A novel glycoside hydrolase 74 xyloglucanase CvGH74A is a virulence factor in Coniella vitis

Grape white rot is a destructive fungal disease occurring worldwide. Recently, Coniella vitis was identified as the predominant pathogen causing this disease in China. As the periderms of grape shoots are severely degraded by C. vitis, it was speculated that cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) might play a key role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the hydrolytic activity of the CWDEs of C. vitis. The results showed that xylanase (Xy) and xyloglucanase (XEG) had high levels of hydrolytic activity both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, a high-virulence fungal strain exhibited higher levels of Xy and XEG activities compared with a low-virulence strain. The genome of the fungus was found to harbor two XEG-coding genes CvGH74A and CvGH74B, which belonged to the glycoside hydrolase (GH)74 family. The expression level of CvGH74A was found to be high during pathogen infection. CvGH74A gene deletion mutants were generated using the split-marker method. The deletion of CvGH74A decreased both the hydrolytic activities of XEG and Xy and also the ability of the fungus to infect the grape leaves. No differences in the hyphal growth, morphology of colonies, or conidiation were found between the ΔCvGH74A mutant strains and the wild-type strain. Together, these results suggested that CvGH74A acted as an important virulence factor, and its enzymatic activity might regulate the virulence of the pathogen. This study was novel in reporting that GH74 XEG acted as a virulence factor in C. vitis.     

AMPK is a direct adenylate charge-regulated protein kinase

The adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) regulates whole-body and cellular energy balance in response to energy demand and supply. AMPK is an αβγ heterotrimer activated by decreasing concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and increasing AMP concentrations. AMPK activation depends on phosphorylation of the α catalytic subunit on threonine-172 (Thr(172)) by kinases LKB1 or CaMKKβ, and this is promoted by AMP binding to the γ subunit. AMP sustains activity by inhibiting dephosphorylation of α-Thr(172), whereas ATP promotes dephosphorylation. Adenosine diphosphate (ADP), like AMP, bound to γ sites 1 and 3 and stimulated α-Thr(172) phosphorylation. However, in contrast to AMP, ADP did not directly activate phosphorylated AMPK. In this way, both ADP/ATP and AMP/ATP ratios contribute to AMPK regulation.     

Amyloid beta protein precursor is possibly a heparan sulfate proteoglycan core protein

The amyloid beta protein peptide is a major constituent of amyloid plaque cores in Alzheimer's disease and is apparently derived from a higher molecular weight precursor. It is now shown that the core protein of a heparan sulfate proteoglycan secreted from a nerve cell line (PC12) has an amino acid sequence and a size very similar to those of the amyloid beta protein precursor and that these molecules are antigenically related. This amyloid beta protein precursor-related protein is not found in the conditioned medium of a variant cell line (F3 PC12) that does not secrete heparan sulfate proteoglycan. The synaptic localization and metabolism of this class of proteoglycans are consistent with its potential involvement in central nervous system dysfunction.     

The Semaphorin 4D receptor Plexin-B1 is a GTPase activating protein for R-Ras

Plexins are cell surface receptors for semaphorin molecules, and their interaction governs cell adhesion and migration in a variety of tissues. We report that the Semaphorin 4D (Sema4D) receptor Plexin-B1 directly stimulates the intrinsic guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) activity of R-Ras, a member of the Ras superfamily of small GTP-binding proteins that has been implicated in promoting cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth. This activity required the interaction of Plexin-B1 with Rnd1, a small GTP-binding protein of the Rho family. Down-regulation of R-Ras activity by the Plexin-B1-Rnd1 complex was essential for the Sema4D-induced growth cone collapse in hippocampal neurons. Thus, Plexin-B1 mediates Sema4D-induced repulsive axon guidance signaling by acting as a GTPase activating protein for R-Ras.     

A voltage sensor-domain protein is a voltage-gated proton channel

Voltage-gated proton channels have been widely observed but have not been identified at a molecular level. Here we report that a four-transmembrane protein similar to the voltage-sensor domain of voltage-gated ion channels is a voltage-gated proton channel. Cells overexpressing this protein showed depolarization-induced outward currents accompanied by tail currents. Current reversal occured at equilibrium potentials for protons. The currents exhibited pH-dependent gating and zinc ion sensitivity, two features which are characteristic of voltage-gated proton channels. Responses of voltage dependence to sequence changes suggest that mouse voltage-sensor domain-only protein is itself a channel, rather than a regulator of another channel protein.     

