Characterization of pancreatic ERj3p, a homolog of yeast DnaJ-like protein Scj1p

We have previously identified in the human EST sequence data base four overlapping clones that could be aligned with both a predicted protein sequence, deduced from the C. elegans genomic sequence, and partial amino acid sequences, obtained for a protein from canine pancreatic microsomes. We suggested that these proteins are homologs of yeast microsomal and DnaJ-like protein Scj1p and termed them ERj3p. Here we verified the predicted protein sequence of human ERj3p by sequence analysis of the corresponding cDNA. Multiple alignment of related sequences identified these proteins as true homologs of yeast Scj1p. Biochemical analysis of the canine protein characterized ERj3p as a soluble glycoprotein of the pancreatic endoplasmic reticulum. This pancreatic DnaJ-like protein was shown to interact with lumenal DnaK-like proteins, such as BiP. Furthermore, we found that ERj3p interacts with SDF2L1 protein that may be involved in protein O-glycosylation. We propose that ERj3p represents a cochaperone of DnaK-like chaperones of the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum and is involved in folding and maturation of newly synthesized proteins.     

The Lumenal Domain of Sec63p Stimulates the ATPase Activity of BiP and Mediates BiP Recruitment to the Translocon in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We studied the molecular nature of the interaction between the integral membrane protein Sec63p and the lumenal Hsp70 BiP to elucidate their role in the process of precursor transit into the ER of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A lumenal stretch of Sec63p with homology to the Escherichia coli protein DnaJ is the likely region of interface between Sec63p and BiP. This domain, purified as a fusion protein (63Jp) with glutathione S–transferase (GST), mediated a stable ATP-dependent binding interaction between 63Jp and BiP and stimulated the ATPase activity of BiP. The interaction was highly selective because only BiP was retained on immobilized 63Jp when detergent-solubilized microsomes were mixed with ATP and the fusion protein. GST alone was inactive in these assays. Additionally, a GST fusion containing a point mutation in the lumenal domain of Sec63p did not interact with BiP. Finally, we found that the soluble Sec63p lumenal domain inhibited efficient precursor import into proteoliposomes reconstituted so as to incorporate both BiP and the fusion protein. We conclude that the lumenal domain of Sec63p is sufficient to mediate enzymatic interaction with BiP and that this interaction positioned at the translocation apparatus or translocon at the lumenal face of the ER is vital for protein translocation into the ER.     

Molecular characterization of a novel mammalian DnaJ-like Sec63p homolog.

We identified a human cDNA sequence encoding a polypeptide of 760 amino acids that shares 53% homology and 25.6% identity with the yeast DnaJ-like endoplasmic reticulum (ER) translocon component Sec63p. Three epitope-specific antisera revealed a protein of an apparent molecular mass of 83 kDa, both in human cell extracts and in dog pancreatic microsomes. Biochemical analyses show that it is an integral membrane protein of the rough ER, which has the DnaJ domain located in the ER lumen. The novel Sec63 protein could thus represent a key component of the mammalian ER protein translocation machinery.     

Interaction of murine BiP/GRP78 with the DnaJ homologue MTJ1

The activity of Hsp70 proteins is regulated by accessory proteins, among which the most studied are the members of the DnaJ-like protein family. BiP/GRP78 chaperones the translocation and maturation of secreted and membrane proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. No DnaJ-like partner has been described so far to regulate the function of mammalian BiP/GRP78. We show here that murine BiP/GRP78 interacts with the lumenal J domain of the murine transmembrane protein MTJ1 (J-MTJ1). J-MTJ1 stimulates the ATPase activity of BiP/GRP78 at stoichiometric concentrations. The C-terminal tail of BiP/GRP78 is not required for the interaction with J-MTJ1, leaving the function of this portion of the molecule still unclear. Physical interactions between J-MTJ1 and BiP/GRP78 are stable and can be abolished by a single histidine --> glutamine substitution in the highly conserved HPD motif shared by all DnaJ-like proteins. The J-MTJ1 fragment, but not the mutant J-MTJ1:H89Q fragment, stimulates the ATPase activity of Escherichia coli DnaK, although at a higher concentration than its genuine partner DnaJ. Full-length DnaJ does not stimulate BiP over the range of concentrations investigated. These results indicate that the J domain of MTJ1 is sufficient for its interaction with BiP/GRP78 and cannot be substituted by E. coli DnaJ.     

