Streptavidin and avidin are used ubiquitously because of the remarkable affinity of their biotin binding, but they are tetramers, which disrupts many of their applications. Making either protein monomeric reduces affinity by at least 10(4)-fold because part of the binding site comes from a neighboring subunit. Here we engineered a streptavidin tetramer with only one functional biotin binding subunit that retained the affinity, off rate and thermostability of wild-type streptavidin. In denaturant, we mixed a streptavidin variant containing three mutations that block biotin binding with wild-type streptavidin in a 3:1 ratio. Then we generated monovalent streptavidin by refolding and nickel-affinity purification. Similarly, we purified defined tetramers with two or three biotin binding subunits. Labeling of site-specifically biotinylated neuroligin-1 with monovalent streptavidin allowed stable neuroligin-1 tracking without cross-linking, whereas wild-type streptavidin aggregated neuroligin-1 and disrupted presynaptic contacts. Monovalent streptavidin should find general application in biomolecule labeling, single-particle tracking and nanotechnology.

Cholera toxin (CT), and members of the AB(5) family of toxins enter host cells and hijack the cell's endogenous pathways to induce toxicity. CT binds to a lipid receptor on the plasma membrane (PM), ganglioside GM1, which has the ability to associate with lipid rafts. The toxin can then enter the cell by various modes of receptor-mediated endocytosis and traffic in a retrograde manner from the PM to the Golgi and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Once in the ER, a portion of the toxin is unfolded and retro-translocated to the cytosol so as to induce disease. GM1 is the vehicle that carries CT from PM to ER. Thus, the toxin pathway from PM to ER is a lipid-based sorting pathway, which is potentially meditated by the determinants of the GM1 ganglioside structure itself.

Cholera toxin (CT), an AB5-subunit toxin, enters host cells by binding the ganglioside GM1 at the plasma membrane (PM) and travels retrograde through the trans-Golgi Network into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the ER, a portion of CT, the enzymatic A1-chain, is unfolded by protein disulfide isomerase and retro-translocated to the cytosol by hijacking components of the ER associated degradation pathway for misfolded proteins. After crossing the ER membrane, the A1-chain refolds in the cytosol and escapes rapid degradation by the proteasome to induce disease by ADP-ribosylating the large G-protein Gs and activating adenylyl cyclase. Here, we review the mechanisms of toxin trafficking by GM1 and retro-translocation of the A1-chain to the cytosol.

In vitro selection was used to investigate whether nucleic acid enzymes are capable of catalyzing photochemical reactions. The reaction chosen was photoreactivation of thymine cyclobutane dimers in DNA by using serotonin as cofactor and light of wavelengths longer than the absorption spectrum of DNA. Curiously, the dominant single-stranded DNA sequence selected, UV1A, was found to repair its internal thymine dimer substrate efficiently even in the absence of serotonin or any other cofactor. UV1C, a 42-nucleotide fragment of UV1A, repaired the thymine dimer substrate in trans (kcat͞kuncat ‫؍‬ 2.5 ؋ 10 4 ), showing optimal activity with 305 nm light and thus resembling naturally occurring photolyase enzymes. Mechanistic investigation of UV1C indicated that its catalytic role likely exceeded the mere positioning of the substrate in a conformation favorable for photoreactivation. A higher-order structure, likely a quadruplex, formed by specific guanine bases within the deoxyribozyme, was implicated as serving as a light-harvesting antenna, with photoreactivation of the thymine dimer proceeding possibly via electron donation from an excited guanine base. In a primordial ''RNA world,'' self-replicating nucleic acid populations may have been vulnerable to deactivation via UV light-mediated pyrimidine dimer formation. Photolyase nucleic acid enzymes such as the one described here could thus have played a role in preserving the integrity of such an RNA world. The RNA world hypothesis (1) postulates that RNA or RNA-like polymers, capable of genetic as well as catalytic function, may have constituted primitive ''life'' in the course of evolution. Currently, in vitro selection (2, 3) experiments from random sequence DNA and RNA libraries permit the identification of novel catalytic activities for nucleic acids, in support of the RNA world hypothesis. To date, such selections have indicated a substantially broader catalytic repertoire for RNA and DNA than found in naturally occurring ribozymes (4). We were interested in investigating whether reactions that use light energy could be catalyzed by nucleic acid enzymes.Thymine (or pyrimidine) dimers are the major lesions formed in DNA as a result of exposure to UV light. Two major kinds of dimer are known, the cyclobutane and the (6O4) photoproduct (5). Different organisms use a variety of strategies to repair these lesions, among the more interesting of which is the use of light of substantially lower energy (longer wavelength) than the natural absorption of thymine dimers (Ͼ250 nm wavelength) to reactivate the dimers back to monomers. Such ''photolyase'' enzymes for the repair of both cyclobutane and (6O4) dimers have been studied extensively (6). The cyclobutane (CPD) photolyases harness a broad spectrum of light by using a number of chromophores such as methenyltetrahydrofolate (MTHF), flavin nucleotides, and tryptophan side chains (7). Photoexcitation culminates in electron donation from the excited-state flavin directly to the thymine dimer, leading to destabilization of t...

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a relatively minor constituent of biological membranes. Despite its low abundance, PS in the plasma membrane (PM) plays key roles in various phenomena such as the coagulation cascade, clearance of apoptotic cells, and recruitment of signaling molecules. PS also localizes in endocytic organelles, but how this relates to its cellular functions remains unknown. Here we report that PS is essential for retrograde membrane traffic at recycling endosomes (REs). PS was most concentrated in REs among intracellular organelles, and evectin-2 (evt-2), a protein of previously unknown function, was targeted to REs by the binding of its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain to PS. X-ray analysis supported the specificity of the binding of PS to the PH domain. Depletion of evt-2 or masking of intracellular PS suppressed membrane traffic from REs to the Golgi. These findings uncover the molecular basis that controls the RE-to-Golgi transport and identify a unique PH domain that specifically recognizes PS but not polyphosphoinositides. cholera toxin | endocytosis

SUMMARY The glycosphingolipid GM1 binds cholera toxin (CT) on host cells and carries it retrograde from the plasma membrane (PM) through endosomes, the trans-Golgi (TGN), and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to induce toxicity. To elucidate how a membrane lipid can specify trafficking in these pathways, we synthesized GM1 isoforms with alternate ceramide domains and imaged their trafficking in live cells. Only GM1 with unsaturated acyl chains sorted efficiently from PM to TGN and ER. Toxin binding, which effectively crosslinks GM1 lipids, was dispensable, but membrane cholesterol and the lipid raft-associated proteins actin and flotillin were required. The results implicate a protein-dependent mechanism of lipid-sorting by ceramide structure and provide a molecular explanation for the diversity and specificity of retrograde trafficking by CT in host cells.

Cholera toxin (CT) causes the massive secretory diarrhea associated with epidemic cholera. To induce disease, CT enters the cytosol of host cells by co-opting a lipid-based sorting pathway from the plasma membrane, through the trans-Golgi network (TGN), and into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the ER, a portion of the toxin is unfolded and retro-translocated to the cytosol. Here, we established zebrafish as a genetic model of intoxication and examined the Derlin and flotillin proteins, which are thought to be usurped by CT for retro-translocation and lipid sorting, respectively. Using antisense morpholino oligomers and siRNA, we found that depletion of Derlin-1, a component of the Hrd-1 retro-translocation complex, was dispensable for CT-induced toxicity. In contrast, the lipid raft-associated proteins flotillin-1 and -2 were required. We found that in mammalian cells, CT intoxication was dependent on the flotillins for trafficking between plasma membrane/endosomes and two pathways into the ER, only one of which appears to intersect the TGN. These results revise current models for CT intoxication and implicate protein scaffolding of lipid rafts in the endosomal sorting of the toxin-GM1 complex. IntroductionCholera toxin (CT) is an AB 5 -subunit toxin responsible for the massive secretory diarrhea seen in epidemic cholera. As for most toxins, CT must gain access to the cytosol of host cells to cause disease. The strategy employed by CT is to bind ganglioside GM1 in the plasma membrane (PM) via the B-subunit (CTB). GM1 carries the toxin retrograde through endosomes, the trans-Golgi network (TGN), and likely all the way into the ER (1, 2). In the ER, a portion of the A-subunit (CTA), the A1-chain, crosses to the cytosol by coopting the machinery that retro-translocates terminally misfolded proteins for degradation by the proteasome (termed ER-associated degradation [ERAD]; refs. 3, 4). The A1-chain refolds in the cytosol and activates adenylate cyclase to increase cAMP. The mechanisms for lipid sorting and ERAD usurped by CT are fundamental to eukaryotic cell biology but remain incompletely understood. To explore how CT exploits these pathways in an unbiased way, we used the zebrafish as a model because it is amenable to genetic screens. Here, we show that CT intoxicates zebrafish embryos by hijacking the same basic mechanisms used in mammalian cells and examine the dependence of CT toxicity on two families of proteins implicated in toxin action: the flotillins and Derlins. These proteins have emerged as important components of lipid-based trafficking and ERAD, respectively.There is evidence that GM1 sorts CT retrograde from PM to ER by association with lipid rafts (2, 5-8). Lipid rafts are cooperative selfassemblies of lipids and proteins that influence various aspects of

Cell surface heptahelical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate critical cellular signaling pathways and are important pharmaceutical drug targets. (1) In addition to traditional small-molecule approaches, lipopeptide-based GPCR-derived pepducins have emerged as a new class of pharmaceutical agents. (2, 3) To better understand how pepducins interact with targeted receptors, we developed a cell-based photo-cross-linking approach to study the interaction between the pepducin agonist ATI-2341 and its target receptor, chemokine C-X-C-type receptor 4 (CXCR4). A pepducin analogue, ATI-2766, formed a specific UV-light-dependent cross-link to CXCR4 and to mutants with truncations of the N-terminus, the known chemokine docking site. These results demonstrate that CXCR4 is the direct binding target of ATI-2341 and suggest a new mechanism for allosteric modulation of GPCR activity. Adaptation and application of our findings should prove useful in further understanding pepducin modulation of GPCRs as well as enable new experimental approaches to better understand GPCR signal transduction.