Abbreviations used in this paper: FRET, fl uorescence resonance energy transfer; hpf, hours postfertilization; MO, morpholino oligonucleotide; RR, ruthenium red; TRP, transient receptor potential.The online version of this paper contains supplemental material.

Abbreviations used in this paper: FRET, fl uorescence resonance energy transfer; hpf, hours postfertilization; MO, morpholino oligonucleotide; RR, ruthenium red; TRP, transient receptor potential.The online version of this paper contains supplemental material.

RNA 3'-terminal phosphate cyclases are evolutionarily conserved enzymes catalysing conversion of the 3'-terminal phosphate in RNA to the 2',3'-cyclic phosphodiester. Their biological role remains unknown. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains a gene encoding a protein with strong sequence similarity to the characterized cyclases from humans and Escherichia coli. The gene, named RCL1 (for RNA terminal phosphate cyclase like), is essential for growth, and its product, Rcl1p, is localized in the nucleolus. Depletion or inactivation of Rcl1p impairs pre-rRNA processing at sites A(0), A(1) and A(2), and leads to a strong decrease in 18S rRNA and 40S ribosomal subunit levels. Immunoprecipitations indicate that Rcl1p is specifically associated with the U3 snoRNP, although, based on gradient analyses, it is not its structural component. Most of Rcl1p sediments in association with the 70-80S pre-ribosomal particle and a 10S complex of unknown identity. Proteins similar to Rcl1p are encoded in genomes of all eukaryotes investigated and the mouse orthologue complements yeast strains depleted of Rcl1p. Possible functions of Rcl1p in pre-rRNA processing and its relationship to the RNA 3'-phosphate cyclase are discussed.

Maturation of 18S rRNA and biogenesis of the 40S ribosomes in yeast requires a large number of trans-acting factors, including the U3 small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein (U3 snoRNP), and the recently characterized cyclase-like protein Rcl1p. U3 snoRNP is a key particle orchestrating early 35S rRNA cleavage events. A unique property of Rcl1p is that it specifically associates with U3 snoRNP, but this association appears to occur only at the level of nascent ribosomes and not with the U3 monoparticle. Here we report the characterization of Bms1p, a protein that associates with Rcl1p in multiple structures, including a specific complex sedimenting at around 10S. Like Rcl1p, Bms1p is an essential, evolutionarily conserved, nucleolar protein, and its depletion interferes with processing of the 35S pre-rRNA at sites A 0 , A 1 , and A 2 , and the formation of 40S subunits. The N-terminal domain of Bms1p has structural features found in regulatory GTPases and we demonstrate that mutations of amino acids implicated in GTP/GDP binding affect Bms1p activity in vivo. The results indicate that Bms1p may act as a molecular switch during maturation of the 40S ribosomal subunit in the nucleolus.

Ca2+ is an important signalling molecule that regulates multiple cellular processes, including apoptosis. Although Ca2+ influx through transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in the plasma membrane is known to trigger cell death, the function of intracellular TRP proteins in the regulation of Ca2+‐dependent signalling pathways and apoptosis has remained elusive. Here, we show that TRPP2, the ion channel mutated in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), protects cells from apoptosis by lowering the Ca2+ concentration in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ER‐resident TRPP2 counteracts the activity of the sarcoendoplasmic Ca2+ ATPase by increasing the ER Ca2+ permeability. This results in diminished cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ signals upon stimulation of inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptors and reduces Ca2+ release from the ER in response to apoptotic stimuli. Conversely, knockdown of TRPP2 in renal epithelial cells increases ER Ca2+ release and augments sensitivity to apoptosis. Our findings indicate an important function of ER‐resident TRPP2 in the modulation of intracellular Ca2+ signalling, and provide a molecular mechanism for the increased apoptosis rates in ADPKD upon loss of TRPP2 channel function.

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is the flow of calcium ions (Ca) into cells in response to the depletion of intracellular Ca stores that reside predominantly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The role of SOCE has been relatively well understood for non-excitable cells. It is mediated mostly by the ER Ca sensor STIM1 and plasma membrane Ca channel Orai1 and serves to sustain Ca signaling and refill ER Ca stores. In contrast, because of the complexity of Ca influx mechanisms that are present in excitable cells, our knowledge about the function of neuronal SOCE (nSOCE) is still nascent. This review summarizes the available data on the molecular components of nSOCE and their relevance to neuronal signaling. We also present evidence of disturbances of nSOCE in neurodegenerative diseases (namely Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease) and traumatic brain injury. The emerging important role of nSOCE in neuronal physiology and pathology makes it a possible clinical target.

