Cooperation of calcineurin and vacuolar H(+)-ATPase in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis of yeast cells

An essential role of the yeast pheromone-induced Ca2+ signal is to activate calcineurin

Previous studies showed that, in wild-type (MATa) cells, alpha-factor causes an essential rise in cytosolic Ca2+. We show that calcineurin, the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, is one target of this Ca2+ signal. Calcineurin mutants lose viability when incubated with mating pheromone, and overproduction of constitutively active (Ca(2+)-independent) calcineurin improves the viability of wild-type cells exposed to pheromone in Ca(2+)-deficient medium. Thus, one essential consequence of the pheromone-induced rise in cytosolic Ca2+ is activation of calcineurin. Although calcineurin inhibits intracellular Ca2+ sequestration in yeast cells, neither increased extracellular Ca2+ nor defects in vacuolar Ca2+ transport bypasses the requirement for calcineurin during the pheromone response. These observations suggest that the essential function of calcineurin in the pheromone response may be distinct from its modulation of intracellular Ca2+ levels. Mutants that do not undergo pheromone-induced cell cycle arrest (fus3, far1) show decreased dependence on calcineurin during treatment with pheromone. Thus, calcineurin is essential in yeast cells during prolonged exposure to pheromone and especially under conditions of pheromone-induced growth arrest. Ultrastructural examination of pheromone-treated cells indicates that vacuolar morphology is abnormal in calcineurin-deficient cells, suggesting that calcineurin may be required for maintenance of proper vacuolar structure or function during the pheromone response.

The immunosuppressant FK506 and its nonimmunosuppressive analog L-685,818 are toxic to Cryptococcus neoformans by inhibition of a common target protein

The immunosuppressant FK506 (tacrolimus) is an antifungal natural product macrolide that suppresses the immune system by blocking T-cell activation. In complex with the intracellular protein FKBP12, FK506 inhibits calcineurin, a Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent serine-threonine protein phosphatase. We recently reported that growth of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans is resistant to FK506 at 24 degrees C but sensitive at 37 degrees C and that calcineurin, the target of FKBP12-FK506, is required for growth at 37 degrees C in vitro and pathogenicity in vivo. These findings identify calcineurin as a potential antifungal drug target. In previous studies the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporin A (CsA) was effective against murine pulmonary infections but exacerbated cryptococcal meningitis in rabbits and mice, likely because CsA does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Although we find that FK506 penetrates the CNS, FK506 also exacerbates cryptococcal meningitis in rabbits. Thus, FK506 immunosuppression outweighs antifungal action in vivo. Like FK506, the nonimmunosuppressive FK506 analog L-685,818 is toxic to C. neoformans in vitro at 37 degrees C but not at 24 degrees C, and FK506-resistant mutants are resistant to L-685,818, indicating a similar mechanism of action. Fluconazole-resistant C. neoformans clinical isolates were also found to be susceptible to both FK506 and L-685,818. Our findings identify calcineurin as a novel antifungal drug target and suggest the nonimmunosuppressive FK506 analog L-685,818 or other congeners warrant further consideration as antifungal drugs for C. neoformans.

Yeast protein serine/threonine phosphatases: multiple roles and diverse regulation

Since the isolation of the first yeast protein phosphatase genes in 1989, much progress has been made in understanding this important group of proteins. Yeast contain genes encoding all the major types of protein phosphatase found in higher eukaryotes and the ability to use genetic approaches will complement the wealth of biochemical information available from other systems. This review will summarize recent progress in understanding the structure, function and regulation of the PPP family of protein serine-threonine phosphatases, concentrating on the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Activated calcineurin confers high tolerance to ion stress and alters the budding pattern and cell morphology of yeast cells

The PP2B protein phosphatase, also known as calcineurin, is a regulator of ion homeostasis in yeast cells. We have investigated the physiological consequences of constitutive expression of a recombinant form of calcineurin in which the Ca2+/calmodulin-binding and autoinhibitory domains of the catalytic subunit were deleted. The concomitant expression of the regulatory subunit along with the truncated catalytic subunit resulted in high tolerance to toxic levels of Na+ and Li+. This activated form of calcineurin substituted for the Na+ stress signal to promote the expression of the ENA1 gene, encoding a P-ATPase pump, and to induce the transition of the K+ uptake system to the high affinity mode that restricts influx of Na+ and Li+. In addition, the transcriptional responsiveness of ENA1 to Na+ stress was enhanced. These results demonstrate that calcineurin has a pivotal role in a signaling cascade activated by ion stress in yeast. Moreover, we found that changes in the level of calcineurin activity affected budding pattern and cell morphology. Cells expressing the truncated calcineurin were elongated and budded in an unipolar pattern, whereas calcineurin-deficient mutants budded randomly. These results suggest that calcineurin may also act in the establishment of cell polarity.

