Quality control of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor attachment in mammalian cells: a biochemical study

Hidden Relationships between N-Glycosylation and Disulfide Bonds in Individual Proteins

N-Glycosylation (NG) and disulfide bonds (DBs) are two prevalent co/post-translational modifications (PTMs) that are often conserved and coexist in membrane and secreted proteins involved in a large number of diseases. Both in the past and in recent times, the enzymes and chaperones regulating these PTMs have been constantly discovered to directly interact with each other or colocalize in the ER. However, beyond a few model proteins, how such cooperation affects N-glycan modification and disulfide bonding at selective sites in individual proteins is largely unknown. Here, we reviewed the literature to discover the current status in understanding the relationships between NG and DBs in individual proteins. Our results showed that more than 2700 human proteins carry both PTMs, and fewer than 2% of them have been investigated in the associations between NG and DBs. We summarized both these proteins with the reported relationships in the two PTMs and the tools used to discover the relationships. We hope that, by exposing this largely understudied field, more investigations can be encouraged to unveil the hidden relationships of NG and DBs in the majority of membranes and secreted proteins for pathophysiological understanding and biotherapeutic development.

Single octapeptide deletion selectively processes a pathogenic prion protein mutant on the cell surface

The number of octapeptide repeats has been considered to correlate with clinical and pathogenic phenotypes of prion diseases resulting from aberrant metabolism of prion protein (PrP). However, it is still poorly understood how this motif affects PrP metabolism. Here, we discover homozygous single octapeptide repeat deletion mutation in the PRNP gene encoding PrP in HeLa cells. The level of PrP proves to be unaffected by this mutation alone, but selectively reduced by additional pathogenic mutations within internal hydrophobic region of PrP. The pattern and relative amount of newly synthesized A117V mutant is unaffected, whereas the mutant appears to be differentially distributed and processed on the cell surface by single octapeptide deletion. This study provides an insight into a novel mutant-specific metabolism of PrP on the cell surface.

Expression, refolding and purification of Ov-GRN-1, a granulin-like growth factor from the carcinogenic liver fluke, that causes proliferation of mammalian host cells

Granulins (GRNs) are potent growth factors that are upregulated in many aggressive cancers from a wide range of organs. GRNs form tight, disulphide bonded, beta hairpin stacks, making them difficult to express in recombinant form. We recently described Ov-GRN-1, a GRN family member secreted by the carcinogenic liver fluke of humans, Opisthorchis viverrini, and showed that recombinant Ov-GRN-1 expressed and refolded from Escherichia coli caused proliferation of mammalian cell lines at nanomolar concentrations. We now report on an optimized method to express and purify monomeric Ov-GRN-1 in E. coli using a straightforward and scalable purification and refolding process. Purified monomeric protein caused proliferation at nanomolar concentrations of cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines derived from human bile duct tissue. The expression and purification method we describe herein will serve as a backbone upon which to develop expression and purification processes for recombinant GRNs from other organisms, accelerating research on this intriguing family of proteins.

The Ero1alpha-PDI redox cycle regulates retro-translocation of cholera toxin

Cholera toxin (CT) is transported from the plasma membrane of host cells to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where the catalytic CTA1 subunit retro-translocates to the cytosol to induce toxicity. Our previous analyses demonstrated that the ER oxidoreductase protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) acts as a redox-dependent chaperone to unfold CTA1, a reaction postulated to initiate toxin retro-translocation. In its reduced state, PDI binds and unfolds CTA1; subsequent oxidation of PDI by Ero1alpha enables toxin release. Whether this in vitro model describes events in cells that control CTA1 retro-translocation is unknown. Here we show that down-regulation of Ero1alpha decreases retro-translocation of CTA1 by increasing reduced PDI and blocking efficient toxin release. Overexpression of Ero1alpha also attenuates CTA1 retro-translocation, an effect due to increased PDI oxidation, which prevents PDI from engaging the toxin effectively. Interestingly, Ero1alpha down-regulation increases interaction between PDI and Derlin-1, an ER membrane protein that is a component of the retro-translocation complex. These findings demonstrate that an appropriate Ero1alpha-PDI ratio is critical for regulating the binding-release cycle of CTA1 by PDI during retro-translocation, and implicate PDI's redox state in targeting it to the retro-translocon.

