title: C-terminal signals regulate targeting of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins to the cell wall or plasma membrane in Candida albicans.
abstract: Fungal glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins localize to the plasma membrane (PM), cell wall (CW), or both. To study signals that regulate PM versus CW targeting in Candida albicans, we (i) fused the N and/or C termini of the GPI CW protein Hwp1p and the GPI PM protein Ecm331p to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and (ii) expressed and localized the resulting fusions. Forty-seven amino acids from the C terminus of Hwp1p were sufficient to target GFP to the CW, and 66 amino acids from the C terminus of Ecm331p were sufficient to target GFP to the PM. Truncation and mutagenesis studies showed that G390 was the omega cleavage site in Ecm331p. Domain exchange and mutagenesis studies showed that (i) the 5 amino acids immediately N-terminal to the omega sites (the omega - 5 to omega - 1 amino acids) played key roles in targeting to the PM or CW; (ii) KK and FE residues at positions omega - 1 and omega - 2, respectively, targeted to the PM and CW; and (iii) a loss of I at position omega - 5 increased PM retention. Small fluorescent reporters can be used to study the peptide signals that regulate PM versus CW targeting of GPI proteins and may be useful for identifying proteins that interact with key targeting signals.
authors: Division of Infectious Diseases, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
authors: Yuxin
authors: Y
authors: Mao
authors: Zimei
authors: Z
authors: Zhang
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Gast
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Wong
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D021381:Protein Transport; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins