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PubMed2004

Circular permutation as a tool to reduce surface entropy triggers crystallization of the signal recognition particle receptor beta subunit.

The production of diffraction-quality crystals remains a difficult obstacle on the road to high-resolution structural characterization of proteins. This is primarily a result of the empirical nature of the process. Although crystallization is not predictable, factors inhibiting it are well established. First, crystal formation is always entropically unfavorable. Reducing the entropic cost of crystallizing a given protein is thus desirable. It is common practice to map boundaries and remove unstructured regions surrounding the folded protein domain. However, a problem arises when flexible regions are not at the boundaries but within a domain. Such regions cannot be deleted without adding new restraints to the domain. We encountered this problem during an attempt to crystallize the beta subunit of the eukaryotic signal recognition particle (SRbeta), bearing a long and flexible internal loop. Native SRbeta did not crystallize. However, after circularly permuting the protein by connecting the spatially close N and C termini with a short heptapeptide linker GGGSGGG and removing 26 highly flexible loop residues within the domain, we obtained diffraction-quality crystals. This protein-engineering method is simple and should be applicable to other proteins, especially because N and C termini of protein domains are often close in space. The success of this method profits from prior knowledge of the domain fold, which is becoming increasingly common in today's postgenomic era.

Crystallization↗
PubMed1999

Red bell pepper chromoplasts exhibit in vitro import competency and membrane targeting of passenger proteins from the thylakoidal sec and DeltapH pathways but not the chloroplast signal recognition particle pathway.

Chloroplast to chromoplast development involves new synthesis and plastid localization of nuclear-encoded proteins, as well as changes in the organization of internal plastid membrane compartments. We have demonstrated that isolated red bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) chromoplasts contain the 75-kD component of the chloroplast outer envelope translocon (Toc75) and are capable of importing chloroplast precursors in an ATP-dependent fashion, indicating a functional general import apparatus. The isolated chromoplasts were able to further localize the 33- and 17-kD subunits of the photosystem II O2-evolution complex (OE33 and OE17, respectively), lumen-targeted precursors that utilize the thylakoidal Sec and DeltapH pathways, respectively, to the lumen of an internal membrane compartment. Chromoplasts contained the thylakoid Sec component protein, cpSecA, at levels comparable to chloroplasts. Routing of OE17 to the lumen was abolished by ionophores, suggesting that routing is dependent on a transmembrane DeltapH. The chloroplast signal recognition particle pathway precursor major photosystem II light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein failed to associate with chromoplast membranes and instead accumulated in the stroma following import. The Pftf (plastid fusion/translocation factor), a chromoplast protein, integrated into the internal membranes of chromoplasts during in vitro assays, and immunoblot analysis indicated that endogenous plastid fusion/translocation factor was also an integral membrane protein of chromoplasts. These data demonstrate that the internal membranes of chromoplasts are functional with respect to protein translocation on the thylakoid Sec and DeltapH pathways.

Biological Transport, Active↗
PubMed1989

Low resolution three-dimensional models of the 7SL RNA of the signal recognition particle, based on an intramolecular cross-link introduced by mild irradiation with ultraviolet light.

A number of intramolecular RNA-RNA cross-links were introduced into the human 7SL RNA by mild irradiation of a reconstituted signal recognition particle with ultraviolet light. Synthesis of radioactively labeled RNA was initiated in vitro from the T7 promoter. Smaller cross-linked complexes were generated by digestion of the RNA with RNase H in the presence of complementary deoxyoligonucleotides. Cross-linked complexes were separated from noncross-linked fragments by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A close proximity between the stemloop around position 200 and the nucleotides at positions 67 to 76 was revealed by the absence of a characteristic oligonucleotide from the fingerprint of one of the complexes, suggesting a close spatial neighborhood between these two regions of the RNA. This and previous results, which described two different conformers of the RNA, were used to deduce two preliminary three-dimensional structure models of the 7SL RNA. The models differ in the base pairing scheme of the conserved core of the 7SL RNA.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Signal recognition particle receptor (SRPR) is downregulated in a rat model of cyclosporin A-induced gingival overgrowth.

