A conserved clathrin assembly motif essential for synaptic vesicle endocytosis.
(41/1021)
Although clathrin assembly by adaptor proteins (APs) plays a major role in the recycling of synaptic vesicles, the molecular mechanism that allows APs to assemble clathrin is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that AP180, like AP-2 and AP-3, binds to the N-terminal domain of clathrin. Sequence analysis reveals a motif, containing the sequence DLL, that exists in multiple copies in many clathrin APs. Progressive deletion of these motifs caused a gradual reduction in the ability of AP180 to assemble clathrin in vitro. Peptides from AP180 or AP-2 containing this motif also competitively inhibited clathrin assembly by either protein. Microinjection of these peptides into squid giant presynaptic terminals reversibly blocked synaptic transmission and inhibited synaptic vesicle endocytosis by preventing coated pit formation at the plasma membrane. These results indicate that the DLL motif confers clathrin assembly properties to AP180 and AP-2 and, perhaps, to other APs. We propose that APs promote clathrin assembly by cross-linking clathrin triskelia via multivalent interactions between repeated DLL motifs in the APs and complementary binding sites on the N-terminal domain of clathrin. These results reveal the structural basis for clathrin assembly and provide novel insights into the molecular mechanism of clathrin-mediated synaptic vesicle endocytosis. (+info)
Role of the conserved WHXL motif in the C terminus of synaptotagmin in synaptic vesicle docking.
(42/1021)
Synaptotagmin (Syt) I, an abundant synaptic vesicle protein, consists of one transmembrane region, two C2 domains, and a short C terminus. This protein is essential for both synaptic vesicle exocytosis and endocytosis via its C2 domains. Although the short C terminus is highly conserved among the Syt family and across species, little is known about the exact role of the conserved C terminus of Syt I. In this paper, we report a function of the Syt I C terminus in synaptic vesicle docking at the active zones. Presynaptic injection of a peptide corresponding to the C-terminal 21 amino acids of Syt I (named Syt-C) into the squid giant synapse blocked synaptic transmission without affecting the presynaptic action potential or the presynaptic Ca(2+) currents. The same procedure repeated with a mutant C-terminal peptide (Syt-CM) had no effect on synaptic transmission. Repetitive presynaptic stimulation with Syt-C produced a rapid decrease in the amplitude of the postsynaptic potentials as the synaptic block progressed, indicating that the peptide interferes with the docking step rather than the fusion step of synaptic vesicles. Electron microscopy of the synapses injected with the Syt-C peptide showed a marked decrease in the number of docked synaptic vesicles at the active zones, as compared with controls. These results indicate that Syt I is a multifunctional protein that is involved in at least three steps of synaptic vesicle cycle: docking, fusion, and reuptake of synaptic vesicles. (+info)
Vibrio fischeri genes hvnA and hvnB encode secreted NAD(+)-glycohydrolases.
(43/1021)
HvnA and HvnB are proteins secreted by Vibrio fischeri ES114, an extracellular light organ symbiont of the squid Euprymna scolopes, that catalyze the transfer of ADP-ribose from NAD(+) to polyarginine. Based on this activity, HvnA and HvnB were presumptively designated mono-ADP-ribosyltransferases (ARTases), and it was hypothesized that they mediate bacterium-host signaling. We have cloned hvnA and hvnB from strain ES114. hvnA appears to be expressed as part of a four-gene operon, whereas hvnB is monocistronic. The predicted HvnA and HvnB amino acid sequences are 46% identical to one another and share 44% and 34% identity, respectively, with an open reading frame present in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa genome. Four lines of evidence indicate that HvnA and HvnB mediate polyarginine ADP-ribosylation not by ARTase activity, but indirectly through an NAD(+)-glycohydrolase (NADase) activity that releases free, reactive, ADP-ribose: (i) like other NADases, and in contrast to the ARTase cholera toxin, HvnA and HvnB catalyzed ribosylation of not only polyarginine but also polylysine and polyhistidine, and ribosylation was inhibited by hydroxylamine; (ii) HvnA and HvnB cleaved 1, N(6)-etheno-NAD(+) and NAD(+); (iii) incubation of HvnA and HvnB with [(32)P]NAD(+) resulted in the production of ADP-ribose; and (iv) purified HvnA displayed an NADase V(max) of 400 mol min(-1) mol(-1), which is within the range reported for other NADases and 10(2)- to 10(4)-fold higher than the minor NADase activity reported in bacterial ARTase toxins. Construction and analysis of an hvnA hvnB mutant revealed no other NADase activity in culture supernatants of V. fischeri, and this mutant initiated the light organ symbiosis and triggered regression of the light organ ciliated epithelium in a manner similar to that for the wild type. (+info)
Natural substitutions at highly conserved T1-domain residues perturb processing and functional expression of squid Kv1 channels.
