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G Blobel

Publications and source records attributed to G Blobel.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Signal sequence region of mitochondrial precursor proteins binds to mitochondrial import receptor.

An integral mitochondrial membrane protein (p32) of yeast has previously been molecularly cloned and sequenced and suggested to function as a mitochondrial import receptor. However, this protein has also been proposed to function as phosphate translocator [Guérin, B., Bukusoglu, C., Rakotomanana, F. & Wohlrab, H. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 19736-19741; Phelps, A., Schobert, C.T. & Wohlrab, H. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 248-252]. Here we have purified p32 after expression of its gene in Escherichia coli and assayed its ability to bind to various preproteins containing signal sequences for protein translocation into mitochondria, chloroplasts, or the endoplasmic reticulum. Our data suggest that p32 contains a binding site specific for the signal sequence region of mitochondrial preproteins. These data are consistent with the previous assignment of p32 as an import receptor and are discussed with regard to the apparently conflicting assignment of this protein as phosphate translocator.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

A nuclear pore complex protein that contains zinc finger motifs, binds DNA, and faces the nucleoplasm.

We have molecularly cloned and sequenced a cDNA for a rat liver nucleoporin with a molecular mass of 152.8 kd, termed nup153, that shares a repetitive degenerate pentapeptide motif with a subgroup of nucleoporins of yeast and vertebrates. However, its most striking feature is a novel 4-fold repeat of a Cys2-Cys2-type zinc finger motif. When expressed in E. coli, the zinc finger domain of nup153 binds DNA in a zinc-dependent fashion. Immunoelectron microscopy localized nup153 exclusively to the nucleoplasmic side of the nuclear pore complex. We suggest that nup153 recognizes a specific DNA sequence to organize the genome three-dimensionally and to gate transcribable genes to nuclear pore complexes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Identification of intermediates in the pathway of protein import into chloroplasts and their localization to envelope contact sites.

We have used a hybrid precursor protein to study the pathway of protein import into chloroplasts. This hybrid (pS/protA) consists of the precursor to the small subunit of Rubisco (pS) fused to the IgG binding domains of staphylococcal protein A. The pS/protA is efficiently imported into isolated chloroplasts and is processed to its mature form (S/protA). In addition to the mature stromal form, two intermediates in the pathway of pS/protA import were identified at early time points in the import reaction. The first intermediate represents unprocessed pS/protA bound to the outer surface of the chloroplast envelope and is analogous to a previously characterized form of pS that is specifically bound to the chloroplast surface and can be subsequently translocated in the stroma (Cline, K., M. Werner-Washburne, T. H. Lubben, and K. Keegstra. 1985. J. Biol. Chem. 260:3691-3696.) The second intermediate represents a partially translocated form of the precursor that remains associated with the envelope membrane. This form is processed to mature S/protA, but remains susceptible to exogenously added protease in intact chloroplasts. We conclude that the envelope associated S/protA is spanning both the outer and inner chloroplast membranes en route to the stroma. Biochemical and immunochemical localization of the two translocation intermediates indicates that both forms are exposed at the surface of the outer membrane at sites where the outer and inner membrane are closely apposed. These contact zones appear to be organized in a reticular network on the outer envelope. We propose a model for protein import into chloroplasts that has as its central features two distinct protein conducting channels in the outer and inner envelope membranes, each gated open by a distinct subdomain of the pS signal sequence.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1993

The first membrane spanning region of the lamin B receptor is sufficient for sorting to the inner nuclear membrane.

The lamin B receptor (LBR) is a polytopic integral membrane protein localized exclusively in the inner nuclear membrane domain of the nuclear envelope. Its cDNA deduced primary structure consists of a highly charged amino-terminal domain of 205 residues that faces the nucleoplasm followed by a hydrophobic domain with eight potential transmembrane segments. To identify determinants that sort LBR from its site of integration (RER and outer nuclear membrane) to the inner nuclear membrane, we prepared full-length, truncated, and chimeric cDNA constructs of chick LBR, transfected these into mammalian cells and detected the expressed protein by immunofluorescence microscopy using appropriate antibodies. Surprisingly, we found that the determinants for sorting of LBR to the inner nuclear membrane reside in a region comprising its first transmembrane sequence plus flanking residues on either side. The other transmembrane regions as well as the nucleoplasmic domain are not required for sorting. We propose that the first transmembrane segment of LBR interacts specifically with another transmembrane segment and consider several mechanisms by which such specific interaction could result in sorting to the inner nuclear membrane.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Nup155 is a novel nuclear pore complex protein that contains neither repetitive sequence motifs nor reacts with WGA.