Differential display is a powerful technique which can be used to identify those genes whose expression is altered between two or more tissues under investigation. We have applied differential display to a rat model of cyclosporin A-induced gingival overgrowth (CIGO) to identify genes which are differentially expressed as a result of drug treatment. Ten weanling Wistar rats were fed with a pelleted diet containing cyclosporin A (CsA) at 120 mg/kg for 10 d and then 200 mg/kg for a further 30 d prior to culling. Experimental rats were compared with 10 age/sex-matched rats on a control diet. Significant evidence of overgrowth was observed in the interdental papilla between the mandibular first and second molar teeth in the CsA group. Differential display was performed on total cellular RNA extracted from the mandibular buccal gingiva. A cDNA product was isolated which was underexpressed in the overgrowth tissue and demonstrated a 95% sequence homology to the human signal recognition particle receptor (Human Docking Protein). Preliminary studies indicate that this gene is also underexpressed in human CIGO tissue. The method of approach and the potential implications of our findings are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

GTP-binding proteins may stimulate insulin biosynthesis in rat pancreatic islets by enhancing the signal-recognition-particle-dependent translocation of the insulin mRNA poly-/mono-some complex to the endoplasmic reticulum.

We aimed to elucidate the putative role of GTP-binding proteins in the regulation of insulin biosynthesis. For this purpose, freshly isolated rat islets were incubated in the presence of liposomes containing GDP, guanosine 5'-[beta-thio]diphosphate (GDP[S]), GTP, guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate (GTP[S]), guanosine 5'-[beta gamma-methylene]triphosphate (p[CH2]ppG), guanosine 5'[beta gamma-imido]triphosphate (p[NH]ppG) and ATP, and the effects of the liposomal delivery of these substances on rates of biosynthesis of insulin and total protein were determined. Insulin biosynthesis during a 1 h incubation at 1.67 mM-glucose was stimulated by ATP- and GTP[S]-containing liposomes as compared with control liposomes. At 16.7 mM-glucose, only the GTP[S]-containing liposomes stimulated insulin biosynthesis. No inhibition of islet protein and insulin synthesis was observed with GDP-, GDP[S]-, p[CH2]ppG- and p[NH]ppG-containing liposomes. By determining the subcellular distribution of insulin mRNA, it was found that the mRNA content associated with microsomes was increased and that associated with the cytosolic mono-/poly-somes decreased when the islets were incubated with GTP[S]-containing liposomes, resulting in an approximate doubling of the ratio of microsomal to polysomal-associated insulin mRNA. ATP-containing liposomes produced no effects on the association of insulin mRNA with microsomes. By using photoaffinity labelling and immunoprecipitation techniques, specific binding of GTP[35S] to the alpha-subunit of the signal-recognition particle (SRP) receptor in islet homogenates containing physiological concentrations of GTP and GDP was demonstrated. These findings suggest that the GTP-binding subunit(s) of the SRP receptor, and possibly also of other GTP-binding proteins involved in this process, may regulate insulin biosynthesis by stimulating the translocation of insulin mRNA to the endoplasmic reticulum and by increasing preproinsulin-peptide translocation into the lumen of the reticulum.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1999

Chloroplast FtsY, chloroplast signal recognition particle, and GTP are required to reconstitute the soluble phase of light-harvesting chlorophyll protein transport into thylakoid membranes.

The integration of light-harvesting chlorophyll proteins (LHCPs) into the thylakoid membrane proceeds in two steps. First, LHCP interacts with a chloroplast signal recognition particle (cpSRP) to form a soluble targeting intermediate called the transit complex. Second, LHCP integrates into the thylakoid membrane in the presence of GTP, at least one other soluble factor, and undefined membrane components. We previously determined that cpSRP is composed of 43- and 54-kDa polypeptides. We have examined the subunit stoichiometry of cpSRP and find that it is trimeric and composed of two subunits of cpSRP43/subunit of cpSRP54. A chloroplast homologue of FtsY, an Escherichia coli protein that is critical for the function of E. coli SRP, was found largely in the stroma unassociated with cpSRP. When chloroplast FtsY was combined with cpSRP and GTP, the three factors promoted efficient LHCP integration into thylakoid membranes in the absence of stroma, demonstrating that they are all required for reconstituting the soluble phase of LHCP transport.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

The affinity of signal recognition particle for presecretory proteins is dependent on nascent chain length.

