Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Biogenesis”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 919 records · Page 51Linked to original sources

Localization of xanthine dehydrogenase in cowpea root nodules: implications for the interaction between cellular compartments during ureide biogenesis.

Immunocytochemistry was used to assess the location of xanthine dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.204) in the infected region of nodules of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walpers cv. Queen Anne Blackeye). Polyclonal antibodies raised against purified cowpea xanthine dehydrogenase were used to localize this enzyme at the electron microscopic level. Sparse nonspecific labeling was observed after treatment of nodule sections with preimmune serum. Although immune serum cross-reacted with the ground cytoplasm of both infected and uninfected cells, significantly more labeling was observed in the uninfected cells. No labeling above background was observed in peroxisomes, mitochondria, proplastids, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasmic or peribacteroid membranes, peribacteroid spaces, or bacteroids. The enzyme is soluble and not present in any organelle or membrane. The greater concentration of xanthine dehydrogenase in the uninfected cells suggests that xanthine or a precursor to xanthine, rather than uric acid, is the intermediate that moves from infected to uninfected cells during ureide biogenesis.

Journal Article↗

From one gene to two proteins: the biogenesis of cytochromes b and c1 in Bradyrhizobium japonicum.

Genes coding for polyproteins that are cleaved posttranslationally into two or more functional proteins are rarely found in prokaryotes. One example concerns the biogenesis of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum cytochromes b and c1, two of the three constituent subunits of ubiquinol-cytochrome-c reductase (ubiquinol:ferricytochrome-c oxidoreductase, EC 1.10.2.2); the respective apoproteins for these subunits are encoded by the 5' and 3' halves of a single gene, fbcH. These two halves are linked by an extra piece of DNA encoding a characteristic signal peptide for protein translocation across the cytoplasmic membrane. Processing of the fbcH gene product is shown to occur at a typical signal peptidase recognition site. This reaction is reminiscent of that catalyzed by the regular bacterial signal peptidase that normally cleaves off presequences from the N termini of translocated proteins. Mutational alteration of the signal peptidase recognition site within FbcH results in the appearance of an uncleaved bc1 fusion protein in the membrane. Additionally, a functional heme-binding site in the apocytochrome c1 section of FbcH is shown to be a necessary prerequisite for the formation of the bc1 complex.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Peroxisome biogenesis in the yeast Hansenula polymorpha is controlled by a complex set of interacting gene products.

We have studied the genetic interactions between mutant alleles in 12 genes, designated PER1-PER12, which are essential for peroxisome biogenesis in the yeast Hansenula polymorpha. Recessive mutations in any of these genes determined three different morphological phenotypes: (i) complete absence of peroxisomes (Per-); (ii) presence of small peroxisomes in conjunction with a major fraction of peroxisomal matrix proteins in the cytosol (Pim-); and (iii) presence of peroxisomes with aberrant crystalline matrix substructure (Pss-). Extensive complementation analysis showed many cases of noncomplementation--that is, diploids that contained both wild-type and mutant alleles of two different PER genes were unable to grow on methanol and showed peroxisomal defects. The observed cases of unlinked noncomplementation appeared to be gene and allele specific and were predominantly observed at lower temperatures (cold sensitive). The genetic results obtained were used to formulate a model of PER gene product interactions. In this model, five PER gene products are key or core components of the complex. Other PER gene products appear to play a more peripheral role.

