Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:1.5.1.3 (dihydrofolate reductase)
5,819 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have purified milligram amounts of an importable mitochondrial precursor protein [the presequence of yeast cytochrome oxidase subunit IV fused to mouse dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)]. This has made it possible, for the first time, to perform detailed studies on the conformation of a precursor protein and its interaction with lipid membranes. The precursor protein closely resembled authentic mouse DHFR with respect to secondary structure (measured by CD spectra) and stability towards urea (measured by tryptophan fluorescence and enzyme activity). With this precursor protein, the presequence thus does not significantly alter the folding of the attached 'passenger protein'. In contrast to the corresponding presequence peptide, the native precursor exhibited only weak ability to disrupt vesicles with a low mol% of negatively charged lipids, suggesting that the passenger protein masks the amphiphilic properties of the presequence. The membrane-perturbing properties of the precursor were greatly enhanced by increasing the vesicles' content of negatively charged lipid or by denaturing the precursor in 5 M urea. Interaction with vesicles rich in acidic phospholipid was accompanied by partial unfolding of the precursor, suggesting that such a conformational change may also be involved in the interaction of the precursor with the mitochondrial membranes.
...
PMID:Latent membrane perturbation activity of a mitochondrial precursor protein is exposed by unfolding. 284 Nov 14

A purified, artificial precursor protein was used as a transport vehicle to test the tolerance of the mitochondrial protein import system. The precursor was a fusion protein consisting of mouse dihydrofolate reductase linked to a yeast mitochondrial presequence; it contained a unique cysteine as its COOH-terminal residue. This COOH-terminal cysteine was covalently coupled to either a stilbene disulfonate derivative or, with the aid of a bifunctional cross-linker, to one of the free amino groups of horse heart cytochrome c. Coupling to horse heart cytochrome c generated a mixture of branched polypeptide chains since this cytochrome lacks a free alpha-amino group. Both adducts were imported and cleaved by isolated yeast mitochondria. The mitochondrial protein import machinery can thus transport more complex structures and even highly charged "membrane-impermeant" organic molecules. This suggests that transport occurs through a hydrophilic environment.
...
PMID:Mitochondria can import artificial precursor proteins containing a branched polypeptide chain or a carboxy-terminal stilbene disulfonate. 284 48

We have investigated the energy requirement of mitochondrial protein import with a simplified system containing only isolated yeast mitochondria, energy sources and a purified precursor protein. This precursor was a fusion protein composed of 22 residues of the cytochrome oxidase subunit IV pre-sequence fused to mouse dihydrofolate reductase. Import of this protein required not only an energized inner membrane, but also ATP. ATP could be replaced by GTP, but not by CTP, TTP or non-hydrolyzable ATP analogs. Added ATP did not increase the membrane potential of respiring mitochondria; it supported import even if the proton-translocating mitochondrial ATPase and the entry of ATP into the matrix were blocked. We conclude that ATP exerts its effect on mitochondrial protein import outside the inner membrane.
...
PMID:Both ATP and an energized inner membrane are required to import a purified precursor protein into mitochondria. 303 90

Most mitochondrial proteins are encoded in the nucleus and synthesized in the cytoplasm as larger precursors containing NH2-terminal 'leader' peptides. To test whether a leader peptide is sufficient to direct mitochondrial import, we fused the cloned nucleotide sequence encoding the leader peptide of the mitochondrial matrix enzyme ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) with the sequence encoding the cytosolic enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). The fused sequence, joined with SV40 regulatory elements, was introduced along with a selectable marker into a mutant CHO cell line devoid of endogenous DHFR. In stable transformants, the predicted 26-K chimeric precursor protein and two additional proteins, 22 K and 20 K, were detected by immunoprecipitation with anti-DHFR antiserum. In the presence of rhodamine 6G, an inhibitor of mitochondrial import, only the chimeric precursor was detected. Immunofluorescent staining of stably transformed cells with anti-DHFR antiserum produced a pattern characteristic of mitochondrial localization of immunoreactive material. When the chimeric precursor was synthesized in a cell-free system and incubated post-translationally with isolated rat liver mitochondria, it was imported and converted to a major product of 20 K that associated with mitochondria and was resistant to proteolytic digestion by externally added trypsin. Thus, both in intact cells and in vitro, a leader sequence is sufficient to direct the post-translational import of a chimeric precursor protein by mitochondria.
...
PMID:A leader peptide is sufficient to direct mitochondrial import of a chimeric protein. 389 25

