Unbalanced growth of yeast due to inositol deficiency

VAP-mediated membrane-tethering mechanisms implicate ER-PM contact function in pH homeostasis

Vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP)-associated proteins (VAPs) are highly conserved endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident proteins that establish ER contacts with multiple membrane compartments in many eukaryotes. However, VAP-mediated membrane-tethering mechanisms remain ambiguous. Here, focusing on fission yeast ER-plasma membrane (PM) contact formation, using systematic interactome analyses and quantitative microscopy, we predict a non-VAP-protein direct binding-based ER-PM coupling. We further reveal that VAP-anionic phospholipid interactions may underlie ER-PM association and define the pH-responsive nature of VAP-tethered membrane contacts. Such conserved interactions with anionic phospholipids are generally defective in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-associated human VAPB mutant. Moreover, we identify a conserved FFAT-like motif locating at the autoinhibitory hotspot of the essential PM proton pump Pma1. This modulatory VAP-Pma1 interaction appears crucial for pH homeostasis. We thus propose an ingenious strategy for maintaining intracellular pH by coupling Pma1 modulation with pH-sensory ER-PM contacts via VAP-mediated interactions.

The Unfolded Protein Response Pathway in the Yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. A Comparative View among Yeast Species

Eukaryotic cells have evolved signalling pathways that allow adaptation to harmful conditions that disrupt endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis. When the function of the ER is compromised in a condition known as ER stress, the cell triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR) in order to restore ER homeostasis. Accumulation of misfolded proteins due to stress conditions activates the UPR pathway. In mammalian cells, the UPR is composed of three branches, each containing an ER sensor (PERK, ATF6 and IRE1). However, in yeast species, the only sensor present is the inositol-requiring enzyme Ire1. To cope with unfolded protein accumulation, Ire1 triggers either a transcriptional response mediated by a transcriptional factor that belongs to the bZIP transcription factor family or an mRNA degradation process. In this review, we address the current knowledge of the UPR pathway in several yeast species: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Candida glabrata, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Candida albicans. We also include unpublished data on the UPR pathway of the budding yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. We describe the basic components of the UPR pathway along with similarities and differences in the UPR mechanism that are present in these yeast species.

The response to inositol: regulation of glycerolipid metabolism and stress response signaling in yeast

This article focuses on discoveries of the mechanisms governing the regulation of glycerolipid metabolism and stress response signaling in response to the phospholipid precursor, inositol. The regulation of glycerolipid lipid metabolism in yeast in response to inositol is highly complex, but increasingly well understood, and the roles of individual lipids in stress response are also increasingly well characterized. Discoveries that have emerged over several decades of genetic, molecular and biochemical analyses of metabolic, regulatory and signaling responses of yeast cells, both mutant and wild type, to the availability of the phospholipid precursor, inositol are discussed.

Identification of inhibitors against Mycobacterium tuberculosis thiamin phosphate synthase, an important target for the development of anti-TB drugs

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to pose a serious challenge to human health afflicting a large number of people throughout the world. In spite of the availability of drugs for the treatment of TB, the non-compliance to 6–9 months long chemotherapeutic regimens often results in the emergence of multidrug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis adding to the precariousness of the situation. This has necessitated the development of more effective drugs. Thiamin biosynthesis, an important metabolic pathway of M.tuberculosis, is shown to be essential for the intracellular growth of this pathogen and hence, it is believed that inhibition of this pathway would severely affect the growth of M.tuberculosis. In this study, a comparative homology model of M.tuberculosis thiamin phosphate synthase (MtTPS) was generated and employed for virtual screening of NCI diversity set II to select potential inhibitors. The best 39 compounds based on the docking results were evaluated for their potential to inhibit the MtTPS activity. Seven compounds inhibited MtTPS activity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 20 – 100 µg/ml and two of these exhibited weak inhibition of M.tuberculosis growth with MIC₉₉ values being 125 µg/ml and 162.5 µg/ml while one compound was identified as a very potent inhibitor of M.tuberculosis growth with an MIC₉₉ value of 6 µg/ml. This study establishes MtTPS as a novel drug target against M.tuberculosis leading to the identification of new lead molecules for the development of antitubercular drugs. Further optimization of these lead compounds could result in more potent therapeutic molecules against Tuberculosis.

