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Involvement of FtsH in protein assembly into and through the membrane. I. Mutations that reduce retention efficiency of a cytoplasmic reporter.

To identify cellular factors that assist in membrane protein biogenesis, we looked for mutants affected in the "stop transfer" anchoring process. Using a SecY-PhoA fusion protein in which alkaline phosphatase (PhoA) mature sequence is attached to the last cytoplasmic domain following the 10th transmembrane segment of SecY, we isolated a mutation (std101) that allowed significant export of the PhoA moiety across the membrane. The mutation did not cause nonspecific leakage of cytoplasmic proteins. The mutation was identified as a single base change in the ftsH gene, causing an amino acid substitution in the proposed periplasmic region of FtsH, a putative membrane-bound ATPase. In addition, the ftsH1 temperature-sensitive mutation caused a similar phenotype. Disruption of the chromosomal ftsH in combination with a lac promoter-controlled copy of ftsH on a plasmid rendered the cell viability dependent on lac induction. Repression of this system resulted in a strong Std phenotype as well as significant export defects of beta-lactamase and OmpA. Thus, the loss of ftsH function enhances translocation of normally anchored protein segments and retards that of normally translocated proteins. These results suggest that FtsH participates in assembly of proteins into and through the membrane. It is needed for the cell to assure efficient stop-transfer of some transmembrane proteins.

ATP-Dependent Proteases↗

The secA inhibitor, azide, reversibly blocks the translocation of a subset of proteins across the chloroplast thylakoid membrane.

The presence of secA and secY gene homologues in the plastid genomes of red algae and cyanophytes has raised the possibility that the products of these genes are involved in protein translocation across the thylakoid membrane. Bacterial SecA proteins are effectively inhibited by azide, and we have tested the effects of this compound on the transport of lumenal proteins across the thylakoid membrane in pea chloroplasts. Recent studies have shown that lumenal proteins are transported by two different mechanisms, one dependent on the thylakoidal delta pH and the other requiring the presence of a stromal protein factor and ATP. In this report we show that azide inhibits the transport across the thylakoid membrane of the latter group of proteins, which includes plastocyanin and the lumenal 33-kDa protein of photosystem II; translocation of proteins by the delta pH-dependent pathway is unaffected. Following import into isolated chloroplasts in the presence of azide, a substantial proportion of plastocyanin and the 33-kDa protein is found as the stromal intermediate form; the proportion increases with lower ATP concentrations, suggesting that azide and ATP may compete for a single site. The presence of azide completely inhibits the import of the 33-kDa protein by isolated thylakoids, but import is restored if the azide is removed from the stromal extract or thylakoids, prior to the import incubation. The data thus indicate that azide reversibly inhibits the transport of a subset of proteins across the thylakoid membrane, consistent with the involvement of a SecA homolog. The results also indicate that azide is potentially a valuable tool for the future assignment of novel lumenal proteins to one of the thylakoidal protein transport mechanisms.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Identification of a soluble SecA/SecB complex by means of a subfractionated cell-free export system.

We have reconstituted the cell-free synthesis of the Escherichia coli precursor protein LamB from partially purified subfractions of an E. coli cell extract. PreLamB synthesized in this manner is translocated into salt-extracted plasma membrane vesicles only in the presence of SecA/SecB- or SecB-containing preparations of the E. coli cytosol. The most active preparations obtained upon purification were those containing a soluble SecA/SecB complex. Complex formation between SecA and SecB was verified by co-sedimentation and co-immunoprecipitation. When preLamB was synthesized in the presence of this material, a considerable amount of precursor was recovered from a soluble ternary complex consisting of preLamB, SecA, and SecB. Our results suggest that a soluble SecA/SecB complex participates in the export of preLamB and that this complex is functionally equivalent to a previously described 12 S (7 S) export factor (Müller, M., and Blobel, G. (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 7737-7741; Watanabe, M., and Blobel, G. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 2728-2732).

