Purification and partial characterization of a 19kD/pI 4.5 nucleolar phosphoprotein

Two-dimensional PAGE analysis of proteins associated with the slowly sedimenting "fibrillar" structures of HeLa nucleoli revealed a protein with a M of 19,000 and a pI of 4.5 which was highly labeled both with 32P-orthophosphate and 35S-methionine. The protein was isolated from Novikoff hepatoma nucleoli by extraction in 0.35 M NaCl and 5 mM DTT followed by chromatography in EDTA on DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-100. The protein was homogeneous with respect to two-dimensional PAGE, number of tryptic peptides and carboxyl terminal analysis. The protein contained an acidic/basic amino acid ratio of 2.1, 7 residues of methionine, 2 residues of cysteine, a blocked amino terminus and a carboxyl terminal lysylleucine.     

Characterization of a functional domain of human calpastatin

Expression plasmids were constructed from the cDNA of human calpastatin to examine the contribution to the inhibition of calpain of highly conserved sequences in each of four repetitive domains. A series of deletion derivatives of domain 1 proteins, truncated at either the amino or carboxy terminus, were produced in E. coli. Deletion from the amino terminus past the amino terminal conserved sequence decreased the inhibition. When the middle conserved sequence, the M-sequence, was further deleted, no inhibition was detected, but deletion from the carboxy terminus past the carboxy terminal conserved sequence did not decrease the inhibition until the M-sequence was reached. Nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism spectra showed that domain 1 has an unfolded structure. Peptides that contained the M-sequence and some neighboring sequences were synthesized to measure the minimum size of the inhibitory peptide, which was the M-sequence with the next six residues on the amino terminal side.     

Cloning, expression and characterization of recombinant sweet-protein thaumatin II using the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

Thaumatin, an intensely sweet-tasting protein, was secreted by the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. The mature thaumatin II gene was directly cloned from Taq polymerase-amplified PCR products by using TA cloning methods and fused the pPIC9K expression vector that contains Saccharomyces cerevisiae prepro alpha-mating factor secretion signal. Several additional amino acid residues were introduced at both the N- and C-terminal ends by genetic modification to investigate the role of the terminal end region for elicitation of sweetness in the thaumatin molecule. The secondary and tertiary structures of purified recombinant thaumatin were almost identical to those of the plant thaumatin molecule. Recombinant thaumatin II elicited a sweet taste as native plant thaumatin II; its threshold value of sweetness to humans was around 50 nM, which is the same as that of plant thaumatin II. These results demonstrate that the functional expression of thaumatin II was attained by Pichia pastoris systems and that the N- and C-terminal regions of the thaumatin II molecule do not -play an important role in eliciting the sweet taste of thaumatin.     

Secretion of hemolysin of Aeromonas sobria as protoxin and contribution of the propeptide region removed from the protoxin to the proteolytic stability of the toxin

The sequence at the amino terminus region of the hemolysin ofAeromonas sobria is homologous with that of aerolysin of A. hydrophila. However, there is no homology between the two toxins in the sequence at the carboxy terminal region. It has been shown that aerolysin is secreted into culture supernatant as a protoxin. This proaerolysin is activated by the proteolytic removal of a carboxy terminal peptide. However, the role of the carboxy terminal region, which is removed in the activation process, has not been elucidated. In this study, we showed that hemolysin is also secreted as a protoxin into culture supernatant and that prohemolysin is cleaved by the protease of A. sobria between Ser-446 and Ala-447, resulting in the removal of a 42 amino acid peptide. The removal of the peptide converts the prohemolysin into active hemolysin. Subsequently, we mutated the hemolysin gene to delete the last several amino acid residues and expressed the genes in Escherichia coli, in order to examine the role of the carboxy terminal region of prohemolysin. The amounts of these mutant hemolysins accumulated in the periplasmic space of E. coli were very low compared with that of the wild-type. This observation indicated that the carboxy terminal region of prohemolysin contributes to the proteolytic stability of the toxin.     

Influenza virus hemagglutinin containing an altered hydrophobic carboxy terminus accumulates intracellularly.

The influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein synthesized from cloned DNA in a simian virus 40 vector is expressed on the surface of infected primate cells. Previously, it has been demonstrated that mutant HAs lacking the hydrophobic carboxy terminus fail to anchor on the cell surface and therefore are secreted extracellularly. During analysis of additional HA deletion mutants derived from an HA-simian virus 40 recombinant, we found a mutant with an altered hydrophobic carboxy terminus that exhibited another phenotype. This deletion mutant, dl-12, produced HA that was neither secreted nor expressed on the infected cell surface. The mutant HA was similar to the wild-type HA in apparent molecular weight and extent of glycosylation as assayed by endoglycosidase H sensitivity. The mutant HA localized near the perinuclear region of infected cells as indicated by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Sequence analysis showed that a 5-base-pair deletion had occurred before the region encoding the hydrophobic carboxy terminus. Nevertheless, the physicochemical properties of the wild-type HA carboxy terminus were maintained in that the truncated HA carboxy terminus consisted of predominantly hydrophobic amino acids followed by several charged amino acids residues. This similarity in the carboxy terminus between the wild-type and mutant HAs may be responsible for the functional similarities observed. In spite of these similarities, the mutant HA failed to mature at the surface. These results suggest that the maturation of the mutant HA is blocked during a late stage in the transit to the cell surface.     

Clathrin light chain: importance of the conserved carboxy terminal domain to function in living cells

Clathrin triskelions assemble into coats capable of packaging membrane and receptors for transport to intracellular destinations. A triskelion is formed from three heavy chains bound to three light chains. All clathrin light chains (clc) contain an acidic amino terminal domain, a central coiled segment, and a carboxy terminal domain conserved in amino acid sequence. To assess their functional contribution in vivo, we expressed tagged segments of the Dictyostelium clcA in clc-minus Dictyostelium (clc null) cells. We examined the ability of these clcA fragments to rescue clathrin phenotypic deficiencies, to cluster into punctae on membranes, and to bind to the heavy chain. When expressed in clc null cells, a clcA fragment containing the amino terminal domain and the central coiled domain bound heavy chain but was dispensable for clathrin function. Instead, the carboxy terminal domain of clcA was a critical determinant for association with punctae, for clathrin function and for robust binding to the heavy chain. A 70 amino acid carboxy terminal fragment was necessary and sufficient for full function, and for localization into punctae on intracellular membranes. A shorter 49 amino acid carboxy terminal fragment could distribute into punctae but failed to rescue developmental deficiencies. These results reveal the importance of the carboxy terminal domain of the light chain in vivo.     

Multi-subunit assembly of the Pyrococcus furiosus small heat shock protein is essential for cellular protection at high temperature

The hyperthermophilic archaeon, Pyrococcus furiosus, expresses a small, alpha-crystallin-like protein in response to exposure to extreme temperatures, above 103 degrees C. The P. furiosus small heat shock protein (Pfu-sHSP) forms large oligomeric complexes. Based on the available crystal structures of the Methanocaldococcus jannaschii and wheat sHSPs, the protruding carboxy terminal domain is probably involved in subunit interactions. We constructed Pfu-sHSP mutants to analyze chaperone function and to study multi-subunit assembly. The results confirmed that the carboxy terminus of Pfu-sHSP is involved in inter-dimer interactions, whereas the amino terminal deletion mutant still exhibited the wild-type assembly characteristics. The ability to form oligomeric complexes via the carboxy terminal domain was shown to be necessary for thermotolerance of Escherichia coli overexpressing Pfu-sHSP. The amino terminal domain was not required for inter-species thermotolerance.     

Gene 68, a new bacteriophage T4 gene which codes for the 17K prohead core protein is involved in head size determination

We have identified the gene for a major component of the prohead core of bacteriophage T4, the 17K protein. The gene, which we call gene 68, lies between genes 67 and 21 in the major cluster of T4 head genes. All of the genes in this region of the T4 genome have overlapping initiation and termination codons with the sequence T-A-A-T-G. We present the DNA sequence of the gene and show that it codes for a protein containing 141 amino acids with an acidic amino-terminal half and a basic carboxyl terminus. Antibodies prepared against the 17K protein were used to show that it is cleaved by the phage-coded gp21 protease during head maturation and that most of the protein leaves the head after cleavage. A frameshift mutation of the gene was constructed in vitro and recombined back into the phage genome. The mutated phages had a drastically reduced burst size and about half of the particles produced were morphologically abnormal, having isometric rather than prolate heads. Thus, the 17K protein is involved in head shape determination but is only semi-essential for T4 growth.     

Molecular cloning of a rhoptry protein (ROP6) secreted from Toxoplasma gondii

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) Tg786 against Toxoplasma gondii has been found to detect a 42-kDa rhoptry protein (ROP6) which showed protease activity and host cell binding characteristics after secretion. Using the mAb, a colony containing a 3o-UTR was probed in a T. gondii cDNA expression library. A full length cDNA sequence of the rhoptry protein was completed after 5o-RACE, which consisted of 1,908 bp with a 1,443 bp ORF. The deduced amino acid sequence of ROP6 consisted of a polypeptide of 480 amino acids without significant homology to any other known proteins. This sequence contains an amino terminal stop transfer sequence downstream of a short neutral sequence, hydrophilic middle sequence, and hydrophobic carboxy terminus. It is suggested that the ROP6 is inserted into the rhoptry membrane with both N- and C-termini.     

Nucleotide sequence of an mRNA transcribed in latent growth-transforming virus infection indicates that it may encode a membrane protein.

The most abundant Epstein-Barr virus mRNA in a latently infected cell line, IB4, established by in vitro growth transformation with virus, was a 2,8-kilobase RNA encoded by largely unique DNA near the right end of the genome. The RNA was transcribed from right to left, and two introns were spliced out. This region of the genome was sequenced, and the exons of the RNA were identified by S1 analysis of DNA-RNA hybrids and primer extension. The first start codon in the RNA was 40 nucleotides from its 5' end. Beginning with the start codon, there was a 1,158-nucleotide open reading frame which crossed both introns. The important characteristics of the translated protein were as follows. (i) The amino terminus was highly charged and not suggestive of a leader sequence. (ii) There were six markedly hydrophobic alpha-helical domains, each having 21 amino acids and connected by 5 to 7 amino acid segments predicted to be reverse turns. (iii) The carboxy-terminal 200 amino acids were markedly acidic, containing 6 glutamic and 37 aspartic acids. The hydrophobic region is predicted to form six membrane-spanning regions, leaving the short charged amino terminus and long acidic carboxy terminus on the inside of the membrane. This protein could be responsible for the new antigen detected in the plasma membrane of Epstein-Barr virus-transformed cells, lymphocyte-determined membrane antigen. There were two other open reading frames in the RNA.     

The intracellular carboxyl terminal domain of Vangl proteins contains plasma membrane targeting signals

Vangl1 and Vangl2 are integral membrane proteins that play a critical role in establishing planar cell polarity (PCP) in epithelial cells and are required for convergent extension (CE) movements during embryogenesis. Their proper targeting to the plasma membrane (PM) is required for function. We created discrete deletions at the amino and carboxy termini of Vangl1 and monitored the effect of the mutations on PM targeting in Madin–Darby canine kidney cells. Our results show that the Vangl1 amino terminus lacks PM targeting determinants, and these are restricted to the carboxy terminus, including the predicted PDZBM motif at the C‐terminus.     

Phosphorylation of hepatitis B virus precore and core proteins.

Hepatitis B virus precore and core proteins are related. The precore protein contains the entire sequence of the core protein plus an amino-terminal extension of 29 amino acids. The amino-terminal extension of the precore protein contains a signal sequence for the secretion of the precore protein. This signal sequence is removed after the translocation of the precore protein across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane to produce the precore protein derivative named P22. We demonstrate that both P22 and the core protein can be phosphorylated in cells. Microsomal fractionation and trypsin digestion experiments demonstrate that a fraction of phosphorylated P22 is located in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen. Phosphorylation of P22 likely occurs in the carboxy terminus, since the P22 derivative P16, which lacks the carboxy terminus of P22, is not phosphorylated. Linking the carboxy terminus of the precore-core protein to heterologous secretory and cytosolic proteins led to the phosphorylation of the resulting chimeric proteins. These results indicate that phosphorylation of P22 and the core protein is likely mediated by cellular kinases.     

Frequent in-frame length variations are found in the diverged simple repeat sequences of the protein-coding regions of two putative protein kinase genes of Brassica napus

Two putative protein kinase cDNA clones were isolated from Brassica napus by screening with a putative protein kinase cDNA clone of Arabidopsis thaliana. The deduced amino acid sequences show a distinct modular composition, consisting of a possible protein kinase catalytic region at the amino terminus and a highly acidic region encoded from diverged simple repeat sequences at the carboxy terminus. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences encoding this acidic region revealed a high rate of in-frame length variation, while preserving the acidic characteristics. Similar variation is also found in the non-coding regions of these clones.     

