Tail-anchored membrane protein insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum

Membrane proteins are inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by two highly conserved parallel pathways. The well-studied co-translational pathway uses signal recognition particle (SRP) and its receptor for targeting and the SEC61 translocon for membrane integration. A recently discovered post-translational pathway uses an entirely different set of factors involving transmembrane domain (TMD)-selective cytosolic chaperones and an accompanying receptor at the ER. Elucidation of the structural and mechanistic basis of this post-translational membrane protein insertion pathway highlights general principles shared between the two pathways and key distinctions unique to each.     

Import of honeybee prepromelittin into the endoplasmic reticulum: energy requirements for membrane insertion.

The import of small precursor proteins, derived from the honeybee secretory protein prepromelittin, into dog pancreas microsomes is independent of signal recognition particle (SRP) and docking protein, but requires that charged amino acids at the amino terminus of the mature part are counterbalanced by amino acids with the opposite charge at the carboxy terminus. The import pathway of such precursor proteins was resolved into two sequential steps: (i) binding of precursors to microsomes, and (ii) insertion of precursors into the membrane. Formation of an intramolecular disulfide bridge within the mature part of these precursor proteins allowed association of the oxidized precursors with the microsomal membrane but reversibly inhibited their membrane insertion. Furthermore, membrane insertion was inhibited by ATP depletion. Different prepromelittin derivatives were found to depend on ATP to varying degrees. We conclude that insertion of prepromelittin-derived precursor proteins into microsomal membranes involves a competent conformation of the precursor proteins and that, in general, this is accomplished with the help of both a cytoplasmic component and ATP.     

Requirements for the insertion of the Sindbis envelope glycoproteins into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane

Previous work has shown that the Sindbis structural proteins, core, the internal protein, and PE2 and E1, the integral membrane glycoproteins are synthesized as a polyprotein from a 26S mRNA; core PE2 and E1 are derived by proteolytic cleavage of a nascent chain. Newly synthesized core protein remains on the cytoplasmic side of the endoplasmic reticulum while newly synthesized PE2 and E1 are inserted into the lipid bilayer, presumably via their amino-termini. PE2 and E1 are glycosylated as nascent chains. Here, we examine a temperature-sensitive mutant of Sindbis virus which fails to cleave the structural proteins, resulting in the production of a polyprotein of 130,000 mol wt in which the amino-termini of PE2 and E1 are internal to the protein. Although the envelope sequences are present in this protein, it is not inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum bilayer, but remains on the cytoplasmic side as does the core protein in cells infected with wild-type Sindbis virus. We have also examined the fate of PE2 and E1 in cells treated with tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycosylation. Unglycosylated PE2 and E1 are inserted normally into the lipid bilayer as are the glycosylated proteins. These results are consistent with the notion that a specific amino-terminal sequence is required for the proper insertion of membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum bilayer, but that glycosylation is not required for this insertion.     

Protein translocation mutants defective in the insertion of integral membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum.

Yeast mutants defective in the translocation of soluble secretory proteins into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (sec61, sec62, sec63) are not impaired in the assembly and glycosylation of the type II membrane protein dipeptidylaminopeptidase B (DPAPB) or of a chimeric membrane protein consisting of the multiple membrane-spanning domain of yeast hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase (HMG1) fused to yeast histidinol dehydrogenase (HIS4C). This chimera is assembled in wild-type or mutant cells such that the His4c protein is oriented to the ER lumen and thus is not available for conversion of cytosolic histidinol to histidine. Cells harboring the chimera have been used to select new translocation defective sec mutants. Temperature-sensitive lethal mutations defining two complementation groups have been isolated: a new allele of sec61 and a single isolate of a new gene sec65. The new isolates are defective in the assembly of DPAPB, as well as the secretory protein alpha-factor precursor. Thus, the chimeric membrane protein allows the selection of more restrictive sec mutations rather than defining genes that are required only for membrane protein assembly. The SEC61 gene was cloned, sequenced, and used to raise polyclonal antiserum that detected the Sec61 protein. The gene encodes a 53-kDa protein with five to eight potential membrane-spanning domains, and Sec61p antiserum detects an integral protein localized to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Sec61p appears to play a crucial role in the insertion of secretory and membrane polypeptides into the endoplasmic reticulum.     

Import of honeybee prepromelittin into the endoplasmic reticulum. Requirements for membrane insertion, processing, and sequestration

Honeybee prepromelittin is correctly processed and imported by dog pancreas microsomes. Membrane insertion of prepromelittin, assayed as signal sequence removal by signal peptidase, is not dependent on signal recognition particle and docking protein. However, a previously uncharacterized proteinaceous component of the microsomal membrane is required for completion of membrane transfer of promelittin. Furthermore, membrane insertion of prepromelittin is not coupled to translation. These data suggest the signal sequence, in addition to its role in membrane recognition, has a more general function for membrane insertion, cotranslational import of proteins is not an intrinsic feature of microsomes, and at least in certain cases, proteinaceous membrane components are involved in membrane transfer.     

C-terminal sequences can inhibit the insertion of membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

We have constructed three gene fusions that encode portions of a membrane protein, arginine permease, fused to a reporter domain, the cytoplasmic enzyme histidinol dehydrogenase (HD), located at the C-terminal end. These fusion proteins contain at least one of the internal signal sequences of arginine permease. When the fusion proteins were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), two of the fusion proteins placed HD on the luminal side of the ER membrane, but only when a piece of DNA encoding a spacer protein segment was inserted into the fusion joint. The third fusion protein, with or without the spacer included, placed HD on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. These results suggest that (i) sequences C-terminal to the internal signal sequence can inhibit membrane insertion and (ii) HD requires a preceding spacer segment to be translocated across the ER membrane.     

Ca2+-calmodulin inhibits tail-anchored protein insertion into the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum membrane

Cytosolic components and pathways have been identified that are involved in inserting tail-anchored (TA) membrane proteins into the yeast or mammalian endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. Searching for regulatory mechanisms of TA protein biogenesis, we found that Ca(2+)-calmodulin (CaM) inhibits the insertion of TA proteins into mammalian ER membranes and that this inhibition is prevented by trifluoperazine, a CaM antagonist that interferes with substrate binding of Ca(2+)-CaM. The effects of Ca(2+)-CaM on cytochrome b(5) and Synaptobrevin 2 suggest a direct interaction between Ca(2+)-CaM and TA proteins. Thus, CaM appears to regulate TA insertion into the ER membrane in a Ca(2+) dependent manner.     

A tripartite structure of the signals that determine protein insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane

Multilineage colony stimulating factor is a secretory protein with a cleavable signal sequence that is unusually long and hydrophobic. Using molecular cloning techniques we exchanged sequences NH2- or COOH-terminally flanking the hydrophobic signal sequence. Such modified fusion proteins still inserted into the membrane but their signal sequence was not cleaved. Instead the proteins were now anchored in the membrane by the formerly cleaved signal sequence (signal-anchor sequence). They exposed the NH2 terminus on the exoplasmic and the COOH terminus on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. We conclude from our results that hydrophilic sequences flanking the hydrophobic core of a signal sequence can determine cleavage by signal peptidase and insertion into the membrane. It appears that negatively charged amino acid residues close to the NH2 terminal side of the hydrophobic segment are compatible with translocation of this segment across the membrane. A tripartite structure is proposed for signal-anchor sequences: a hydrophobic core region that mediates targeting to and insertion into the ER membrane and flanking hydrophilic segments that determine the orientation of the protein in the membrane.     

Mutants in three novel complementation groups inhibit membrane protein insertion into and soluble protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have isolated mutants that inhibit membrane protein insertion into the ER membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mutants were contained in three complementation groups, which we have named SEC70, SEC71, and SEC72. The mutants also inhibited the translocation of soluble proteins into the lumen of the ER, indicating that they pleiotropically affect protein transport across and insertion into the ER membrane. Surprisingly, the mutants inhibited the translocation and insertion of different proteins to drastically different degrees. We have also shown that mutations in SEC61 and SEC63, which were previously isolated as mutants inhibiting the translocation of soluble proteins, also affect the insertion of membrane proteins into the ER. Taken together our data indicate that the process of protein translocation across the ER membrane involves a much larger number of gene products than previously appreciated. Moreover, different translocation substrates appear to have different requirements for components of the cellular targeting and translocation apparatus.     

Transport of cholesterol from the endoplasmic reticulum to the plasma membrane

We have studied the transport of newly synthesized cholesterol from the endoplasmic reticulum to the plasma membrane in Chinese hamster ovary cells using a cell fractionation assay. We found that transport is dependent on metabolic energy, but that the maintenance of the high differential concentration of cholesterol in the plasma membrane is not an energy-requiring process. We have tested a variety of inhibitors for their effect on cholesterol transport and found that cytochalasin B, colchicine, monensin, cycloheximide, and NH4Cl did not have any effect. The cholesterol transport process shows a sharp temperature dependence; it ceases at 15 degrees C, whereas cholesterol synthesis continues. When synthesis occurs at 15 degrees C, the newly synthesized cholesterol accumulates in the endoplasmic reticulum and in a low density, lipid-rich vesicle fraction. These results suggest that cholesterol is transported via a vesicular system.     

Distant downstream sequence determinants can control N-tail translocation during protein insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane

We have studied the membrane insertion of ProW, an Escherichia coli inner membrane protein with seven transmembrane segments and a large periplasmic N-terminal tail, into endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived dog pancreas microsomes. Strikingly, significant levels of N-tail translocation is seen only when a minimum of four of the transmembrane segments are present; for constructs with fewer transmembrane segments, the N-tail remains mostly nontranslocated and the majority of the molecules adopt an "inverted" topology where normally nontranslocated parts are translocated and vice versa. N-tail translocation can also be promoted by shortening of the N-tail and by the addition of positively charged residues immediately downstream of the first trasnmembrane segment. We conclude that as many as four consecutive transmembrane segments may be collectively involved in determining membrane protein topology in the ER and that the effects of downstream sequence determinants may vary depending on the size and charge of the N-tail. We also provide evidence to suggest that the ProW N-tail is translocated across the ER membrane in a C-to-N-terminal direction.     

