Mutagenesis of the calmodulin binding domain of neuromodulin

GAP43 shows partial co-localisation but no strong physical interaction with prolyl oligopeptidase

It has recently been proposed that prolyl oligopeptidase (POP), the cytosolic serine peptidase with neurological implications, binds GAP43 (Growth-Associated Protein 43) and is implicated in neuronal growth cone formation, axon guidance and synaptic plasticity. We investigated the interaction between GAP43 and POP with various biophysical and biochemical methods in vitro and studied the co-localisation of the two proteins in differentiated HeLa cells. GAP43 and POP showed partial co-localisation in the cell body as well as in the potential growth cone structures. We could not detect significant binding between the recombinantly expressed POP and GAP43 using gel filtration, CD, ITC and BIACORE studies, pull-down experiments, glutaraldehyde cross-linking and limited proteolysis. However, glutaraldehyde cross-linking suggested a weak and transient interaction between the proteins. Both POP and GAP43 interacted with artificial lipids in our in vitro model system, but the presence of lipids did not evoke binding between them. In native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, GAP43 interacted with one of the three forms of a polyhistidine-tagged prolyl oligopeptidase. The interaction of the two proteins was also evident in ELISA and we have observed co-precipitation of the two proteins during co-incubation at higher concentrations. Our results indicate that there is no strong and direct interaction between POP and GAP43 at physiological conditions.

Interactions between neurogranin and calmodulin in vivo

Neurogranin is a neural-specific, calmodulin (CaM)-binding protein that is phosphorylated by protein kinase C (PKC) within its IQ domain at serine 36. Since CaM binds to neurogranin through the IQ domain, PKC phosphorylation and CaM binding are mutually exclusive. Consequently, we hypothesize that neurogranin may function to concentrate CaM at specific sites in neurons and release free CaM in response to increased Ca2+ and PKC activation. However, it has not been established that neurogranin interacts with CaM in vivo. In this study, we examined this question using yeast two-hybrid methodology. We also searched for additional proteins that might interact with neurogranin by screening brain cDNA libraries. Our data illustrate that CaM binds to neurogranin in vivo and that CaM is the only neurogranin-interacting protein isolated from brain cDNA libraries. Single amino acid mutagenesis indicated that residues within the IQ domain are important for CaM binding to neurogranin in vivo. The Ile-33 --> Gln point mutant completely inhibited and Arg-38 --> Gln and Ser-36 --> Asp point mutants reduced neurogranin/CaM interactions. These data demonstrate that CaM is the major protein that interacts with neurogranin in vivo and support the hypothesis that phosphorylation of neurogranin at Ser-36 regulates its binding to CaM.

The prooncoprotein EWS binds calmodulin and is phosphorylated by protein kinase C through an IQ domain

A growing family of proteins is regulated by protein kinase C and calmodulin through IQ domains, a regulatory motif originally identified in neuromodulin (Alexander, K. A., Wakim, B. T., Doyle, G. S., Walsh, K. A., and Storm, D. R. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 7544-7549). Here we report that EWS, a nuclear RNA-binding prooncoprotein, contains an IQ domain, is phosphorylated by protein kinase C, and interacts with calmodulin. Interestingly, PKC phosphorylation of EWS inhibits its binding to RNA homopolymers, and conversely, RNA binding to EWS interferes with PKC phosphorylation. Several other RNA-binding proteins, including TLS/FUS and PSF, co-purify with EWS. PKC phosphorylation of these proteins also inhibits their binding to RNA in vitro. These data suggest that PKC may regulate interactions of EWS and other RNA-binding proteins with their RNA targets and that IQ domains may provide a regulatory link between Ca2+ signal transduction pathways and RNA processing.

RC3/neurogranin, a postsynaptic calpacitin for setting the response threshold to calcium influxes

In this review, we attempt to cover the descriptive, biochemical and molecular biological work that has contributed to our current knowledge about RC3/neurogranin function and its role in dendritic spine development, long-term potentiation, long-term depression, learning, and memory. Based on the data reviewed here, we propose that RC3, GAP-43, and the small cerebellum-enriched peptide, PEP-19, belong to a protein family that we have named the calpacitins. Membership in this family is based on sequence homology and, we believe, a common biochemical function. We propose a model wherein RC3 and GAP-43 regulate calmodulin availability in dendritic spines and axons, respectively, and calmodulin regulates their ability to amplify the mobilization of Ca2+ in response to metabotropic glutamate receptor stimulation. PEP-19 may serve a similar function in the cerebellum, although biochemical characterization of this molecule has lagged behind that of RC3 and GAP-43. We suggest that these molecules release CaM rapidly in response to large influxes of Ca2+ and slowly in response to small increases. This nonlinear response is analogous to the behavior of a capacitor, hence the name calpacitin. Since CaM regulates the ability of RC3 to amplify the effects of metabotropic glutamate receptor agonists, this activity must, necessarily, exhibit nonlinear kinetics as well. The capacitance of the system is regulated by phosphorylation by protein kinase C, which abrogates interactions between calmodulin and RC3 or GAP-43. We further propose that the ratio of phosphorylated to unphosphorylated RC3 determines the sliding LTP/LTD threshold in concept with Ca2+/ calmodulin-dependent kinase II. Finally, we suggest that the close association between RC3 and a subset of mitochondria serves to couple energy production with the synthetic events that accompany dendritic spine development and remodeling.