Tertiary structure is a principal determinant to protein deamidation

The protein deamidation process involves the conversion of the amide side-chain moieties of asparagine and glutamine residues to carboxyl groups. This conversion is an unusual form of protein modification in that it requires catalysis by an intramolecular reaction where both the substrate (asparagine and glutamine side chains) and "catalytic site" (the peptide nitrogen of the succeeding residue) are constituents of several consecutive residues along the polypeptide chain. The stereochemical factors governing this process were studied with a data base derived from the neutron crystallographic structure of trypsin from which amide groups and oxygen can be unambiguously differentiated because of their different neutron scattering properties. The neutron structure allowed for the direct determination of those residues that were deamidated; 3 of 13 asparagine residues were found to be modified. These modified residues were clearly distinguished by a distinct local conformation and hydrogen-bonding structure in contrast to those observed for the other asparagine residues. No correlation was found between preference to deamidate and the chemical character of residues flanking the site, as had been proposed from previous peptide studies.     

Hd3a protein is a mobile flowering signal in rice

Florigen, the mobile signal that moves from an induced leaf to the shoot apex and causes flowering, has eluded identification since it was first proposed 70 years ago. Understanding the nature of the mobile flowering signal would provide a key insight into the molecular mechanism of floral induction. Recent studies suggest that the Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene is a candidate for encoding florigen. We show that the protein encoded by Hd3a, a rice ortholog of FT, moves from the leaf to the shoot apical meristem and induces flowering in rice. These results suggest that the Hd3a protein may be the rice florigen.     

The muscle protein Dok-7 is essential for neuromuscular synaptogenesis

The formation of the neuromuscular synapse requires muscle-specific receptor kinase (MuSK) to orchestrate postsynaptic differentiation, including the clustering of receptors for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Upon innervation, neural agrin activates MuSK to establish the postsynaptic apparatus, although agrin-independent formation of neuromuscular synapses can also occur experimentally in the absence of neurotransmission. Dok-7, a MuSK-interacting cytoplasmic protein, is essential for MuSK activation in cultured myotubes; in particular, the Dok-7 phosphotyrosine-binding domain and its target in MuSK are indispensable. Mice lacking Dok-7 formed neither acetylcholine receptor clusters nor neuromuscular synapses. Thus, Dok-7 is essential for neuromuscular synaptogenesis through its interaction with MuSK.     

Sirt5 is a NAD-dependent protein lysine demalonylase and desuccinylase

Silent information regulator 2 (Sir2) proteins (sirtuins) are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylases that regulate important biological processes. Mammals have seven sirtuins, Sirt1 to Sirt7. Four of them (Sirt4 to Sirt7) have no detectable or very weak deacetylase activity. We found that Sirt5 is an efficient protein lysine desuccinylase and demalonylase in vitro. The preference for succinyl and malonyl groups was explained by the presence of an arginine residue (Arg(105)) and tyrosine residue (Tyr(102)) in the acyl pocket of Sirt5. Several mammalian proteins were identified with mass spectrometry to have succinyl or malonyl lysine modifications. Deletion of Sirt5 in mice appeared to increase the level of succinylation on carbamoyl phosphate synthase 1, which is a known target of Sirt5. Thus, protein lysine succinylation may represent a posttranslational modification that can be reversed by Sirt5 in vivo.     

In vivo half-life of a protein is a function of its amino-terminal residue

When a chimeric gene encoding a ubiquitin-beta-galactosidase fusion protein is expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ubiquitin is cleaved off the nascent fusion protein, yielding a deubiquitinated beta-galactosidase (beta gal). With one exception, this cleavage takes place regardless of the nature of the amino acid residue of beta gal at the ubiquitin-beta gal junction, thereby making it possible to expose different residues at the amino-termini of the otherwise identical beta gal proteins. The beta gal proteins thus designed have strikingly different half-lives in vivo, from more than 20 hours to less than 3 minutes, depending on the nature of the amino acid at the amino-terminus of beta gal. The set of individual amino acids can thus be ordered with respect to the half-lives that they confer on beta gal when present at its amino-terminus (the "N-end rule"). The currently known amino-terminal residues in long-lived, noncompartmentalized intracellular proteins from both prokaryotes and eukaryotes belong exclusively to the stabilizing class as predicted by the N-end rule. The function of the previously described posttranslational addition of single amino acids to protein amino-termini may also be accounted for by the N-end rule. Thus the recognition of an amino-terminal residue in a protein may mediate both the metabolic stability of the protein and the potential for regulation of its stability.     