Retrotranslocation of prion proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum by preventing GPI signal transamidation

Neurodegeneration in diseases caused by altered metabolism of mammalian prion protein (PrP) can be averted by reducing PrP expression. To identify novel pathways for PrP down-regulation, we analyzed cells that had adapted to the negative selection pressure of stable overexpression of a disease-causing PrP mutant. A mutant cell line was isolated that selectively and quantitatively routes wild-type and various mutant PrPs for ER retrotranslocation and proteasomal degradation. Biochemical analyses of the mutant cells revealed that a defect in glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor synthesis leads to an unprocessed GPI-anchoring signal sequence that directs both ER retention and efficient retrotranslocation of PrP. An unprocessed GPI signal was sufficient to impart ER retention, but not retrotranslocation, to a heterologous protein, revealing an unexpected role for the mature domain in the metabolism of misprocessed GPI-anchored proteins. Our results provide new insights into the quality control pathways for unprocessed GPI-anchored proteins and identify transamidation of the GPI signal sequence as a step in PrP biosynthesis that is absolutely required for its surface expression. As each GPI signal sequence is unique, these results also identify signal recognition by the GPI-transamidase as a potential step for selective small molecule perturbation of PrP expression.

Inositol deacylation by Bst1p is required for the quality control of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins

Misfolded proteins are recognized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), transported back to the cytosol, and degraded by the proteasome. A number of proteins are processed and modified by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor in the ER, but the quality control mechanisms of GPI-anchored proteins remain unclear. Here, we report on the quality control mechanism of misfolded GPI-anchored proteins. We have constructed a mutant form of the beta-1,3-glucanosyltransferase Gas1p (Gas1*p) as a model misfolded GPI-anchored protein. Gas1*p was modified with a GPI anchor but retained in the ER and was degraded rapidly via the proteasome. Disruption of BST1, which encodes GPI inositol deacylase, caused a delay in the degradation of Gas1*p. This delay was because of an effect on the deacylation activity of Bst1p. Disruption of genes involved in GPI-anchored protein concentration and N-glycan processing caused different effects on the degradation of Gas1*p and a soluble misfolded version of carboxypeptidase Y. Furthermore, Gas1*p associated with both Bst1p and BiP/Kar2p, a molecular chaperone, in vivo. Our data suggest that GPI inositol deacylation plays important roles in the quality control and ER-associated degradation of GPI-anchored proteins.

Effects of tunicamycin, mannosamine, and other inhibitors of glycoprotein processing on skeletal alkaline phosphatase in human osteoblast-like cells