Specific Molecular Chaperone Interactions and an ATP-dependent Conformational Change Are Required during Posttranslational Protein Translocation into the Yeast ER

The posttranslational translocation of proteins across the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane in yeast requires ATP hydrolysis and the action of hsc70s (DnaK homologues) and DnaJ homologues in both the cytosol and ER lumen. Although the cytosolic hsc70 (Ssa1p) and the ER lumenal hsc70 (BiP) are homologous, they cannot substitute for one another, possibly because they interact with specific DnaJ homologues on each side of the ER membrane. To investigate this possibility, we purified Ssa1p, BiP, Ydj1p (a cytosolic DnaJ homologue), and a GST–63Jp fusion protein containing the lumenal DnaJ region of Sec63p. We observed that BiP, but not Ssa1p, is able to associate with GST–63Jp and that Ydj1p stimulates the ATPase activity of Ssa1p up to 10-fold but increases the ATPase activity of BiP by <2-fold. In addition, Ydj1p and ATP trigger the release of an unfolded polypeptide from Ssa1p but not from BiP. To understand further how BiP drives protein translocation, we purified four dominant lethal mutants of BiP. We discovered that each mutant is defective for ATP hydrolysis, fails to undergo an ATP-dependent conformational change, and cannot interact with GST–63Jp. Measurements of protein translocation into reconstituted proteoliposomes indicate that the mutants inhibit translocation even in the presence of wild-type BiP. We conclude that a conformation- and ATP-dependent interaction of BiP with the J domain of Sec63p is essential for protein translocation and that the specificity of hsc70 action is dictated by their DnaJ partners.     

Role of Human Sec63 in Modulating the Steady-State Levels of Multi-Spanning Membrane Proteins

The Sec61 translocon of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane forms an aqueous pore, allowing polypeptides to be transferred across or integrated into membranes. Protein translocation into the ER can occur co- and posttranslationally. In yeast, posttranslational translocation involves the heptameric translocase complex including its Sec62p and Sec63p subunits. The mammalian ER membrane contains orthologs of yeast Sec62p and Sec63p, but their function is poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the effects of excess and deficit Sec63 on various ER cargoes using human cell culture systems. The overexpression of Sec63 reduces the steady-state levels of viral and cellular multi-spanning membrane proteins in a cotranslational mode, while soluble and single-spanning ER reporters are not affected. Consistent with this, the knock-down of Sec63 increases the steady-state pools of polytopic ER proteins, suggesting a substrate-specific and regulatory function of Sec63 in ER import. Overexpressed Sec63 exerts its down-regulating activity on polytopic protein levels independent of its Sec62-interacting motif, indicating that it may not act in conjunction with Sec62 in human cells. The specific action of Sec63 is further sustained by our observations that the up-regulation of either Sec62 or two other ER proteins with lumenal J domains, like ERdj1 and ERdj4, does not compromise the steady-state level of a multi-spanning membrane reporter. A J domain-specific mutation of Sec63, proposed to weaken its interaction with the ER resident BiP chaperone, reduces the down-regulating capacity of excess Sec63, suggesting an involvement of BiP in this process. Together, these results suggest that Sec63 may perform a substrate-selective quantity control function during cotranslational ER import.     

Co-chaperone Specificity in Gating of the Polypeptide Conducting Channel in the Membrane of the Human Endoplasmic Reticulum

