A role for clathrin in the sorting of vacuolar proteins in the Golgi complex of yeast.

We have investigated the role of clathrin in vacuolar protein sorting using yeast strains harboring a temperature-sensitive allele of clathrin heavy chain (chc1-ts). After a 5 min incubation at the non-permissive temperature (37 degrees C), the chc1-ts strains displayed a severe defect in the sorting of lumenal vacuolar proteins. Sorting of a vacuolar membrane protein, alkaline phosphatase, and transport to the surface of a cell wall protein, was not affected at 37 degrees C. In chc1-ts cells incubated at 37 degrees C, secretion of the missorted lumenal vacuolar protein carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) was blocked by the sec1 mutation which prevents fusion of secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane. Unexpectedly, chc1-ts cells incubated for extended periods at 37 degrees C regained the ability to sort CPY. Cells carrying deletions of the CHC1 gene (chc1 delta) also sorted CPY to the vacuole even when subjected to temperature shifts. Vacuolar delivery of CPY in chc1 delta cells was not blocked by sec1 suggesting that transport does not occur by secretion and endocytosis. These results provide in vivo evidence that clathrin plays a role in the Golgi complex in sorting of vacuolar proteins from the secretory pathway. With time, however, yeast cells lacking functional clathrin heavy chains are able to adapt in a way that allows restoration of vacuolar protein sorting in the Golgi complex. These conclusions clarify previous studies of chc1 delta cells which raised the possibility that clathrin is not involved in vacuolar protein sorting.     

Defective plasma membrane assembly in yeast secretory mutants.

Yeast mutants that are conditionally blocked at distinctive steps in secretion and export of cell surface proteins have been used to monitor assembly of integral plasma membrane proteins. Mutants blocked in transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (sec18), from the Golgi body (sec7 and sec14), and in transport of secretory vesicles (sec1) show dramatically reduced assembly of galactose and arginine permease activities. Simultaneous induction of galactose permease and alpha-galactosidase (a secreted glycoprotein) in sec mutant cells at the nonpermissive temperature (37 degrees C) shows that both activities accumulate and can be exported coordinately when cells are returned to the permissive temperature (24 degrees C) in the presence or absence of cycloheximide. Plasma membrane fractions isolated from sec mutant cells radiolabeled at 37 degrees C have been analyzed by two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Although most of the major protein species seen in plasma membranes from wild-type cells are not efficiently localized in sec18 or sec7, several of these proteins appear in plasma membranes from sec1 cells. These results may be explained by contamination of plasma membrane fractions with precursor vesicles that accumulate in sec1 cells. Alternatively, some proteins may branch off during transport along the secretory pathway and be inserted into the plasma membrane by a different mechanism.     

Yeast secretory mutants that block the formation of active cell surface enzymes

Yeast cells secrete a variety of glycosylated proteins. At least two of these proteins, invertase and acid phosphatase, fail to be secreted in a new class of mutants that are temperature-sensitive for growth. Unlike the yeast secretory mutants previously described (class A sec mutants; Novick, P., C. Field, and R. Schekman, 1980, Cell., 21:205-420), class B sec mutants (sec 53, sec 59) fail to produce active secretory enzymes at the restrictive temperature (37 degrees C). sec 53 and sec 59 appear to be defective in reactions associated with the endoplasmic reticulum. Although protein synthesis continues at a nearly normal rate for 2 h at 37 degrees C, incorporation of [3H]mannose into glycoprotein is reduced. Immunoreactive polypeptide forms of invertase accumulate within the cell which have mobilities on SDS PAGE consistent with incomplete glycosylation: sec 53 produces little or no glycosylated invertase, and sec 59 accumulates forms containing 0-3 of the 9-10 N-linked oligosaccharide chains that are normally added to the protein. In addition to secreted enzymes, maturation of the vacuolar glycoprotein carboxypeptidase Y, incorporation of the plasma membrane sulfate permease activity, and secretion of the major cell wall proteins are blocked at 37 degrees C.     

