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Vol. 18, Issue 4, 1261-1271, April 2007
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Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Institute of Biomembranes, Utrecht University, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands; *Biochemie-Zentrum Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
Institut des Maladies Infectieuses, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; ||Department of Cell Biology, University Medical Center and Institute for Biomembranes, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands; ¶Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; and #Cell Biology and Biophysics Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Submitted March 27, 2006;
Revised December 22, 2006;
Accepted January 12, 2007
Monitoring Editor: Vivek Malhotra
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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These distinct Golgi functions operate within a structure that is unique among subcellular organelles. The structure of the Golgi is robustly retained against a large flux of lipids and proteins. Despite this high degree of organization, Golgi stacks are extremely dynamic structures and imbalances in membrane transport can result in reversible fragmentation or disappearance of the Golgi morphology, as observed for example during mitosis (Seemann et al., 2002
) or experimentally induced conditions (Lippincott-Schwartz et al., 1989
). However, little is known about the proteins involved in maintenance of the Golgi structure and the structurefunction relationship of the Golgi apparatus.
A cohort of cytosolically oriented molecules including matrix proteins (Short and Barr, 2003
) and cytoskeletal elements (Allan et al., 2002
) precisely coordinates the dynamic properties of the Golgi (Donaldson and Lippincott-Schwartz, 2000
; Rios and Bornens, 2003
). By spatial and temporal organization in membrane domains, these proteins contribute to the structural and functional properties of the organelle (Zerial and McBride, 2001
). Besides protein complexes, biological membranes contain other types of microenvironments. These environments include lipid-enriched microdomains or lipid rafts that are enriched in cholesterol, sphingolipids, and a subset of proteins such as specific signaling molecules (Brown and London, 1998
; Helms and Zurzolo, 2004
; Mukherjee and Maxfield, 2004
; Simons and Vaz, 2004
). Lipid rafts are small submicroscopic domains that can cluster together to function as platforms and to execute functions in membrane trafficking and signaling (Simons and Toomre, 2000
; Helms and Zurzolo, 2004
). Most raft proteins found to date localize to the cytosolic face of the membrane. In contrast, at the extracellular leaflet of the plasma membrane, only GPI-anchored proteins and few transmembrane proteins have been identified. Little is known about the transduction of signals across membranes mediated by raft components on either site of the membrane. General properties of lipid rafts such as interactions of interdigitated lipids may contribute to coupling both membrane leaflets. However, transmembrane proteins seem necessary to efficiently couple GPI-anchored receptor signals with specific lipid-anchored signaling molecules in the inner leaflet raft (Devaux and Morris, 2004
; Kusumi et al., 2004
).
Many raft proteins are resistant to solubilization by the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 in a cholesterol-sensitive manner (Simons and Toomre, 2000
). We previously isolated Golgi-derived low-density detergent-insoluble complexes (GICs) from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) Golgi membranes (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
). Several GIC proteins localize to brefeldin A-sensitive compartments, and all the proteins identified so far have a cytosolic orientation (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
; Eberle et al., 2002
). Here, we report the characterization of a novel protein in Golgi-derived lipid-enriched microdomains that is involved in the structural maintenance of the Golgi apparatus. Unlike other proteins required for maintaining the Golgi architecture, this protein has a luminal orientation and is linked to the membrane by use of a GPI anchor.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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-tubulin (kindly provided by Wei Yao, EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany), mannosidase II (Mann II) (Chemicon International, Temecula, CA), GRASP65 (a gift from Dr. Lowe, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom) and GM130 (BD Biosciences). Primary antibody labeling was then visualized in immunofluorescence by incubation with Alexa Fluor 488 anti-rabbit IgG or Alexa Fluor 568 anti-mouse IgG antibodies (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). Anisomysin was purchased from Calbiochem and 4',6-diamidine-2'-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) from Sigma-Aldrich. Anti GFP-A6455 (polyclonal rabbit serum) was obtained from Invitrogen.