In mammalian cells, signal peptide-dependent protein transport into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is mediated by a dynamic polypeptide-conducting channel, the heterotrimeric Sec61 complex. Previous work has characterized the Sec61 complex as a potential ER Ca²⁺ leak channel in HeLa cells and identified ER lumenal molecular chaperone immunoglobulin heavy-chain-binding protein (BiP) as limiting Ca²⁺ leakage via the open Sec61 channel by facilitating channel closing. This BiP activity involves binding of BiP to the ER lumenal loop 7 of Sec61α in the vicinity of tyrosine 344. Of note, the Y344H mutation destroys the BiP binding site and causes pancreatic β-cell apoptosis and diabetes in mice. Here, we systematically depleted HeLa cells of the BiP co-chaperones by siRNA-mediated gene silencing and used live cell Ca²⁺ imaging to monitor the effects on ER Ca²⁺ leakage. Depletion of either one of the ER lumenal BiP co-chaperones, ERj3 and ERj6, but not the ER membrane-resident co-chaperones (such as Sec63 protein, which assists BiP in Sec61 channel opening) led to increased Ca²⁺ leakage via Sec6 complex, thereby phenocopying the effect of BiP depletion. Thus, BiP facilitates Sec61 channel closure (i.e. limits ER Ca²⁺ leakage) via the Sec61 channel with the help of ERj3 and ERj6. Interestingly, deletion of ERj6 causes pancreatic β-cell failure and diabetes in mice and humans. We suggest that co-chaperone-controlled gating of the Sec61 channel by BiP is particularly important for cells, which are highly active in protein secretion, and that breakdown of this regulatory mechanism can cause apoptosis and disease.     

Interaction between BiP and Sec63p is required for the completion of protein translocation into the ER of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

To clarify the roles of Kar2p (BiP) and Sec63p in translocation across the ER membrane in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have utilized mutant alleles of the essential genes that encode these proteins: kar2-203 and sec63-1. Sanders et al. (Sanders, S. L., K. M. Whitfield, J. P. Vogel, M. D. Rose, and R. W. Schekman. 1992. Cell. 69:353-365) showed that the translocation defect of the kar2-203 mutant lies in the inability of the precursor protein to complete its transit across the membrane, suggesting that the lumenal hsp70 homologue Kar2p (BiP) binds the transiting polypeptide in order to facilitate its passage through the pore. We now show that mutation of a conserved residue (A181-->T) (Nelson, M. K., T. Kurihara, and P. Silver. 1993. Genetics. 134:159- 173) in the lumenal DnaJ box of Sec63p (sec63-1) results in an in vitro phenotype that mimics the precursor stalling defect of kar2-203. We demonstrate by several criteria that this phenotype results specifically from a defect in the lumenal interaction between Sec63p and BiP: Neither a sec62-1 mutant nor a mutation in the cytosolically exposed domain of Sec63p causes precursor stalling, and interaction of the sec63-1 mutant with the membranebound components of the translocation apparatus is unimpaired. Additionally, dominant KAR2 suppressors of sec63-1 partially relieve the stalling defect. Thus, proper interaction between BiP and Sec63p is necessary to allow the precursor polypeptide to complete its transit across the membrane.     

A Sec63p-BiP complex from yeast is required for protein translocation in a reconstituted proteoliposome

Reconstituted proteoliposomes derived from solubilized yeast microsomes are able to translocate a secreted yeast mating pheromone precursor (Brodsky, J. L., S. Hamamoto, D. Feldheim, and R. Schekman. 1993. J. Cell Biol. 120:95-107). Reconstituted proteoliposomes prepared from strains with mutations in the SEC63 or KAR2 genes are defective for translocation; the kar2 defect can be overcome by the addition of purified BiP (encoded by the KAR2 gene). We now show that addition of BiP to wild-type reconstituted vesicles increases their translocation efficiency three-fold. To identify other ER components that are required for translocation, we purified a microsomal membrane protein complex that contains Sec63p. We found that the complex also includes BiP, Sec66p (gp31.5), and Sec67p (p23). The Sec63p complex restores translocation activity to reconstituted vesicles that are prepared from a sec63-1 strain, or from cells in which the SEC66 or SEC67 genes are disrupted. BiP dissociates from the complex when the purification is performed in the presence of ATP gamma S or when the starting membranes are from yeast containing the sec63-1 mutation. We conclude that the purified Sec63p complex is active and required for protein translocation, and that the association of BiP with the complex may be regulated in vivo.     

Sss1p Is Required to Complete Protein Translocon Activation

Protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane occurs at the Sec61 translocon. This has two essential subunits, the channel-forming multispanning membrane protein Sec61p/Sec61α and the tail-anchored Sss1p/Sec61γ, which has been proposed to “clamp” the channel. We have analyzed the function of Sss1p using a series of domain mutants and found that both the cytosolic and transmembrane clamp domains of Sss1p are essential for protein translocation. Our data reveal that the cytosolic domain is required for Sec61p interaction but that the transmembrane clamp domain is required to complete activation of the translocon after precursor targeting to Sec61p.     