Protein sorting in yeast: the localization determinant of yeast vacuolar carboxypeptidase Y resides in the propeptide

We have isolated cis-acting mutations in the gene encoding the yeast vacuolar protein carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) that result in missorting and aberrant secretion of up to 95% of newly synthesized CPY. The CPY polypeptides synthesized by these mutants use the late secretory pathway to exit the cell, since the late-acting sec1 mutation prevents their secretion. The mutant versions of CPY are secreted as the proCPY zymogen and are enzymatically activatable in vivo and in vitro. All the mutations, including small deletions and an amino acid substitution, map to the amino-terminal propeptide region and define a discrete yeast vacuolar localization domain whose integrity is required for efficient sorting of the CPY zymogen. Thus, the N-terminal propeptide of CPY carries out at least three functions: it mediates translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum, renders the enzyme inactive during transit, and targets the molecule to the vacuole.     

Yeast Sec23p acts in the cytoplasm to promote protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex in vivo and in vitro.

The SEC23 gene product (Sec23p) is required for transport of secretory, plasma membrane, and vacuolar proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular cloning and biochemical characterization demonstrate that Sec23p is an 84 kd unglycosylated protein that resides on the cytoplasmic surface of a large structure, possibly membrane or cytoskeleton. Vigorous homogenization of yeast cells or treatment of yeast lysates with reagents that desorb peripheral membrane proteins releases Sec23p in a soluble form. Protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi in vitro depends upon active Sec23p. Thermosensitive transport in sec23 mutant lysates is restored to normal when a soluble form of wild-type Sec23p is added, providing a biochemical complementation assay for Sec23p function. Gel filtration of yeast cytosol indicates that functional Sec23p is a large oligomer or part of a multicomponent complex.     

Endocytosis in yeast: several of the yeast secretory mutants are defective in endocytosis

Yeast cells have been shown to internalize lucifer yellow CH by endocytosis. Internalization of the fluorescent dye is time-, temperature-, and energy-dependent, it is not saturable, and the dye is accumulated in the vacuole. Some of the yeast secretory mutants that accumulate endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi bodies are defective for endocytosis at restrictive temperature, while others are not. All of the mutants that accumulate secretory vesicles are defective for endocytosis. These results suggest that efficient transport of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus and from the Golgi to secretory vesicles is not necessary for endocytosis. In contrast, endocytosis may be obligatorily coupled with the latest steps of secretion.     

Compartmental organization of Golgi-specific protein modification and vacuolar protein sorting events defined in a yeast sec18 (NSF) mutant

The sec18 and sec23 secretory mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have previously been shown to exhibit temperature-conditional defects in protein transport from the ER to the Golgi complex (Novick, P., S. Ferro, and R. Schekman, 1981. Cell. 25:461-469). We have found that the Sec18 and Sec23 protein functions are rapidly inactivated upon shifting mutant cells to the nonpermissive temperature (less than 1 min). This has permitted an analysis of the potential role these SEC gene products play in transport events distal to the ER. The sec-dependent transport of alpha-factor (alpha f) and carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) biosynthetic intermediates present throughout the secretory pathway was monitored in temperature shift experiments. We found that Sec18p/NSF function was required sequentially for protein transport from the ER to the Golgi complex, through multiple Golgi compartments and from the Golgi complex to the cell surface. In contrast, Sec23p function was required in the Golgi complex, but only for transport of alpha f out of an early compartment. Together, these studies define at least three functionally distinct Golgi compartments in yeast. From cis to trans these compartments contain: (a) An alpha 1----6 mannosyltransferase; (b) an alpha 1----3 mannosyltransferase; and (c) the Kex2 endopeptidase. Surprisingly, we also found that a pool of Golgi-modified CPY (p2 CPY) located in a compartment distal to the alpha 1----3 mannosyltransferase does not require Sec18p function for final delivery to the vacuole. This compartment appears to be equivalent to the Kex2 compartment as we show that a novel vacuolar CPY-alpha f-invertase fusion protein undergoes efficient Kex2-dependent cleavage resulting in the secretion of invertase. We propose that this Kex2 compartment is the site in which vacuolar proteins are sorted from proteins destined to be secreted.     