Alleles↗

Mutational analysis of the structure and biogenesis of the photosystem I reaction center in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

We have utilized the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to incorporate site-directed amino acid substitutions into the photosystem I (PSI) reactioncenter protein PsaB. A cysteine residue (position 565 of PsaB) proposed to serve as a ligand to the [4Fe-4S] center Fx was changed to serine, histidine, and aspartate. These three mutants--C565S, C565H, and C565D--all exhibited greatly reduced accumulation of PSI reaction-center proteins and failed to grow autotrophically, indicating that this cysteine most likely does coordinate Fx, which is crucial for PSI biogenesis. Interestingly, the strain C565S accumulated significantly more PSI than the other two cysteine mutants and displayed photoreduction of the [4Fe-4S] terminal electron acceptors FA and FB. Mutations were also introduced into a leucine zipper motif of PsaB, proposed to participate in reaction-center dimerization. The mutants L522V, L536M, and L522V/L536M all exhibited wild-type characteristics and grew autotrophically, whereas the L522P mutation prevented PSI accumulation. These data do not provide support for a major structural role of the leucine zipper in reaction-center dimerization or in assembly of Fx. However, the amino acid substitutions incorporated were conservative and might not have perturbed the leucine zipper.

Journal Article↗

Activation of the human mitochondrial transcription factor A gene by nuclear respiratory factors: a potential regulatory link between nuclear and mitochondrial gene expression in organelle biogenesis.

Mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA), the product of a nuclear gene, stimulates transcription from the two divergent mitochondrial promoters and is likely the principal activator of mitochondrial gene expression in vertebrates. Here we establish that the proximal promoter of the human mtTFA gene is highly dependent upon recognition sites for the nuclear respiratory factors, NRF-1 and NRF-2, for activity. These factors have been previously implicated in the activation of numerous nuclear genes that contribute to mitochondrial respiratory function. The affinity-purified factors from HeLa cells specifically bind to the mtTFA NRF-1 and NRF-2 sites through guanine nucleotide contacts that are characteristic for each site. Mutations in these contacts eliminate NRF-1 and NRF-2 binding and also dramatically reduce promoter activity in transfected cells. Although both factors contribute, NRF-1 binding appears to be the major determinant of promoter function. This dependence on NRF-1 activation is confirmed by in vitro transcription using highly purified recombinant proteins that display the same binding specificities as the HeLa cell factors. The activation of the mtTFA promoter by both NRF-1 and NRF-2 therefore provides a link between the expression of nuclear and mitochondrial genes and suggests a mechanism for their coordinate regulation during organelle biogenesis.

Base Sequence↗

A chromosomal locus required for copper resistance, competitive fitness, and cytochrome c biogenesis in Pseudomonas fluorescens.

A chromosomal locus required for copper resistance and competitive fitness was cloned from a strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens isolated from copper-contaminated agricultural soil. Sequence analysis of this locus revealed six open reading frames with homology to genes involved in cytochrome c biogenesis in other bacteria, helC, cycJ, cycK, tipB, cycL, and cycH, with the closest similarity being to the aeg-46.5(yej) region of the Escherichia coli chromosome. The proposed functions of these genes in other bacteria include the binding, transport, and coupling of heme to apocytochrome c in the periplasm of these Gram-negative bacteria. Putative heme-binding motifs were present in the predicted products of cycK and cycL, and TipB contained a putative disulfide oxidoreductase active site proposed to maintain the heme-binding site of the apocytochrome in a reduced state for ligation of heme. Tn3-gus mutagenesis showed that expression of the genes was constitutive but enhanced by copper, and confirmed that the genes function both in copper resistance and production of active cytochrome c. However, two mutants in cycH were copper-sensitive and oxidase-positive, suggesting that the functions of these genes, rather than cytochrome c oxidase itself, were required for resistance to copper.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Synthesis of functional eukaryotic ribosomal RNAs in trans: development of a novel in vivo rDNA system for dissecting ribosome biogenesis.

Active 18S and 25S ribosomal RNAs were produced in trans in yeast, from plasmids containing RNA polymerase II transcription signals and rDNA fragments with unique hybridization tags. Analyses were carried out in cells with temperature-sensitive RNA polymerase I. Functional rRNAs were derived from separate 18S and 5.8/25S rRNA coding units, however, active 25S rRNA could be produced only by cotranscription with 5.8S rRNA. The results demonstrate that the polycistronic organization of the large rDNA operon is not required for successful processing of rRNA or assembly of functional ribosomes. The split operon system should facilitate future efforts to dissect eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The PapC usher forms an oligomeric channel: implications for pilus biogenesis across the outer membrane.