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Precursor-specific requirements for SecA, SecB, and delta muH+ during protein export of Escherichia coli.

We compare translocation into inside-out plasma membrane vesicles (INV) of the in vitro synthesized outer membrane proteins LamB and OmpA and the periplasmic protein Skp of Escherichia coli and demonstrate a precursor-specific dependence on the export factors SecA, SecB, and the proton-motive force (delta mu H+). A partial reduction in soluble SecA caused a 50% decrease in translocation of preLamB. In contrast, removal of INV-bound SecA by urea extraction was required to see a decrease in translocation of preOmpA and preSkp, with 8% of preSkp still being translocated into urea-treated INV. Translocation of the three precursors into INV showed a corresponding differential sensitivity toward dissipation of delta mu H+ following removal of the F1-ATPase from the INV. While depletion of both F1 and SecA or simply lowering of the reaction temperature resulted in an inhibition of complete transmembrane translocation, it interfered less severely with signal sequence cleavage, indicating the formation of translocation intermediates under these conditions. The relative amounts of intermediate obtained were also different for the three preproteins correlating a low requirement for SecA and delta mu H+ with a facilitated initiation of translocation. Whereas preSkp was translocated independently of SecB, preLamB was not even targeted to the INV in its absence. Functional targeting of preOmpA required the presence of SecB during incubation of the precursor with INV and not during its synthesis. SecB, exogenously added during the period of synthesis, did not prevent the formation of translocation-incompetent preLamB. The latter results are consistent with an important targeting function of SecB, which so far has mostly been described as a molecular chaperone. The findings are discussed with respect to current models of bacterial protein export usually derived from the analysis of a single precursor.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Site-specific photocross-linking reveals that Sec61p and TRAM contact different regions of a membrane-inserted signal sequence.

A chemically charged amber suppressor tRNA was used to introduce the photoactivatable amino acid (Tmd)Phe at a selected position within the signal sequence of the secretory protein preprolactin. This allowed the interactions of the NH2-terminal, the central, and the COOH-terminal regions of the signal sequence to be investigated during insertion into the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We found that different regions of the nascent chains were photocross-linked to different ER proteins. The TRAM protein (translocating chain-associating membrane protein) contacts the NH2-terminal region of the signal sequence while the mammalian Sec61p contacts the hydrophobic core of the signal sequence and regions COOH-terminal of this. These results suggest that the ER translocation complex is composed of heterologous protein subunits which contact distinct regions of nascent polypeptides during their membrane insertion.

Acylation↗

A dual role for phosphatidylglycerol in protein translocation across the Escherichia coli inner membrane.

The involvement of phosphatidylglycerol in the SecA-independent translocation of M13 procoat in Escherichia coli was demonstrated. Processing of procoat to mature coat protein was retarded when the level of phosphatidylglycerol was reduced. In vitro translocation experiments using inner membrane vesicles isolated from a strain with inducible synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol, showed that translocation of procoat and of a SecA-dependent procoat analog was proportional to the content of phosphatidylglycerol. Moreover, introduction of phosphatidylglycerol by means of a lipid transfer method into phosphatidylglycerol-depleted inner membrane vesicles, efficiently restored procoat translocation. The phosphatidylglycerol dependence in both the SecA-dependent and -independent translocation pathway indicates that phosphatidylglycerol plays a dual role in translocation. We suggest that besides membrane binding of SecA this lipid has a direct interaction with the M13 procoat in translocation across the inner membrane.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Translocation of conjugated presecretory proteins possessing an internal non-peptide domain into everted membrane vesicles in Escherichia coli.