A role for calcineurin in Dictyostelium discoideum development

We have used the immunosuppressants cyclosporin A and FK506 to investigate the involvement of the Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin in Dictyostelium discoideum development. We found that CsA had little effect on cell growth, or on the aggregation of developing amoebae, suggesting that calcineurin does not play a significant role at these stages of the D. discoideum life cycle. In contrast, when cells were allowed to differentiate under buffer in the presence of cAMP, addition of CsA and FK506 strongly inhibited stalk cell formation in the wild-type and spore formation in a sporogenous derivative of D. discoideum strain V12. These agents also reduced the expression of prestalk-and prespore-specific transcripts in both strains. These results indicate a requirement for calcineurin activity in both pathways of cell differentiation. In addition, time-course experiments suggest that calcineurin is required early in the differentiation processes, but that the maturation of the two cell types is resistant to calcineurin inhibition. We also found that CsA and FK506 were unable to affect spore formation in rapidly developing/sporogenous rdeC mutants of strain NC4, showing that constitutive cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity renders the spore pathway resistant to calcineurin inhibition.

Ca2+-calmodulin promotes survival of pheromone-induced growth arrest by activation of calcineurin and Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase

The cmd1-6 allele contains three mutations that block Ca2+ binding to calmodulin from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We find that strains containing cmd1-6 lose viability during cell cycle arrest induced by the mating pheromone alpha-factor. The 50% lethal dose (LD50) of alpha-factor for the calmodulin mutant is almost fivefold below the LD50 for a wild-type strain. The calmodulin mutants are not more sensitive to alpha-factor, as measured by activation of a pheromone-responsive reporter gene. Two observations indicate that activation of the Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin contributes to survival of pheromone-induced arrest. First, deletion of the gene encoding the calcineurin regulatory B subunit, CNB1, from a wild-type strain decreases the LD50 of alpha-factor but has no further effect on a cmd1-6 strain. Second, a dominant constitutive calcineurin mutant partially restores the ability of the cmd1-6 strain to survive exposure to alpha-factor. Activation of the Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) also contributes to survival, thus revealing a new function for this enzyme. Deletion of the CMK1 and CMK2 genes, which encode CaMK, decreases the LD50 of pheromone compared with that for a wild-type strain but again has no effect in a cmd1-6 strain. Furthermore, the LD50 of alpha-factor for a mutant in which the calcineurin and CaMK genes have been deleted is the same as that for the calmodulin mutant. Finally, the CaMK and calcineurin pathways appear to be independent since the ability of constitutive calcineurin to rescue a cmd1-6 strain is not blocked by deletion of the CaMK genes.

Two classes of plant cDNA clones differentially complement yeast calcineurin mutants and increase salt tolerance of wild-type yeast

The salt-sensitive phenotype of yeast cells deficient in the phosphoprotein phosphatase, calcineurin, was used to identify genes from the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana that complement this phenotype. cDNA clones corresponding to two different sequences, designated STO (salt tolerance) and STZ (salt tolerance zinc finger), were found to increased tolerance of calcineurin mutants and of wild-type yeast to both Li+ and Na+ ions. STZ is related to Cys2/His2-type zinc-finger proteins found in higher plants, and STO is similar to the Arabidopsis CONSTANS protein in regions that may also be zinc fingers. Although neither protein has sequence similarity to any protein phosphatase, STO was able to at least partially compensate for all tested additional phenotypic effects of calcineurin deficiency, and STZ compensated for a subset of these effects. Salt tolerance produced by STZ appeared to be partially dependent on ENA1/PMR2, a P-type ATPase required for Li+ and Na+ efflux in yeast, whereas the effect of STO on salt tolerance was independent of ENA1/PMR2. STZ and STO were found to be expressed in Arabidopsis roots and leaves, whereas only STO message was detectable in flowers. An apparent increase in the level of STZ mRNA was observed in response NaCl exposure in Arabidopsis seedlings, but the level of STO mRNA was not altered by this treatment.