We have molecularly cloned and sequenced a rat liver nuclear pore complex (NPC) protein of calculated molecular mass of 155 kD. Consistent with recently proposed nomenclature this protein is termed nucleoporin 155, or nup155. Unlike other nups that have so far been molecularly cloned and sequenced, nup155 does not contain repetitive sequence domains. It does not show similarity to the sequences of other proteins, including any nups, so far compiled in the data bases. Like other vertebrate nups which have been characterized nup155 possesses abundant (46 in total) consensus sites for various kinases. By immunoelectron microscopy, nup155 is associated with both the nucleoplasmic and the cytoplasmic aspect of the NPC and is therefore possibly a component of the symmetrically arranged NPC substructures. In mitotic cells, nup155 assumes a diffuse cytoplasmic distribution. Nup155 is among the integral of 30 proteins that were extracted from rat liver nuclear envelopes by 2.0 M urea/1.0 mM EDTA, separated from WGA-reactive proteins by WGA-Sepharose and further subfractionated by SDS-hydroxylapatite. These proteins are potential candidates for being nups.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1993

An integral membrane protein of the pore membrane domain of the nuclear envelope contains a nucleoporin-like region.

We have identified an integral membrane protein of 145 kD (estimated by SDS-PAGE) of rat liver nuclear envelopes that binds to WGA. We obtained peptide sequence from purified p145 and cloned and sequenced several cDNA clones and one genomic clone. The relative molecular mass of p145 calculated from its complete, cDNA deduced primary structure is 120.7 kD. Antibodies raised against a synthetic peptide represented in p145 reacted monospecifically with p145. In indirect immunofluorescence these antibodies gave punctate staining of the nuclear envelope. Immunogold EM showed specific decoration of the nuclear pores. Thus p145 is an integral membrane protein located specifically in the "pore membrane" domain of the nuclear envelope. To indicate this specific location, and based on its calculated relative molecular mass, the protein is termed POM 121 (pore membrane protein of 121 kD). The 1,199-residue-long primary structure shows a hydrophobic region (residues 29-72) that is likely to form one (or two adjacent) transmembrane segment(s). The bulk of the protein (residues 73-1199) is predicted to be exposed not on the cisternal side but on the pore side of the pore membrane. It contains 36 consensus sites for various kinases. However, its most striking feature is a repetitive pentapeptide motif XFXFG that has also been shown to occur in several nucleoporins. This nucleoporin-like domain of POM 121 is proposed to function in anchoring components of the nuclear pore complex to the pore membrane.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

A temperature-sensitive NUP116 null mutant forms a nuclear envelope seal over the yeast nuclear pore complex thereby blocking nucleocytoplasmic traffic.

NUP116 encodes a 116-kD yeast nuclear pore complex (NPC) protein that is not essential but its deletion (nup116 delta) slows cell growth at 23 degrees C and is lethal at 37 degrees C (Wente, S. R., M. P. Rout, and G. Blobel. 1992. J. Cell Biol. 119:705-723). Electron microscopic analysis of nup116 delta cells shifted to growth at 37 degrees C revealed striking perturbations of the nuclear envelope: a double membrane seal that was continuous with the inner and outer nuclear membranes had formed over the cytoplasmic face of the NPCs. Electron-dense material was observed accumulating between the cytoplasmic face of these NPCs and the membrane seal, resulting in "herniations" of the nuclear envelope around individual NPCs. In situ hybridization with poly(dT) probes showed the accumulation of polyadenylated RNA in the nuclei of arrested nup116 delta cells, sometimes in the form of punctate patches at the nuclear periphery. This is consistent with the electron microscopically observed accumulation of electron-dense material within the nuclear envelope herniations. We propose that nup116 delta NPCs remain competent for export, but that the formation of the membrane seals over the NPCs blocks nucleocytoplasmic traffic.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Isolation of the yeast nuclear pore complex.

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) have been isolated from the yeast Saccharomyces. Negative stain electron microscopy of the isolated NPCs and subsequent image reconstruction revealed the octagonal symmetry and many of the ultrastructural features characteristic of vertebrate NPCs. The overall dimensions of the yeast NPC, both in its isolated form as well as in situ, are smaller than its vertebrate counterpart. However, the diameter of the central structures are similar. The isolated yeast NPC has a sedimentation coefficient of approximately 310 S and an M(r) of approximately 66 MD. It retains all but one of the eight known NPC proteins. In addition it contains as many as 80 uncharacterized proteins that are candidate NPC proteins.

Cell Fractionation↗
PubMed1992

The lamin B receptor of the inner nuclear membrane undergoes mitosis-specific phosphorylation and is a substrate for p34cdc2-type protein kinase.

The lamin B receptor (LBR) is an integral protein of the inner nuclear membrane that interacts with lamin B in vitro. If contains a 204-amino acid nucleoplasmic amino-terminal domain and a hydrophobic carboxyl-terminal domain with eight putative transmembrane segments. We found cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of LBR using phosphoamino acid analysis and phosphopeptide mapping of in vivo 32P-labeled LBR immunoprecipitated from chicken cells in interphase and arrested in mitosis. LBR was phosphorylated only on serine residues in interphase and on serine and threonine residues in mitosis. Some serine residues phosphorylated in interphase were not phosphorylated in mitosis. To identify a threonine residue specifically phosphorylated in mitosis and the responsible protein kinase, wild-type and mutant LBR nucleoplasmic domain fusion proteins were phosphorylated in vitro by p34cdc2-type protein kinase. Comparisons of phosphopeptide maps to those of in vivo 32P-labeled mitotic LBR showed that Thr188 is likely to be phosphorylated by this enzyme during mitosis. These phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events may be responsible for some of the changes in the interaction between the nuclear lamina and the inner nuclear membrane that occur during mitosis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Primary structure, import, and assembly of the yeast homolog of succinate dehydrogenase flavoprotein.

We have isolated a homolog for the flavoprotein subunit of succinate dehydrogenase [succinate:(acceptor) oxidoreductase, EC 1.3.99.1] from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and used the obtained peptide sequences to clone and characterize the corresponding gene. It contained an open reading frame of 1923 base pairs and encoded a protein of 640 amino acids (M(r), 70,238) that showed approximately 49% and approximately 28% identity with the Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis enzymes, respectively. All features of the FAD cofactor binding site were completely conserved. Comparison of the deduced protein sequence with the N-terminal sequence determined from the isolated protein revealed an N-terminal extension of 28 amino acids that presumably represents a mitochondrial signal sequence. After in vitro transcription and translation, the preprotein was efficiently imported into isolated yeast mitochondria, cleaved to its mature form, and assembled into the membrane-bound succinate dehydrogenase complex.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Nopp140 shuttles on tracks between nucleolus and cytoplasm.

Nopp140 is a nucleolar phosphoprotein of 140 kd that we originally identified and purified as a nuclear localization signal (NLS)-binding protein. Molecular characterization revealed a 10-fold repeated motif of highly conserved acidic serine clusters that contain an abundance of phosphorylation consensus sites for casein kinase II (CK II). Indeed, Nopp140 is one of the most phosphorylated proteins in the cell, and NLS binding was dependent on phosphorylation. Nopp140 was shown to shuttle between the nucleolus and the cytoplasm. Shuttling is likely to proceed on tracks that were revealed by immunoelectron microscopy. These tracks extend from the dense fibrillar component of the nucleolus across the nucleoplasm to some nuclear pore complexes. We suggest that Nopp140 functions as a chaperone for import into and/or export from the nucleolus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

The two steps of nuclear import, targeting to the nuclear envelope and translocation through the nuclear pore, require different cytosolic factors.

We have isolated two cytosolic fractions from Xenopus oocytes that contain all of the activity necessary to support both steps of nuclear import in digitonin-permeabilized mammalian cells: binding at the nuclear envelope and translocation through the nuclear pore. The first cytosolic fraction (fraction A) interacts with an import-competent, but not a mutant, nuclear localization sequence-bearing conjugate and stimulates its accumulation at the nuclear envelope in an ATP-independent fashion. The second cytosolic fraction (fraction B) gives no discernible effect when added alone; but when added either together with fraction A, or after fraction A, stimulates the passage of the conjugate from the outer nuclear envelope to the interior of the nucleus in an ATP-dependent fashion.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Signal peptides open protein-conducting channels in E. coli.

Plasma membrane vesicles and protoplasts of Escherichia coli were fused to planar lipid bilayers and studied with electrophysiological techniques. Large transmembrane aqueous channels were opened when 0.2 nM LamB signal peptide was added to the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. These aqueous pores are similar in conductance to those previously observed in mammalian endoplasmic reticulum when puromycin is used to release and thus unplug nascent translocating chains. Signal sequences have been previously shown to be necessary and sufficient for targeting proteins to cellular membranes. These results demonstrate that signal peptides are sufficient for opening the protein-conducting channels. We suggest that they are the physiological ligands that open protein-conducting channels at the initiation of protein translocation across prokaryotic plasma membrane and mammalian endoplasmic reticulum.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

The signal sequence receptor, unlike the signal recognition particle receptor, is not essential for protein translocation.

Detergent extracts of canine pancreas rough microsomal membranes were depleted of either the signal recognition particle receptor (SR), which mediates the signal recognition particle (SRP)-dependent targeting of the ribosome/nascent chain complex to the membrane, or the signal sequence receptor (SSR), which has been proposed to function as a membrane bound receptor for the newly targeted nascent chain and/or as a component of a multi-protein translocation complex responsible for transfer of the nascent chain across the membrane. Depletion of the two components was performed by chromatography of detergent extracts on immunoaffinity supports. Detergent extracts lacking either SR or SSR were reconstituted and assayed for activity with respect to SR dependent elongation arrest release, nascent chain targeting, ribosome binding, secretory precursor translocation, and membrane protein integration. Depletion of SR resulted in the loss of elongation arrest release activity, nascent chain targeting, secretory protein translocation, and membrane protein integration, although ribosome binding was unaffected. Full activity was restored by addition of immunoaffinity purified SR before reconstitution of the detergent extract. Surprisingly, depletion of SSR was without effect on any of the assayed activities, indicating that SSR is either not required for translocation or is one of a family of functionally redundant components.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

A new family of yeast nuclear pore complex proteins.

We have identified a novel family of yeast nuclear pore complex proteins. Three individual members of this family, NUP49, NUP100, and NUP116, have been isolated and then characterized by a combination of molecular genetics and immunolocalization. Employing immunoelectron and immunofluorescence microscopy on yeast cells, we found that the binding of a polyspecific monoclonal antibody recognizing this family was predominantly at the nuclear pore complexes. Furthermore, the tagging of NUP49 with a unique epitope enabled the immunolocalization of this protein to the nuclear pore complex by both fluorescence and electron microscopy. DNA sequence analysis has shown that the amino-terminal regions of NUP49, NUP100, and NUP116 share repeated "GLFG" motifs separated from each other by glutamine, asparagine, serine and threonine rich spacers. All three proteins lack a repetitive domain found in the two precisely described yeast nuclear pore complex proteins. Only NUP49 is essential for cell viability. NUP116-deficient cells grow very slowly and are temperature sensitive, whereas the lack of NUP100 has no detectable phenotype. NUP100 and NUP116 are homologous over their entire lengths. Interestingly, NUP100 and NUP116 are both flanked by a histidine tRNA gene and a transposon element suggesting that they may have arisen by gene duplication. We propose that subfamilies of pore complex proteins can be defined by their characteristic combinations of different modular domains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

The single transmembrane segment of gp210 is sufficient for sorting to the pore membrane domain of the nuclear envelope.

The glycoprotein gp210 is located in the "pore membrane," a specialized domain of the nuclear envelope to which the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is anchored. gp210 contains a large cisternal domain, a single transmembrane segment (TM), and a COOH-terminal, 58-amino acid residue cytoplasmic tail (CT) (Wozniak, R. W., E. Bartnik, and G. Blobel. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 108:2083-2092; Greber, U. F., A. Senior, and L. Gerace. 1990. EMBO (Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.) J. 9:1495-1502). To locate determinants for sorting of gp210 to the pore membrane, we constructed various cDNAs coding for wild-type, mutant, and chimeric gp210, and monitored localization of the expressed protein in 3T3 cells by immunofluorescence microscopy using appropriate antibodies. The large cisternal domain of gp210 (95% of its mass) did not reveal any sorting determinants. Surprisingly, the TM of gp210 is sufficient for sorting to the pore membrane. The CT also contains a sorting determinant, but it is weaker than that of the TM. We propose specific lateral association of the transmembrane helices of two proteins to yield either a gp210 homodimer or a heterodimer of gp210 and another protein. The cytoplasmically oriented tails of these dimers may bind cooperatively to the adjacent NPCs. In addition, we demonstrate that gp210 co-localizes with cytoplasmically dispersed nucleoporins, suggesting a cytoplasmic association of these components.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Primary structure of a human arginine-rich nuclear protein that colocalizes with spliceosome components.

The cDNA for a 54-kDa nuclear protein (p54) has been cloned from a human hepatoma expression library. Contained within p54 is an arginine/serine-rich region similar to segments of several proteins that participate in pre-mRNA splicing including the 70-kDa component of U1 small nuclear and "suppressor-of-white-apricot" proteins. The arginine/serine-rich region is dominated by a series of 8-amino acid imperfect repetitive motifs (consensus sequence, Arg-Arg-Ser-Arg-Ser-Arg-Ser-Arg). Antibodies raised against synthetic peptides of p54 react with an approximately 70-kDa protein on immunoblots of HeLa cell and rat liver nuclear proteins. This apparent discrepancy in mass is also observed when p54 mRNA is translated in vitro. Indirect immunofluorescence studies in HeLa cells show that p54 is distributed throughout the nucleus in a speckled pattern, with an additional diffuse labeling of the nucleus excluding the nucleoli. Double immunofluorescence experiments indicate that these punctate regions are coincident with the speckles seen in cells stained with antibodies against several constituents of the pre-mRNA splicing machinery. Sedimentation analysis of HeLa cell extracts on sucrose gradients showed that p54 migrates at 4-6 S, indicating that the protein is not a tightly associated component of snRNPs. Although the function of p54 is not yet known, our structure and immunolocalization data suggest that this protein may have a role in pre-mRNA processing.

Amino Acid Sequence↗