Proteins involved in vesicular transport and membrane fusion (original) (raw)

Characteristics of endoplasmic reticulum-derived transport vesicles

The Journal of Cell Biology, 1994

We have isolated vesicles that mediate protein transport from the ER to Golgi membranes in perforated yeast. These vesicles, which form de novo during in vitro incubations, carry lumenal and membrane proteins that include core-glycosylated pro-~x-factor, Betl, Sec22, and Bosl, but not ER-resident Kar2 or Sec61 proteins. Thus, lumenal and membrane proteins in the ER are sorted prior to transport vesicle scission. Inhibition of Yptlp-function, which prevents newly formed vesicles from docking to cis-Golgi membranes, was used to block transport. Vesicles that accumulate are competent for fusion with cis-Golgi membranes, but not with ER membranes, and thus are functionally committed to vectorial transport. A 900-fold enrichment was developed using differential centrifugation and a series of velocity and equilibrium density gradients. Electron microscopic analysis shows a uniform population of 60 nm vesicles that lack peripheral protein coats. Quantitative Western blot analysis indicates that protein markers of cytosol and cellular membranes are depleted throughout the purification, whereas the synaptobrevin-like Betl, Sec22, and Bosl proteins are highly enriched. Uncoated E___RR-derived transport vesicles (ERV) contain twelve major proteins that associate tightly with the membrane. The ERV proteins may represent abundant cargo and additional targeting molecules.

Biochemical requirements for the targeting and fusion of ER-derived transport vesicles with purified yeast Golgi membranes

The Journal of Cell Biology, 1996

In order for secretion to progress, ERderived transport vesicles must target to, and fuse with the cis-Golgi compartment. These processes have been reconstituted using highly enriched membrane fractions and partially purified soluble components. The functionally active yeast Golgi membranes that have been purified are highly enriched in the cis-Golgi marker enzymes al,6 mannosyltransferase and GDPase. Fusion of transport vesicles with these membranes requires both GTP and ATP hydrolysis, and depends on cytosolic and peripheral membrane proteins. At least two protein fractions from yeast cytosol are required for the reconstitution of ER-derived vesicle fusion. Soluble fractions prepared from temperature-sensitive mutants revealed requirements for the Yptlp, Secl9p, Slylp, Sec7p, and Usol proteins. A model for the sequential involvement of these components in the targeting and fusion reaction is proposed.

Sec34p, a Protein Required for Vesicle Tethering to the Yeast Golgi Apparatus, Is in a Complex with Sec35p

The Journal of Cell Biology, 1999

A screen for mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae secretory pathway components previously yielded sec34, a mutant that accumulates numerous vesicles and fails to transport proteins from the ER to the Golgi complex at the restrictive temperature (Wuestehube, L.J., R. Duden, A. Eun, S. Hamamoto, P. Korn, R. Ram, and R. Schekman. 1996. Genetics. 142:393–406). We find that SEC34 encodes a novel protein of 93-kD, peripherally associated with membranes. The temperature-sensitive phenotype of sec34-2 is suppressed by the rab GTPase Ypt1p that functions early in the secretory pathway, or by the dominant form of the ER to Golgi complex target-SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor)–associated protein Sly1p, Sly1-20p. Weaker suppression is evident upon overexpression of genes encoding the vesicle tethering factor Uso1p or the vesicle-SNAREs Sec22p, Bet1p, or Ykt6p. This genetic suppression profile is similar to that of sec35-1, a mutant allele of a...

Identification of a Human Orthologue of Sec34p as a Component of the cis-Golgi Vesicle Tethering Machinery

Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2001

The roles of the components of the Sec34p protein complex in intracellular membrane trafficking, first identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have yet to be characterized in higher eukaryotes. We cloned a human cDNA whose predicted amino acid sequence showed 41% similarity to yeast Sec34p with homology throughout the entire coding region. Affinity-purified antibodies raised against the human SEC34 protein (hSec34p) recognized a cellular protein of 94 kDa in both soluble and membrane fractions. Like yeast Sec34p, cytosolic hSec34p migrated with an apparent molecular mass of 300 kDa on a glycerol velocity gradient, suggesting that it is part of a protein complex. Immunofluorescence microscopy localized hSec34p to the Golgi compartment in cells of all species examined, where it co-localized well with the cis/medial Golgi marker membrin and partially co-localized with cis-Golgi network marker p115 and trans-Golgi marker TGN38. The colocalization with membrin was maintained at 15°C and after microtubule depolymerization with nocodazole. During transport of the tsO45 vesicular stomatitis virus G protein through the Golgi, there was significant overlap with the hSec34p compartment. Green fluorescent protein-hSec34 expressed in HeLa cells was restricted to Golgi cisternae, and its membrane association was sensitive to brefeldin A treatment. Taken together, our findings indicate that hSec34p is part of a peripheral membrane protein complex localized on cis/medial Golgi cisternae where it may participate in tethering intra-Golgi transport vesicles.

Distinct SNARE complexes mediating membrane fusion in Golgi transport based on combinatorial specificity

Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 2002

Syntaxin-5 (Sed5) is the only syntaxin needed for transport into and across the yeast Golgi, raising the question of how a single syntaxin species could mediate vesicle transport in both the anterograde and the retrograde direction within the stack. Sed5 is known to combine with two light chains (Bos1 and Sec22) to form the t-SNARE needed to receive vesicles from the endoplasmic reticulum. However, the yeast Golgi contains several other potential light chains with which Sed5 could potentially combine to form other t-SNAREs. To explore the degree of specificity in the choice of light chains by a t-SNARE, we undertook a comprehensive examination of the capacity of all 21 Sed5-based t-SNAREs that theoretically could assemble in the yeast Golgi to fuse with each of the 7 potential v-SNAREs also present in this organelle. Only one additional of these 147 combinations was fusogenic. This functional proteomic strategy thereby revealed a previously uncharacterized t-SNARE in which Sed5 is the heavy chain and Gos1 and Ykt6 are the light chains, and whose unique cognate v-SNARE is Sft1. Immunoprecipitation experiments confirmed the existence of this complex in vivo. Fusion mediated by this second Golgi SNAREpin is topologically restricted, and existing genetic and morphologic evidence implies that it is used for transport across the Golgi stack. From this study, together with the previous functional proteomic analyses which have tested 275 distinct quaternary SNARE combinations, it follows that the fusion potential and transport pathways of the yeast cell can be read out from its genome sequence according to the SNARE hypothesis with a predictive accuracy of about 99.6%.