Skeletal alkaline phosphatase (sALP) is a glycoprotein- approximately 20% carbohydrate by weight, with five presumptive sites for N-linked glycosylation, as well as a carboxy-terminal site for attachment of the glycolipid structure (glycosylphosphatidylinositol, GPI), which anchors sALP to the outer surface of osteoblasts. The current studies were intended to characterize the effects of inhibiting glycosylation and glycosyl-processing on the synthesis, plasma membrane attachment, cellular-extracellular distribution, and reaction kinetics of sALP in human osteosarcoma (SaOS-2) cells. sALP synthesis, glycosylation, and GPI-anchor attachment were assessed as total protein synthesis/immunospecific sALP synthesis, sialic acid content (i.e., wheat germ agglutinin precipitation), and insolubility (i.e., temperature-dependent phase-separation), respectively. sALP reaction kinetics were characterized by analysis of dose-dependent initial velocity data, with a phosphoryl substrate. The results of these studies revealed that the inhibition of either N-linked glycosylation or oligosaccharide synthesis for GPI-anchor addition could affect the synthesis and the distribution of sALP, but not the kinetics of the phosphatase reaction. Tunicamycin-which blocks N-linked glycosylation by inhibiting core oligosaccharide synthesis-decreased cell layer protein and the total amount of sALP in the cells, while increasing the relative level of sALP in the cell-conditioned culture medium (CM, i.e., the amount of sALP released). These effects were attributed to dose- and time-dependent decreases in sALP synthesis and N-linked glycosylation, and an increase in apoptotic cell death (P <0.001 for each). In contrast to the effects of tunicamycin on N-linked glycosylation, the effects of mannosamine, which inhibits GPI-anchor glycosylation/formation, included (1) an increase in cell layer protein; (2) decreases in sALP specific activity, in the cells and in the CM; and (3) increases in the percentages of both anchorless and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)-soluble sALP in the medium, but not in the cells (P <0.005 for each). These effects of mannosamine were, presumably, a consequence of inhibiting the insertion/attachment of sALP to the outside of the plasma membrane surface. Neither mannosammine nor tunicamycin had any effect on the reaction kinetics of sALP or on the apparent affinity (the value of KM) for the phosphoryl substrate.

Deletion of the GPI pre-anchor sequence in human p97—a general approach for generating the soluble form of GPI-linked proteins

Melanotransferrin, also named p97, belongs to the transferrin-like group of iron-binding proteins. Unlike the other members of this family, p97 exists in two forms-one soluble form and one attached to the cell membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. The GPI-linked form plays a role in the uptake of iron, while the soluble form of p97 has the unique ability of traversing the blood-brain barrier and may be utilized to deliver drug conjugates into the brain. To investigate these possibilities, a recombinant soluble form of p97 from the GPI-linked p97 protein is required. The approach involved sequential deletions of the p97 GPI pre-anchor sequence (PAS) up to the putative site of cleavage/attachment, releasing p97 from attachment to the GPI-anchor and rendering it soluble. Transfection of the p97 deletion constructs into both the CHO and BHK TK(-) cells was performed with the aim of optimizing the production of p97 by utilizing the cell characteristics unique to each cell line. Altering the GPI PAS resulted in the generation of a recombinant soluble form that was secreted at significantly higher rates than from the full-length expressing cell lines. Increases were from 22 x 10(-9) to 241 x 10(-9)microg/cell/h for expression in the CHO cell system and from 220 x 10(-9) to 4970 x 10(-9)microg/cell/h for the BHK system. Furthermore, there appeared to be differences in the secretion rates between the various deletions suggesting the need for closer examination of the C-terminus in achieving maximum production of the altered proteins. The results of this study are likely applicable for expressing soluble forms of other GPI-linked proteins.

Recombinant transmembrane CD59 (CD59-TM) confers complement resistance to GPI-anchored protein defective melanoma cells

Protectin (CD59) is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell membrane glycoprotein, broadly expressed on melanocytic cells, that represents the main restriction factor of complement (C)-mediated lysis of human melanoma cells. Levels of CD59 expression may impair the clinical efficacy of C-activating monoclonal antibodies (mAb); thus, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the lack of CD59 expression in selected melanoma cells. Serological and biochemical analyses showed that MeWo melanoma cells expressed CD59 neither at cell surface nor at cytoplasmic levels; however, no critical mutations were identified in their CD59 mRNA. Consistently, MeWo CD59 cDNA (MeWo-CD59) was appropriately translated when transfected into the CD59-positive Mel 100 melanoma cells, and into the CD59-negative Nalm-6 pre-B leukemia cells that acquired resistance to C. In contrast, transfection of MeWo cells with CD59 cDNA from Mel 275 melanoma cells did not induce CD59 expression; however, their transfection with the CD59-TM chimeric construct, obtained by replacing the GPI-anchoring signal of MeWo-CD59 with the transmembrane tail of the human low-density lipoprotein receptor, induced the expression of a C-protective transmembrane form of CD59. These data, together with the absent expression of additional GPI-anchored proteins (i.e., CD55), suggest that defects in the biosynthesis and/or processing of GPI-anchored proteins underlie the lack of CD59 expression in MeWo cells. Further unveiling of the molecular mechanism that turns off CD59 expression in human melanoma cells will help to set-up more effective therapeutic strategies utilizing C-activating mAb in melanoma patients.

