. We propose terming this complex mitochondrial complex I assembly (MCIA) complex. Furthermore, we demonstrate that TMEM126B is required for assembly of complex I. In summary, complexome profiling is a powerful and unbiased technique allowing the identification of previously overlooked components of large multiprotein complexes