Efficient export of the vesicular stomatitis virus G protein from the endoplasmic reticulum requires a signal in the cytoplasmic tail that includes both tyrosine-based and di-acidic motifs

The vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) G protein is a model transmembrane glycoprotein that has been extensively used to study the exocytotic pathway. A signal in the cytoplasmic tail of VSV G (DxE or Asp-x-Glu, where x is any amino acid) was recently proposed to mediate efficient export of the protein from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In this study, we show that the DxE motif only partially accounts for efficient ER exit of VSV G. We have identified a six-amino-acid signal, which includes the previously identified Asp and Glu residues, that is required for efficient exit of VSV G from the ER. This six-residue signal also includes the targeting sequence YxxO (where x is any amino acid and O is a bulky, hydrophobic residue) implicated in several different sorting pathways. The only defect in VSV G proteins with mutations in the six-residue signal is slow exit from the ER; folding and oligomerization in the ER are normal, and the mutants eventually reach the plasma membrane. Addition of this six-residue motif to an inefficiently transported reporter protein is sufficient to confer an enhanced ER export rate. The signal we have identified is highly conserved among divergent VSV G proteins, and we suggest this reflects the importance of this motif in the evolution of VSV G as a proficient exocytic protein.