We have developed an assay in which incomplete preprolactin chains of varying lengths are targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane in an elongation independent manner. The reaction had the same molecular requirements as nascent chain translocation across the ER membrane, namely, it was signal recognition particle (SRP) dependent, and required the nascent chain to be present as peptidyl tRNA (i.e. most likely ribosome associated) and to have its signal sequence exposed outside the ribosome. We found that the efficiency of the targeting reaction dropped dramatically as the chains grew longer than 140 amino acids in length, which probably reflected a decrease in affinity of the nascent chain-ribosome complex for SRP. Thus at physiological SRP concentrations (10 nM) there appears a sharp cut-off point in the ability of these chains to be targeted, while at high SRP concentrations (270 nM) all chains could be targeted. In kinetic experiments, high concentrations of SRP were found to change the time in elongation after which translocation of the nascent polypeptide could no longer occur.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Photocrosslinking of the signal sequence of nascent preprolactin to the 54-kilodalton polypeptide of the signal recognition particle.

Photoreactive moieties were incorporated into nascent polypeptides in a wheat germ protein-synthesizing system by using a plasmid-derived preprolactin mRNA and a Lys-tRNA analog, N epsilon-(5-azido-2-nitrobenzoyl)-Lys-tRNA (epsilon ANB-Lys-tRNA). The presence of the abnormally large amino acid side chains in the nascent chains did not impair function: complete preprolactin chains were synthesized in the absence of the signal recognition particle (SRP), elongation was arrested in the presence of SRP, and SRP-dependent translocation across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum and signal peptidase cleavage were observed in the presence of salt-extracted microsomes. Photolysis of elongation-arrested ribosomes resulted in several light- and epsilon ANB-Lys-tRNA-dependent crosslinks. By using antibodies specific for each of the proteins, one covalent complex was shown to be a photocrosslink between the preprolactin nascent chain and the 54-kDa protein subunit of SRP. This demonstrates that the N-terminal end of a secretory protein is located adjacent to the SRP in elongation-arrested ribosomes and strongly suggests that the signal sequence is recognized by and binds to the 54-kDa subunit of SRP. The other photocrosslinks involve as-yet-unidentified proteins in the large ribosomal subunit, indicating that this method of incorporating probes provides a powerful approach to examining the environment and interactions of the nascent chain during translation and translocation across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. The Lys-tRNA analog also successfully photoaffinity-labeled the Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) in the epsilon ANB-Lys-tRNA.EF-Tu.GTP ternary complex.

Affinity Labels↗
PubMed1987

Membrane translocation and insertion of NH2-terminally anchored gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase require a signal recognition particle.

The two subunits of the renal brush border enzyme, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (EC 2.3.2.2), are derived from a single-chain propeptide. The membrane-spanning domain consists of a hydrophobic sequence near its NH2-terminus and the protein is oriented with its NH2-terminus on the cytoplasmic side. The enzyme is synthesized without a cleavable signal sequence. Translocation and insertion of this enzyme have been shown to be dependent on the signal recognition particle and presumably require the same translocation machinery that other secretory and membrane proteins use for these processes.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Differential use of the signal recognition particle translocase targeting pathway for inner membrane protein assembly in Escherichia coli.

Assembly of several inner membrane proteins-leader peptidase (Lep), a Lep derivative (Lep-inv) that inserts with an inverted topology compared with the wild-type protein, the phage M13 procoat protein, and a procoat derivative (H1-procoat) with the hydrophobic core of the signal peptide replaced by a stretch from the first transmembrane segment in Lep-has been studied in vitro and in Escherichia coli strains that are conditional for the expression of either the 54 homologue (Ffh) or 4.5S RNA, which are the two components of the E. coli signal recognition particle (SRP), or SecE, an essential core component of the E. coli preprotein translocase. Membrane insertion has also been tested in a SecB null strain. Lep, Lep-inv, and H1-procoat require SRP for correct assembly into the inner membrane; in contrast, we find that wild-type procoat does not. Lep and, surprisingly, Lep-inv and H1-procoat fail to insert properly when SecE is depleted, whereas insertion of wild-type procoat is unaffected under these conditions. None of the proteins depend on SecB for assembly. These observations indicate that inner membrane proteins can assemble either by a mechanism in which SRP delivers the protein at the preprotein translocase or by what appears to be a direct integration into the lipid bilayer. The observed change in assembly mechanism when the hydrophobicity of the procoat signal peptide is increased demonstrates that the assembly of an inner membrane protein can be rerouted between different pathways.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1983

Mechanisms of integration of de novo-synthesized polypeptides into membranes: signal-recognition particle is required for integration into microsomal membranes of calcium ATPase and of lens MP26 but not of cytochrome b5.