Isolation and Sequence Analysis of Golgi-Resident GPI-anchored Protein (GREG)
Based on the reported peptide sequence (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
), we designed two degenerate oligonucleotides: 5'-CA (A/G)GA (A/G)CA (A/G)GA (A/G)GC (A/C/G/T)CA (A/G)AT (A/C/T)AA (A/G)-3' and 5'-(C/T)TT (A/G/T)AT (C/T)TG (A/C/G/T)GC (C/T)TC (C/T)TG (C/T)TC (C/T)TG-3'. By polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the above-mentioned degenerate primers in combination with the vector arm primers, a 1.0-kb fragment was amplified from a CHO cDNA library (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA). This fragment was randomly labeled with [
-32P]dCTP (GE Healthcare, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom) and used as probes to screen the same cDNA library by colony hybridization. Out of 1 x 106, 40 positive clones were obtained. Screened by PCR, four clones with longer inserts were completely sequenced. All these four clones contain the same open reading frame (ORF).
GPI anchorage processing was predicted using big-PI predictor at University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria) (http://mendel.imp.univie.ac.at/gpi/gpi_server.html). Multiple sequence alignment was done at European Bioinformatics Institute (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/clustalw/) and decorated with BoxShade 3.21 at Swiss EMBnet node (http://www.ch.embnet.org/software/BOX_form.html).
DNA Constructs and Transfection
Constructs were cloned into the EcoRI/XhoI or EcoRI/NotI sites of expression plasmid pcDNA3 (Invitrogen). To generate GREG-Flag, a single Flag-tag was inserted between 181Q and 182N by PCR. For constructing
GPI-GREG and 23TM-GREG, a fragment without the C-terminal GPI-signal peptide (SP) (amino acid residue [AA] 1-183) was first amplified by PCR. This fragment was fused with either a single Flag-tag or the transmembrane domain of p23 together with a Flag-tag at the C-terminal end (RVLYFSIFSMFCLIGLATWQVFYLRiggleDYKDDDDK, residues in small cap are spacers). To generate a GPI-anchored form of both N-terminal (AA 1-110) and C-terminal (AA 109-211), GREG-Flag cDNA was digested with BstYI. The resulting two fragments were ligated with either the signal peptide of GREG (C-terminal) or the GPI-SP linked with a single Flag-tag (N-terminal). For making the
EQ construct, a fragment from amino acid 139-211 of GREG-Flag was amplified and ligated with the N-terminal fragment without the Flag-tagged GPI-SP. For GPI-anchored GREG-GFP (wt-GREG-GFP), a GFP fragment (XhoI/BsrGI) from pEGFP-N1 was ligated with a pair of the GPI-SP oligonucleotides (BsrGI/NotI) and
GPI-GREG in pcDNA3 (XhoI/NotI, thus removing the Flag-tag). To construct cc-GREG, a fragment from amino acid 50-183 of wt-GREG was amplified and cloned into pcDNA3. All constructs were verified by DNA sequencing. Cells were maintained in
-minimal essential medium (CHO) or DMEM (normal rat kidney [NRK]) media (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and 10 mg ml1 penicillin and streptomycin, and they were transfected with the appropriate constructs using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) per the manufacturer's instructions. Stable cell clones from CHO or NRK cells were selected with 0.6 mg ml1 G-418 (Geneticin) (Calbiochem, San Diego, CA) and maintained in appropriate media with 0.2 mg ml1 G-418.
RNA Interference (RNAi)
We had 25-nucleotide-modified synthetic RNA probes (small interfering RNA [siRNA]) custom synthesized by Stealth RNAi Technology, Invitrogen. Primer sequences used were as follows: sense: 5'-UGGCCUUGGUUAUCCCGCUCAUCAU-3' and antisense: 5'-AUGAUGAGCGGGAUAACCAAGGCCA-3'. As a control, scrambled oligonucleotides were used that are based on the above-mentioned sequences: sense: 5'-UGGUUGGUUUACCGCUCACUCCCAU-3' and antisense: 5'-AUGGGAGUGAGCGGUAAACCAACCA-3'. Transient transfection of siRNA probes was achieved using the Lipofectamine 2000 transfection reagent (Invitrogen).