Bacterial virulence factors are typically surface-associated or secreted molecules that in Gram-negative bacteria must cross the outer membrane (OM). Protein translocation across the bacterial OM is not well understood. To elucidate this process we studied P pilus biogenesis in Escherichia coli. We present high-resolution electron micrographs of the OM usher PapC and show that it forms an oligomeric complex containing a channel approximately 2 nm in diameter. This is large enough to accommodate pilus subunits or the linear tip fibrillum of the pilus but not large enough to accommodate the final 6.8-nm-wide helical pilus rod. We show that P pilus rods can be unraveled into linear fibers by incubation in 50% glycerol. Thus, they are likely to pass through the usher in this unwound form. Packaging of these fibers into their final helical structure would only occur outside the cell, a process that may drive outward growth of the pilus organelles. The usher complex appears to be similar to complexes formed by members of the PulD/pIV family of OM proteins, and thus these two protein families, previously thought to be unrelated, may share structural and functional homologies.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Biogenesis of ISP6, a small carboxyl-terminal anchored protein of the receptor complex of the mitochondrial outer membrane.

To study the biogenesis of ISP6, an outer membrane component of the mitochondrial protein translocation complex, two fusion proteins have been made by fusing ISP6 to either the carboxyl- or amino-terminal end of the mouse dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). In vitro import experiments showed that when DHFR was placed at the carboxyl-terminal end of ISP6, the resulting fusion protein 6-DHFR inserted into mitochondrial membrane less efficiently than the other form of the fusion proteins. In vivo this fusion protein lost its ability to suppress the temperature-sensitive phenotype of an isp42 mutant, while the other fusion protein DHFR-6, which was found targeted correctly to mitochondria, suppressed the mutant as well as the wild-type ISP6. Further analysis showed that the binding and insertion of DHFR-6 to mitochondrial outer membrane was not affected by deletion of either of the two mitochondrial protein receptors or by the predigestion of mitochondrial surface proteins prior to import. Additional data indicated that ISP42, which closely associates with ISP6 in the translocation complex, does not likely play the role of a targeting partner for ISP6. In summary, these data suggest that ISP6 may target to mitochondria by sequences at its carboxyl terminus and that the import process of ISP6 is most likely distinct from that of most other mitochondrial precursors, which are recognized by protein receptors on mitochondrial surface.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Novel peroxisomal populations in subcellular fractions from rat liver. Implications for peroxisome structure and biogenesis.

According to current concepts, new peroxisomes are formed by division of pre-existing peroxisomes or by budding from a peroxisomal reticulum. Recent cytochemical and biochemical data indicate that protein content in peroxisomes are heterogenous and that import of newly synthesized proteins may be restricted to certain protein import-competent peroxisomal subcompartments (Yamamoto, K., and Fahimi, H. D. (1987) J. Cell Biol. 105, 713-722; Heinemann, P., and Just, W. W. (1992) FEBS Lett. 300, 179-182; Lüers, G., Hashimoto, T., Fahimi, H. D., and Völkl, A. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 121, 1271-1280). We have observed that substantial amounts of peroxisomal proteins are found together with "microsomes" (100,000 x g pellet) after subcellular fractionation of rat liver homogenates. In this study we have investigated the origin of these peroxisomal proteins by modified gradient centrifugation procedures in Nycodenz and by analysis of enzyme activity distributions, Western blotting, and immunoelectron microscopy. It is concluded that much of this material is confined to novel populations of "peroxisomes." Immunocytochemistry on gradient fractions showed that some vesicles were enriched in acyl-CoA oxidase and peroxisomal multifunctional enzyme ("catalase-negative") whereas others were enriched in catalase and thiolase ("acyl-CoA oxidase-negative"). Double immunolabeling experiments verified the strong heterogeneity in the protein contents of these vesicles and also identified peroxisomes varying in size from about 0.5 microns ("normal peroxisomes") to extremely small vesicles of less than 100 nm in diameter. The possibility that these vesicles may be related to different subcompartments of a larger peroxisomal structure involved in protein import and biogenesis will be discussed.