BiP-mediated closing of the Sec61 channel limits Ca(2+) leakage from the ER

In mammalian cells, signal peptide-dependent protein transport into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is mediated by a dynamic protein-conducting channel, the Sec61 complex. Previous work has characterized the Sec61 channel as a potential ER Ca(2+) leak channel and identified calmodulin as limiting Ca(2+) leakage in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner by binding to an IQ motif in the cytosolic aminoterminus of Sec61α. Here, we manipulated the concentration of the ER lumenal chaperone BiP in cells in different ways and used live cell Ca(2+) imaging to monitor the effects of reduced levels of BiP on ER Ca(2+) leakage. Regardless of how the BiP concentration was lowered, the absence of available BiP led to increased Ca(2+) leakage via the Sec61 complex. When we replaced wild-type Sec61α with mutant Sec61αY344H in the same model cell, however, Ca(2+) leakage from the ER increased and was no longer affected by manipulation of the BiP concentration. Thus, BiP limits ER Ca(2+) leakage through the Sec61 complex by binding to the ER lumenal loop 7 of Sec61α in the vicinity of tyrosine 344.     

Protein transport into canine pancreatic microsomes: a quantitative approach.

Transport of presecretory proteins into the mammalian rough endoplasmic reticulum involves a protein translocase that comprises the integral membrane proteins Sec61alphap, Sec61betap, and Sec61gammap as core components. Electron microscopic analysis of protein translocase in rough microsomal membranes suggested that between three and four heterotrimeric Sec61p complexes form the central unit of protein translocase. Here we analyzed the stoichiometry of heterotrimeric Sec61p complexes present in cotranslationally active protein translocases of canine pancreatic microsomes and various other lumenal and membrane components believed to be subunits of protein translocase and to be involved in covalent modifications. Based on these numbers, the capacity for cotranslational transport was estimated for the endoplasmic reticulum of the human pancreas.     

The molecular mechanisms underlying BiP-mediated gating of the Sec61 translocon of the endoplasmic reticulum

The Sec61 translocon of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane forms an aqueous pore that is gated by the lumenal Hsp70 chaperone BiP. We have explored the molecular mechanisms governing BiP-mediated gating activity, including the coupling between gating and the BiP ATPase cycle, and the involvement of the substrate-binding and J domain-binding regions of BiP. Translocon gating was assayed by measuring the collisional quenching of fluorescent probes incorporated into nascent chains of translocation intermediates engaged with microsomes containing various BiP mutants and BiP substrate. Our results indicate that BiP must assume the ADP-bound conformation to seal the translocon, and that the reopening of the pore requires an ATP binding-induced conformational change. Further, pore closure requires functional interactions between both the substrate-binding region and the J domain-binding region of BiP and membrane proteins. The mechanism by which BiP mediates translocon pore closure and opening is therefore similar to that in which Hsp70 chaperones associate with and dissociate from substrates.     

A yeast DnaJ homologue, Scj1p, can function in the endoplasmic reticulum with BiP/Kar2p via a conserved domain that specifies interactions with Hsp70s

Eukaryotic cells contain multiple Hsp70 proteins and DnaJ homologues. The partnership between a given Hsp70 and its interacting DnaJ could, in principle, be determined by their cellular colocalization or by specific protein-protein interactions. The yeast SCJ1 gene encodes one of several homologues of the bacterial chaperone DnaJ. We show that Scj1p is located in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where it can function with Kar2p (the ER-lumenal BiP/Hsp70 of yeast). The region common to all DnaJ homologues (termed the J domain) from Scj1p can be swapped for a similar region in Sec63p, which is known to interact with Kar2p in the ER lumen, to form a functional transmembrane protein component of the secretory machinery. Thus, Kar2p can interact with two different DnaJ proteins. On the other hand, J domains from two other non-ER DnaJs, Sis1p and Mdj1p, do not function when swapped into Sec63p. However, only three amino acid changes in the Sis1p J domain render the Sec63 fusion protein fully functional in the ER lumen. These results indicate that the choice of an Hsp70 partner by a given DnaJ homologue is specified by the J domain.     

Sec61p and BiP directly facilitate polypeptide translocation into the ER.