We have investigated the in vitro integration into dog pancreas microsomal membranes of three integral membrane proteins that were synthesized de novo in a wheat germ cell-free translation system: calcium ATPase of rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum, MP26 of bovine lens fiber plasma membrane, and rat liver cytochrome b5. Biosynthetically these proteins show a common feature in that they are synthesized without a transient NH2-terminal signal sequence. Two of these proteins, ATPase and MP26, were shown to require the recently discovered signal-recognition particle (SRP) [Walter, P. & Blobel, G. (1982) Nature (London) 299, 691-698] for integration. By this criterion, therefore, they each contain at least one uncleaved signal sequence. Surprisingly, however, the uncleaved signal sequence(s) of these two proteins did not induce the characteristic SRP-mediated translation arrest that was previously shown for a cleaved signal sequence. Unlike ATPase and MP26, cytochrome b5 did not require SRP for integration into microsomal membrane. Thus, the distinction between an "insertion" sequence (specifying unassisted and opportunistic integration into any exposed membrane) and a "signal" sequence (directing integration into a specific membrane by a receptor-mediated mechanism) is a valid one. By assaying for SRP dependence, the two mechanisms of integration can now be experimentally distinguished.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

A novel signal recognition particle targets light-harvesting proteins to the thylakoid membranes.

The mechanisms involved in the posttranslational targeting of membrane proteins are not well understood. The light-harvesting chlorophyll proteins (LHCP) of the thylakoid membrane are a large family of hydrophobic proteins that are targeted in this manner. They are synthesized in the cytoplasm, translocated across the chloroplast envelope membranes into the stroma, bound by a stromal factor to form a soluble intermediate, "transit complex", and then integrated into the thylakoid membrane by a GTP dependent reaction. Signal recognition particle (SRP), a cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein, is known to mediate the GTP dependent cotranslational targeting of proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum. We show that chloroplasts contain an SRP consisting of, cpSRP54, a homologue of SRP54 and a previously undescribed 43-kDa polypeptide (cpSRP43) instead of an RNA. We demonstrate that both subunits of cpSRP are required for the formation of the transit complex with LHCP. Furthermore, cpSRP54, cpSRP43, and LHCP are sufficient to form a complex that appears to be identical to authentic transit complex. We also show that the complex formed between LHCP and cpSRP, together with an additional soluble factor(s) are required for the proper integration of LHCP into the thylakoid membrane. It appears that the expanded role of cpSRP in posttranslational targeting of LHCP has arisen through the evolution of the 43-kDa protein.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Truncations of a secretory protein define minimum lengths required for binding to signal recognition particle and translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.

Nascent preproinsulin interacts with endoplasmic reticulum membranes after approximately 70-80 residues of the 116-amino acid precursor are polymerized (Eskridge, E. M., and Shields, D. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 11487-11491). To understand the relationship between the size of a nascent presecretory polypeptide and the efficiency of its translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, recombinant DNA molecules were generated that encoded a series of preproinsulin derivatives with the same NH2 terminus as preproinsulin and progressively shorter COOH termini. The DNA was transcribed, the in vitro transcription products were translated in the wheat germ cell-free translation system, and the interaction of the resulting truncated polypeptides with signal recognition particle (SRP) and with microsomal membranes was analyzed. Truncations composed of 78 and 64 amino acids were translocated across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, and translocation was found to be strictly co-translational and SRP-dependent. Translocation efficiency at low membrane concentrations was reduced for these truncated molecules relative to full-length preproinsulin. Most significantly, translation of the 64-residue polypeptide was arrested by SRP after only 50 amino acids were polymerized. This suggests that the initial interaction of nascent secretory proteins with SRP occurs when only 10 residues of the signal peptide protrude from the large ribosomal subunit.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Signal recognition particle is required for co-translational insertion of cytochrome P-450 into microsomal membranes.

