QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

Vol. 18, Issue 9, 3463-3471, September 2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: E07-03-0193v1 18/9/3463    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kloepper, T. H. Articles by Fasshauer, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kloepper, T. H. Articles by Fasshauer, D.

An Elaborate Classification of SNARE Proteins Sheds Light on the Conservation of the Eukaryotic Endomembrane System

Tobias H. Kloepper^*,, C. Nickias Kienle^*,, and Dirk Fasshauer

*Research Group Algorithms in Bioinformatics, Center for Bioinformatics, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; and Research Group Structural Biochemistry, Department of Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Submitted March 1, 2007; Revised June 15, 2007; Accepted June 18, 2007
Monitoring Editor: Sean Munro

Proteins of the SNARE (soluble N-ethylmalemide–sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) family are essential for the fusion of transport vesicles with an acceptor membrane. Despite considerable sequence divergence, their mechanism of action is conserved: heterologous sets assemble into membrane-bridging SNARE complexes, in effect driving membrane fusion. Within the cell, distinct functional SNARE units are involved in different trafficking steps. These functional units are conserved across species and probably reflect the conservation of the particular transport step. Here, we have systematically analyzed SNARE sequences from 145 different species and have established a highly accurate classification for all SNARE proteins. Principally, all SNAREs split into four basic types, reflecting their position in the four-helix bundle complex. Among these four basic types, we established 20 SNARE subclasses that probably represent the original repertoire of a eukaryotic cenancestor. This repertoire has been modulated independently in different lines of organisms. Our data are in line with the notion that the ur-eukaryotic cell was already equipped with the various compartments found in contemporary cells. Possibly, the development of these compartments is closely intertwined with episodes of duplication and divergence of a prototypic SNARE unit.

Address correspondence to: Dirk Fasshauer (dfassha{at}gwdg.de).

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. M. Walter, K. Wiederhold, D. Bruns, D. Fasshauer, and J. B. Sorensen Synaptobrevin N-terminally bound to syntaxin-SNAP-25 defines the primed vesicle state in regulated exocytosis J. Cell Biol., February 8, 2010; 188(3): 401 - 413. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Schilde, B. Schonemann, I. M. Sehring, and H. Plattner Distinct Subcellular Localization of a Group of Synaptobrevin-Like SNAREs in Paramecium tetraurelia and Effects of Silencing SNARE-Specific Chaperone NSF Eukaryot. Cell, February 1, 2010; 9(2): 288 - 305. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. K. A. Palanisamy, M. A. Ramirez, M. Lorenz, and S. A. Lee Candida albicans PEP12 Is Required for Biofilm Integrity and In Vivo Virulence Eukaryot. Cell, February 1, 2010; 9(2): 266 - 277. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Conway Morris Evolution: like any other science it is predictable Phil Trans R Soc B, January 12, 2010; 365(1537): 133 - 145. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Cypionka, A. Stein, J. M. Hernandez, H. Hippchen, R. Jahn, and P. J. Walla Discrimination between docking and fusion of liposomes reconstituted with neuronal SNARE-proteins using FCS PNAS, November 3, 2009; 106(44): 18575 - 18580. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. C. Sudhof and J. E. Rothman Membrane Fusion: Grappling with SNARE and SM Proteins Science, January 23, 2009; 323(5913): 474 - 477. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. V. Elias, R. Quiroga, N. Gottig, H. Nakanishi, T. E. Nash, A. Neiman, and H. D. Lujan Characterization of SNAREs Determines the Absence of a Typical Golgi Apparatus in the Ancient Eukaryote Giardia lamblia J. Biol. Chem., December 19, 2008; 283(51): 35996 - 36010. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ebine, Y. Okatani, T. Uemura, T. Goh, K. Shoda, M. Niihama, M. T. Morita, C. Spitzer, M. S. Otegui, A. Nakano, et al. A SNARE Complex Unique to Seed Plants Is Required for Protein Storage Vacuole Biogenesis and Seed Development of Arabidopsis thaliana PLANT CELL, November 1, 2008; 20(11): 3006 - 3021. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. R. Mahoney, S. Luo, E. K. Round, M. Brauner, A. Gottschalk, J. H. Thomas, and M. L. Nonet Intestinal signaling to GABAergic neurons regulates a rhythmic behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans PNAS, October 21, 2008; 105(42): 16350 - 16355. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Pajonk, C. Kwon, N. Clemens, R. Panstruga, and P. Schulze-Lefert Activity Determinants and Functional Specialization of Arabidopsis PEN1 Syntaxin in Innate Immunity J. Biol. Chem., October 3, 2008; 283(40): 26974 - 26984. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Nagy, I. Milosevic, R. Mohrmann, K. Wiederhold, A. M. Walter, and J. B. Sorensen The SNAP-25 Linker as an Adaptation Toward Fast Exocytosis Mol. Biol. Cell, September 1, 2008; 19(9): 3769 - 3781. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. H. Kloepper, C. N. Kienle, and D. Fasshauer SNAREing the Basis of Multicellularity: Consequences of Protein Family Expansion during Evolution Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2008; 25(9): 2055 - 2068. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Schilde, K. Lutter, R. Kissmehl, and H. Plattner Molecular Identification of a SNAP-25-Like SNARE Protein in Paramecium Eukaryot. Cell, August 1, 2008; 7(8): 1387 - 1402. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]