Immunofluorescence Microscope
After appropriate treatment, cells either stably or transiently transfected with the GREG constructs, treated with siRNA, were prepared for indirect immunofluorescence according to standard procedures. Briefly, cells were fixed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) containing 3.5% paraformaldehyde for 30 min. After quenching with 50 mM NH4Cl in PBS, cells were permeabilized with 0.5% TX-100 in PBS for 10 min and subsequently blocked in PBS containing 2% bovine serum albumin for 1 h. Cells were stained with DAPI for 10 min immediately before mounting in Fluoromount G (Biozol, Eching, Germany). A Zeiss LSM510 with appropriate filters was used, and images were collected and processed with LSM510 software (Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany). For cells stained with DAPI, images were taken with the use of a Zeiss inverted fluorescence microscope equipped with a cooled charge-coupled device camera. All images were adjusted with Adobe Photoshop 5.5 (Adobe Systems, Mountain View, CA) and edited with Canvas 8.0.4. PIG-L deficient and recomplemented CHO cell lines were fixed with 3% paraformaldehyde, and images were acquired using a 100x lens on a Zeiss Axiophot equipped with a Hamamatsu cooled camera by using the Openlab acquisition software (Improvision, Lexington, MA).
ts-O45-G Transport Assay
For assaying ts-O45-G transport, cells transfected with siRNA were incubated for 48 h and then overlaid with recombinant adenoviruses encoding ts-O45-G-cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) (Keller et al., 2001). After 60 min, adenoviruses were washed away and ts-O45-G was accumulated in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by incubating the cells at 39.5°C for 24 h. Thereafter, cells were shifted to 32°C to release ts-O45-G from the ER in the presence of cycloheximide. Sixty minutes after the temperature shift, cells were fixed with 3% paraformaldehyde, and ts-O45-G on the cell surface was detected by immunostaining with a VG antibody recognizing ts-O45-G at the plasma membrane (PM). Cell nuclei were labeled with Hoechst 33342 diluted to a final concentration of 0.1 µg/ml. Analogous experiment was done under the conditions of
GPI-GREG overexpression, except that the cells were transfected with plasmids 16 h after infection with recombinant adenoviruses and incubated for 8 h.
For the quantitative data acquisition a widefield microscope Zeiss Axiovert 200 (Carl Zeiss) was used with a 20x Fluor numerical aperture 0.75 air immersion objective. After acquisition, images were converted to an image depth of 8 bits. Quantitative evaluation of fluorescence intensities was performed in MetaMorph 4.6r5 (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA). For this purpose, images were processed as follows: cells were identified according their nuclei, and the area of the nuclei was dilated digitally. The average gray values relating to the total ts-O45-G-CFP and ts-O45-G-CFP at the PM were measured in this extended area in each cell individually. The transport rate of ts-O45-G-CFP was expressed as a ratio of ts-O45-G-CFP at the PM to the total amount of ts-O45-G-CFP in each cell. Average ts-O45-G-CFP transport ratios were obtained separately for the transfected and nontransfected cells and compared.
Electron Microscopy
Cells were fixed by adding 4% freshly prepared formaldehyde and 0.4% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, to an equal volume of culture medium for 10 min, followed by postfixation in 2% formaldehyde and 0.2% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, without medium. Cells were stored until further processing in 1% formaldehyde at 4°C. Processing of cells for ultrathin cryosectioning and immunolabeling according to the protein A-gold method was done as described previously (Slot et al., 1991
). In brief, fixed cells were washed with 0.05 M glycine in PBS, scraped gently from the dish in PBS containing 1% gelatin, and pelleted in 12% gelatin in PBS. The cell pellet was solidified on ice and cut into small blocks. For cryoprotection, blocks were infiltrated overnight with 2.3 M sucrose at 4°C and afterward mounted on aluminum pins and frozen in liquid nitrogen. To pick up ultrathin cryosections, a 1:1 mixture of 2.3 M sucrose and 1.8% methylcellulose was used (Liou et al., 1996
).
