Sec2 is a highly efficient exchange factor for the Rab protein Sec4

Sec2 is a reversibly membrane associated multi-domain protein with guanine nucleotide exchange activity towards the yeast Rab-protein Sec4. Both proteins are localized to secretory vesicles destined for exocytosis. We have used transient kinetic methods to show that Sec2 is a highly active exchange factor, in contrast to other proteins previously characterized as Rab exchange factors. With a K(d) value for the Sec2:Sec4.GDP interaction of ca 70 microM and a maximal rate of GDP displacement of ca 15 s(-1), it is 100-1000-fold more effective than other proteins showing exchange activity towards Rabs (MSS4, DSS4, Vps9) and ca tenfold faster than Cdc25 as a Ras specific exchanger, although still 100-fold slower than the fastest systems studied so far, EF-Tu/Ef-Ts and Ran/RCC1. A comparison with other proteins showing Rab exchange activity shows that maximal rates of GDP dissociation catalyzed by Sec2 are orders of magnitude faster. When comparing Sec2 with DSS4, which also acts on Sec4, the difference was particularly dramatic. Another difference is seen in the kinetics of association of GTP with the Sec4:Sec2 complex, a process which is extremely slow for DSS4/MSS4 complexes with cognate Rabs but in the range observed for other GTPase:exchanger complexes for Sec4:Sec2., It is suggested that systems such as Ef-Tu/Ef-Ts and Ran/RCC1 have evolved for maximal possible activity for the interaction between two soluble proteins, whereas other evolutionary constraints which are connected to the spatial and temporal coordination of events in vesicular transport and other regulatory networks have determined the detailed kinetic properties of the other systems.     

Correlation Between Self-Association Modes and GTPase Activation of Dynamin

The GTPase activity of dynamin is obligatorily coupled, by a mechanism yet unknown, to the internalization of clathrin-coated endocytic vesicles. Dynamin oligomerizes in vitro and in vivo and both its mechanical and enzymatic activities appear to be mediated by this self-assembly. In this study we demonstrate that dynamin is characterized by a tetramer/monomer equilibrium with an equilibrium constant of 1.67 × 10¹⁷ M^–3. Stopped-flow fluorescence experiments show that the association rate constant for 2(3)-O-N-methylanthraniloyl (mant)GTP is 7.0 × 10^–5 M^–1 s^–1 and the dissociation rate constant is 2.1 s^–1, whereas the dissociation rate constant for mantdeoxyGDP is 93 s^–1. We also demonstrate the cooperativity of dynamin binding and GTPase activation on a microtubule lattice. Our results indicate that dynamin self-association is not a sufficient condition for the expression of maximal GTPase activity, which suggests that dynamin molecules must be in the proper conformation or orientation if they are to form an active oligomer.