Polypeptides comprising 20 amino acid residues (Y2) were covalently bound to the carboxyl terminus of a truncated proOmpA (proOmpA-D72C) through N,N'-bis(3-maleimidopropionyl)-2-hydroxy-1,3-propanediamine (X). The length of the inverted linker domain was 2.8 nm. proOmpA-D72C-X-Y2 thus synthesized was subjected to in vitro translocation into everted membrane vesicles of Escherichia coli. The conjugated protein was translocation-competent in terms of both proteinase K resistance and signal peptide cleavage, when a proton motive force (delta microH+) was imposed. The translocation was ATP-dependent. The proteinase K-treatment resulted in the digestion of SecA, SecE, and SecY in the membrane, suggesting that the proteinase K resistance of the Y2 domain was not due to its interaction with these Sec proteins in the secretory machinery. In the absence of delta microH+, the translocation ceased at the linker domain. Upon the imposition of delta microH+, the linker-Y2 domain underwent translocation, which did not require ATP hydrolysis as in the case of the translocation of the latter portion of usual secretory proteins. The translocation was prevented by anti-Y2 IgG even when delta microH+ was imposed. Another conjugated protein, which possesses a polypeptide comprising 61 amino acid residues after the linker (proOmpA-D72C-X-Lpp'), was synthesized. This compound was also translocated into everted membrane vesicles with cleavage of the signal peptide. These results suggest that substances to be translocated through the secretory machinery need not necessarily be solely held together by polypeptide bonds.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Lysine 106 of the putative catalytic ATP-binding site of the Bacillus subtilis SecA protein is required for functional complementation of Escherichia coli secA mutants in vivo.

The SecA protein is a major component of the cellular machinery that mediates the translocation of proteins across the Escherichia coli plasma membrane. The secA gene from Bacillus subtilis was cloned and expressed in E. coli under the control of the lac or trc promoter. The temperature-sensitive growth and secretion defects of various E. coli secA mutants were complemented by the B. subtilis SecA protein, provided the protein was expressed at moderate levels. Under overproduction conditions, no complementation was observed. One of the main features of the SecA protein is the translocation ATPase activity which, together with the protonmotive force, drives the movement of proteins across the plasma membrane. A putative ATP-binding motif can be identified in the SecA protein resembling the consensus Walker A type motif. Replacement of a lysine residue at position 106, which corresponds to an invariable amino acid residue, in the consensus motif by asparagine (K106N) resulted in the loss of the ability of the B. subtilis SecA protein to complement the growth and secretion defects of E. coli secA mutants. In addition, the presence of the K106N SecA protein interfered with protein translocation, most likely at an ATP-requiring step. We conclude that lysine 106 is part of the catalytic ATP-binding site of the B. subtilis SecA protein, which is required for protein translocation in vivo.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

SecY, an integral subunit of the bacterial preprotein translocase, is encoded by a plastid genome.

Although the paradigm for the acquisition of photosynthetic organelles is the endocytosis of cyanobacteria-like progenitors by heterotrophic protists, details of this evolutionary process are unclear. The small organellar chromosomes are remnants of the larger bacterial genomes with most genes from the endosymbiont's DNA having been either relocated to the protist's nucleus or entirely lost. As a result of those gene transfers, differences exist between plastids from different algal phyla and higher plants. We report here on the retention of a secY gene in cyanelle (= plastid) DNA of the eukaryotic protist Cyanophora paradoxa. This cyanelle secY encodes a functional protein homologous to SecY of Escherichia coli, identified as a subunit of the preprotein translocase complex. Similarity of the cyanelle and E. coli SecY topology, predicted from sequence information, has been confirmed experimentally through SecY-PhoA fusion protein analysis in E. coli. Cyanelle SecY, expressed in an E. coli secY mutant, substituted for the defective prokaryotic SecY. A plastid-encoded gene for a membrane protein functioning in protein transport across plastid membranes is unprecedented in higher plants. From these results we infer that a functional homolog of the prokaryotic preprotein translocation machinery is retained in some plastids.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Membrane vesicles containing overproduced SecY and SecE exhibit high translocation ATPase activity and countermovement of protons in a SecA- and presecretory protein-dependent manner.

