TL;DR: The data indicate that the VPS29, VPS30, and VPS35 gene products are required for the normal recycling of Vps10p from the prevacuolar endosome back to the Golgi where it can initiate additional rounds of vacuolar hydrolase sorting.
Abstract: Mutations in the S. cerevisiae VPS29 and VPS30 genes lead to a selective protein sorting defect in which the vacuolar protein carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) is missorted and secreted from the cell, while other soluble vacuolar hydrolases like proteinase A (PrA) are delivered to the vacuole. This phenotype is similar to that seen in cells with mutations in the previously characterized VPS10 and VPS35 genes. Vps10p is a late Golgi transmembrane protein that acts as the sorting receptor for soluble vacuolar hydrolases like CPY and PrA, while Vps35p is a peripheral membrane protein which cofractionates with membranes enriched in Vps10p. The sequences of the VPS29, VPS30, and VPS35 genes do not yet give any clues to the functions of their products. Each is predicted to encode a hydrophilic protein with homologues in the human and C. elegans genomes. Interestingly, mutations in the VPS29, VPS30, or VPS35 genes change the subcellular distribution of the Vps10 protein, resulting in a shift of Vps10p from the Golgi to the vacuolar membrane. The route that Vps10p takes to reach the vacuole in a vps35 mutant does not depend upon Sec1p mediated arrival at the plasma membrane but does require the activity of the pre-vacuolar endosomal t-SNARE, Pep12p. A temperature conditional allele of the VPS35 gene was generated and has been found to cause missorting/secretion of CPY and also Vps10p to mislocalize to a vacuolar membrane fraction at the nonpermissive temperature. Vps35p continues to cofractionate with Vps10p in vps29 mutants, suggesting that Vps10p and Vps35p may directly interact. Together, the data indicate that the VPS29, VPS30, and VPS35 gene products are required for the normal recycling of Vps10p from the prevacuolar endosome back to the Golgi where it can initiate additional rounds of vacuolar hydrolase sorting.
TL;DR: One of the GRD genes, VPSS/GRD2, is described that encodes a hydrophilic protein similar to human sorting nexin-1, a protein involved in trafficking of the epidermal growth factor receptor.
Abstract: Genetic analysis of late Golgi membrane protein localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has uncovered a large number of genes (called GRD) that are required for retention of A-ALP, a model late Golgi membrane protein. Here we describe one of the GRD genes, VPSS/GRD2, that encodes a hydrophilic protein similar to human sorting nexin-1, a protein involved in trafficking of the epidermal growth factor receptor. In yeast cells containing a vps5 null mutation the late Golgi membrane proteins A-ALP and Kex2p were rapidly mislocalized to the vacuolar membrane. A-ALP was delivered to the vacuole in vps5 mutants in a manner independent of a block in the early endocytic pathway. vps5 null mutants also exhibited defects in both vacuolar morphology and in sorting of a soluble vacuolar protein, carboxypeptidase Y. The latter defect is apparently due to an inability to localize the carboxypeptidase Y sorting receptor, Vps10p, to the Golgi since it is rapidly degraded in the vacuole in vps5 mutants. Fractionation studies indicate that Vps5p is distributed between a free cytosolic pool and a particulate fraction containing Golgi, transport vesicles, and possibly endosomes, but lacking vacuolar membranes. Immunofluorescence microscopy experiments show that the membrane-associated pool of Vps5p localizes to an endosome-like organelle that accumulates in the class E vps27 mutant. These results support a model in which Vps5p is required for retrieval of membrane proteins from a prevacuolar/late endosomal compartment back to the late Golgi apparatus.
TL;DR: It is proposed that the Vps17p protein complex may participate in the intracellular trafficking of the VPS10p-sorting receptor, as well as other later-Golgi proteins.
Abstract: A number of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae vacuolar protein-sorting (vps) mutants exhibit an altered vacuolar morphology. Unlike wild-type cells that contain 1-3 large vacuolar structures, the class B vps5 and vps17 mutant cells contain 10-20 smaller vacuole-like compartments. To explore the role of these VPS gene products in vacuole biogenesis, we cloned and sequenced VPS5 and characterized its protein products. The VPS5 gene is predicted to encode a very hydrophilic protein of 675 amino acids that shows significant sequence homology with mammalian sorting nexin-1. Polyclonal antiserum directed against the VPS5 gene product detects a single, cytoplasmic protein that is phosphorylated specifically on a serine residue(s). Subcellular fractionation studies indicate that Vps5p is associated peripherally with a dense membrane fraction distinct from Golgi, endosomal, and vacuolar membranes. This association was found to be dependent on the presence of another class B VPS gene product, Vps17p. Biochemical cross-linking studies demonstrated that Vps5p and Vps17p physically interact. Gene disruption experiments show that the VPS5 genes product is not essential for cell viability; however, cells carrying the null allele contain fragmented vacuoles and exhibit defects in vacuolar protein-sorting similar to vps17 null mutants. More than 95% of carboxypeptidase Y is secreted from these cells in its Golgi-modified p2 precursor form. Additionally, the Vps10p vacuolar protein-sorting receptor is mislocalized to the vacuole in vps5 mutant cells. On the basis of these and other observations, we propose that the Vps17p protein complex may participate in the intracellular trafficking of the Vps10p-sorting receptor, as well as other later-Golgi proteins.