Animals↗

Extracellular matrix influences the biogenesis of amyloid precursor protein in microglial cells.

During axotomy studies, we discovered that the beta A4-amyloid precursor protein (APP) participates in immune responses of the central nervous system. Since microglia constitute the main immune effector cell population of this response, we used the murine microglial cell line BV-2 to analyze immune response-related APP expression. We show that interaction of microglia with the extracellular environment, particularly components of the extracellular matrix, affects APP secretion as well as intracellular APP biogenesis and catabolism. Fibronectin enhanced APP secretion and decreased the level of cellular mature transmembrane APP, whereas laminin and collagen caused a decrease in secretion and an accumulation of cellular mature APP and APP fragments. Our results demonstrate that APP plays a fundamental role in the regulation of microglial mobility, i.e. migration, initial target recognition, and binding. The decrease in APP secretion and the concomitant increase in cellular mature APP were accompanied by an accumulation of C-terminal APP fragments. Enrichment of APP and APP fragments is assumedly based on inhibition of catabolic processes that is caused by a disorganization of the actin microfilament network. These observations provide evidence that microglia, which are closely associated with certain amyloid deposits in the brain of Alzheimer patients, can play a key role in initial events of amyloidogenesis by initiating accumulation of APP and also of amyloidogenic APP fragments in response to physiological changes upon brain injury.

Alzheimer Disease↗

PER3, a gene required for peroxisome biogenesis in Pichia pastoris, encodes a peroxisomal membrane protein involved in protein import.

PER genes are essential for the biogenesis of peroxisomes in the yeast Pichia pastoris. Here we describe the cloning of PER3 and functional characterization of its product Per3p. The PER3 sequence predicts that Per3p is a 713-amino acid (81-kDa) hydrophobic protein with at least three potential membrane-spanning domains. We show that Per3p is a membrane protein of the peroxisome. Methanol- or oleate-induced cells of per3-1, a mutant strain generated by chemical mutagenesis, lack normal peroxisomes but contain numerous abnormal vesicular structures. The vesicles contain thiolase, a PTS2 protein, but only a small portion of several other peroxisomal enzymes, including heterologously expressed luciferase, a PTS1 protein. These results suggest that the vesicles in per3-1 cells are peroxisomal remnants similar to those observed in cells of patients with the peroxisomal disorder Zellweger syndrome, and that the mutant is deficient in PTS1 but not PTS2 import. In a strain in which most of PER3 was deleted, peroxisomes as well as peroxisomal remnants appeared to be completely absent, and both PTS1- and PTS2-containing enzymes were located in the cytosol. We propose that Per3p is an essential component of the machinery required for import of all peroxisomal matrix proteins and is composed of independent domains involved in the import of specific PTS groups.

Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase↗

Biogenesis of the covalently flavinylated mitochondrial enzyme dimethylglycine dehydrogenase.

