PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L Hicke

Publications and source records attributed to L Hicke.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Molecular machinery required for protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex.

The cellular machinery responsible for conveying proteins between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi is being investigated using genetics and biochemistry. A role for vesicles in mediating protein traffic between the ER and the Golgi has been established by characterizing yeast mutants defective in this process, and by using recently developed cell-free assays that measure ER to Golgi transport. These tools have also allowed the identification of several proteins crucial to intracellular protein trafficking. The characterization and possible functions of several GTP-binding proteins, peripheral membrane proteins, and an integral membrane protein during ER to Golgi transport are discussed here.

Animals↗

Yeast Sec23p acts in the cytoplasm to promote protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex in vivo and in vitro.

The SEC23 gene product (Sec23p) is required for transport of secretory, plasma membrane, and vacuolar proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular cloning and biochemical characterization demonstrate that Sec23p is an 84 kd unglycosylated protein that resides on the cytoplasmic surface of a large structure, possibly membrane or cytoskeleton. Vigorous homogenization of yeast cells or treatment of yeast lysates with reagents that desorb peripheral membrane proteins releases Sec23p in a soluble form. Protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi in vitro depends upon active Sec23p. Thermosensitive transport in sec23 mutant lysates is restored to normal when a soluble form of wild-type Sec23p is added, providing a biochemical complementation assay for Sec23p function. Gel filtration of yeast cytosol indicates that functional Sec23p is a large oligomer or part of a multicomponent complex.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Reconstitution of SEC gene product-dependent intercompartmental protein transport.

Transport of alpha-factor precursor from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus has been reconstituted in gently lysed yeast spheroplasts. Transport is measured through the coupled addition of outer-chain carbohydrate to [35S]methionine-labeled alpha-factor precursor translocated into the endoplasmic reticulum of broken spheroplasts. The reaction is absolutely dependent on ATP, stimulated 6-fold by cytosol, and occurs between physically separable sealed compartments. Transport is inhibited by the guanine nucleotide analog GTP gamma S. sec23 mutant cells have a temperature-sensitive defect in endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi transport in vivo. This defect has been reproduced in vitro using sec23 membranes and cytosol. Transport at 30 degrees C with sec23 membranes requires addition of cytosol containing the SEC23 (wild-type) gene product. This demonstrates that an in vitro inter-organelle transport reaction depends on a factor required for transport in vivo. Complementation of sec mutations in vitro provides a functional assay for the purification of individual intercompartmental transport factors.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