Everted membrane vesicles were prepared from Escherichia coli cells containing either overproduced amounts (OP-membrane vesicles) or normal amounts (normal membrane vesicles) of SecY and SecE, both of which are essential components of the protein translocation apparatus. The rates of translocation of pro-OmpA were similar in the two types of membrane vesicles, whereas translocation ATPase activity, which requires SecA, a precursor protein (pro-OmpA), and membrane vesicles, was appreciably higher with OP-membrane vesicles than with normal membrane vesicles. Since ATP hydrolysis has been shown to take place at an earlier part of the translocation reaction, these results suggest that the overproduction of SecY and SecE enhanced the activity of the earlier process, but not the entire process, of the translocation reaction. The addition of pro-OmpA in the presence of SecA caused the partial collapse of delta pH (inside acidic) generated on OP-membrane vesicles, suggesting that protons come out from the inside of the membrane vesicles in a pro-OmpA-dependent manner. The collapse of delta pH caused by pro-OmpA required SecA, ATP, and SecY and was not detected when normal membrane vesicles were used. These results indicate that the early event of protein translocation, which requires the functioning of SecA, SecY, and SecE, causes the countermovement of protons.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

A second trimeric complex containing homologs of the Sec61p complex functions in protein transport across the ER membrane of S. cerevisiae.

Yeast microsomes contain a heptameric Sec complex involved in post-translational protein transport that is composed of a heterotrimeric Sec61p complex and a tetrameric Sec62-Sec63 complex. The trimeric Sec61p complex also exists as a separate entity that probably functions in co-translational protein transport, like its homolog in mammals. We have now discovered in the yeast endoplasmic reticulum membrane a second, structurally related trimeric complex, named Ssh1p complex. It consists of Ssh1p1 (Sec sixty-one homolog 1), a rather distant relative of Sec61p, of Sbh2p, a homolog of the Sbh1p subunit of the Sec61p complex, and of Sss1p, a component common to both trimeric complexes. In contrast to Sec61p, Ssh1p is not essential for cell viability but it is required for normal growth rates. Sbh1p and Sbh2p individually are also not essential, but cells lacking both proteins are impaired in their growth at elevated temperatures and accumulate precursors of secretory proteins; microsomes isolated from these cells also exhibit a reduced rate of post-translational protein transport. Like the Sec61p complex, the Ssh1p complex interacts with membrane-bound ribosomes, but it does not associate with the Sec62-Sec63p complex to form a heptameric Sec complex. We therefore propose that it functions exclusively in the co-translational pathway of protein transport.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Degradation of subunits of the Sec61p complex, an integral component of the ER membrane, by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

We have investigated the degradation of subunits of the trimeric Sec61p complex, a key component of the protein translocation apparatus of the ER membrane. A mutant form of Sec6lp and one of the two associated proteins (Sss1p) are selectively degraded, while the third constituent of the complex (Sbh1p) is stable. Our results demonstrate that the proteolysis of the multispanning membrane protein Sec61p is mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, since it requires polyubiquitination, the presence of a membrane-bound (Ubc6) and a soluble (Ubc7) ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme and a functional proteasome. The process is proposed to be specific for unassembled Sec61p and Sss1p. Thus, our results suggest that one pathway of ER degradation of abnormal or unassembled membrane proteins is initiated at the cytoplasmic side of the ER.

Cell Compartmentation↗

In vivo membrane assembly of the E.coli polytopic protein, melibiose permease, occurs via a Sec-independent process which requires the protonmotive force.

