Emr S D, Hall M N, Silhavy T J
J Cell Biol. 1980 Sep;86(3):701-11. doi: 10.1083/jcb.86.3.701.
We are studying the molecular mechanism of cellular protein localization. The availability of genetic techniques, such as gene fusion in Escherichia coli, has made this problem particularly amenable to study in this prokaryote. We have constructed a variety of strains in which the gene coding for an outer membrane protein is fused to the gene coding for a normally cytoplasmic enzyme, beta-galactosidase. The hybrid proteins produced by such strains retain beta-galactosidase activity; this activity serves as a simple biochemical tag for studying the localization of the outer membrane protein. In addition, we have exploited phenotypes exhibited by certain fusion strains to isolate mutants that are altered in the process of protein export. Genetic and biochemical analyses of such mutants have provided evidence that the molecular mechanism of cellular protein localization is strinkingly similar in both bacteria and animal cells.
我们正在研究细胞蛋白质定位的分子机制。诸如大肠杆菌中的基因融合等遗传技术的可用性,使得这个问题在这种原核生物中特别适合进行研究。我们构建了多种菌株,其中编码外膜蛋白的基因与编码正常位于细胞质中的酶β-半乳糖苷酶的基因融合。这些菌株产生的杂合蛋白保留了β-半乳糖苷酶活性;这种活性作为研究外膜蛋白定位的一个简单生化标记。此外,我们利用某些融合菌株表现出的表型来分离在蛋白质输出过程中发生改变的突变体。对这些突变体的遗传和生化分析提供了证据,表明细胞蛋白质定位的分子机制在细菌和动物细胞中惊人地相似。