Search for a nuclear localization signal in the prion protein.
Spongiform transmissible encephalopathies are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the accumulation, in infected brains, of a pathological form of a normal host-encoded protein called PrP. Previous data have shown that PrP could interact with cytosolic factors, including nuclear molecules, emphasizing the possible function of such interactions. Moreover, in infected cells, PrP is observed not only at the plasma membrane but also in the nuclear compartment. The N-terminal extremity of the mature PrP has been thought to harbor a nuclear localization signal reminiscent of the nuclear localization signal of the simian virus 40 large T antigen. By designing a fusion protein between the putative nuclear localization signal of PrP and the green fluorescent protein, we have shown that the N-terminal sequence of PrP is not efficient in targeting the protein in the nuclear compartment. This implies new insights regarding the way by which PrP could, however, reach the nuclear compartment.
Jaegly
A
A
Service de Neurovirologie, CEA, DSV/DRM/SSA, 60-68 avenue de la Division Leclerc, Fontenay-aux-Roses, 92265, France.
Mouthon
F
F
Peyrin
J M
JM
Camugli
B
B
Deslys
J P
JP
Dormont
D
D
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019913:Nuclear Localization Signals; D010957:Plasmids; D018621:PrPC Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014162:Transfection
D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D019913:Nuclear Localization Signals; D018621:PrPC Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins