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The mechanisms of [URE3] prion elimination demonstrate that large aggregates of Ure2p are dead‐end products
Author(s) -
Ripaud Leslie,
Maillet Laurent,
Cullin Christophe
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/cdg488
Subject(s) - biology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , fusion protein , fungal prion , biochemistry , catabolite repression , green fluorescent protein , yeast , guanidine , microbiology and biotechnology , mutant , recombinant dna , gene
The yeast prion [URE3] is a self‐propagating inactive form (the propagon) of the Ure2 protein. Ure2p is composed of two domains: residues 1–93—the prion‐forming domain (PFD)—and the remaining C‐terminal part of the protein, which forms the functional domain involved in nitrogen catabolite repression. Guanidine hydrochloride, and the overproduction of Ure2p 1–65 or Ure2–GFP have been shown to induce the elimination of [URE3]. We demonstrate here, two different curing mechanisms: the inhibition of [URE3] replication by guanidine hydrochloride and its destruction by Ure2p aggregation. Such aggregation is observed if PFD or Ure2–GFP are overproduced and in heterozygous URE2/URE2–GFP , [URE3] diploids. We found that the GFP foci associated with the presence of the prion were dead‐end products, the propagons remaining soluble. Surprisingly, [URE3] propagated via the Ure2–GFP fusion protein alone is resistant to these two curing mechanisms and cannot promote the formation of foci. The relationship between aggregation, prion and Hsp104 gives rise to a model in which the propagon is in equilibrium with larger aggregates and functional protein.