Many cells show a polarized distribution of some plasma membrane proteins, which may be maintained either by a diffusion barrier or kinetically: as first demonstrated in fibroblasts, locally exocytosed proteins will remain polarized if they are endocytosed and recycled before they can diffuse to equilibrium. In yeast, actin cables direct exocytosis to the bud and to the tips of polarized mating intermediates termed shmoos. A septin ring at the bud neck retains some proteins, but shmoos lack this. Here, we show that the exocytic SNARE Snc1 is kinetically polarized. It is concentrated at bud and shmoo tips, and this requires its endocytosis. Kinetic polarization is possible in these small cells because proteins diffuse much more slowly in the yeast plasma membrane than would be expected from measurements in animal cells. Slow diffusion requires neither the cell wall nor polymerized actin, but it is affected in the ergosterol synthesis mutant erg6. Other proteins also require endocytosis for efficient polarization, and the plasma membrane SNARE Sso1 can be polarized merely by appending an endocytic signal. Thus, despite their small size, yeast cells can use localized exocytosis and endocytic recycling as a simple mechanism to maintain polarity.

Protein palmitoylation is a post-translational modification that affects a great number of proteins. In most cases, the enzymes responsible for this modification have not been identified. Some proteins use palmitoylation to attach themselves to membranes; however, palmitoylation also occurs in transmembrane proteins, and the function of this palmitoylation is less clear. Here we identify Swf1, a member of the DHHC-CDR family of palmitoyltransferases, as the protein responsible for modifying the yeast SNAREs Snc1, Syn8 and Tlg1, at cysteine residues close to the cytoplasmic end of their single transmembrane domains (TMDs). In an swf1Δ mutant, Tlg1 is mis-sorted to the vacuole. This occurs because unpalmitoylated Tlg1 is recognised by the ubiquitin ligase Tul1, resulting in its targeting to the multivesicular body pathway. Our results suggest that one role of palmitoylation is to protect TMDs from the cellular quality control machinery, and that Swf1 may be the enzyme responsible for most, if not all, TMD-associated palmitoylation in yeast

Membrane proteins destined for the vacuolar or lysosomal lumen are typically ubiquitinated, the ubiquitin serving as a targeting signal for the multivesicular body pathway. The RING-domain ubiquitin ligase Tul1 is an integral membrane protein that modifies the yeast vacuolar enzyme carboxypeptidase S (Cps1), the polyphosphatase Ppn1/Phm5 and other proteins containing exposed hydrophilic residues within their transmembrane domains (TMDs). Here we show that Bsd2 provides an alternative ubiquitination mechanism for Cps1, Phm5 and other proteins. Bsd2 is a three-TMD protein with a PPXY motif that binds the HECT domain ubiquitin ligase Rsp5. It can thus act as a specific adaptor linking Rsp5 to its substrates. Like Tul1, the Bsd2 system recognises polar TMDs. Bsd2 also controls the vacuolar targeting of a manganese transporter and a mutant plasma membrane ATPase, and together with the ER retrieval receptor Rer1, it protects cells from stress. We suggest that Bsd2 has a wide role in the quality control of membrane proteins. Bsd2 is the yeast homologue of human NEDD4 binding protein N4WBP5, which may therefore have similar functions.

SummaryIt is still unclear why some proteins that travel along the secretory pathway are retained in the Golgi complex whereas others make their way to the plasma membrane. Recent bioinformatic analyses on a large number of single-spanning membrane proteins support the hypothesis that specific features of the transmembrane domain (TMD) are relevant to the sorting of these proteins to particular organelles. Here we experimentally test this hypothesis for Golgi and plasma membrane proteins. Using the Golgi SNARE protein Sft1 and the plasma membrane SNARE protein Sso1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model proteins, we modified the length of their TMDs and the volume of their exoplasmic hemi-TMD, and determined their subcellular localization both in yeast and mammalian cells. We found that short TMDs with high-volume exoplasmic hemi-TMDs confer Golgi membrane residence, whereas TMDs with lowvolume exoplasmic hemi-TMDs, either short or long, confer plasma membrane residence to these proteins. Results indicate that the shape of the exoplasmic hemi-TMD, in addition to the length of the entire TMD, determine retention in the Golgi or exit to the plasma membrane of Type II membrane proteins.

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