Integration of membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum requires GTP

We have examined the requirement for ribonucleotides and ribonucleotide triphosphate hydrolysis during early events in the membrane integration of two membrane proteins: the G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus and the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) glycoprotein of Newcastle disease virus. Both proteins contain a single transmembrane-spanning segment but are integrated in the membrane with opposite orientations. The G protein has an amino-terminal signal sequence and a stop-transfer sequence located near the carboxy terminus. The HN glycoprotein has a single sequence near the amino terminus that functions as both a signal-sequence and a transmembrane-spanning segment. Membrane insertion was explored using a cell-free system directed by transcribed mRNAs encoding amino-terminal segments of the two proteins. Ribosome-bound nascent polypeptides were assembled, ribonucleotides were removed by gel filtration chromatography, and the ribosomes were incubated with microsomal membranes under conditions of defined ribonucleotide content. Nascent chain insertion into the membrane required the presence of both the signal recognition particle and a functional signal recognition particle receptor. In the absence of ribonucleotides, insertion of nascent membrane proteins was not detected. GTP or nonhydrolyzable GTP analogues promoted efficient insertion, while ATP was comparatively ineffective. Surprisingly, the majority of the HN nascent chain remained ribosome associated after puromycin treatment. Ribosome-associated HN nascent chains remained competent for membrane insertion, while free HN chains were not competent. We conclude that a GTP binding protein performs an essential function during ribosome-dependent insertion of membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum that is unrelated to protein synthesis.     

Recycling of peroxiredoxin IV provides a novel pathway for disulphide formation in the endoplasmic reticulum

Disulphide formation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is catalysed by members of the protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) family. These enzymes can be oxidized by the flavoprotein ER oxidoreductin 1 (Ero1), which couples disulphide formation with reduction of oxygen to form hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). The H(2)O(2) produced can be metabolized by ER-localized peroxiredoxin IV (PrxIV). Continuous catalytic activity of PrxIV depends on reduction of a disulphide within the active site to form a free thiol, which can then react with H(2)O(2). Here, we demonstrate that several members of the PDI family are able to directly reduce this PrxIV disulphide and in the process become oxidized. Furthermore, we show that altering cellular expression of these proteins within the ER influences the efficiency with which PrxIV can be recycled. The oxidation of PDI family members by PrxIV is a highly efficient process and demonstrates how oxidation by H(2)O(2) can be coupled to disulphide formation. Oxidation of PDI by PrxIV may therefore increase efficiency of disulphide formation by Ero1 and also allows disulphide formation via alternative sources of H(2)O(2).     

Membrane protein insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum - another channel tunnel?

The synthesis of biological membranes requires the insertion of proteins into a lipid bilayer. The rough endoplasmic reticulum of eukaryotic cells is a principal site of membrane biogenesis. The insertion of proteins into the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum is mediated by a resident proteinaceous machinery. Over the last five years several different experimental approaches have provided information about the components of the machinery and how it may function.     

Identification of MOSPD2, a novel scaffold for endoplasmic reticulum membrane contact sites

Membrane contact sites are cellular structures that mediate interorganelle exchange and communication. The two major tether proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), VAP‐A and VAP‐B, interact with proteins from other organelles that possess a small VAP‐interacting motif, named FFAT [two phenylalanines (FF) in an acidic track (AT)]. In this study, using an unbiased proteomic approach, we identify a novel ER tether named motile sperm domain‐containing protein 2 (MOSPD2). We show that MOSPD2 possesses a Major Sperm Protein (MSP) domain which binds FFAT motifs and consequently allows membrane tethering in vitro. MOSPD2 is an ER‐anchored protein, and it interacts with several FFAT‐containing tether proteins from endosomes, mitochondria, or Golgi. Consequently, MOSPD2 and these organelle‐bound proteins mediate the formation of contact sites between the ER and endosomes, mitochondria, or Golgi. Thus, we characterized here MOSPD2, a novel tethering component related to VAP proteins, bridging the ER with a variety of distinct organelles.     

Polypeptide translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.

Many polypeptides have been postulated to play direct roles in secretory protein translocation based on genetic criteria, cross-linking, and antibody inhibition. Much of the excitement in the next few years will come from the resolution of current controversies. What is the nature of the ribosome receptor, and is it essential for translocation? Is BiP required for translocation in mammalian cells? Are all of the polypeptides of signal peptidase and oligosaccharyltransferase required for catalytic function, or do some of them mediate steps of protein translocation? One of the best ways to resolve these problems will be to determine the importance of each in reconstituted translocation reactions by fractionation or immunodepletion, or by analysis in a purified reaction. Another approach is to identify homologues of these molecules in S. cerevisiae and to assess their importance in in vivo translocation. Several mechanistic questions remain to be addressed as well. Does the protein translocation apparatus consist of protein, or lipid, or both? How are integral membrane proteins inserted? How is the translocon gated to admit only unfolded or partially folded secretory polypeptides and to exclude cytoplasmic molecules? The answers to these questions will illuminate a basic enigma in cell biology that has remained unanswered for many years.