Yeast Two-Hybrid Screening
Dimerization domains of GREG were identified by the LexA/transactivation yeast two-hybrid system using pLexA (pEG202) and pB42AD (pJG4-5) to generate bait and prey constructs (Matchmaker LexA two-hybrid system; Clontech, Mountain View, CA). Various GREG domains were amplified by PCR (primer sequences listed in Supplemental Table 1), and after digestion with EcoRI and XhoI they were ligated into pLexA and pB42AD. The resulting plasmids were confirmed by sequencing and used for transformation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain EGY48 (pretransformed with pSH18-34 containing the lacZ reporter gene) by using a standard LiAc protocol (Elble, 1992
). The cotransformants were plated on selective media lacking uracil, histidine, and tryptophan and incubated for 3 d at 30°C. Yeast colonies from a single plate were harvested, pooled by resuspension in H2O, and subsequently applied on selective plates containing 80 mg/l, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-
-D-galactoside (X-Gal), 2% (wt/vol) galactose, and 1% (wt/vol) raffinose to test for the expression of
-galactosidase (blue colonies) as an indication for positive interactions.
| RESULTS |
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To directly test GPI anchorage of GREG, we treated solubilized Golgi membranes with PI-PLC followed by TX-114 phase separation (Figure 1c). GREG partitions in the detergent phase and runs as a smear from 35,000 to 60,000 on SDS-PAGE (see Figure 6a), but it can be recovered in the aqueous phase after PI-PLC treatment (Figure 1c), which specifically removes the hydrophobic GPI anchor (Ikezawa et al., 1976
; Low and Finean, 1977
). P23, a type I transmembrane protein (Sohn et al., 1996
), partitions in the detergent phase in a PI-PLCindependent manner (Figure 1c). These data confirm that GREG is a GPI-anchored protein.
GREG Is a Golgi-Resident Protein
The identification of a GPI-anchor came as a surprise, because most if not all GPI-anchored proteins characterized to date have a steady-state localization at the plasma membrane (Nosjean et al., 1997
; Mayor and Riezman, 2004
). GREG, however, was isolated from an enriched Golgi fraction, and preliminary data showed its localization to the Golgi complex (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
).
To investigate the subcellular localization of GREG in more detail, we established CHO and NRK cell lines constitutively expressing a GREG-Flag construct (Figure 2a). GREG-Flag colocalizes with the Golgi marker Man II (Figure 2b). In agreement with our previous observations (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
), the Golgi localization of GREG-Flag is BFA sensitive (Figure 2b). Extensive treatment of cells with cyclohexamide (8 h; 100 µg/ml) did not chase GREG out of the Golgi, suggesting that it is not in transit to the plasma membrane (Supplemental Figure 1). The Golgi localization of GREG was confirmed in subcellular fractionation studies that separated plasma membranes from endogenous membranes by Nycodenz density gradient centrifugation (Jenne et al., 2002
). As shown in Figure 2c, both wt-GREG and GREG-Flag cosediment with GM130, an early Golgi marker (Nakamura et al., 1995
). In contrast, FolR, a GPI-anchored protein that primarily localizes to the plasma membrane (Varma and Mayor, 1998
), is found in fractions 2 and 3 of the Nycodenz gradient. The amount of FolR present in fractions 7 and 8 is due to its recycling between the plasma membrane and endosomes (Sabharanjak et al., 2002
). To assess the localization of GREG at the ultrastructural level, ultrathin cryosections of wt-GREG-GFPexpressing CHO cells were immunogold labeled with anti-GFP (Figure 3). GREG was clearly found associated with the Golgi stacks (Figure 3a), in which it was homogeneously distributed over the individual cisternae and from cis- to trans-Golgi. Additional label was found in the vesicular tubular clusters (Figure 3b) that may represent a fenestrated cisternal membrane or vesicle tubular clusters between the ER and Golgi (Klumperman, 2000
). The trans-Golgi network was virtually devoid of label (Figure 3c). Collectively, these data suggest that GREG resides at early Golgi compartments and does not localize to the plasma membrane.