To investigate the mechanism of polytopic membrane protein insertion in Escherichia coli, we have examined the protein and energy requirements for in vivo membrane assembly of the prototypic 12 transmembrane domain sugar co-transporter, melibiose permease (MelB). MelB membrane assembly was analyzed both kinetically, by pulse labeling experiments, and functionally by measuring the activity of the inserted permease. Strikingly, the rate of MelB membrane assembly is decreased approximately 4-fold upon dissipation of the transmembrane electrochemical proton gradient, delta(mu)H+, indicative of a strong requirement for delta(mu)H+. Interestingly, selective dissipation of either the electrical (delta(psi)) or the chemical (delta(pH)) component of delta(mu)H+ demonstrates that either form of energy is required for MelB membrane assembly. In contrast, MelB membrane assembly does not require SecA, SecY or SecE, all three proteins which are strictly required for protein translocation. Neither the rate of MelB membrane assembly nor the amount of functional permease is affected by inactivation or depletion of these Sec proteins. These results strongly suggest that polytopic membrane proteins such as MelB insert into the cytoplasmic membrane by a mechanism fundamentally different from protein translocation.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Targeting of signal sequenceless proteins for export in Escherichia coli with altered protein translocase.

Most extracytoplasmic proteins are synthesized with an N-terminal signal sequence that targets them to the export apparatus. Escherichia coli prlA mutants (altered in the secY gene) are able to export cell envelope proteins lacking any signal sequence. In order to understand how such proteins are targeted for export, we isolated mutations in a signal sequenceless version of alkaline phosphatase that block its export in a prlA mutant. The mutations introduce basic amino acyl residues near the N-terminus of alkaline phosphatase. These changes do not disrupt an N-terminal export signal in this protein since the first 25 amino acids can be removed without affecting its export competence. These findings suggest that signal sequenceless alkaline phosphatase does not contain a discrete domain that targets it for export and may be targeted simply because it remains unfolded in the cytoplasm. We propose that basic amino acids near the N-terminus of a signal sequenceless protein affect its insertion into the translocation apparatus after it has been targeted for export. These findings allow the formulation of a model for the entry of proteins into the membrane-embedded export machinery.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Characterization of the preprotein translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane by blue native electrophoresis.

The mitochondrial outer membrane contains import receptors for nuclear-encoded preproteins and a general import pore responsible for membrane translocation of preproteins. Receptors and the general import pore have been suggested to assemble into a loose complex. However, biochemical characterization of the complex has been limited so far. We report that blue native electrophoresis separates two complexes. One complex of approximately 400 kDa contains the receptor Tom22 and the general import pore component Tom40, the other complex of approximately 120 kDa contains the receptor Tom70. A preprotein accumulated at the general import pore apparently co-migrates with the larger complex, suggesting the functionality of the complex. We conclude that the translocase of the outer membrane consists of at least two subcomplexes and that blue native electrophoresis will be a powerful tool for biochemical analysis of the complexes.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

A protease complex in the Escherichia coli plasma membrane: HflKC (HflA) forms a complex with FtsH (HflB), regulating its proteolytic activity against SecY.

Escherichia coli FtsH (HflB), a membrane-bound ATPase is required for proteolytic degradation of uncomplexed forms of the protein translocase SecY subunit. We have now isolated SecY-stabilizing mutations that cause an amino acid substitution in the HflK-HflC membrane protein complex. Although HflKC protein was believed to have a proteolytic activity against lambda cII protein, deletion of hflK-hflC did not stabilize SecY. Instead, the mutant alleles were partially dominant and overexpression of ftsH suppressed the mutational effects, suggesting that the mutant proteins antagonized the degradation of SecY. These results raise the possibility that even the wild-type HflKC protein acts to antagonize FtsH. Consistent with this notion, the hflkC null mutation accelerated degradation of the SecY24 protein. Furthermore cross-linking, co-immunoprecipitation, histidine-tagging and gel filtration experiments all indicated that FtsH and HflKC form a complex in vivo and in vitro. Finally, purified HflKC protein inhibited the SecY-degrading activity of purified FtsH protein in vitro. These results indicate that the proteolytic activity of FtsH is modulated negatively by its association with HflKC.

ATP-Dependent Proteases↗