Carbon catabolite repression allows bacteria to rapidly alter the expression of catabolic genes in response to the availability of metabolizable carbon sources. In Bacillus subtilis, this phenomenon is controlled by the HPr kinase (HprK) that catalyzes ATP-dependent phosphorylation of either HPr (histidine containing protein) or Crh (catabolite repression HPr) on residue Ser-46. We report here that B. subtilis HprK forms homo-oligomers constituted most likely of eight subunits. Related to this complex structure, the enzyme displays strong positive cooperativity for the binding of its allosteric activator, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, as evidenced by either kinetics of its phosphorylation activity or the intrinsic fluorescence properties of its unique tryptophan residue, Trp-235. It is further shown that activation of HPr phosphorylation by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate essentially occurs at low ATP and enzyme concentrations. A positive cooperativity was also detected for the binding of natural nucleotides or their 2(3)-N-methylanthraniloyl derivatives, in either phosphorylation or fluorescence experiments. Most interestingly, quenching of the HprK tryptophan fluorescence by using either iodide or acrylamide revealed a heterogeneity of tryptophan residues within the population of oligomers, suggesting that the enzyme exists in two different conformations. This result suggests a concerted-symmetry model for the catalytic mechanism of positive cooperativity displayed by HprK.

The lateral flexible stalk of the large ribosomal subunit is made of several interacting proteins anchored to a conserved region of the 28S (26S) rRNA termed the GTPase-associated domain or thiostrepton loop. This structure is demonstrated to adopt puzzling changes of conformation following the different steps of the elongation cycle. Some of these proteins termed the P-proteins in eukaryotes and L10 and L7/L12 in bacteria, present little structural similarities between Eubacteria on one side and Archae and Eukaryotes on the other side. However, up to now, these proteins seem to present a similar macromolecular organisation and they have been involved in the same functions. Convincing evidence attests that these proteins participate in elongation factor binding to the ribosome, and it has been suggested that these proteins might be evolved in a GTP hydrolysis activating protein activity. Involvement of these proteins in the translational mechanism is discussed. Moreover, in eukaryotes, small P-proteins are also found as isolated proteins in a cytoplasmic pool that exchanges with the ribosome-associated P-proteins. Moreover, a part of the ribosomal proteins is phosphorylated (hence their P-protein names). The biological signification of these particularities is discussed.

The eukaryotic P1 and P2 ribosomal proteins which constitute, with P0, a pentamer forming the lateral stalk of the 60 S ribosomal subunit, exhibit several differences from their prokaryotic equivalents L7 and L12; in particular, P1 does not have the same primary structure as P2 and both of them are phosphorylated, the significance of the latter remaining unclear. Rat liver P1 and P2 were overproduced in Escherichia coli cells and their interaction with elongation factor eEF-2 was studied. Both recombinant proteins were found to be required for the ribosomedependent GTPase activity of eEF-2, with P2 in the phosphorylated form. The surface plasmon resonance technique revealed that, in vitro, both proteins interact specifically with eEF-2, with a higher affinity for P1 (K d = 3.8 Â 10 28 m) than for P2 (K d = 2.2 Â 10 26 m). Phosphorylation resulted in a moderate increase (two-to four-fold) in these affinities. The interaction of both P1 and P2 (phosphorylated or not) with eEF-2 resulted in a conformational change in the factor, revealed by an increase in the accessibility of Glu554 to proteinase Glu-C. This increase was observed in both the presence and absence of GTP and GDP, which themselves produced marked opposite effects on the conformation of eEF-2. Our results suggest that the two proteins P1 and P2 both interact with eEF-2 inducing a conformational transition of the factor, but have acquired some specific properties during evolution.Keywords: acidic ribosomal proteins; ribosomal; elongation factor 2; phosphorylation.P proteins are present in the 60 S ribosomal subunits of all eukaryotic cells. In mammalian cells, there are three different proteins called P0, P1 and P2. P1 and P2 are 12-kDa acidic proteins which exhibit some similarities to and some differences from the prokaryotic ribosomal proteins L7 and L12. Among the similarities are their localization on the large ribosomal subunit forming a lateral stalk, their molecular mass and physicochemical properties, and their requirement for translational factor activity. Thus, the GTPase activity of the eukaryotic elongation factor eEF-2 which catalyses the translocation of peptidyl-tRNA from the A to the P site of the ribosome is dependent on the presence of P1 and P2 on the large ribosomal subunit [1], just as the GTPase activity of the corresponding prokaryotic factor EF-G is dependent on the presence of L7/L12 on this subunit. A direct interaction between L7/L12 and EF-G has been recently visualized directly by cryoelectron microscopy [2]. The differences between P1/P2 and L7/L12 are numerous and interesting to study in terms of evolution. First, sequence homologies between eukaryotic and prokaryotic proteins are not obvious [3]. Secondly, P1 and P2 do not have the same primary structure [3], whereas L7 and L12 do, with the only exception being an N-acetyl group. Thirdly, in contrast with L7 and L12, P1 and P2 are phosphorylated on serine residues when present on the ribosome [4], and this phosphorylation seems to be important for their function, althoug...

Stomatin is a member of a large family of proteins including prohibitins, HflK/C, flotillins, mechanoreceptors and plant defense proteins, that are thought to play a role in protein turnover. Using different proteomic approaches, we and others have identified SLP-2, a member of the stomatin gene family, as a component of the mitochondria. In this study, we show that SLP-2 is strongly associated with the mitochondrial inner membrane and that it interacts with prohibitins. Depleting HeLa cells of SLP-2 lead to increased proteolysis of prohibitins and of subunits of the respiratory chain complexes I and IV. Further supporting the role of SLP-2 in regulating the stability of specific mitochondrial proteins, we found that SLP-2 is up-regulated under conditions of mitochondrial stress leading to increased protein turnover. These data indicate that SLP-2 plays a role in regulating the stability of mitochondrial proteins including prohibitins and subunits of respiratory chain complexes.