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Involvement of GREG in Maintenance of Golgi Structure
A structural role of GREG was investigated by knockdown experiments using RNA interference techniques to block the expression of GREG. On transfection of cells with double-strand RNA, GREG-Flag expression was significantly reduced in most cells, as observed by immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blot analysis (data not shown). The Golgi structure of cells that had no detectable levels of GREG-Flag was fragmented (data not shown). Fragmentation of the Golgi was also observed when GREG expression was suppressed using stabilized synthetic 25-nucleotide RNA probes (siRNA) (Figures 4a and 7a). Only in the presence of GREG-specific siRNAs, the subcellular distribution of various Golgi markers including Mann II and GM130 was affected (Figure 4a). Other Golgi markers such as COPI subunits, p24, and KDEL receptor were affected as well (data not shown). The efficiency of protein knockout was confirmed by Western blot analysis using specific and scrambled probes (Figure 4b). These results (Figures 4 and 7a) show that GREG is essential in maintaining the Golgi structure.
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GPI-GREG; Figure 5a) or with the GPI-anchor replaced for the transmembrane domain of p23, a type I transmembrane protein at the Golgi complex (Sohn et al., 1996
GPI-GREG resulted in partial colocalization with the Golgi marker mannosidase II (Figure 5b). In addition, partial fragmentation of the Golgi complex was observed in cells expressing the
GPI-GREG construct. Expression of 23TM-GREG also generates a scattered Golgi structure (Figure 5b). Quantitative analysis demonstrates that 12 h after transfection with either GPI anchor-deficient mutant construct,
50% of cells revealed fragmented Golgi structures (Figure 5c). These results indicate that the GPI anchor of GREG is functionally required and that the mature protein is involved in maintenance of the Golgi structure. The disassembly of the Golgi apparatus driven by mutant GREG proteins occurs in an apoptosis-independent manner (Supplemental Fig. 4, a and b). In addition, microtubule integrity is not significantly affected in cells that express
GPI-GREG and fragmented Golgi structures remain preferentially associated with or in proximity to microtubules (Supplemental Fig. 4c).
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GPI-GREG leads to multiple morphological changes in the Golgi region as observed by immuno-electron microscopy (EM), showing the localization of
GPI-GREG (10-nm gold particles) and Giantin (15-nm gold particles) as a marker for Golgi membranes (Supplemental Fig. 5). Quite remarkable is the formation of tightly stacked, sometimes circular membranes. In addition to membrane stacking, accumulations of vesicles containing
GPI-GREG are seen. These morphological changes support the observations made by immunofluorescence.
If a GPI-dependent membrane anchorage is essential for GREG function, then a PIG-L CHO cell line (Abrami et al., 2001
), deficient in biosynthesis of the GPI-anchor, is predicted to have an altered Golgi morphology. Indeed, a dramatic increase in nonelongated Golgi structures is observed in PIG-L CHO cells (90% fragmented Golgi, compared with 50% in PIG-L recomplemented CHO cells (Supplemental Fig. 6).
Structural Requirements of GREG Localization
SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis of GREG revealed an apparent molecular mass of 35,000 to 60,000 (Figure 6a, lane 1), which is larger than expected. Treatment of solubilized Golgi membranes with an N-glycanase (PNGase F) resulted in a band of about 28,000 (Figure 6a, lane 2). In consideration of a theoretical Mr of 15,000 the mature protein is likely to be a (homo)dimer, resistant to SDS. In agreement with the deglycosylation results, a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 25 and 28 kDa can be purified from Pichia pastoris upon expression of a His-tagged construct with both SPs deleted (coiled-coil domain of GREG; ccGREG) (Figure 6a, lane 3).
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-galactosidase as indicated by blue colonies when grown on X-Galcontaining medium (Figure 6b). These results underline that GREG interacts with itself and has an intrinsic potential to form homodimers. The area of interaction was mapped to the C-terminal half of the protein, because ccGREG interacts with CT-GREG (L116-T178) but not with NT-GREG (N50-Q118). Expression of bait and prey CT-GREG fusion proteins was sufficient to retain the interaction (Figure 6b), indicating that GREG forms cis-oriented (parallel) dimers. When the EQ-repeat was omitted from ccGREG or CT-GREG, the interaction with ccGREG and/or CT-GREG was not observed anymore, indicating an essential role of the EQ repeat in dimer formation of GREG. Because omission of the EQ-repeat results in plasma membrane localization of GREG (Supplemental Fig. 2), these data imply the involvement of dimer formation in GREG localization to the Golgi complex.
