title: The ERG28-encoded protein, Erg28p, interacts with both the sterol C-4 demethylation enzyme complex as well as the late biosynthetic protein, the C-24 sterol methyltransferase (Erg6p).
abstract: In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the C-24 sterol methyltransferase (Erg6p) converts zymosterol to fecosterol, an enzymatic step following C-4 demethylation of 4,4-dimethylzymosterol. Our previous study showed that an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) transmembrane protein, Erg28p, functions as a scaffold to tether the C-4 demethylation enzymatic complex (Erg25p-Erg26p-Erg27p) to the ER. To determine whether Erg28p also interacts with other ergosterol biosynthetic proteins, we compared protein levels of Erg3p, Erg6p, Erg7p, Erg11p and Erg25p in three pairs of erg28 and ERG28 strains. In erg28 strains, the Erg6p level in the ER fraction was decreased by about 50% relative to the wild-type strain, while ER protein levels of the four other ergosterol proteins showed no significant differences. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments, using an erg28 strain transformed with the epitope-tagged plasmid pERG28-HA and proteins detected with anti-HA and anti-Erg6p antibodies, indicated that Erg6p and Erg28p reciprocally co-immunoprecipitate. Further, the split ubiquitin yeast membrane two-hybrid system designed to detect protein interactions between membrane bound proteins also indicated an Erg28p-Erg6p interaction when pERG6-Cub was used as the bait and pERG28-NubG was used as the prey. We conclude that Erg28p may not only anchor the C-4 demethylation enzyme complex to the ER but also acts as a protein bridge to the Erg6p enzyme required for the next ergosterol biosynthetic step.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 W. Michigan St, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
authors.forename: Caiqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valachovic
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bard
mesh_terms: D004875:Ergosterol / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008745:Methylation; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008861:Microsomes / Q000378:metabolism; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
chemical_list: C429044:ERG28 protein, S cerevisiae; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D008780:Methyltransferases; C022670:delta 24-sterol methyltransferase; D004875:Ergosterol