Signal sequence insufficiency contributes to neurodegeneration caused by transmembrane prion protein.
Protein translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum is mediated by signal sequences that vary widely in primary structure. In vitro studies suggest that such signal sequence variations may correspond to subtly different functional properties. Whether comparable functional differences exist in vivo and are of sufficient magnitude to impact organism physiology is unknown. Here, we investigate this issue by analyzing in transgenic mice the impact of signal sequence efficiency for mammalian prion protein (PrP). We find that replacement of the average efficiency signal sequence of PrP with more efficient signals rescues mice from neurodegeneration caused by otherwise pathogenic PrP mutants in a downstream hydrophobic domain (HD). This effect is explained by the demonstration that efficient signal sequence function precludes generation of a cytosolically exposed, disease-causing transmembrane form of PrP mediated by the HD mutants. Thus, signal sequences are functionally nonequivalent in vivo, with intrinsic inefficiency of the native PrP signal being required for pathogenesis of a subset of disease-causing PrP mutations.
Cell Biology and Metabolism Program, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Neena S
NS
Rane
Oishee
O
Chakrabarti
Lionel
L
Feigenbaum
Ramanujan S
RS
Hegde
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006224:Cricetinae; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011328:Prions / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D021381:Protein Transport
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011328:Prions; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals