Publications by authors named "Ruth N Collins"

The recent global pandemic illustrates the importance of understanding the host cellular infection processes of emerging zoonotic viruses. Nipah virus (NiV) is a deadly zoonotic biosafety level 4 encephalitic and respiratory paramyxovirus. Our knowledge of the molecular cell biology of NiV infection is extremely limited.

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Intracellular trafficking is an essential and conserved eukaryotic process. Rab GTPases are a family of proteins that regulate and provide specificity for discrete membrane trafficking steps by harnessing a nucleotide-bound cycle. Global proteomic screens have revealed many Rab GTPases as phosphoproteins, but the effects of this modification are not well understood.

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An increasing number of cellular activities can be regulated by reversible lysine acetylation. Targeting the enzymes responsible for such posttranslational modifications is instrumental in defining their substrates and functions in vivo. Here we show that a Saccharomyces cerevisiae lysine deacetylase, Hos3, is asymmetrically targeted to the daughter side of the bud neck and to the daughter spindle pole body (SPB).

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The Rab family of Ras-related GTPases are part of a complex signaling circuitry in eukaryotic cells, yet we understand little about the mechanisms that underlie Rab protein participation in such signal transduction networks, or how these networks are integrated at the physiological level. Reversible protein phosphorylation is widely used by cells as a signaling mechanism. Several phospho-Rabs have been identified, however the functional consequences of the modification appear to be diverse and need to be evaluated on an individual basis.

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To maintain polarity, epithelial cells continuously sort transmembrane proteins to the apical or basolateral membrane domains during biosynthetic delivery or after internalization. During biosynthetic delivery, some cargo proteins move from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) into recycling endosomes (RE) before being delivered to the plasma membrane. However, proteins that regulate this transport step remained elusive.

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The regulation of membrane trafficking events in the secretory and endocytic pathways by Rab GTPases requires the cycling and activation of a Rab protein. The cycle of nucleotide binding and hydrolysis of Rab proteins is accompanied by a physical cycle of membrane translocation. An open question in membrane traffic remains how the cycle of Rab GTPase function is coupled to regulatory inputs from other cellular processes.

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Background: The appendage domain of the gammaCOP subunit of the COPI vesicle coat bears a striking structural resemblance to adaptin-family appendages despite limited primary sequence homology. Both the gammaCOP appendage domain and an equivalent region on betaCOP contain the FxxxW motif; the conservation of this motif suggested the existence of a functional appendage domain in betaCOP.

Results: Sequence comparisons in combination with structural prediction tools show that the fold of the COOH-terminus of Sec26p is strongly predicted to closely mimic that of adaptin-family appendages.

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A striking characteristic of a Rab protein is its steady-state localization to the cytosolic surface of a particular subcellular membrane. In this study, we have undertaken a combined bioinformatic and experimental approach to examine the evolutionary conservation of Rab protein localization. A comprehensive primary sequence classification shows that 10 out of the 11 Rab proteins identified in the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) genome can be grouped within a major subclass, each comprising multiple Rab orthologs from diverse species.

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The YIP1 family of proteins is an intriguing collection of small membrane proteins with critical roles in membrane traffic. Although their mode of action is unknown, they are receiving attention as participants in vesicle biogenesis, and as factors that may mediate the association of Rab proteins with membranes. Yeast YIP1 is an essential gene and can be fully complemented by its human counterpart-suggesting that the essential function of Yip1p is evolutionarily conserved.

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Researchers looking to solve biological problems have access to enormous amounts of sequence information and the desktop computational infrastructure to personally interrogate and analyze large datasets. Many powerful bioinformatics tools are available online; however, this discourages the customized analysis of data that is necessary for the experimental scientist to make maximally effective use of the information. In addition, a customized environment facilitates the critical evaluation of bioinformatic methods.

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The continuing explosion of sequencing data has inspired a corresponding effort in the annotation and classification of protein families. Within a particular protein family, however, individual members may have distinct functions, although they share a common fold and broadly defined physiological role. Rab GTPases are the largest subfamily of the Ras superfamily, yet from early in their discovery, it was apparent that each Rab protein has a unique subcellular localization and regulates a particular stage(s) membrane traffic.

