Rab is a family of small Ras-like GTPases regulating intracellular vesicle transport. We have previously reported that prenylated Rab acceptor or PRA1 interacts with Rab GTPases and vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP2). Structural prediction programs suggest that PRA1, with its two extensive hydrophobic domains, is likely to be an integral membrane protein. However, subcellular fractionation and immunocytochemical analyses indicated that PRA1 is localized both in the cytosol and tightly associated with the membrane compartment. The membrane-bound form can be partially extracted with physiological buffer and urea, suggesting that PRA1 is an extrinsic membrane protein.Deletion of the carboxyl-terminal domain resulted in a protein that behaved as an integral membrane protein, indicating that this domain plays an essential role in maintaining PRA1 in a soluble state. PRA1 can also bind weakly to GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI), a protein involved in the solubilization of membrane-bound Rab GTPases. Addition of PRA1 inhibited the extraction of membrane-bound Rab3A by GDI, suggesting that membrane localization of Rab GTPases is dependent on the opposing action of PRA1 and GDI. The binding of Rab and VAMP2 to PRA1 is mutually exclusive such that Rab3A can displace VAMP2 in a preformed VAMP2-PRA1 complex.

The prenylated Rab acceptor (PRA) 1 is a protein that binds prenylated Rab GTPases and inhibits their removal from the membrane by GDI. We describe here the isolation of a second isoform that can also bind Rab GTPases in a guanine nucleotide-independent manner. The two PRA isoforms showed distinct intracellular localization with PRA1 localized primarily to the Golgi complex and PRA2 to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) compartment. The localization signal was mapped to the COOH-terminal domain of the two proteins. A DXEE motif served to target PRA1 to the Golgi. Mutation of any one of the acidic residues within this motif resulted in significant retention of PRA1 in the ER compartment. Moreover, the introduction of a di-acidic motif to the COOH-terminal domain of PRA2 resulted in partial localization to the Golgi complex. The domain responsible for ER localization of PRA2 was also confined to the carboxyl terminus. Our results showed that these sorting signals were primarily responsible for the differential localization of the two PRA isoforms.

The heterohexameric origin recognition complex (ORC) acts as a scaffold for the G 1 phase assembly of pre-replicative complexes (pre-RC). Only the Orc1-5 subunits appear to be required for origin binding in budding yeast, yet Orc6 is an essential protein for cell proliferation. Imaging of Orc6-YFP in live cells revealed a punctate pattern consistent with the organization of replication origins into subnuclear foci. Orc6 was not detected at the site of division between mother and daughter cells, in contrast to observations for metazoans, and is not required for mitosis or cytokinesis. An essential role for Orc6 in DNA replication was identified by depleting it at specific cell cycle stages. Interestingly, Orc6 was required for entry into S phase after pre-RC formation, in contrast to previous models suggesting ORC is dispensable at this point in the cell cycle. When Orc6 was depleted in late G 1 , Mcm2 and Mcm10 were displaced from chromatin, cells failed to progress through S phase, and DNA combing analysis following bromodeoxyuridine incorporation revealed that the efficiency of replication origin firing was severely compromised.

Prenylated Rab acceptor (PRA1) is a protein that binds Rab GTPases and the v-SNARE VAMP2. The protein is localized to the Golgi complex and post-Golgi vesicles. To determine its functional role, we generated a number of point mutations and divided them into three classes based on cellular localization. Class A mutants were retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and exerted an inhibitory effect on transport of vesicular stomatitis virus envelope glycoprotein (VSVG) from the ER to Golgi as well as to the plasma membrane. Class B mutants exhibited a highly condensed Golgi complex and inhibited exit of anterograde cargo from this organelle. Class C mutants exhibited an intermediate phenotype with Golgi and ER localization along with extensive tubular structures emanating from the Golgi complex. There was a direct correlation between the cellular phenotype and binding to Rab and VAMP2. Class A and C mutants showed a significant decrease in Rab and VAMP2 binding, whereas an increase in binding was observed in the class B mutants. Thus, PRA1 is required for vesicle formation from the Golgi complex and might be involved in recruitment of Rab effectors and SNARE proteins during cargo sequestration.Rab GTPases constitute the largest group within the Ras superfamily. They regulate vesicle trafficking by cycling through active membrane-bound GTP-and inactive cytosolic GDP-bound states. Membrane localization requires modification of the cysteine-containing motif at the carboxyl terminus by prenyl residues. Cycling between the membrane and cytosol is mediated by GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI), 1 which extracts GDP-bound Rab from the membrane. Activation through guanine nucleotide exchange at the membrane is catalyzed by a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, of which a number have been identified in mammals (1, 2).Vesicular transport through the secretory pathway undergoes a number of discrete steps each involving budding, membrane remodeling, targeting, docking, and fusion. In ER to Golgi transport, anterograde cargo proteins such as VSVG are selectively transported to the Golgi along with resident ER proteins with the latter retrieved by a salvage process that recognizes distinct motifs within the protein (3). These transport vesicles contain an electron-dense coat assembled under the control of the small GTPase ARF (4). The fungal metabolite brefeldin A (BFA) inhibits ARF activation by stabilizing the inactive ARF-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) complex (5) resulting in retrograde transport of Golgi content to the ER. At the Golgi complex, cargo proteins destined for postGolgi locations are sorted into distinct carriers upon exit from the trans face, whereas Golgi resident proteins such as mannosidase II (Man II) are selectively retrieved in COPI-coated vesicles and returned to the cis face (6).Vesicle fusion is mediated by the core SNARE complex consisting of the vesicle protein VAMP, or synaptobrevin, and two other membrane proteins, syntaxin and SNAP-25 (7). Rab effectors play a regulatory role in this pro...

The origin recognition complex (ORC) is essential as a scaffold for the assembly of prereplicative complexes (pre-RCs) in G(1) phase of the cell cycle. Some models have proposed that once origins have been licensed for DNA replication, ORC is dispensable for MCM protein association, and ensuing DNA replication. Although budding yeast Orc6 is not needed for origin recognition or binding in vitro, we have recently shown that this ORC subunit is required in late G(1) phase for maintenance of MCMs, and subsequent DNA replication. Further investigation shows that depletion of Orc6 results in displacement of MCM proteins from both early- and late-firing origins, and eventually results in the activation of the Rad53 checkpoint kinase, consistent with incomplete DNA replication. Loss of MCM association at origins may be mediated by the displacement of Mcm10 and/or Orc2 as a consequence of late G(1) Orc6 depletion.

Mec1, a member of the phosphoinositide three-kinase-related kinase (PIKK) family of proteins, is involved in the response to replicative stress and DNA damage and in telomere maintenance. An essential 30 to 35 residue, the FATC domain is found at the C-terminus of all PIKK family members. To investigate the roles of the C-terminal residues of Mec1, we characterized alleles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mec1 that alter the FATC domain. A change of the terminal tryptophan to alanine resulted in temperature-sensitive growth, sensitivity to hydroxyurea, and diminished kinase activity in vitro. Addition of a terminal glycine or deletion of one, two, or three residues resulted in loss of cell viability and kinase function. Each of these Mec1 derivatives was less stable than wild-type Mec1, eluted abnormally from a size exclusion column, and showed reduced nuclear localization. We identified rpn3-L140P, which encodes a component of the 19S proteasomal regulatory particle of the 26S proteasome, as a suppressor of the temperature-sensitive growth caused by mec1-W2368A. The rpn3-L140P allele acted in a partially dominant fashion. It was not able to suppress the inviability of the C-terminal truncations or additions or the hydroxyurea sensitivity of mec1-W2368A. The rpn3-L140P allele restored Mec1-W2368A to nearly wild-type protein levels at 37°, an effect partially mimicked by the proteasome inhibitor MG-132. Our study supports a role for the C-terminus in Mec1 folding and stability, and suggests a role for the proteasome in regulating Mec1 levels.

BackgroundEukaryotic cell proliferation involves DNA replication, a tightly regulated process mediated by a multitude of protein factors. In budding yeast, the initiation of replication is facilitated by the heterohexameric origin recognition complex (ORC). ORC binds to specific origins of replication and then serves as a scaffold for the recruitment of other factors such as Cdt1, Cdc6, the Mcm2-7 complex, Cdc45 and the Dbf4-Cdc7 kinase complex. While many of the mechanisms controlling these associations are well documented, mathematical models are needed to explore the network’s dynamic behaviour. We have developed an ordinary differential equation-based model of the protein-protein interaction network describing replication initiation.ResultsThe model was validated against quantified levels of protein factors over a range of cell cycle timepoints. Using chromatin extracts from synchronized Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cultures, we were able to monitor the in vivo fluctuations of several of the aforementioned proteins, with additional data obtained from the literature. The model behaviour conforms to perturbation trials previously reported in the literature, and accurately predicts the results of our own knockdown experiments. Furthermore, we successfully incorporated our replication initiation model into an established model of the entire yeast cell cycle, thus providing a comprehensive description of these processes.ConclusionsThis study establishes a robust model of the processes driving DNA replication initiation. The model was validated against observed cell concentrations of the driving factors, and characterizes the interactions between factors implicated in eukaryotic DNA replication. Finally, this model can serve as a guide in efforts to generate a comprehensive model of the mammalian cell cycle in order to explore cancer-related phenotypes.

Genome duplication occurs once and only once in each cell cycle. During G1 phase, pre‐replicative complexes (pre‐RC), composed of ORC, Cdc6, Cdt1 and Mcm2–7, are assembled at replication origins. Mcm2–7 is the replicative helicase in eukaryotic cells; however, it does not unwind DNA in the pre‐RC. It is only in S‐phase, after activation of Mcm2–7, that DNA unwinding is detected. Cdt1 co‐purifies from yeast cells in a complex with Mcm2–7. Beyond being an escort for entry of Mcm2–7 into the nucleus and into the pre‐RC, the role of Cdt1 in DNA replication is not known. Using purified components from bacterial expression systems, we assembled Mcm2–7•Cdt1 complexes and compared its activity to that of Mcm2–7 alone. We show that Mcm2–7•Cdt1 has lower ATPase activity than Mcm2–7. In addition, DNA unwinding by Mcm2–7•Cdt1 is significantly lower than by Mcm2–7 alone. Furthermore and consistent with published reports, in vitro pre‐RC reconstitution experiments showed loading of Mcm2–7 to origins was dependent on ORC, Cdc6 and Cdt1. Together, the effects of Cdt1 on Mcm2–7 suggest mechanisms by which Cdt1 may carry out its essential role in the initiation of DNA replication.Research funded by CIHR