Protein disulfide isomerase acts as a redox-dependent chaperone to unfold cholera toxin

Cholera toxin is assembled from two subunits in the periplasm of Vibrio cholerae and disassembled in the analogous compartment of target cells, the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), before a fragment of it, the A1 chain, is transported into the cytosol. We show that protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) in the ER lumen functions to disassemble and unfold the toxin once its A chain has been cleaved. PDI acts as a redox-driven chaperone; in the reduced state, it binds to the A chain and in the oxidized state it releases it. Our results explain the pathway of cholera toxin, suggest a role for PDI in retrograde protein transport into the cytosol, and indicate that PDI can act as a novel type of chaperone, whose binding and release of substrates is regulated by a redox, rather than an ATPase, cycle.

Export of a misprocessed GPI-anchored protein from the endoplasmic reticulum in vitro in an ATP- and cytosol-dependent manner

Strict quality control mechanisms within the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum act to prevent misfolded and unprocessed proteins from entering post-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) compartments. Following translocation into the ER lumen via the Sec61p translocon, nascent polypeptide chains fold and are modified in an environment that contains numerous chaperones and other folding mediators. Recently it has emerged that polypeptides failing to acquire the native state are re-exported from the ER to the cytosol for ultimate degradation by the proteasome ubiquitin system, apparently mediated again via Sec61p. Substrates for this degradation pathway include proteins destined to become glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored, but which fail to be processed and retain the C-terminal GPI signal peptide. In order to characterise this process we have used a model GPI-anchored mutant protein, prepro mini human placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) W179, which cannot be processed efficiently on account of being a poor substrate for the transamidase which cleaves the GPI signal peptide and adds the GPI anchor in a coupled reaction. In vitro transcription, translation and translocation into canine pancreatic microsomes resulted in ER-targeting signal sequence cleavage and formation of prominiPLAP in the ER lumen. We were able to show that prominiPLAPW179 could be exported from the microsomes in a time-dependent manner and that release requires both ATP and cytosol. Export was not supported by GTP, indicating a biochemical distinction from glycopeptide export which we showed recently requires GTP hydrolysis. The process was not affected by redox, unlike several other GPI-anchored model proteins. These data demonstrate that misprocessed proteins can be exported in vitro from mammalian microsomes, facilitating identification of factors involved in this process.

Acylation-dependent protein export in Leishmania

The surface of the protozoan parasite Leishmania is unusual in that it consists predominantly of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoconjugates and proteins. Additionally, a family of hydrophilic acylated surface proteins (HASPs) has been localized to the extracellular face of the plasma membrane in infective parasite stages. These surface polypeptides lack a recognizable endoplasmic reticulum secretory signal sequence, transmembrane spanning domain, or glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor consensus sequence, indicating that novel mechanisms are involved in their transport and localization. Here, we show that the N-terminal domain of HASPB contains primary structural information that directs both N-myristoylation and palmitoylation and is essential for correct localization of the protein to the plasma membrane. Furthermore, the N-terminal 18 amino acids of HASPB, encoding the dual acylation site, are sufficient to target the heterologous Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein to the cell surface of Leishmania. Mutagenesis of the predicted acylated residues confirms that modification by both myristate and palmitate is required for correct trafficking. These data suggest that HASPB is a representative of a novel class of proteins whose translocation onto the surface of eukaryotic cells is dependent upon a "non-classical" pathway involving N-myristoylation/palmitoylation. Significantly, HASPB is also translocated on to the extracellular face of the plasma membrane of transfected mammalian cells, indicating that the export signal for HASPB is recognized by a higher eukaryotic export mechanism.