(44/1021)
Shaker-type K-channel alpha-subunits (SqKv1A, B, D) expressed in neurons of the squid stellate ganglion differ in the length of their N-termini and in the species of amino acid present at several points in the T1 domain, an intracellular region involved in the tetramerization process during channel assembly. Heterologous expression of wild-type SqKv1A, B, and D in Xenopus oocytes reveals large differences in the level of both functional channels (assayed by whole-oocyte voltage clamp) and total channel protein (assayed by immunoblotting). Functional expression is poorest with SqKv1A and by far the best with SqKv1D. Biophysical properties of the three SqKv1 channels are essentially identical (assayed by cell-attached patch clamp). Site-directed mutagenesis was used to determine whether the observed differences in expression level are impacted by two residues in the T1 domain at which SqKv1A and B (but not D) differ from the consensus sequences found in many other taxa. In SqKv1A, glycine is substituted for arginine in an otherwise universally conserved sequence (FFDR in the T1(B) subdomain). In SqKv1B, glycine replaces serine in a sequence that is conserved within the Kv1 subfamily (SGLR in the T1(A) subdomain). Restoration of the consensus amino acid at these positions largely accounts for the observed differences in expression level. Analysis of the glycosylation state of aberrant versus restored alpha-subunits suggests that the anomalous amino acids in SqKv1A and B exert their influence during early steps in channel processing and assembly which take place in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). (+info)
Novel mechanism of blocking axonal Na(+) channels by three macrocyclic polyamine analogues and two spider toxins.
(45/1021)
1. The mechanism of Na(+) channel block by three macrocyclic polyamine derivatives and two spider toxins was studied with voltage clamp and internal perfusion method in squid axons. 2. All these chemicals specifically block Na(+) channels in the open state only from the internal surface, and do not affect K(+) channels. 3. The blocking effect is enhanced as the depolarizing pulse becomes larger. Blocked channels are unable to shift to the inactivated state. 4. In the case of cyclam and guanidyl-side armed cyclam (G-cyclam), quick release of these chemicals from the binding sites is proven by the increase in the tail current and prolongation of the time course of the off gating current. On the other hand, in the presence of N-4 and the spider toxins, their detachment was delayed significantly. 5. Molecular requirements for the block of Na(+) channels by these molecules are the presence of positive charge and hydrophobicity. (+info)
Role of calcium ions in the structure and function of the di-isopropylfluorophosphatase from Loligo vulgaris.
(46/1021)
Di-isopropylfluorophosphatase (DFPase) is shown to contain two high-affinity Ca(2+)-binding sites, which are required for catalytic activity and stability. Incubation with chelating agents results in the irreversible inactivation of DFPase. From titrations with Quin 2 [2-([2-[bis(carboxymethyl)amino]-5-methylphenoxy]-methyl)-6-methoxy-8-[bis(carbox ymethyl)-amino]quinoline], a lower-affinity site with dissociation constants of 21 and 840 nM in the absence and the presence of 150 mM KCl respectively was calculated. The higher-affinity site was not accessible, indicating a dissociation constant of less than 5.3 nM. Stopped-flow experiments have shown that the dissociation of bound Ca(2+) occurs in two phases, with rates of approx. 1.1 and 0.026 s(-1) corresponding to the dissociation from the low-affinity and high-affinity sites respectively. Dissociation rates depend strongly on temperature but not on ionic strength, indicating that Ca(2+) dissociation is connected with conformational changes. Limited proteolysis, CD spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and the binding of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulphonic acid have been combined to give a detailed picture of the conformational changes induced on the removal of Ca(2+) from DFPase. The Ca(2+) dissociation is shown to result in a primary, at least partly reversible, step characterized by a large decrease in DFPase activity and some changes in enzyme structure and shape. This step is followed by an irreversible denaturation and aggregation of the apo-enzyme. From the temperature dependence of Ca(2+) dissociation and the denaturation results we conclude that the higher-affinity Ca(2+) site is required for stabilizing DFPase's structure, whereas the lower-affinity site is likely to fulfil a catalytic function. (+info)
Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate-binding proteins controlling the phototransduction cascade of invertebrate visual cells.
(47/1021)
The main phototransduction cascade in invertebrate visual cells involves the turnover of phosphatidylinositol, an important biochemical mechanism common to many signal-transduction systems. Light-activated rhodopsin stimulates guanine nucleotide exchange on the Gq class of G-protein, which activates phospholipase C to hydrolyze phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate to inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate and diacylglycerol. Subsequently, inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate-binding proteins continue the signal cascade. Here, we report on the first inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate-binding proteins demonstrated in an invertebrate visual system with our investigation of the photosensitive rhabdoms of squid. We screened the ability of proteins to interact with inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate by affinity column chromatography with an inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate analogue. We detected an inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate-binding affinity in phospholipase C, receptor kinase and five other proteins in the cytosolic fraction and, surprisingly, rhodopsin in the membrane fraction. A binding assay with (3)H-labelled inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate demonstrated the inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate affinity of each of the purified proteins. Since rhodopsin, receptor kinase and phospholipase C are involved upstream of phosphatidylinositol turnover in the signal cascade, our result suggests that phosphatidylinositol turnover is important in feedback pathways in the signalling system. (+info)
Dynactin-dependent, dynein-driven vesicle transport in the absence of membrane proteins: a role for spectrin and acidic phospholipids.
(48/1021)
We reconstituted dynein-driven, dynactin-dependent vesicle transport using protein-free liposomes and soluble components from squid axoplasm. Dynein and dynactin, while necessary, are not the only essential cytosolic factors; axonal spectrin is also required. Spectrin is resident on axonal vesicles, and rebinds from cytosol to liposomes or proteolysed vesicles, concomitant with their dynein-dynactin-dependent motility. Binding of purified axonal spectrin to liposomes requires acidic phospholipids, as does motility. Using dominant negative spectrin polypeptides and a drug that releases PH domains from membranes, we show that spectrin is required for linking dynactin, and thereby dynein, to acidic phospholipids in the membrane. We verify this model in the context of liposomes, isolated axonal vesicles, and whole axoplasm. We conclude that spectrin has an essential role in retrograde axonal transport. (+info)