Rat dimethylglycine dehydrogenase (Me2GlyDH) was used as model protein to study the biogenesis of a covalently flavinylated mitochondrial enzyme. Here we show that: 1) enzymatically active holoenzyme correlated with trypsin resistance of the protein; 2) folding of the reticulocyte lysate-translated protein into the trypsin-resistant, holoenzyme form was a slow process that was stimulated by the presence of the flavin cofactor and was more efficient at 15 degrees C than at 30 degrees C; 3) the mitochondrial presequence reduced the extent but did not prevent holoenzyme formation; 4) covalent attachment of FAD to the Me2GlyDH apoenzyme proceeded spontaneously and did not require a mitochondrial protein factor; 5) in vitro only the precursor, but not the mature form, of the protein was imported into isolated rat liver mitochondria; in vivo, in stably transfected HepG2 cells, both the precursor and the mature form were imported into the organelle; 6) holoenzyme formation in the cytoplasm did not prevent the translocation of the proteins into the mitochondria in vivo; and 7) lack of vitamin B2 in the tissue culture medium resulted in a reduced recovery of the precursor and the mature form of Me2GlyDH from cell mitochondria, suggesting a decreased efficiency of mitochondrial protein import.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Baculovirus-based expression of mammalian caveolin in Sf21 insect cells. A model system for the biochemical and morphological study of caveolae biogenesis.

Caveolae were originally defined morphologically as 50-100 nm noncoated vesicular organelles located at or near the plasma membrane. Caveolin, a vesicular integral membrane protein of 21 kDa, is a principal protein component of caveolae membranes in vivo. Caveolin interacts with itself to form high molecular mass oligomers, suggesting that it might play a structural role in the formation of caveolae membranes. However, it remains controversial whether recombinant expression of caveolin is necessary or sufficient to generate caveolae membranes in vivo. To directly address this issue, we have taken a different experimental approach by exploiting a heterologous expression system. Here, we have recombinantly expressed mammalian caveolin in Sf21 insect cells using baculovirus-based vectors. Two isoforms of caveolin have been identified that differ at their extreme N terminus; alpha-caveolin contains residues 1-178, and beta-caveolin contains residues 32-178. After recombinant expression in Sf21 insect cells, both alpha- and beta-caveolin formed SDS-resistant high molecular mass oligomers of the same size as native caveolin. Morphologically, expression of either caveolin isoform resulted in the intracellular accumulation of a homogeneous population of caveolae-sized vesicles with a diameter between 50 and 120 nm (80.3 +/- 14.8 nm). This indicates that each caveolin isoform can independently generate these structures and that caveolin residues 1-31 are not required for this process. Using caveolin as a marker protein and a detergent-free procedure to purify caveolae from mammalian cells, we purified these recombinant caveolin-induced vesicles from insect cells. These purified recombinant vesicles: (i) have the same buoyant density as mammalian caveolae; (ii) appear as approximately 50-100 nm membranous structures by whole-mount electron microscopy; and (iii) contain approximately 95% of the recombinantly expressed caveolin protein by Western blotting. Immuno-labeling of these structures with anti-caveolin IgG confirmed that they contain caveolin. Thus, ectopic overexpression of caveolin in this heterologous system is sufficient to drive the formation of caveolae-like vesicles. Further functional analysis demonstrated that caveolin was capable of interacting with a known caveolin-interacting protein, Ha-Ras, when coexpressed in insect cells by co-infection with two recombinant baculoviruses. Taken together, our results demonstrate that baculovirus-based expression of caveolin in insect cells provides an attractive experimental system for studying the biogenesis of caveolae.

Animals↗

Molecular identification of a novel protein that regulates biogenesis of photosystem I, a membrane protein complex.

Photosystem I (PSI) is a multisubunit pigment-protein complex in the thylakoid membranes of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. BP26, a random photosynthesis-deficient mutant strain of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 has a severely reduced PSI content, whereas its photosystem II is present in normal amount. The BP26 mutant is complemented by a novel gene, btpA, that encodes a 30-kDa protein. In this strain, a missense mutation in the btpA gene, resulting in the replacement of a valine by a glycine residue, significantly affects the accumulation of the PSI reaction center proteins, PsaA and PsaB. Northern blot analysis revealed that the steady-state levels of the transcripts from the psaAB operon, encoding these proteins, remain unaltered in the mutant strain. Hence the BtpA protein regulates a post-transcriptional process during the life cycle of the PSI protein complex such as 1) translation of the psaAB mRNA, 2) assembly of the PsaA/PsaB polypeptides and their associated cofactors into a functional complex, or 3) degradation of the protein complex. Close relatives of the BtpA protein have been found in nonphotosynthetic organisms, viz. the archaebacterium Methanococcus jannaschii, the eubacterium Escherichia coli, and the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, suggesting that these proteins may regulate biogenesis of other protein complexes in these evolutionarily distant organisms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of NarJ, a system-specific chaperone required for nitrate reductase biogenesis in Escherichia coli.