Genetic study of human cells in vitro. Carbohydrate variants from cultures of HeLa and conjunctival cells

The isolation of carbohydrate variants from cultures of HeLa and conjunctival cells was described. Factors inherent in the cell culture system, such as parent populations and dialyzed serums, have been shown to influence the outcome of variant isolations. Established stable variants incorporated significantly more pentoses or lactate into various cell fractions than the parent cultures. Besides their abilities to propagate continuously in the selecting environments, the variants multiplied slower, were more susceptible to sub-zero preservation and the cytotoxic effect of D-2-deoxyglucose, showed lower cloning efficiencies and were less susceptible to the deleterious effect of glucose oxidase. The ribose variants also differed from the parent cultures in morphological appearance such as formation of multinucleated cells and ring-shaped colonies. They converted more ribose into other component sugars of mucopolysaccharides than the parent cultures. Preliminary analyses of the mucopolysaccharides extracted from the ribose variants and parent cultures showed large difference in their carbohydrate (Molisch-positive materials) and DNA ratios. Evidence suggests that a sequence of interrelated events from genetic selection to primitive morphogenesis has been established.

Cardiolipins and biomembrane function

Evidence is discussed for roles of cardiolipins in oxidative phosphorylation mechanisms that regulate State 4 respiration by returning ejected protons across and over bacterial and mitochondrial membrane phospholipids, and that regulate State 3 respiration through the relative contributions of proteins that transport protons, electrons and/or metabolites. The barrier properties of phospholipid bilayers support and regulate the slow proton leak that is the basis for State 4 respiration. Proton permeability is in the range 10(-3)-10(-4) cm s-1 in mitochondria and in protein-free membranes formed from extracted mitochondrial phospholipids or from stable synthetic phosphatidylcholines or phosphatidylethanolamines. The roles of cardiolipins in proton conductance in model phospholipid membrane systems need to be assessed in view of new findings by Hübner et al. [313]: saturated cardiolipins form bilayers whilst natural highly unsaturated cardiolipins form nonlamellar phases. Mitochondrial cardiolipins apparently participate in bilayers formed by phosphatidylcholines and phosphatidylethanolamines. It is not yet clear if cardiolipins themselves conduct protons back across the membrane according to their degree of fatty acyl saturation, and/or modulate proton conductance by phosphatidylcholines and phosphatidylethanolamines. Mitochondrial cardiolipins, especially those with high 18:2 acyl contents, strongly bind many carrier and enzyme proteins that are involved in oxidative phosphorylation, some of which contribute to regulation of State 3 respiration. The role of cardiolipins in biomembrane protein function has been examined by measuring retained phospholipids and phospholipid binding in purified proteins, and by reconstituting delipidated proteins. The reconstitution criterion for the significance of cardiolipin-protein interactions has been catalytical activity; proton-pumping and multiprotein interactions have yet to be correlated. Some proteins, e.g., cytochrome c oxidase are catalytically active when dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine replaces retained cardiolipins. Cardiolipin-protein interactions orient membrane proteins, matrix proteins, and on the outerface receptors, enzymes, and some leader peptides for import; activate enzymes or keep them inactive unless the inner membrane is disrupted; and modulate formation of nonbilayer HII-phases. The capacity of the proton-exchanging uncoupling protein to accelerate thermogenic respiration in brown adipose tissue mitochondria of cold-adapted animals is not apparently affected by the increased cardiolipin unsaturation; this protein seems to take over the protonophoric role of cardiolipins in other mitochondria. Many in vivo influences that affect proton leakage and carrier rates selectively alter cardiolipins in amount per mitochondrial phospholipids, in fatty acyl composition and perhaps in sidedness; other mitochondrial membrane phospholipids respond less or not at all.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Effect of inositol starvation on the in vitro syntheses of mannan and N-acetylglucosaminylpyrophosphoryldolichol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

An early consequence of starvation for inositol in yeast is inhibition of synthesis of the major cell wall components mannan and glucan. In looking for the mechanism of this inhibition, we found that the activity of the enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of N-acetylglucosaminylpyrophosphoryldolichol was diminished in particular membrane preparations from cells starved for inositol. This loss of reactivity was observed under a variety of in vitro assay conditions and could be restored by the addition of phosphatidylinositol but not by other phosphoinositol-containing sphingolipids known to occur in yeast. When assayed in the presence of high concentrations of Triton X-100, enzyme preparations from both control and inositol-starved cells required phosphatidylinositol for maximal activity. Since this enzyme catalyzed an early step in the synthesis of mannan that is N-linked to protein, a reasonable hypothesis is that inhibition of mannan synthesis in inositol-starved cells results from the depletion of the necessary cofactor phosphatidylinositol.