A 42-kDa plant outer mitochondrial membrane protein, MOM42, has been identified as an essential component of the plant mitochondrial precursor protein translocation apparatus. Immunological cross-reactivity has been detected between antibodies raised against both Neurospora and yeast mitochondrial outer membrane proteins and plant mitochondrial outer membrane proteins. Immunocompetition studies showed that import of precursors to Rieske FeS protein, ATPase su9-DHFR, and the adenine nucleotide transporter was inhibited in the presence of antibody to MOM42. The inhibition of Rieske Fes and su9-DHFR import was greater than that of the adenine nucleotide transporter. The competition studies suggest that the MOM42 is involved in the translocation of bound precursor proteins. The import data and the Western blots suggest that components of the mitochondrial import system are highly conserved.
...
PMID:Identification of a 42-kDa plant mitochondrial outer membrane protein, MOM42, involved in the import of precursor proteins into plant mitochondria. 786 20

Gene fusion techniques were used to examine whether the presequence of the iron-sulfur protein contains sufficient information for the import of attached mouse cytosolic enzyme dihydrofolate reductase into isolated yeast mitochondria and its subsequent two-step processing. Genes encoding amino-terminal segments of the iron-sulfur precursor protein including the proposed first presequence (residues 1-21), the complete presequence (residues 1-30), and various lengths of the precursor protein from 31 to 160 residues were fused, in frame, to dihydrofolate reductase. All of the fusion proteins, after synthesis in an in vitro transcription-translation system, were imported into a protease-resistant compartment of mitochondria where a single proteolytic cleavage was observed at the first processing site. The second cleavage, however, was not observed after import of any of the chimeric proteins, suggesting that the second cleavage may be strongly influenced by the presence of the passenger protein. A deletion mutant of the iron-sulfur protein precursor lacking residues 161-180 underwent two proteolytic cleavages similar to those observed for the wild-type iron-sulfur protein after import into mitochondria. These results suggest that the complete sequence of the mature form of the iron-sulfur protein including the amino acid residues involved in binding the iron sulfur clusters is not necessary for the second cleavage to occur. In addition, the hydrophobic sequence present in residues 55-66 of the precursor protein which has been suggested to anchor the iron-sulfur protein to the inner membrane, was not necessary for the import and two-step processing of the protein, since a deletion mutant lacking residues 55-66 was processed correctly.
...
PMID:Sequences of the iron-sulfur protein precursor necessary for its import and two-step processing in yeast mitochondria. 803 54

Two proteinase activities, encoded by hepatitis C virus (HCV), Cpro-1 and Cpro-2. Cpro-1 and Cpro-2 appear to process the precursor polyprotein from which they originate. Mutant HCV polypeptides containing the region for these proteinases were produced in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins. The N- and C-terminal ends of the HCV polypeptides were fused with the E. coli maltose-binding protein (MBP) and E. coli dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), respectively. The proteinase activities cleaved the fusion polypeptides by the same processing pathway used in eukaryotic protein production systems. The N-terminal amino acid (aa) sequences of the processed fusion proteins were determined. A comparison of those N-terminal sequences with the aa sequence of the HCV precursor polyprotein showed that the N-terminal and C-terminal cleavage sites of p70(NS3), one of the HCV nonstructural (NS) proteins, were the same as those identified in other processing studies: cleavages were estimated to be between aa 1026 and 1027 and between aa 1657 and 1658 of the HCV precursor protein, which are known to be cleaved by Cpro-1 and Cpro-2, respectively. Cpro-1 and Cpro-2 both functioned in E. coli and possessed authentic characteristic features.
...
PMID:Processing of hepatitis C viral polyprotein in Escherichia coli. 805 35

Protein import into chloroplasts requires the movement of a precursor protein across the envelope membranes. The conformation of a precursor as it passes from the aqueous medium across the hydrophobic membranes is not known in detail. To address this problem we examined precursor conformation during translocation using the chimeric precursor PCDHFR, which contains the plastocyanin (PC) transit peptide in front of mouse cytosolic dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). The chimeric protein is targeted to chloroplasts and is competent for import. The conformation of PCDHFR can be stabilized by complexing with methotrexate, an analogue of the substrate of DHFR. Methotrexate strongly inhibits DHFR import into yeast mitochondria (M. Eilers and G. Schatz, Nature 322 (1986) 228-232), presumably because the precursor must unfold to cross the membrane and it cannot do so when complexed with methotrexate. We show here that methotrexate does not block PCDHFR import into chloroplasts. Methotrexate does slow the rate of import, and protects DHFR from degradation once inside chloroplasts. The processed protein is localized in the stroma, indicating that import into thylakoids is impeded. Protease sensitivity assays indicate that the complex of precursor protein with methotrexate changes in conformation during the translocation across the envelope.
...
PMID:Methotrexate does not block import of a DHFR fusion protein into chloroplasts. 811 Oct 32

The presecretory protein ppcecDHFR, a hybrid between preprocecropin A and dihydrofolate reductase, is transported into mammalian microsomes post-translationally, i.e. independently of ribosome and signal recognition particle. Upon staging the transport process, stably folded ppcecDHFR bound to mammalian microsomes and subsequently translocated across the membrane. Membrane association depended on the signal peptide but involved neither ATP nor an N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive microsomal protein. Membrane insertion of bound ppcecDHFR did not necessitate unfolding of the DHFR domain but depended on ATP and an N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive microsomal protein. Completion of translocation relied on unfolding of the DHFR domain. Thus mammalian microsomes have the capability of transporting a bound and folded precursor protein, i.e. to trigger unfolding of a precursor protein on the membrane surface.
...
PMID:A stably folded presecretory protein associates with and upon unfolding translocates across the membrane of mammalian microsomes. 811 98

pOMD29 is a mitochondrial precursor protein that contains the NH2-terminal signal anchor sequence of Mas70p fused to dihydrofolate reductase. The signal anchor mediates insertion of pOMD29 into the outer mitochondrial membrane in the Nin-Ccyto orientation. Following import in vitro, pOMD29 was chemically cross-linked, via a unique cysteine residue adjacent to the signal anchor (residue 34), to form a product that was approximately twice the size of pOMD29. The cross-linked product was a dimer of pOMD29, as judged by the following. 1) It exhibited the same charge:mass ratio as pOMD29. 2) Formation of radioactive cross-linked product containing 35S-labeled pOMD29 was stimulated by co-import with unlabeled pOMD29. 3) Co-import of pOMD29 with a modified pOMD29 that contains two copies of dihydrofolate reductase resulted in formation of the predicted homo- and heterodimers. Cross-linking of pOMD29 was unaffected by concentrations of methotrexate that lock the dihydrofolate reductase moiety into its native monomeric conformation, indicating that oligomerization was mediated by the signal anchor rather than by the cytosolic domain of pOMD29. The predicted transmembrane core of the signal anchor sequence contains structural motifs similar to those found in a variety of signal-transducing cell surface receptors that dimerize through their transmembrane segments.
...
PMID:The signal anchor sequence of mitochondrial Mas70p contains an oligomerization domain. 839


<< Previous 1 2 3 Next >>