Src family tyrosine kinases (SFKs) regulate the function of several transient receptor potential (TRP) family members, yet their role in the regulation of the vanilloid subfamily member 4 protein (TRPV4) remains controversial. TRPV4 is a calcium-permeable channel activated by numerous physical and chemical stimuli. Here we show that SFKs mediate tyrosine phosphorylation of TRPV4 in different cell lines. Using mass spectrometric analysis, we identified two novel phosphorylation sites in the cytosolic N-and C-terminal tails of TRPV4. Substitution of either tyrosine with phenylalanine led to a substantial reduction in the overall tyrosine phosphorylation level of TRPV4, suggesting that these two tyrosines constitute major phosphorylation sites. Both mutants efficiently localized to the plasma membrane, indicating that neither tyrosine is required for trafficking of TRPV4 in the secretory pathway. Analysis of the channel function demonstrated a crucial role of the N-terminal tyrosine residue in the activation of TRPV4 by heat, mechanical (shear) stress, hypotonic cell swelling, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, but not in the activation by synthetic ligand 4␣-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate. Furthermore, the response of TRPV4 to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate was SFKdependent. Because the SFK-mediated phosphorylation of the N-terminal tyrosine occurred before TRPV4 activation, tyrosine phosphorylation appears to sensitize rather than activate this channel. Reactive oxygen species, known to mediate inflammatory pain, strongly up-regulated TRPV4 phosphorylation in the presence of SFKs. Our findings indicate that tyrosine phosphorylation of TRPV4 represents an important modulatory mechanism, which may underlie the recently described function of TRPV4 in inflammatory hyperalgesia.The transient receptor potential (TRP) 3 superfamily consists of Ca 2ϩ -permeable cation channels with a remarkable diversity of activation mechanisms (1). They perform a wide range of physiological functions and are involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases (2). All TRP proteins share the same topology: six transmembrane (TM) segments, a pore-loop situated between TM5 and TM6, and intracellular N-and C-terminal tails (3). Based on sequence similarity, the TRP superfamily can be divided into as many as eight subfamilies, including the vanilloid subfamily (TRPV) (1). The TRPV subfamily contains six mammalian members named TRPV1-6, as well as several invertebrate proteins such as osm-9 from Caenorhabditis elegans.TRPV4 was initially identified as an osm-9-related channel that is activated by hypotonic cell swelling (4 -6). Subsequently, experiments with cultured cells indicated that TRPV4 can also be activated by moderate heat with a threshold of 25-34°C (7, 8), mechanical (shear) stress (9), synthetic ligand 4␣-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (4␣PDD) (10), and endogenous compounds such as anandamide, arachidonic acid, and 5Ј,6Ј-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (11). Although viable, mice with a genetically disrupted Trpv4 gene are impaired in osmoregulat...

TRPV4 is a widely expressed member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family that facilitates Ca(2+) entry into nonexcitable cells. TRPV4 is activated by several stimuli, but it is largely unknown how the activity of this channel is terminated. Here, we show that ubiquitination represents an important mechanism to control the presence of TRPV4 at the plasma membrane. Ubiquitination of TRPV4 is dramatically increased by the HECT (homologous to E6-AP carboxyl terminus)-family ubiquitin ligase AIP4 without inducing degradation of this channel. Instead, AIP4 promotes the endocytosis of TRPV4 and decreases its amount at the plasma membrane. Consequently, the basal activity of TRPV4 is reduced despite an overall increase in TRPV4 levels. This mode of regulation is not limited to TRPV4. TRPC4, another member of the TRP channel family, is also strongly ubiquitinated in the presence of AIP4, leading to the increased intracellular localization of TRPC4 and the reduction of its basal activity. However, ubiquitination of several other TRP channels is not affected by AIP4, demonstrating that AIP4-mediated regulation is a unique property of select TRP channels.