Genetic evidence for the functional redundancy of the calcineurin- and Mpk1-mediated pathways in the regulation of cellular events important for growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants which exhibit phenotypes (calcium resistance and vanadate sensitivity) similar to those of calcineurin-deficient mutants were isolated. The mutants were classified into four complementation groups (crv1,2,3 and 4). Crv1 was allelic to cnb1, a mutation in the regulatory subunit of calcineurin. The nucleotide sequences of CRV2 and CRV3 genes which complemented the crv2 and crv3 mutations, respectively, are identical to those of BCK1/SLK1/SKC1/SSP31 and MPK1/SLT2, respectively, which are both involved in the MAP kinase cascade. A calcineurin-deletion mutation (delta cnb1), which by itself has no detectable effect on growth and morphology, enhanced some phenotypes (slow growth and morphological abnormality) of crv2 and crv3 mutants. These phenotypes of crv2 and crv3 mutants were partially suppressed by Ca2+ or by overproduction of the calcineurin subunits (Cmp2 and Cnb1). Like the calcineurin-deficient mutant, crv2 and crv3 mutants were defective in recovery from alpha-factor-induced growth arrest. The defect in recovery of the delta cnb1 mutant was suppressed by overexpression of MPK1. These results indicated that the calcineurin-mediated and the Mpk1- (Bck1-) mediated signaling pathways act in parallel to regulate functionally redundant cellular events important for growth.

Calcineurin inhibits VCX1-dependent H+/Ca2+ exchange and induces Ca2+ ATPases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The PMC1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a vacuolar Ca2+ ATPase required for growth in high-Ca2+ conditions. Previous work showed that Ca2+ tolerance can be restored to pmc1 mutants by inactivation of calcineurin, a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase sensitive to the immunosuppressive drug FK506. We now report that calcineurin decreases Ca2+ tolerance of pmc1 mutants by inhibiting the function of VCX1, which encodes a vacuolar H+/Ca2+ exchanger related to vertebrate Na+/Ca2+ exchangers. The contribution of VCX1 in Ca2+ tolerance is low in strains with a functional calcineurin and is high in strains which lack calcineurin activity. In contrast, the contribution of PMC1 to Ca2+ tolerance is augmented by calcineurin activation. Consistent with these positive and negative roles of calcineurin, expression of a vcx1::lacZ reporter was slightly diminished and a pmc1::lacZ reporter was induced up to 500-fold by processes dependent on calcineurin, calmodulin, and Ca2+. It is likely that calcineurin inhibits VCX1 function mainly by posttranslational mechanisms. Activities of VCX1 and PMC1 help to control cytosolic free Ca2+ concentrations because their function can decrease pmc1::lacZ induction by calcineurin. Additional studies with reporter genes and mutants indicate that PMR1 and PMR2A, encoding P-type ion pumps required for Mn2+ and Na+ tolerance, may also be induced physiologically in response to high-Mn2+ and -Na+ conditions through calcineurin-dependent mechanisms. In these situations, inhibition of VCX1 function may be important for the production of Ca2+ signals. We propose that elevated cytosolic free Ca2+ concentrations, calmodulin, and calcineurin regulate at least four ion transporters in S. cerevisiae in response to several environmental conditions.

Yeast Cls2p/Csg2p localized on the endoplasmic reticulum membrane regulates a non-exchangeable intracellular Ca2+ pool cooperatively with calcineurin

Saccharromyces cerevisiae CLS2 gene product (Cls2p) that is localized on the endoplasmic reticulum is important for the regulation of intracellular Ca2+ in a compartment distinct from the vacuole. Using a vma3 mutation that impairs the Ca2+ sequestering activity into the vacuole, we have shown that the cls2 mutation results in 3.4-fold increase in the Ca2+ pool that is not exchangeable with extracellular Ca2+. Accumulation of Ca2+ within the cls2 cells is synergistically elevated by the addition of immunosuppressant, FK506. Moreover, in the vma3 background, toxicity caused by the cls2 mutation is greatly enhanced by FK506. Given that FK506 inhibits the calcineurin activity, Cls2p likely functions in releasing Ca2+ flux from the endoplasmic reticulum, somehow cooperating with calcineurin.