Insertion of newly synthesized P-450(1), the major phenobarbital-inducible form of rabbit liver microsomal cytochrome P-450, into microsomal membranes was studied in a wheat germ cell-free translation system programed with total RNA from the liver of a phenobarbital-treated rabbit. P-450(1) synthesized in vitro had the same molecular weight as the mature molecule and was co-translationally inserted into dog pancreas rough microsomal membranes. In the presence of salt-washed microsomes, instead of unwashed ones, the insertion was greatly diminished. It could, however, be restored by supplementation of the system with purified signal recognition particle (SRP), a known component of the membrane translocation machinery for secretory proteins. In the absence of microsomes, SRP inhibited the translation of mRNA encoding P-450(1) and this translation arrest was released by the addition of salt-washed microsomes. On the other hand, SRP did not affect the translation of mRNAs encoding yeast porin and reticulocyte globin, which are mitochondrial and cytosolic proteins, respectively. We conclude that co-translational insertion of P-450(1) into microsomal membranes requires SRP and postulate that P-450(1) possesses an uncleavable signal sequence that can be recognized by SRP.

Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System↗
PubMed1986

Translational control of insulin biosynthesis. Evidence for regulation of elongation, initiation and signal-recognition-particle-mediated translational arrest by glucose.

The biosynthesis of insulin in the islets of Langerhans is strongly controlled at the translational level by glucose. We have used a variety of experimental approaches in efforts to dissect the mechanisms underlying the stimulatory effect of glucose. To assess its effects on rates of peptide-chain elongation, isolated rat islets were labelled with [3H]leucine at different glucose concentrations in the presence or absence of low concentrations of cycloheximide. Under these conditions, at glucose concentrations up to 5.6 mM, endogenous insulin mRNA did not become rate-limiting for the synthesis of insulin, whereas stimulation of non-insulin protein synthesis was abolished by cycloheximide at all glucose concentrations, indicating either that insulin synthesis is selectively regulated at the level of elongation at glucose concentrations up to 5.6 mM, or that at these concentrations inactive insulin mRNA is transferred to an actively translating pool. Glucose-induced changes in the intracellular distribution of insulin mRNA in cultured islets were assessed by subcellular fractionation and blot-hybridization using insulin cDNA probes. At glucose concentrations above 3.3 mM, cytoplasmic insulin mRNA was increasingly transferred to fractions co-sedimenting with ribosomes, and relatively more of the ribosome-associated insulin mRNA became membrane-associated, consistent with effects of glucose above 3.3 mM on both the initiation of insulin mRNA and SRP (signal recognition particle)-mediated transfer of cytosolic nascent preproinsulin to the endoplasmic reticulum. When freshly isolated islets were homogenized and incubated with 125I-Tyr-tRNA, run-off incorporation of 125I into preproinsulin was increased by prior incubation of the islets at 16.7 mM-glucose. The addition of purified SRP receptor increased the run-off incorporation of [125I]iodotyrosine into preproinsulin, especially when the islets had been preincubated at 16.7 mM-glucose. These findings taken together suggest that glucose may stimulate elongation rates of nascent preproinsulin at concentrations up to 5.6 mM, stimulates initiation of protein synthesis involving both insulin and non-insulin mRNA at concentrations above 3.3 mM, and increases the transfer of initiated insulin mRNA molecules from the cytoplasm to microsomal membranes by an SRP-mediated mechanism that involves the modification of interactions between SRP and its receptor.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

The cyanobacterial genome contains a single copy of the ffh gene encoding a homologue of the 54 kDa subunit of signal recognition particle.

Cyanobacteria possess thylakoid membranes that differ in their protein composition from the cytoplasmic membrane. To study possible pathways of protein targeting to these membranes, we have investigated whether or not cyanobacteria have a homologue or homologues of the signal recognition particle-like chaperone Ffh. We have amplified a fragment of ffh by polymerase chain reaction and established that ffh is present as a single copy in the genomes of three cyanobacterial species. We have cloned and sequences ffh from Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 and predict that Ffh functions as a ribonucleoprotein in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts.

Bacterial Proteins↗