TbRab2p, a marker for the endoplasmic reticulum of Trypanosoma brucei, localises to the ERGIC in mammalian cells

The Rab family of small GTPases is a subset of the Ras superfamily. Rabs regulate the flux through individual steps of the intracellular membrane trafficking pathway, such as ER-to-Golgi transport, probably by controlling SNARE complex assembly. In Trypanosoma brucei a number of Rab proteins have been isolated by EST analysis; here we characterise one of these, TbRab2p (originally designated Trab1p), which is a member of the Ypt1p subfamily of Rab proteins. Recombinant TbRab2p is capable of hydrolysing GTP and is post-translationally modified in vitro by addition of a geranylgeranyl prenyl group, properties of an authentic Rab GTPase. Antibodies against recombinant TbRab2p show that in trypanosomes TbRab2p is localised primarily to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and colocalises with BiP in wild-type trypanosomes. Over expression of TbRab2p in procyclic form T. brucei results in a cell population having a 40-fold increase in TbRab2p expression. In these cells biosynthesis of procyclin, a secretory pathway glycoprotein, is decreased, accompanied by an increase in general protein biosynthesis, suggesting that excess TbRab2p affects ER function. Heterologous expression of TbRab2p in COS cells resulted in targeting to the pre-Golgi transport intermediate (ERGIC), indicating that the targeting information is conserved between mammals and trypanosomes. Clustal and phylogenetic analyses support assignment of TbRab2p as a Rab2 homologue. In addition, over expression of TbRab2p in trypanosomes results in membrane reorganisation and formation of opaque vesicular structures visible by phase contrast microscopy, consistent with accumulation of ER-derived vesicular structures in cells highly overexpressing TbRab2p. Ultrastructural examination by electron microscopy confirmed the presence of a tubulo-vesicular membrane bound compartment in close proximity to the cis-Golgi, probably equivalent to the ERGIC. TbRab2p is therefore a new ER/ERGIC marker for T. brucei.

Proteasome and thiol involvement in quality control of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor addition

Improperly processed secretory proteins are degraded by a hydrolytic system that is associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and appears to involve re-export of lumenal proteins into the cytoplasm for ultimate degradation by the proteasome. The chimaeric protein hGHDAF28, which contains a crippled glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) C-terminal signal peptide, is degraded by a pathway highly similar to that for other ER-retained proteins and is characterized by formation of disulphide-linked aggregates, failure to reach the Golgi complex and intracellular degradation with a half life of approximately 2 h. Here we show that N-acetyl-leucinal-leucinal-norleucinal, MG-132 and lactacystin, all inhibitors of the proteasome, protect hGHDAF28; hGHDAF28 is still proteolytically cleaved in the presence of lactacystin or MG-132, by the removal of approximately 2 kDa, but the truncated fragment is not processed further. We demonstrate that the ubiquitination system accelerates ER-degradation of hGHDAF28, but is not essential to the process. Overall, these findings indicate that GPI quality control is mediated by the cytoplasmic proteasome. We also show that the presence of a cysteine residue in the GPI signal of hGHDAF28 is required for retention and degradation, as mutation of this residue to serine results in secretion of the fusion protein, implicating thiol-mediated retention as a mechanism for quality control of some GPI signals. Removal of the cysteine also prevents inclusion of hGHDAF28 in disulphide-linked aggregates, indicating that aggregate formation is an additional retention mechanism for this class of protein. Therefore our data suggest that an unpaired terminal cysteine is the retention motif of the hGHDAF28 GPI-processing signal and that additional information may be required for efficient engagement of ER quality control systems by the majority of GPI signals which lack cysteine residues.