SMEDWI-2 is a PIWI-like protein that regulates planarian stem cells

We have identified two genes, smedwi-1 and smedwi-2, expressed in the dividing adult stem cells (neoblasts) of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Both genes encode proteins that belong to the Argonaute/PIWI protein family and that share highest homology with those proteins defined by Drosophila PIWI. RNA interference (RNAi) of smedwi-2 blocks regeneration, even though neoblasts are present, irradiation-sensitive, and capable of proliferating in response to wounding; smedwi-2(RNAi) neoblast progeny migrate to sites of cell turnover but, unlike normal cells, fail at replacing aged tissue. We suggest that SMEDWI-2 functions within dividing neoblasts to support the generation of cells that promote regeneration and homeostasis.     

The protein kinase domain of the ANP receptor is required for signaling

A plasma membrane form of guanylate cyclase is a cell surface receptor for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). In response to ANP binding, the receptor-enzyme produces increased amounts of the second messenger, guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate. Maximal activation of the cyclase requires the presence of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) or nonhydrolyzable ATP analogs. The intracellular region of the receptor contains at least two domains with homology to other proteins, one possessing sequence similarity to protein kinase catalytic domains, the other to regions of unknown function in a cytoplasmic form of guanylate cyclase and in adenylate cyclase. It is now shown that the protein kinase-like domain functions as a regulatory element and that the second domain possesses catalytic activity. When the kinase-like domain was removed by deletion mutagenesis, the resulting ANP receptor retained guanylate cyclase activity, but this activity was independent of ANP and its stimulation by ATP was markedly reduced. A model for signal transduction is suggested in which binding of ANP to the extracellular domain of its receptor initiates a conformational change in the protein kinase-like domain, resulting in derepression of guanylate cyclase activity.     

Thymotaxin, a chemotactic protein, is identical to beta 2-microglobulin

Thymotaxin, an 11-kilodalton protein chemotactic for rat bone marrow hematopoietic precursors, was purified from media conditioned by a rat thymic epithelial cell line. The NH2-terminal sequence of thymotaxin was identical to that of rat beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m). Antibodies to beta 2m removed thymotaxin activity from the fraction containing the 11-kilodalton protein. Chemotactic activity was observed with rat plasma beta 2m, human beta 2m, and mouse recombinant beta 2m, further supporting the identity of thymotaxin with beta 2m. The directional migration, as opposed to random movement, of the cells was also confirmed. The only rat bone marrow cells that migrated toward beta 2m were Thy1+ immature lymphoid cells devoid of T cell, B cell, and myeloid cell differentiation markers.     

A multiubiquitin chain is confined to specific lysine in a targeted short-lived protein

The ubiquitin-dependent degradation of a test protein beta-galactosidase (beta gal) is preceded by ubiquitination of beta gal. The many (from 1 to more than 20) ubiquitin moieties attached to a molecule of beta gal occur as an ordered chain of branched ubiquitin-ubiquitin conjugates in which the carboxyl-terminal Gly76 of one ubiquitin is jointed to the internal Lys48 of an adjacent ubiquitin. This multiubiquitin chain is linked to one of two specific Lys residues in beta gal. These same Lys residues have been identified by molecular genetic analysis as components of the aminoterminal degradation signal in beta gal. The experiments with ubiquitin mutated at its Lys48 residue indicate that the multiubiquitin chain in a targeted protein is essential for the degradation of the protein.     

The neutrophil-activating protein (NAP-1) is also chemotactic for T lymphocytes

T lymphocyte chemotactic factor (TCF) was purified to homogeneity from the conditioned media of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated human blood mononuclear leukocytes by a sequence of chromatography procedures. The amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified TCF showed identity with neutrophil-activating protein (NAP-1). Both TCF and recombinant NAP-1 (rNAP-1) were chemotactic for neutrophils and T lymphocytes in vitro supporting the identity of TCF with NAP-1. Injection of rNAP-1 into lymphatic drainage areas of lymph nodes in Fisher rats caused accelerated emigration of only lymphocytes in high endothelial venules. Intradermal injection of rNAP-1 caused dose-dependent accumulation of neutrophils and lymphocytes.     

The elastin receptor: a galactoside-binding protein

The elastin receptor complex contains a component of 67 kilodaltons that binds to a glycoconjugate affinity column containing beta-galactoside residues and is eluted from this column with lactose. This protein component is also released from the surface of cultured chondroblasts by incubation with lactose, and its association with immobilized elastin is inhibited by lactose. Since lactose also blocks elastic fiber formation by cultured chondroblasts, the galactoside-binding property of the elastin receptor is implicated in this process.