Secretory proteins are segregated from cytosolic proteins by their translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A modified secretory protein trapped during translocation across the ER membrane can be crosslinked to two previously identified proteins, Sec61p and BiP (Kar2p). The dependence of this cross-linking upon proteins and small molecules was examined. Mutations in SEC62 and SEC63 decrease the ability of Sec61p to be cross-linked to the secretory polypeptide trapped in translocation. ATP is also required for interaction of Sec61p with the secretory protein. Three kar2 alleles display defective translocation in vitro. Two of these alleles also decrease the ability of Sec61p to be cross-linked to the secretory protein. The third allele, while exhibiting a severe translocation defect, does not affect the interaction of Sec61p with the secretory protein. These results suggest that Sec61p is directly involved in translocation and that BiP acts at two stages of the translocation cycle.     

Evolutionary Gain of Function for the ER Membrane Protein Sec62 from Yeast to Humans

Because of similarity to their yeast orthologues, the two membrane proteins of the human endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Sec62 and Sec63 are expected to play a role in protein biogenesis in the ER. We characterized interactions between these two proteins as well as the putative interaction of Sec62 with ribosomes. These data provide further evidence for evolutionary conservation of Sec62/Sec63 interaction. In addition, they indicate that in the course of evolution Sec62 of vertebrates has gained an additional function, the ability to interact with the ribosomal tunnel exit and, therefore, to support cotranslational mechanisms such as protein transport into the ER. This view is supported by the observation that Sec62 is associated with ribosomes in human cells. Thus, the human Sec62/Sec63 complex and the human ER membrane protein ERj1 are similar in providing binding sites for BiP in the ER-lumen and binding sites for ribosomes in the cytosol. We propose that these two systems provide similar chaperone functions with respect to different precursor proteins.     

A second trimeric complex containing homologs of the Sec61p complex functions in protein transport across the ER membrane of S. cerevisiae.

Yeast microsomes contain a heptameric Sec complex involved in post-translational protein transport that is composed of a heterotrimeric Sec61p complex and a tetrameric Sec62-Sec63 complex. The trimeric Sec61p complex also exists as a separate entity that probably functions in co-translational protein transport, like its homolog in mammals. We have now discovered in the yeast endoplasmic reticulum membrane a second, structurally related trimeric complex, named Ssh1p complex. It consists of Ssh1p1 (Sec sixty-one homolog 1), a rather distant relative of Sec61p, of Sbh2p, a homolog of the Sbh1p subunit of the Sec61p complex, and of Sss1p, a component common to both trimeric complexes. In contrast to Sec61p, Ssh1p is not essential for cell viability but it is required for normal growth rates. Sbh1p and Sbh2p individually are also not essential, but cells lacking both proteins are impaired in their growth at elevated temperatures and accumulate precursors of secretory proteins; microsomes isolated from these cells also exhibit a reduced rate of post-translational protein transport. Like the Sec61p complex, the Ssh1p complex interacts with membrane-bound ribosomes, but it does not associate with the Sec62-Sec63p complex to form a heptameric Sec complex. We therefore propose that it functions exclusively in the co-translational pathway of protein transport.     

Real-time fluorescence detection of ERAD substrate retrotranslocation in a mammalian in vitro system

Secretory proteins unable to assemble into their native states in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are transported back or "retrotranslocated" into the cytosol for ER-associated degradation (ERAD). To examine the roles of different components in ERAD, one fluorescence-labeled ERAD substrate was encapsulated with selected lumenal factors inside mammalian microsomes. After mixing microsomes with fluorescence-quenching agents and selected cytosolic proteins, the rate of substrate efflux was monitored continuously in real time by the decrease in fluorescence intensity as cytosolic quenchers contacted dye-labeled substrates. The retrotranslocation kinetics of nonglycosylated pro-alpha factor were not significantly altered by replacing all lumenal proteins with only protein disulfide isomerase or all cytosolic proteins with only PA700, the 19S regulatory particle of the 26S proteasome. Retrotranslocation was blocked by antibodies against a putative retrotranslocation channel protein, derlin-1, but not Sec61alpha. In addition, pro-alpha factor photocrosslinked derlin-1, but not Sec61alpha. Thus, derlin-1 appears to be involved in pro-alpha factor retrotranslocation.