GREG Affects Protein Secretion of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Glycoprotein (VSV G) Protein to the Plasma Membrane
The structurefunction relationship of the Golgi remains largely unknown and fragmentation of the Golgi in smaller units that are scattered through the cytoplasm not necessarily implies a inhibition of exocytic protein transport (Kondylis et al., 2005
; Sutterlin et al., 2005
).
To study a possible effect of GREG on protein secretion, CHO cells were transfected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of CFP-tagged VSV G protein (ts-O45-G), a widely used marker for visualization of the secretory pathway (Scales et al., 1997
). Under permissive conditions, this protein is secreted via the secretory pathway and accumulates at the plasma membrane (Figure 7a, control). Treatment of cells with GREG-specific siRNA resulted in a strong inhibition of protein secretion through the secretory pathway, and the VSV G protein accumulates in structures that also contain mannosidase II, suggesting a block at the Golgi apparatus (Figure 7a, GREG siRNA). Cotransfection of CHO cells with Flag-tagged GREG mutants that affect the Golgi morphology, including
GPI-GREG, resulted in inhibition of secretion as well and a partial accumulation of VSV G protein at the perinuclear region (Figure 7b). Quantitation over a large number of cells revealed a 44% (GREG siRNA) and 23% (
GPI-GREG) inhibition (Figure 7c). The observed inhibition is comparable with other strong inhibitors and established effectors of the secretory pathway applied to the same assay system (Starkuviene et al., 2004
). For comparison, down-regulation of established components of the secretory pathway, like
-COP, GM130, and Sec31, inhibits ts-O45-G by 50% in HeLa cells by using the same assay system (Erfle et. al., 2004
). Down-regulation of
-COP and
prime-COP in 3T3 fibroblasts inhibits ts-O45-G secretion by 32 and 40% (Starkuviene, unpublished data), respectively.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Similar to other GIC proteins, GREG redistributes in the cell 1015 min after addition of BFA. This suggests that GIC proteins, including GREG, localize to early (cis-trans) Golgi membranes (Klausner et al., 1992
) and that GREG looses its Golgi localization concomitant with the dispersal of Golgi membranes.
A Luminal and GPI-anchored Protein Involved in Golgi Structure and Function
The identification of a luminal protein involved in maintenance of Golgi structure raises the question how a luminal protein could be involved in maintenance of Golgi structure. Most likely, transmembrane signaling must occur to allow interaction(s) with the protein machinery at the cytosolic site of the membrane. A similar situation occurs at the plasma membrane where GPI-anchored receptors such as the folate receptor (Nosjean et al., 1997
) have to transmit signals across the membrane, yet they span the membrane only halfway. Little is known about the coupling of outer and inner membrane leaflet components. Based on biophysical properties of lipids in model membranes, transmembrane proteins are required for efficient coupling of inner and outer membrane molecules (Devaux and Morris, 2004
). Examples for functional coupling of GPI-anchored proteins with transmembrane proteins in signaling processes have been found (Schmitt-Verhulst et al., 1987
; Klein et al., 1997
). In lipid rafts at the Golgi complex, all proteins identified so far have a cytosolic orientation except GREG (this study) and flotillin-1 (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
). The topology of flotillin-1 is not entirely clear (Morrow and Parton, 2005
), but it may be suited for transmembrane signaling. An involvement of lipid rafts in GREG function is consistent with the observed fragmentation of Golgi structure when the GPI anchor of GREG has been replaced with a transmembrane anchor (Figure 5). These data suggest that lipid-enriched microdomains may play a role in maintenance of the Golgi architecture, either by its involvement in the oligomerization of GREG at the luminal leaflet of the membrane and/or by its involvement in transmembrane signaling.