Cloning of the thaumatin I cDNA and characterization of recombinant thaumatin I secreted by Pichia pastoris

Thaumatin is a sweet-tasting protein comprising a mixture of some variants. The major variants are thaumatins I and II. Although the amino acid sequence of thaumatin I was known and the nucleotide sequence of cDNA of thaumatin II was elucidated, the nucleotide sequence of thaumatin I has been controversial. We have cloned two thaumatin cDNAs from the fruit of Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth. One is the same nucleotide sequence as that of thaumatin II already reported, and the other is a novel nucleotide sequence. The amino acid sequence deduced from the novel cDNA was the same amino acid sequence as that of thaumatin I, the only exception being the residue at position 113 (Asp instead of Asn), indicating that the novel thaumatin cDNA is that for thaumatin I. This thaumatin I cDNA was transformed into Pichia pastoris X-33, and the recombinant thaumatin I expressed was purified and characterized. The threshold value of sweetness of the recombinant thaumatin I was the same as that of the plant thaumatin I, although several unexpected amino acid residues were attached to the N-terminal of the recombinant thaumatin I. These indicate that the N-terminal portion of thaumatin is not critical for the elicitation of sweetness.     

The carboxy-terminus of protein 4.1r resembles Beta-tubulin

The protein 4.1R is an isoform of a larger family of 4.1 proteins. It is known as a component of the plasma membrane skeleton, but it is also found at the centrosomes in interphase and mitosis. To investigate the properties of the carboxy terminal region of protein 4.1R, we raised antibodies against a peptide representing the last 14 amino acids of 4.1R. These antibodies crossreact with an epitope in beta-tubulin and stain the microtubule network by immunofluorescence. Furthermore, sequence comparison of the carboxy terminal 4.1R peptide sequence with tubulin reveals homology with a region at the end of helix 5 in beta-tubulin, but not alpha-tubulin. A potential function of the 4.1R carboxy terminus in regulating the formation of microtubule networks is discussed.     

Mouse immunoglobulin A: nucleotide sequence of the structural gene for the alpha heavy chain derived from cloned cDNAs

The cDNAs complementary to mouse immunoglobulin alpha heavy chain mRNAs have been cloned into the PstI site of the plasmid vector pBR322. Recombinant plasmids have been identified by hybrid-arrested translation and purification of alpha heavy chain mRNA on DNA-DBM filters. The nucleotide sequence of the inserts encodes the constant and 3' untranslated regions of the alpha heavy chain mRNA. The CH3 domains of human and mouse alpha chains are highly homologous, including a 36 amino acid fragment not reported in the protein sequence (Robinson and Appella, 1980). As in the case of the mu secreted heavy chain, the alpha heavy chain contains a carboxy terminal piece of 20 amino acids.     

RNA editing in ATPase subunit 6 mRNAs in Oenothera mitochondria. A new termination codon shortens the reading frame by 35 amino acids.

The open reading frame encoding ATPase subunit 6 in Oenothera mitochondria is edited at 21 positions in all cDNA clones investigated. Only one of these events is silent, all others improve similarity between the homologous polypeptides of other species. The introduction of a new UAA termination codon shortens the polypeptide by 35 amino acids to a carboxy terminus conserved in other species. In one of the cDNA clones, an additional editing event was observed resulting in a premature UAA termination codon in the amino terminal region.     

Partitioning of malate dehydrogenase isoenzymes into glyoxysomes, mitochondria, and chloroplasts

Malate dehydrogenase isoenzymes catalyzing the oxidation of malate to oxaloacetate are highly active enzymes in mitochondria, in peroxisomes, in chloroplasts, and in the cytosol. Determination of the primary structure of the isoenzymes has disclosed that they are encoded in different nuclear genes. All three organelle-targeted malate dehydrogenases are synthesized with an amino terminal extension that is cleaved off in connection with the import of the enzyme precursor into the organelle. The sequence of the 27 amino acids of the mitochondrial transit peptide is unrelated to the 37-residue glyoxysomal transit peptide, which in turn is entirely different in sequence from the 57-residue chloroplastic transit peptide. With the exception of malate dehydrogenase and 3-ketoacyl thiolase, peroxisomal enzymes are synthesized without transit peptides and are frequently translocated into the organelle with a peroxisomal targeting signal consisting of a conserved tripeptide at the carboxy terminus of the protein. Based on the observation that this tripeptide (Ala-His-Leu) occurs in the transit peptides of glyoxysomal malate dehydrogenase and peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl thiolase, the possible significance of amino terminal transit peptides for peroxisome import is discussed.