Use of a two-hybrid system to investigate molecular interactions of GAP-43

We used the 'interaction trap' (two-hybrid system) to identify polypeptides that interact with the neuronal phosphoprotein, GAP-43, in an intracellular environment. GAP-43 (neuromodulin, B-50, F1), a protein kinase C (PKC) substrate important for the growth and plasticity of neuronal connections, has been implicated in vitro in several signal transduction pathways. In the yeast-based cloning system, the only strong interaction that was detected between GAP-43 and the calcium effector protein, calmodulin (CaM). PKC phosphorylates GAP-43 on serine 41. When we changed this serine to an aspartate residue to mimic constitutive phosphorylation, the interaction with CaM was blocked. Surprisingly, the N-terminal third of GAP-43 alone bound CaM more strongly than did intact GAP-43, suggesting that the protein's C-terminus may play a role in modulating the interaction with CaM. These results, along with other recent findings, suggest a novel role for the interaction between GAP-43 and CaM.

Mutagenesis of ser41 to ala inhibits the association of GAP-43 with the membrane skeleton of GAP-43-deficient PC12B cells: effects on cell adhesion and the composition of neurite cytoskeleton and membrane

To investigate the molecular basis for GAP-43 function in axon outgrowth, we produced a mutant, GAP-43 (Ala41), whose interaction with calmodulin in vitro was unaffected by increasing Ca2+ concentrations, and stably transfected it into GAP-43-deficient PC12B cells. Several lines that expressed wild-type or mutant protein at levels that resembled endogenous GAP-43 expression in PC12 controls were subcloned and characterized. GAP-43 (Ala41) was significantly more extractable with Nonidet P-40 and less tightly associated with the membrane skeleton than the wild-type protein. Furthermore, GAP-43 (Ala41) expression by PC12B cells profoundly affected their phenotype: First, observation of living cells using video-enhanced microscopy revealed irregular plasma membranes with numerous blebs and protrusions and neurites that appeared thin and varicose. Second, both the cells' ability to remain attached to laminin substrates and the amount of alpha 1 beta 1 integrin expressed on the cell surface was significantly decreased. Finally, peripherin transport, which is abnormal in PC12B cells, could be rescued by transfection of wild-type GAP-43 but not the GAP-43 (Ala41) mutant. The phenotypic abnormalities resemble other cell types in which membrane skeleton/plasma membrane interactions have been functionally decoupled, and our results are consistent with the notion that these interactions may be abnormal in GAP-43 (Ala41)-expressing PC12B cells, either as a direct consequence of the mutation or arising secondarily to the altered availability of calmodulin in the growing neurite.

Evidence for multisite ADP-ribosylation of neuronal phosphoprotein B-50/GAP-43

The neuronal phosphoprotein B-50/GAP-43 is associated with neuronal growth and regeneration and is involved in the calcium/CaM and G(o) signal transduction systems. In particular, B-50 interacts uniquely with CaM by binding in the absence of Ca2+. Previously identified as a major neuronal substrate for protein kinase C, which releases CaM via phosphorylation, B-50 has more recently been shown to be a substrate for endogenous ADP-ribosyltransferases. In the present study, we utilized amino acid modification with iodoacetamide and chemical stability to mercury and neutral hydroxylamine to demonstrate that the predominant site of ADP-ribosylation is Cys 3 and/or Cys 4. Chymotryptic peptide mapping further revealed a second, less labelled site of ribosylation in the C-terminal region. The results also demonstrate that, in contrast to PKC phosphorylation, ADP-ribosylation of B-50 does not mediate CaM binding. Since Cys 3 and Cys 4, by palmitoylation, are important for membrane anchoring, our findings suggest that ADP-ribosylation of B-50 may have a role in directing the intracellular localization of the protein. Hence, ribosylation of B-50 may mediate where B-50 interacts with signal transduction pathways.

Neurogranin, a B-50/GAP-43-immunoreactive C-kinase substrate (BICKS), is ADP-ribosylated

Neurogranin is a neurone-specific, B-50-immunoreactive C-kinase substrate that has limited homology to, but considerable biochemical similarity to B-50/GAP43. The most significant differences between these two proteins are their cellular localisation and molecular mass (Neurogranin, 7.5 kDA cytosolic; and B-50, 25 kDa membranal). An understanding of the similarities and differences between Neurogranin and B-50 may facilitate the elucidation of their hitherto elusive functions in the nervous system. The results of the present study demonstrate that, in common with B-50, Neurogranin is a substrate for ADP-ribosyltransferase. This finding is discussed with regard to the concept of molecular flexibility of B-50-like proteins as the basis of their putatively diverse roles in the nervous system.

Mammalian myosin I alpha, I beta, and I gamma: new widely expressed genes of the myosin I family

A polymerase chain reaction strategy was devised to identify new members of the mammalian myosin I family of actin-based motors. Using cellular RNA from mouse granular neurons and PC12 cells, we have cloned and sequenced three 1.2-kb polymerase chain reaction products that correspond to novel mammalian myosin I genes designated MMI alpha, MMI beta, MMI gamma. The pattern of expression for each of the myosin I's is unique: messages are detected in diverse tissues including the brain, lung, kidney, liver, intestine, and adrenal gland. Overlapping clones representing full-length cDNAs for MMI alpha were obtained from mouse brain. These encode a 1,079 amino acid protein containing a myosin head, a domain with five calmodulin binding sites, and a positively charged COOH-terminal tail. In situ hybridization reveals that MMI alpha is highly expressed in virtually all neurons (but not glia) in the postnatal and adult mouse brain and in neuroblasts of the cerebellar external granular layer. Expression varies in different brain regions and undergoes developmental regulation. Myosin I's are present in diverse organisms from protozoa to vertebrates. This and the expression of three novel members of this family in brain and other mammalian tissues suggests that they may participate in critical and fundamental cellular processes.