Characterization of different forms of yeast acid trehalase in the secretory pathway

The biosynthesis and processing of the vacuolar (lysosomal) acid trehalase (molecular mass about 220 kDa) was followed in vivo using mutants conditionally defective in the secretory pathway. A precursor of 41 kDa was found in sec61 mutant cells deficient in translocation of secretory protein precursors into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. Endoglycosidase H and N-glycosidase F treatment of purified acid trehalase in vitro resulted in a 41 kDa band, indicating that the precursor form found in sec61 mutant cells corresponds to the carbohydrate-free form of the enzyme. sec 18 mutant cells, blocked in the delivery of secretory proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi body accumulate a form with a molecular mass of 76 kDa which probably corresponds to a partially glycosylated precursor of the mature acid trehalase. This precursor partially disappears in favour of the appearance of a higher molecular weight component of 180 kDa in sec7 mutants which are blocked in the delivery step of secretory proteins from the Golgi body to the vacuole. In wild-type cells the fully glycosylated mature form of acid trehalase of about 220 kDa was observed accompanied by some 180 kDa and 76 kDa material.     

New Mutants of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Affected in the Transport of Proteins from the Endoplasmic Reticulum to the Golgi Complex

We have isolated new temperature-sensitive mutations in five complementation groups, sec31-sec35, that are defective in the transport of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi complex. The sec31-sec35 mutants and additional alleles of previously identified sec and vacuolar protein sorting (vps) genes were isolated in a screen based on the detection of α-factor precursor in yeast colonies replicated to and lysed on nitrocellulose filters. Secretory protein precursors accumulated in sec31-sec35 mutants at the nonpermissive temperature were core-glycosylated but lacked outer chain carbohydrate, indicating that transport was blocked after translocation into the ER but before arrival in the Golgi complex. Electron microscopy revealed that the newly identified sec mutants accumulated vesicles and membrane structures reminiscent of secretory pathway organelles. Complementation analysis revealed that sec32-1 is an allele of BOS1, a gene implicated in vesicle targeting to the Golgi complex, and sec33-1 is an allele of RET1, a gene that encodes the α subunit of coatomer.     

Order of events in the yeast secretory pathway

The sequence of posttranslational events in the export of yeast glycoproteins has been determined with the aid of mutants that affect the secretory apparatus. Temperature-sensitive secretory mutants (sec) of S. cerevisiae, when incubated at a nonpermissive growth temperature (37°C), accumulate intracellular precursor forms of exported glycoproteins, such as invertase, and expand or amplify one or more of three different secretory organelles. Characterization of haploid double-sec-mutant strains, with regard to the structure of the accumulated invertase and the morphology of the exaggerated organelles, allows assessment of the order in which the gene products are required, the sequence of invertase maturation steps and a pathway of secretory organelles. The transitions from one organelle to the next require energy and sec gene products. One of the mutants (sec7) accumulates a different organelle depending on the concentration of glucose in the medium. In normal growth medium (2% glucose), a thermally irreversible structure, the Berkeley body, predominates; in low glucose (0.1%), Golgi structures accumulate thermoreversibly. The results are consistent with the following model. Secretory proteins enter the ER, where the initial steps of glycosylation occur. Nine or more sec gene products and energy are required to transfer material to a Golgi-like structure, where further glycosylation occurs. Two or more functions and energy are required to package nearly fully glycosylated proteins into vesicles that are then transported into the bud, where they fuse with the plasma membrane in a process that requires at least ten additional gene products and energy.     