The narGHJI operon encodes the three subunits, alpha, beta, and gamma, of the respiratory nitrate reductase complex in Escherichia coli. A fourth open reading frame of the operon encodes a putative protein, NarJ, which is not present in purified nitrate reductase, but is required for biogenesis of the membrane-bound complex. NarJ was identified with a T7 expression system and was produced at significantly less than stoichiometric levels relative to the three enzyme subunits. A functional His-tagged NarJ fusion protein was overexpressed from a multicopy plasmid, purified by Ni2+ affinity chromatography, and characterized. Western blot analysis with antibodies raised against the fusion protein demonstrated that NarJ remained in the cytosol after assembly of the active membrane complex. The cytosolic alphabeta complex accumulated in a narJ insertion mutant was rapidly degraded after induction, but was stabilized by NarJ expressed from a multicopy plasmid. Overproduction of the His-tagged NarJ fusion protein in the same mutant led to the formation of an alphabeta.NarJ complex, which was resolved by Ni2+ affinity chromatography. The NarJ protein therefore has the properties of a system-specific (private) chaperone that reacts directly with and modifies the properties of the cytosolic alphabeta subunit complex, but remains in the cytoplasm after the assembly of the active alphabetagamma complex in the membrane.

Blotting, Western↗

FtsY, the prokaryotic signal recognition particle receptor homologue, is essential for biogenesis of membrane proteins.

In mammalian cells, many secretory proteins are targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum co-translationally, by the signal recognition particle (SRP) and its receptor. In Escherichia coli, the targeting of secretory proteins to the inner membrane can be accomplished post-translationally. Unexpectedly, despite this variance, E. coli contains essential genes encoding Ffh and FtsY with a significant similarity to proteins of the eukaryotic SRP machinery. In this study, we investigated the possibility that the prokaryotic SRP-like machinery is involved in biogenesis of membrane proteins in E. coli. The data presented here demonstrate that the SRP-receptor homologue, FtsY, is indeed essential for expression of integral membrane proteins in E. coli, indicating that, in the case of this group of proteins, FtsY and the mammalian SRP receptor have similar functions.

Arabinose↗

Characterization of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum CycY protein, a membrane-anchored periplasmic thioredoxin that may play a role as a reductant in the biogenesis of c-type cytochromes.

A new member of membrane-anchored periplasmic thioredoxin-like proteins was identified in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. It is the product of cycY, the last gene in a cluster of cytochrome c biogenesis genes. Mutational analysis revealed that cycY is essential for the biosynthesis of all c-type cytochromes in this bacterium. The CycY protein was shown to be exported to the periplasm by its N-terminal signal sequence-like domain. Results from Western blot analyses of membrane and soluble fractions indicated that the CycY protein remains bound to the membrane. A soluble version of the protein devoid of its N-terminal membrane anchor (CycY*) was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity from the periplasmic fraction. The protein showed redox reactivity and properties similar to other thioredoxins such as fluorescence quenching in the oxidized form. Its equilibrium constant with glutathione was determined to be 168 mM, from which a standard redox potential of -0.217 V was calculated, suggesting that CycY might act as a reductant in the otherwise oxidative environment of the periplasm. This is in agreement with our hypothesis that CycY is required, directly or indirectly, for the reduction of the heme-binding site cysteines in the CXXCH motif of c-type apocytochromes before heme attachment occurs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