title: Characterization of the C-terminal ER membrane anchor of PTP1B.
abstract: The tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B is an important regulator of cell function. In living cells PTP1B activity is restricted to the vicinity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by post-translational C-terminal attachment of PTP1B to the ER membrane network. In our study we investigated the membrane anchor of PTP1B by use of EGFP fusion proteins. We demonstrate that the membrane anchor of PTP1B cannot be narrowed down to a unique amino acid sequence with a defined start and stop point but rather is moveable within several amino acids. Removal of up to seven amino acids from the C-terminus, as well as exchange of single amino acids in the putative transmembrane sequence did not influence subcellular localization of PTP1B. With the method of bimolecular fluorescence complementation we could demonstrate dimerization of PTP1B in vivo. Homodimerization was, in contrast to other tail-anchored proteins, not dependent on the membrane anchor. Our data demonstrate that the C-terminal membrane anchor of PTP1B is formed by a combination of a single stretch transmembrane domain (TMD) followed by a tail. TMD and tail length are variable and there are no sequence-specific features. Our data for PTP1B are consistent with a concept that explains the ER membrane anchor of tail-anchored proteins as a physicochemical structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of the Saarland, D-66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany. ines.anderie@uniklinikum-saarland.de
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Anderie
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmid
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D054562:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D054562:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1