Genes required for completion of import of proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum in yeast

Yeast secretory mutants sec53 and sec59 define a posttranslational stage in the penetration of glycoprotein precursors into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the previous report we showed that at the restrictive temperature (37 degrees C) these mutants accumulate enzymatically inactive and incompletely glycosylated forms of the secretory enzyme invertase and the vacuolar enzyme carboxypeptidase Y. Cell fractionation experiments reveal that these precursor forms remain firmly bound to the ER membrane. However, upon return to the permissive temperature (24 degrees C), the invertase precursors are glycosylated, become partially active, and are secreted. Thermoreversible conversion does not require protein synthesis, but does require energy. In contrast to the effect of these mutations, inhibition of oligosaccharide synthesis with tunicamycin at 37 degrees C causes irreversible accumulation of unglycosylated invertase. The effect of the drug is exaggerated by high temperature since unglycosylated invertase synthesized in the presence of tunicamycin at 25 degrees C is secreted. A portion of the invertase polypeptide accumulated at 37 degrees C is preserved when membranes from sec53 and sec59 are treated with trypsin. In the presence of Triton X-100 or saponin, the invertase is degraded completely. The protected fragment appears to represent a portion of the invertase polypeptide that is embedded in or firmly associated with the ER membrane. This association may develop early during the synthesis of invertase, so that in the absence of translocation, some of the completed polypeptide chain remains exposed on the cytoplasmic surface of the ER.     

ER-golgi traffic is a prerequisite for efficient ER degradation

Protein quality control is an essential function of the endoplasmic reticulum. Misfolded proteins unable to acquire their native conformation are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum, retro-translocated back into the cytosol, and degraded via the ubiquitin-proteasome system. We show that efficient degradation of soluble malfolded proteins in yeast requires a fully competent early secretory pathway. Mutations in proteins essential for ER-Golgi protein traffic severely inhibit ER degradation of the model substrate CPY*. We found ER localization of CPY* in WT cells, but no other specific organelle for ER degradation could be identified by electron microscopy studies. Because CPY* is degraded in COPI coat mutants, only a minor fraction of CPY* or of a proteinaceous factor required for degradation seems to enter the recycling pathway between ER and Golgi. Therefore, we propose that the disorganized structure of the ER and/or the mislocalization of Kar2p, observed in early secretory mutants, is responsible for the reduction in CPY* degradation. Further, we observed that mutations in proteins directly involved in degradation of malfolded proteins (Der1p, Der3/Hrd1p, and Hrd3p) lead to morphological changes of the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi, escape of CPY* into the secretory pathway and a slower maturation rate of wild-type CPY.     

The yeast SLY gene products, suppressors of defects in the essential GTP-binding Ypt1 protein, may act in endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi transport.

It has been shown previously that defects in the essential GTP-binding protein, Ypt1p, lead to a block in protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we report that four newly discovered suppressors of YPT1 deletion (SLY1-20, SLY2, SLY12, and SLY41) to a varying degree restore ER-to-Golgi transport defects in cells lacking Ypt1p. These suppressors also partially complement the sec21-1 and sec22-3 mutants which lead to a defect early in the secretory pathway. Sly1p-depleted cells, as well as a conditional lethal sly2 null mutant at nonpermissive temperatures, accumulate ER membranes and core-glycosylated invertase and carboxypeptidase Y. The sly2 null mutant under restrictive conditions (37 degrees C) can be rescued by the multicopy suppressor SLY12 and the single-copy suppressor SLY1-20, indicating that these three SLY genes functionally interact. Sly2p is shown to be an integral membrane protein.     

A Link between Secretion and Pre-mRNA Processing Defects in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the Identification of a Novel Splicing Gene, RSE1

Secretory proteins in eukaryotic cells are transported to the cell surface via the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi apparatus by membrane-bounded vesicles. We screened a collection of temperature-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for defects in ER-to-Golgi transport. Two of the genes identified in this screen were PRP2, which encodes a known pre-mRNA splicing factor, and RSE1, a novel gene that we show to be important for pre-mRNA splicing. Both prp2-13 and rse1-1 mutants accumulate the ER forms of invertase and the vacuolar protease CPY at restrictive temperature. The secretion defect in each mutant can be suppressed by increasing the amount of SAR1, which encodes a small GTPase essential for COPII vesicle formation from the ER, or by deleting the intron from the SAR1 gene. These data indicate that a failure to splice SAR1 pre-mRNA is the specific cause of the secretion defects in prp2-13 and rse1-1. Moreover, these data imply that Sar1p is a limiting component of the ER-to-Golgi transport machinery and suggest a way that secretory pathway function might be coordinated with the amount of gene expression in a cell.     

Myoinositol gets incorporated into numerous membrane glycoproteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae; incorporation is dependent on phosphomannomutase (sec53).

We recently described a 125 kd membrane glycoprotein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is anchored in the lipid bilayer by an inositol-containing phospholipid. We now find that when S. cerevisiae cells are metabolically labeled with [3H]myoinositol, many glycoproteins become labeled more strongly than the 125 kd protein. Myoinositol is attached to these glycoproteins as part of a phospholipid moiety which resembles glycophospholipid anchors of other organisms. Labeling of proteins with [3H]myoinositol for short times and in secretion mutants blocked at various stages of the secretory pathway shows that these phospholipid moieties can be added to proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum and that these proteins are transported to the Golgi by the regular secretory pathway. sec53, a mutant which cannot produce GDP-mannose at 37 degrees C, does not incorporate myoinositol or palmitic acid into membrane glycoproteins at this temperature, suggesting that GDP-mannose is required for the biosynthesis of these phospholipid moieties. All other secretion and glycosylation mutants tested add phospholipid moieties to proteins normally.     

Ultrastructure of two secretory mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as revealed by freeze-fracture technique

Permissive and restrictive phenotypes of two secretory mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sec 1 and sec 18, were studied by freeze-fracture technique. The sec 1 mutant, in addition to accumulating secretory vesicles, was characterized by a disappearance of the plasma membrane invaginations and by an aggregation of intra-membrane particles in vacuolar membranes. A prolonged incubation of the cells at 37 degrees C led to pathological fusion of some vesicles with the plasma membrane. After the cells were transferred back to the permissive temperature the invaginations reappeared rapidly while the accumulated vesicles disappeared only after budding had been resumed. The sec 18 mutant, apart from having distended endoplasmic reticulum membranes, also lost the plasma membrane invaginations at 37 degrees C and regained them at 24 degrees C. The described ultrastructural changes are typical for the restrictive phenotypes and represent further manifestations of the pleiotropic effect of the respective sec mutations.     

Yeast vacuolar proenzymes are sorted in the late Golgi complex and transported to the vacuole via a prevacuolar endosome-like compartment

We are studying intercompartmental protein transport to the yeast lysosome-like vacuole with a reconstitution assay using permeabilized spheroplasts that measures, in an ATP and cytosol dependent reaction, vacuolar delivery and proteolytic maturation of the Golgi-modified precursor forms of vacuolar hydrolases like carboxypeptidase Y (CPY). To identify the potential donor compartment in this assay, we used subcellular fractionation procedures that have uncovered a novel membrane-enclosed prevacuolar transport intermediate. Differential centrifugation was used to separate permeabilized spheroplasts into 15K and 150K g membrane pellets. Centrifugation of these pellets to equilibrium on sucrose density gradients separated vacuolar and Golgi complex marker enzymes into light and dense fractions, respectively. When the Golgi-modified precursor form of CPY (p2CPY) was examined (after a 5-min pulse, 30-s chase), as much as 30-40% fractionated with an intermediate density between both the vacuole and the Golgi complex. Pulse-chase labeling and fractionation of membranes indicated that p2CPY in this gradient region had already passed through the Golgi complex, which kinetically ordered it between the Golgi and the vacuole. A mutant CPY protein that lacks a functional vacuolar sorting signal was detected in Golgi fractions but not in the intermediate compartment indicating that this corresponds to a post-sorting compartment. Based on the low transport efficiency of the mutant CPY protein in vitro (decreased by sevenfold), this intermediate organelle most likely represents the donor compartment in our reconstitution assay. This organelle is not likely to be a transport vesicle intermediate because EM analysis indicates enrichment of 250-400 nm compartments and internalization of surface-bound 35S-alpha-factor at 15 degrees C resulted in its apparent cofractionation with wild-type p2CPY, indicating an endosome-like compartment (Singer, B., and H. Reizman. 1990. J. Cell Biol. 110:1911-1922). Fractionation of p2CPY accumulated in the temperature sensitive vps15 mutant revealed that the vps15 transport block did not occur in the endosome-like compartment but rather in the late Golgi complex, presumably the site of CPY sorting. Therefore, as seen in mammalian cells, yeast CPY is sorted away from secretory proteins in the late Golgi and transits to the vacuole via a distinct endosome-like intermediate.     