From the immunofluorescence data, it seems that some of the mutant GREG protein is localized to the ER. This could be an artifact due to high overexpression and/or slow folding. Alternatively, a significant pool of mutant-GREG does reside in the ER, in contrast to wt-GREG that resides in the Golgi. This may be (as for many Golgi proteins) the result of a change in an equilibrium partitioning between the ER and Golgi. Several GIC proteins cycle in the early secretory pathway (Gkantiragas et al., 2001
; Eberle et al., 2002
). Therefore, it is feasible that mutant-GREG binds to wt-GREG forming a stable dimer, thus affecting its Golgi localization. Irrespective of the mechanism, mutant GREG could bind to Golgi-interacting partners, dragging these proteins out of the Golgi as well, affecting the Golgi morphology.
GREG and the Golgin Family of Proteins
Several characteristics of GREG are reminiscent of the Golgin family of proteins (Barr and Short, 2003
; Gillingham and Munro, 2003
). These include a Golgi localization, the involvement in maintenance of Golgi structure, the predicted long coiled-coil structure, and the presence as a parallel homodimer. Furthermore, blast searching reveals that several unknown proteins contain a stretch of similar EQ repeats (e.g., EQEEKIR in XP_496037
[GenBank]
and XP_498421). Interestingly, these proteins share significant homology with the Golgin family of proteins containing a long coiled-coil. In contrast to Golgins identified so far, however, GREG has a luminal orientation. In addition, GREG does not contain a GRIP domain that has been identified at the C terminus of some Golgin proteins and that is involved in Golgi targeting (Barr, 1999
; Kjer-Nielsen et al., 1999
; Munro and Nichols, 1999
).
The function of Golgins is to bind and link adjacent membranes, either in tethering of vesicles to membranes or between cisternae (Barr and Short, 2003
). Therefore, a more speculative possibility to explain the involvement of GREG in Golgi structure and function may relate to its similarity to Golgin proteins. In this model, opposing membranes within a single cisterna are stabilized by the formation of protein complexes that contain GREG in a trans-configuration. In a trans-configuration, these protein complexes could either stabilize opposing membranes or act as a sensing device, monitoring the distance between opposing membranes.
StructureFunction Relationship of the Golgi
The structural organization of the Golgi varies among species. In mammalian cells, stacks of cisternae that are interconnected form a single organelle. In fly, plants, and Pichia pastoris, Golgi stacks are not interconnected and are dispersed in the cytoplasm. In S. cerevisiae, the Golgi is not stacked and single cisternae are observed. Yet, under these varying morphological conditions, the function of the Golgi in anterograde and retrograde transport along the secretory pathway is fully functional. The smallest functional unit of the Golgi remains to be determined. Expression of GREG mutants results both in fragmentation and inhibition of anterograde protein transport, suggesting that the observed fragmentation also results in loss of function of the Golgi complex and that GREG fulfills an essential function in the Golgi complex. Golgi morphology and function are, however, often strongly related and difficult to discriminate from each other. In this respect, it is interesting to note that in the GPI-deficient cell line, protein secretion must continue to stay viable. This may suggest that in these cells, the primary effect of GREG is on Golgi morphology and that GREG is not essential for protein secretion. In agreement with this is that on close inspection of the Golgi structures in the PIG-L cells that are labeled with NAGTI-GFP, many circular or ring-like structures are observed. These structures are reminiscent of the changes in Golgi structure observed in EM that are induced by expression of
GPI-GREG. Our results indicate that cytosolic as well as luminal proteins at the Golgi complex act in concert to maintain a unique Golgi structure. Dynamic integration of the various signals involved defines the overall Golgi structure.
The sequence shown in this article has been deposited at GenBank (accession nos. AY272060 and AAQ16301).
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| Footnotes |
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The online version of this article contains supplemental material at MBC Online (http://www.molbiolcell.org). ![]()
Present address: Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129. ![]()
Address correspondence to: J. Bernd Helms (j.b.helms{at}vet.uu.nl)
Abbreviations used: GIC, Golgi-derived detergent-insoluble complex; GREG, Golgi-resident GPI-anchored protein.
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