The yeast CLC chloride channel is proteolytically processed by the furin-like protease Kex2p in the first extracellular loop

AbstractCLC chloride channels are a family of channel proteins mediating chloride transport across the plasma membrane and intracellular membranes. The single yeast CLC protein Gef1p is localized to the Golgi and endosomal system. Investigating epitope-tagged variants of Gef1p, we found that the channel is proteolytically processed in the secretory pathway. Proteolytic cleavage occurs in the first extracellular loop of the protein at residues KR136/137 and is carried out by the Kex2p protease. Fragments mimicking the N- and C-terminal products of the cleavage reaction are non-functional when expressed alone. However, functional channels can assemble when the two fragments are co-expressed

SEC18/NSF-independent, protein-sorting pathway from the yeast cortical ER to the plasma membrane

Classic studies of temperature-sensitive secretory (sec) mutants have demonstrated that secreted and plasma membrane proteins follow a common SEC pathway via the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, and secretory vesicles to the cell periphery. The yeast protein Ist2p, which is synthesized from a localized mRNA, travels from the ER to the plasma membrane via a novel route that operates independently of the formation of coat protein complex II–coated vesicles. In this study, we show that the COOH-terminal domain of Ist2p is necessary and sufficient to mediate SEC18-independent sorting when it is positioned at the COOH terminus of different integral membrane proteins and exposed to the cytoplasm. This domain functions as a dominant plasma membrane localization determinant that overrides other protein sorting signals. Based on these observations, we suggest a local synthesis of Ist2p at cortical ER sites, from where the protein is sorted by a novel mechanism to the plasma membrane

Novel cargo-binding site in the β and δ subunits of coatomer

Arginine (R)-based ER localization signals are sorting motifs that confer transient ER localization to unassembled subunits of multimeric membrane proteins. The COPI vesicle coat binds R-based signals but the molecular details remain unknown. Here, we use reporter membrane proteins based on the proteolipid Pmp2 fused to GFP and allele swapping of COPI subunits to map the recognition site for R-based signals. We show that two highly conserved stretches—in the β- and δ-COPI subunits—are required to maintain Pmp2GFP reporters exposing R-based signals in the ER. Combining a deletion of 21 residues in δ-COP together with the mutation of three residues in β-COP gave rise to a COPI coat that had lost its ability to recognize R-based signals, whilst the recognition of C-terminal di-lysine signals remained unimpaired. A homology model of the COPI trunk domain illustrates the recognition of R-based signals by COPI

Structures of Get3, Get4, and Get5 Provide New Models for TA Membrane Protein Targeting

The GET pathway, using several proteins (Gets 1–5 and probably Sgt2), posttranslationally conducts tail-anchored (TA) proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). At the ER, TA proteins are inserted into the lipid bilayer and then sorted and directed to their respective destinations in the secretory pathway. Until last year, there was no structural information on any of the GET components but now there are ten crystal structures of Get3 in a variety of nucleotide-bound states and conformations. The structures of Get4 and a portion of Get5 also emerged in 2010. This minireview provides a detailed comparison of the GET structures and discusses their mechanistic relevance to TA protein insertion. It also addresses the outstanding gaps in detailed molecular information on this system, including the structures of Get5, Sgt2, and the transmembrane complex comprising Get1 and Get2

The GET pathway can increase the risk of mitochondrial outer membrane proteins to be mistargeted to the ER

Tail-anchored (TA) proteins are anchored to their corresponding membrane via a single transmembrane segment (TMS) at their C-terminus. In yeast, the targeting of TA proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) can be mediated by the guided entry of TA proteins (GET) pathway, whereas it is not yet clear how mitochondrial TA proteins are targeted to their destination. It is widely observed that some mitochondrial outer membrane (OM) proteins are mistargeted to the ER when overexpressed or when their targeting signal is masked. However, the mechanism of this erroneous sorting is currently unknown. In this study, we demonstrate the involvement of the GET machinery in mistargeting of non-optimal mitochondrial OM proteins to the ER. These findings suggest that the GET machinery can, in principle, recognize and guide mitochondrial and non-canonical TA proteins. Hence, under normal conditions, an active mitochondrial targeting pathway must exist that dominates the kinetic competition against other pathways

Complex consequences of Cantu syndrome SUR2 variant R1154Q in genetically modified mice

Cantu syndrome (CS) is caused by gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in pore-forming (Kir6.1, KCNJ8) and accessory (SUR2, ABCC9) ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel subunits, the most common mutations being SUR2[R1154Q] and SUR2[R1154W], carried by approximately 30% of patients. We used CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering to introduce the equivalent of the human SUR2[R1154Q] mutation into the mouse ABCC9 gene. Along with minimal CS disease features, R1154Q cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle showed much lower KATP current density and pinacidil activation than WT cells. Almost complete loss of SUR2-dependent protein and KATP in homozygous R1154Q ventricles revealed underlying diazoxide-sensitive SUR1-dependent KATP channel activity. Surprisingly, sequencing of SUR2 cDNA revealed 2 distinct transcripts, one encoding full-length SUR2 protein; and the other with an in-frame deletion of 93 bases (corresponding to 31 amino acids encoded by exon 28) that was present in approximately 40% and approximately 90% of transcripts from hetero- and homozygous R1154Q tissues, respectively. Recombinant expression of SUR2A protein lacking exon 28 resulted in nonfunctional channels. CS tissue from SUR2[R1154Q] mice and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived (hiPSC-derived) cardiomyocytes showed only full-length SUR2 transcripts, although further studies will be required in order to fully test whether SUR2[R1154Q] or other CS mutations might result in aberrant splicing and variable expressivity of disease features in human CS