Glycosylation and processing of prepro-alpha-factor through the yeast secretory pathway

Events in the synthesis and processing of prepro-alpha-factor have been assessed with the aid of mutants blocked at various stages in the yeast secretory pathway. In normal cells treated with tunicamycin, a precursor accumulates which is identical in molecular weight to the primary translation product synthesized in vitro. At the restrictive temperature in a mutant blocked early in the pathway (sec53), a molecule of similar molecular weight accumulates. In mutants affecting translocation into (sec59) and passage from (sec 18) the endoplasmic reticulum, a glycosylated form of the precursor containing three N-linked core oligosaccharides accumulates; however, it appears that the signal peptide is not removed. The glycosylated precursor first experiences proteolytic processing when accumulated in a mutant (sec7) blocked at the stage of the Golgi apparatus. Substantially greater amounts of the mature pheromone are seen in mutants that accumulate secretory vesicles (sec1, sec2, sec3, sec5).     

Fatty acid-acylated proteins in secretory mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Yeast secretory (sec) mutants that are blocked in the transport of secretory proteins and accumulate membrane organelles were used to study the biosynthesis of fatty acid-acylated proteins. Four proteins were labeled with [3H]palmitate in sec mutants accumulating endoplasmic reticulum membranes. Three of these (molecular weights approximately equal to 20,000, 50,000, and 120,000) were N-linked glycoproteins, based on their ability to be labeled with [3H]mannose and their sensitivity to endoglycosidase H. The fourth protein (molecular weight approximately equal to 30,000) also was labeled with [3H]mannose but was insensitive to endoglycosidase H; it appeared to contain O-linked sugars. In sec mutants accumulating Golgi membranes or post-Golgi vesicles, a 35-kilodalton protein was labeled with [3H]palmitate. Analysis of Staphylococcus aureus protease V8 digests and pulse-chase experiments indicated that the 30-kilodalton protein was a precursor of 35 kilodaltons. None of these proteins was labeled with [3H]palmitate in a sec mutant that blocked the penetration of nascent polypeptides into endoplasmic reticulum; thus, acylation occurred in endoplasmic reticulum. All four proteins could be recovered from fractions enriched for yeast membranes. Fatty acids were not released from proteins by boiling in sodium dodecyl sulfate or extraction with organic solvents but were recovered as methyl esters after proteins were treated with KOH-methanol, a reaction characteristic of an acyl ester linkage.     

vac2: a yeast mutant which distinguishes vacuole segregation from Golgi-to-vacuole protein targeting.

We have isolated four yeast mutants that are unable to partition maternal vacuoles into growing buds. Three of these vacuole segregation (vac) mutants also mislocalize the vacuolar protease carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) to the cell surface, a phenotype previously reported for vac strains. A fourth mutant, vac2-1, exhibits a temperature-sensitive defect in vacuole segregation but does not show a defect in protein targeting from the Golgi apparatus to the vacuole. Haploid vac2-1 cells grown at the non-permissive temperature do not secrete CPY or a second vacuolar protease, proteinase A (PrA). Furthermore, newly synthesized precursors of CPY are converted to mature forms with similar kinetics in both vac2-1 and wild-type cells. In addition, invertase is secreted normally from vac2-1 cells, indicating that post-Golgi steps in the secretory pathway are not blocked in this mutant. These results suggest that VAC2 function is necessary for vacuole division and segregation in yeast but is not involved in vacuole protein sorting events at the Golgi apparatus.