Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas 77030, United States.
Center for Translational Cancer Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States.
J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Jul 24;146(29):19782-19791. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c02183. Epub 2024 Jul 13.
RAP1 proteins belong to the RAS family of small GTPases that operate as molecular switches by cycling between GDP-bound inactive and GTP-bound active states. The C-terminal anchors of RAP1 proteins are known to direct membrane localization, but how these anchors organize RAP1 on the plasma membrane (PM) has not been investigated. Using high-resolution imaging, we show that RAP1A and RAP1B form spatially segregated nanoclusters on the inner leaflet of the PM, with further lateral segregation between GDP-bound and GTP-bound proteins. The C-terminal polybasic anchors of RAP1A and RAP1B differ in their amino acid sequences and exhibit different lipid binding specificities, which can be modified by single-point mutations in the respective polybasic domains (PBD). Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that single PBD mutations substantially reduce the interactions of the membrane anchors with the PM lipid phosphatidylserine. In summary, we show that aggregate lipid binding specificity encoded within the C-terminal anchor determines PM association and nanoclustering of RAP1A and RAP1B. Taken together with previous observations on RAC1 and KRAS, the study reveals that the PBD sequences of small GTPase membrane anchors can encode distinct lipid binding specificities that govern PM interactions.
RAP1 蛋白属于 RAS 家族的小 GTP 酶,通过 GDP 结合的失活状态和 GTP 结合的激活状态之间的循环来充当分子开关。已知 RAP1 蛋白的 C 端锚定结构域指导膜定位,但这些锚定结构域如何将 RAP1 组织在质膜 (PM) 上尚未被研究过。使用高分辨率成像,我们显示 RAP1A 和 RAP1B 在 PM 的内叶层上形成空间分离的纳米簇,在 GDP 结合和 GTP 结合蛋白之间进一步发生横向分离。RAP1A 和 RAP1B 的 C 端多碱性锚定结构域在其氨基酸序列上存在差异,并表现出不同的脂质结合特异性,这可以通过各自多碱性结构域 (PBD) 中的单点突变进行修饰。分子动力学模拟表明,单个 PBD 突变会大大降低膜锚与 PM 脂质磷脂酰丝氨酸的相互作用。总之,我们表明,聚集的脂质结合特异性由 C 端锚定结构域编码,决定了 RAP1A 和 RAP1B 与 PM 的关联和纳米簇的形成。结合之前关于 RAC1 和 KRAS 的观察结果,该研究表明,小 GTP 酶膜锚定的 PBD 序列可以编码不同的脂质结合特异性,从而控制 PM 相互作用。