Effects of inositol starvation on phospholipid and glycan syntheses in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The early biochemical consequences of inositol starvation in an inositol auxotroph of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were examined as a means of determining the cellular role of inositol. Upon withdrawal of inositol, the rate of incorporation of 32P-labeled inorganic phosphate into phosphatidylinositol and into the phosphoinositol-containing sphingolipids immediately dropped by 80 and 50%, respectively; however, synthesis of the other major phospholipids continued for 2 to 3 h at control rates. The incorporation of [U-14C]glucose into cell wall glycans began to decline immediately poststarvation and decreased to 50% of the initial rate by 80 min for mannan and by 140 min for alkali- and acid-insoluble glucan. These changes in the rates of synthesis of cell wall glycan and phosphatidylinositol were the earliest effects of inositol starvation, preceding inhibition of the synthesis of protein and ribonucleic acid as measured by incorporation of radioactive precursors into trichloroacetic acid-insoluble cell material. These results suggest that phosphatidylinositol may play a direct role in the synthesis or secretion of yeast glycans.

Inositol deficiency in Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCYC 86

When Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCYC 86, an inositol dependent strain, is grown at suboptimal concentrations of inositol, the buds are apparently unable to separate from the parent cells. Thin sections of such cells show an irregularly thickened cell wall. These morphological features may be due to a continuation or increase in the production of glucan while the synthesis of DNA, RNA, phospholipids.and protein is greatly inhibited.

Inositol deficiency in yeast: metabolic, enzymatic and autoradiographic studies

The addition of inositol to starved cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCYC 86 resulted in an initiation of growth. Inositol was incorporated into phosphatidyl-inositol and after a lag period RNA was the first macromolecule with a rate of synthesis departing from the rate observed in deprived cells. Pulse chase experiments showed that inositol was first incorporated into phosphatidylinositol and later into more polar lipids. Finally it appeared to be excreted into the surrounding medium. When S. cerevisiae NCYC 86 was grown in suboptimal concentrations of inositol (0,5 microgram/ml), alterations in the level of some membrane-bound enzymatic activities were detected; these might reflect structural modifications of the cellular membranes due to a different composition of phospholipids. High-resolution autoradiography showed that inositol was probably first incorporated into internal membranes and later transferred to the plasma membrane. Analytical experiments carried out with inositol-deprived cells showed that inositol was released into the surrounding medium in that case. The unbalanced growth detected in S. cerevisiae NCYC 86 under inositol deprivation might be due to an abnormal functioning of the cell membranes as a consequence of the deficiency in inositol-containing phospholipids.

Different pools of free myoinositol in chick-embryo cells as indicated by infection with Newcastle-disease virus

Infection of chicken fibroblasts with Newcastle-disease virus indicates that cellular inositol is compartmented in at least two pools. Only the smaller pool is directly connected with the biosynthesis of phosphatidylinositol. Entrance of exogenous inositol into this pool is inhibited by phlorizin but not by the virus. Three hours after infection Newcastle-disease virus blocks the entrance of inositol from the small pool into one (or more) subsequent larger pool(s). About five hours after infection the virus enhances the catabolism of phosphatidylinositol in chicken cells and about seven hours after infection the permeability of the plasma membrane increases.

Studies on the metabolic role of myo-inositol. Distribution of radioactive myo-inositol in the male rat

Radioactive myo-inositol was injected intraperitoneally into nephrectomized rats. The radioactive material present in liver, spleen, brain, heart, diaphragm, seminal vesicle, coagulating gland, prostate, epididymis, vas deferens and testis was shown to consist exclusively of myo-inositol and its derivatives, as shown by paper chromatography of hydrolysates and trichloroacetic acid extracts of these tissues. Radioactive myo-inositol was accumulated rapidly within 1 h by the thyroid, coagulating gland and seminal vesicle. Other tissues, such as the pituitary, prostate gland, liver and spleen, concentrated myo-inositol less actively. The muscle tissues studied (diaphragm and heart) concentrated little inositol, whereas brain, testis, and epididymal fat-pad did not concentrate it at all. The lipid fraction of liver contained most of the radio-labelled myo-inositol. In the other organs most of the radioactivity was found in the aqueous trichloroacetic acid extract, largely as free myo-inositol.

Control of inositol biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae; inositol-phosphate synthetase mutants

Inositol-requiring mutants of Saacharomyces cerevisiae were tested in cell extracts for the ability to convert glucose-6-phosphate to inositol-phosphate (IP synthetase) and inositol (IP phosphatase). Mutants representing any one of 10 unlinked loci conferring the inositol requirement were unable to synthesize either compound in an assay with glucose-6-phosphate as the substrate. These results indicate that the mutants lack IP synthetase activity and that at least 10 genes control the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate to inositol-phosphate. In addition, a mutation known to be unlinked with the ino1 locus interacts with a leaky ino1 allele and may play a role in the regulation of IP synthetase. This mutation causes a 47% reduction in wild-type IP synthetase activity and, when combined in a haploid strain with the leaky ino1 allele, it reduced IP synthetase activity to a level below that which is growth supporting. Wild-type and IP synthetase-deficient strains were tested for reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) accumulation, since NAD+ is required in the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate to inositol. No detectable accumulation of NADH was observed in the wild-type strain, presumably because the NADH generated is rapidly oxidized during subsequent partial reactions of IP synthetase. Mutants representing three different loci accumulate NADH and may, therefore, lack the NADH-mediated reductase activity of IP synthetase. Other mutants tested fail to accumulate NADH and may, therefore, lack the NAD+-mediated oxidase activity of IP synthetase. Phospholipid synthesis was studied by 32P pulse labeling in one mutant under conditions of inositol supplementation and starvation. Starved cells incorporate 32P into phospholipids normally for 2 h, followed by a period in which the rate of phosphatidylinositol synthesis decreases and the rate of phosphatidylcholine synthesis increases. After 5 to 6 h starvation, all cellular phospholipid synthesis ceases.

Death resulting from unbalanced growth in a temperature-sensitive mutant of Neurospora crassa

A temperature-sensitive mutant of Neurospora crassa was found to undergo rapid death on minimal medium at 35 degrees C. The loss of viability in this mutant was prevented by various factors which retard growth, including deprivation of carbon sources or interruption of protein synthesis. Synthesis of nucleic acids and protein in this mutant was normal at the early stages of germination and then depressed at 35 degrees C. The active transport of glucose and the respiration rate in this mutant were depressed at 35 degrees C. Phopholipid synthesis was significantly repressed at 35 degrees C. The possible significance of the characteristics of this mutant is discussed in terms of membrane biosynthesis.

Inositol-requiring mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fifty-two inositol-requiring mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated following mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate. Complementation and tetrad analysis revealed ten major complementation classes, representing ten independently segregating loci (designated ino1 through ino10) which recombined freely with their respective centromeres. Members of any given complementation class segregated as alleles of a single locus. Thirteen complementation subclasses were identified among thirty-six mutants which behaved as alleles of the ino1 locus. The complementation map for these mutants was circular. - Dramatic cell viability losses indicative of unbalanced growth were observed in liquid cultures of representative mutants under conditions of inositol starvation. Investigation of the timing, kinetics, and extent of cell death revealed that losses in cell viability in the range of 2-4 log orders could be prevented by the addition of inositol to the medium or by disruption of protein synthesis with cycloheximide. Mutants defective in nine of the ten loci identified in this study displayed these unusual characteristics. The results suggest an important physiological role for inositol that may be related to its cellular localization and function in membrane phospholipids. The possibility is discussed that inositol deficiency initiates the process of unbalanced growth leading to cell death through the loss of normal assembly, function, or integrity of biomembranes. - Part of this work has been reported in preliminary form (CULBERTSON and HENRY 1974).

Death resulting from fatty acid starvation in yeast

Mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae having the genotypes fas1 (fatty acid synthetase minus) and fas1, ole1 (fatty acid synthetase and fatty acid desaturase minus) were found to undergo logarithmic death when deprived of required fatty acids, whereas ole1 strains did not. During the first 2 to 3 h of fatty acid starvation, macromolecular synthesis occurred at apparently normal rates, although cell division stopped by the end of the 1st h. Cell death commenced at approximately the 2nd to the 3rd h, and within 24 h, depending upon conditions, 2 to 4 log orders of death had occurred. The loss of viability was accelerated by the addition of detergent, but could be largely prevented by the interruption of protein synthesis, either by amino acid starvation or by the use of cycloheximide. The possible significance of this phenomenon in terms of membrane biosynthesis is discussed.