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Understanding the molecular mechanisms that control the architecture of organelles is an area of intense study. In this issue of Cell, Voeltz et al. (2006) report that two membrane proteins, Rtn4a/NogoA and DP1/Yop1p, are responsible for the generation of tubular morphology in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).

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Rab GTPases are crucial regulators of organelle biogenesis, maintenance, and transport. Multiple Rabs are expressed in all cells, and each is localized to a distinct set of organelles, but little is known regarding the mechanisms by which Rabs are targeted to their resident organelles. Integral membrane proteins have been postulated to serve as receptors that recruit Rabs from the cytosol in a complex with the Rab chaperone, GDI, to facilitate the dissociation of Rab and GDI, hence facilitating loading of Rabs on membranes.

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The activation of Rab GTPases is a critical focal point of membrane trafficking events in eukaryotic cells; however, the cellular mechanisms that spatially and temporally regulate this process are poorly understood. Here, we identify a null allele of ELP1 as a suppressor of a mutant in a Rab guanine nucleotide exchange factor Sec2p. Elp1p was previously thought to be involved in transcription elongation as part of the Elongator complex.

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Yeast Yip1p is a member of a conserved family of transmembrane proteins that interact with Rab GTPases. Previous studies also have indicated a role for Yip1p in the biogenesis of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived COPII transport vesicles. In this report, we describe the identification and characterization of the uncharacterized open reading frame YER074W-A as a novel multicopy suppressor of the thermosensitive yip1-4 strain.

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Yip1p is the first identified Rab-interacting membrane protein and the founder member of the YIP1 family, with both orthologs and paralogs found in all eukaryotic genomes. The exact role of Yip1p is unclear; YIP1 is an essential gene and defective alleles severely disrupt membrane transport and inhibit ER vesicle budding. Yip1p has the ability to physically interact with Rab proteins and the nature of this interaction has led to suggestions that Yip1p may function in the process by which Rab proteins translocate between cytosol and membranes.

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Yeast Ypt1p-interacting protein (Yip1p) belongs to a conserved family of transmembrane proteins that interact with Rab GTPases. We encountered Yip1p as a constituent of ER-derived transport vesicles, leading us to hypothesize a direct role for this protein in transport through the early secretory pathway. Using a cell-free assay that recapitulates protein transport from the ER to the Golgi complex, we find that affinity-purified antibodies directed against the hydrophilic amino terminus of Yip1p potently inhibit transport.

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The formation of coated vesicles is a fundamental step in many intracellular trafficking pathways. COPI and clathrin represent two important and distinct sets of vesicle coating machinery, involved primarily in mediating intra-Golgi and endocytic transport, respectively. Here we identify an important functional region at the carboxyl terminus of the gamma subunit of the COPI complex (gammaCOP) and describe the X-ray crystal structure of this domain at 2.

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Our understanding of the mechanisms governing of Rab and Arf protein function has exploded in recent years with a convergence of information from model genetic organisms, biochemical studies, cell biological observations and protein structural information. However, the list of known Rab and Arf interacting factors still remains small relative to the number of these small GTPases that have been identified through complete genomic sequencing. It can be anticipated that the factors listed and discussed in this review probably represent a small fraction of the Rab and Arf accessory molecules that remain to be discovered.

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The majority of Rab proteins are posttranslationally modified with two geranylgeranyl lipid moieties that enable their stable association with membranes. In this study, we present evidence to demonstrate that there is a specific lipid requirement for Rab protein localization and function. Substitution of different prenyl anchors on Rab GTPases does not lead to correct function.

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The Rab GTPases are key regulators of membrane traffic. Yip1p is a membrane protein of unknown function that has been reported to interact with the Rabs Ypt1p and Ypt31p. In this study we identify Yif1p, and two unknown open reading frames, Ygl198p and Ygl161p, which we term Yip4p and Yip5p, as Yip1p-related sequences.

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The regulation of membrane traffic involves the Rab family of Ras-related GTPases, of which there are a total of 11 members in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Previous work has identified PRA1 as a dual prenylated Rab GTPase and VAMP2 interacting protein [Martinic et al. (1999) J.

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