Sequential action of two GTPases to promote vacuole docking and fusion

111

Membrane fusion entails organelle docking and subsequent mixing of membrane bilayers and luminal compartments. We now present an in vitro assay of fusion, using yeast vacuoles bearing domains of either Fos or Jun fused to complementary halves of ␤-lactamase. Upon fusion, these proteins associate to yield ␤-lactamase activity. This assay complements the standard fusion assay (activation of pro-Pho8p in protease-deficient vacuoles by proteases from pho8⌬ vacuoles). Both the ␤-lactamase and proPho8p activation assays of fusion show the same long kinetic delay between SNARE pairing and luminal compartment mixing. Lipidmixing occurs rapidly after SNARE pairing but well before aqueous compartment mixing. These results support a model in which SNARE pairing leads to rapid hemifusion, followed by slow further lipid rearrangement and aqueous compartment mixing. (diacylglycerol, phosphoinositides, and ergosterol) are concentrated at a ring-shaped microdomain, the ''vertex ring,'' surrounding the apposed membranes of docked vacuoles. During docking, the released Vam7p rebinds to the vacuole through its affinities for phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (1) and HOPS (2) and participates in the formation of trans-SNARE complexes between apposed vacuolar membranes. Bilayer fusion around the vertex ring permits lipid and aqueous compartment mixing. It has been proposed that membrane fusion may require a lipidic ''hemifusion'' intermediate, where the closely apposed membrane leaflets are fused and mix, whereas the distal leaflets and aqueous compartments remain distinct. Hemifusion has been directly observed with influenza HA (3-5), either wild-type or with a GPI-anchor in place of its transmembrane domain (TMD), in a minimal SNARE-driven liposome fusion system (6, 7) with low levels of wild-type SNARE proteins or with mutant SNARE proteins with partial TMDs that span only one bilayer leaflet (6). Hemifusion was also observed in cell-cell fusion mediated by GPI-anchored SNARE proteins expressed on the outer surface of the plasma membrane (8), suggesting that all SNARE-dependent fusion might proceed by means of hemifusion. A hemifusion intermediate was proposed for yeast vacuole fusion, based on the finding that GTP␥S allows lipid mixing while blocking the fusion-dependent activation of pro-Pho8p (9). The standard in vitro assay of vacuole fusion measures the proteolytic activation of the inactive proPho8p (alkaline phosphatase or ALP) by vacuolar proteases upon content mixing between two populations of vacuoles. One limitation of this assay is its sensitivity to reagents that inhibit the activation of ALP. We have therefore developed an in vitro assay of yeast vacuole fusion in which content mixing between two vacuole populations is measured by the reconstitution of active Escherichia coli TEM-1 ␤-lactamase from two complementary fragments of the enzyme, each contributed from distinct vacuole populations. This fusion assay, coupled with a lipid mixing assay, has revealed that docking and lipid mixing are completed long before l...

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Assays of vacuole fusion resolve the stages of docking, lipid mixing, and content mixing

Jun

Wickner

2007

111

“…Added GTP is not necessary for proteoliposome fusion ( Fig. 1 A), nor for fusion of purified vacuoles (46). Is purified Ypt7p already in its GTP-bound form, and is this GTP-bound Ypt7p required for proteoliposome fusion?…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Minimal membrane docking requirements revealed by reconstitution of Rab GTPase-dependent membrane fusion from purified components

Stroupe

Hickey

Mima

et al. 2009

105

139

Rab GTPases and their effectors mediate docking, the initial contact of intracellular membranes preceding bilayer fusion. However, it has been unclear whether Rab proteins and effectors are sufficient for intermembrane interactions. We have recently reported reconstituted membrane fusion that requires yeast vacuolar SNAREs, lipids, and the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS)/class C Vps complex, an effector and guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the yeast vacuolar Rab GTPase Ypt7p. We now report reconstitution of lysis-free membrane fusion that requires purified GTP-bound Ypt7p, HOPS complex, vacuolar SNAREs, ATP hydrolysis, and the SNARE disassembly catalysts Sec17p and Sec18p. We use this reconstituted system to show that SNAREs and Sec17p/Sec18p, and Ypt7p and the HOPS complex, are required for stable intermembrane interactions and that the three vacuolar Q-SNAREs are sufficient for these interactions.biochemical reconstitution ͉ Rab effector

“…The N-terminal domain also may mediate interactions with Vps45p, as full-length Tlg2p cannot form SNARE complexes in vps45-null strains (27). Large protein complexes have been described for vacuolar and intraGolgi transport in yeast that contain members of the Rab, Rab effector, Sec1, and SNARE families (28,29). It is not clear how the various N-terminal domains present in a SNARE complex contribute to its associated membrane-transport step, but they may mediate protein-protein interactions within these large assemblies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-dimensional structure of the amino-terminal domain of syntaxin 6, a SNAP-25 C homolog

Misura

Bock

Gonzalez

et al. 2002

Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins are required for intracellular membrane fusion, and are differentially localized throughout the cell. SNAREs on vesicle and target membranes contain ''SNARE motifs'' which interact to form a four-helix bundle that contributes to the fusion of two membranes. SNARE motif sequences fall into four classes, homologous to the neuronal proteins syntaxin 1a, VAMP 2, and the N-and C-terminal SNARE motifs of SNAP-25 (S25N and S25C), and it is thought that one member from each class interacts to form a SNARE complex. Many SNAREs also feature N-terminal domains believed to function in regulating SNARE complex assembly or other aspects of vesicle transport. Syntaxin 6 is a SNARE found primarily in endosomal transport vesicles and whose SNARE motif shows significant homology to both syntaxin 1a and S25C. The crystal structure of the syntaxin 6 N-terminal domain reveals strong structural similarity with the N-terminal domains of syntaxin family members syntaxin 1a, Sso1p, and Vam3p, despite a very low level of sequence similarity. The syntaxin 6 SNARE motif can substitute for S25C in in vitro binding experiments, supporting the classification of syntaxin 6 as an S25C family member. Secondary structure prediction of SNARE proteins shows that the Nterminal domains of many syntaxin, S25N, and S25C family members are likely to be similar to one another, but are distinct from those of VAMP family members, indicating that syntaxin, S25N, and S25C SNAREs may have shared a common ancestor.