©1995 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
Heterotrimeric G Proteins Interact with the Small GTPase ARF
POSSIBILITIES FOR THE REGULATION OF VESICULAR TRAFFIC (*)

(Received for publication, May 30, 1995; and in revised form, August 3, 1995)

Maria I. Colombo (1)(§) James Inglese (2) Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey (1)(¶) Walter Beron (1)(**) Philip D. Stahl (§§)

From the  (1)Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University, School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110 and the (2)Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University, Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, 27710

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
FOOTNOTES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES

ABSTRACT

Trimeric G proteins have emerged as important regulators of membrane trafficking. To explore a role for Gbeta in endosome fusion, we have taken advantage of beta-adrenergic receptor kinase (betaARK), an enzyme translocated to membranes by interaction with Gbeta. The COOH terminus of betaARK (betaARKct) has a Gbeta-binding domain which blocks some Gbeta-mediated processes. We found that betaARKct and peptide G, a peptide derived from betaARKct, inhibit in vitro endosome fusion. Interestingly, peptide G and ARF share sequence similarity. Peptide G and betaARKct reversed ARF-mediated inhibition of endosome fusion and blocked ARF binding to membranes. Using an ARF fusion protein, we show that both Gbeta and Galphas interact with the small GTPase ARF, an interaction that is regulated by nucleotide binding. We conclude that G proteins may participate in the regulation of vesicular trafficking by directly interacting with ARF, a cytosolic factor required for transport.


INTRODUCTION

Vesicular membrane trafficking among intracellular compartments is now recognized to involve multiple small GTP-binding proteins including members of the Ras-like superfamily such as Rab, ARF, and Sar1 (reviewed by Goud and McCaffrey, 1991; Pryer et al., 1992; Nuoffer and Balch, 1994). The ARF family, which includes several distinct ARF proteins, seems to control the assembly of coat components on transport vesicles. ARF (ADP-ribosylation factor) was originally discovered as a cofactor required for the ADP-ribosylation by cholera toxin of the heterotrimeric G protein G(s) (Kahn and Gilman, 1984). The initial evidence for a role for ARF in vesicular transport came from genetic studies in yeast where deletion of the ARF1 gene resulted in a secretory defect (Stearns et al., 1990a, 1990b). Using several in vitro assays that reconstitute transport between different compartments, it has been shown that ARF is an essential component required for transport (Balch et al., 1992; Lenhard et al., 1992; Donaldson and Klausner, 1994). ARF is also required for the assembly of the coat complex on non-clathrin-coated vesicles (COP-coated vesicles) mediating transport between Golgi compartments (reviewed by Rothman and Orci, 1992; Kreis and Pepperkok, 1994; Donaldson and Klausner, 1994) and in the association of AP-1 adaptor complex to Golgi membranes, raising the possibility that ARF may also be required for the assembly of clathrin coats at the trans-Golgi network (Stamnes and Rothman, 1993; Traub et al., 1993).

A growing body of evidence indicates that heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) play a crucial role in vesicular trafficking (reviewed by Bomsel and Mostov, 1992; Barr et al., 1992; Burgoyne, 1992; Nuoffer and Balch, 1994). Previous work from our laboratory indicates that fusion among endosomes and between phagosomes and endosomes is controlled by G proteins (Colombo et al., 1992a, 1994a; Beron et al., 1995). Moreover, multiple G proteins seem to participate in different steps of transport (Stow et al., 1991; Leyte et al., 1992; Carter et al., 1993). We have reported that one of the G proteins involved in endosomal fusion is Galpha(s) (Colombo et al., 1994b). The role of Galpha(s) has also been implicated in trafficking in polarized cells (Pimplikar and Simons, 1993; Bomsel and Mostov, 1993; Barroso and Sztul, 1994; Hansen and Casanova, 1994) and in the secretory pathway (Leyte et al., 1992). However, the actual mechanism by which these proteins regulate traffic remains poorly understood.

Classically, trimeric G proteins transduce extracellular signals to appropriate effector molecules inside the cell. G proteins are comprised of three subunits, Galpha, Gbeta, and G. Binding of GTP causes the activation of the G protein and the subsequent dissociation of Galpha from Gbeta (Gilman, 1987). It is now widely accepted that signals by both Galpha and Gbeta are physiologically relevant. Several recent reports clearly demonstrate the prominent involvement of Gbeta in several transmembrane signaling systems. An increasing number of G protein-coupled effectors which appear to be modulated by Gbeta subunits have been identified (reviewed by Clapham and Neer, 1993; Sternweis, 1994). On the other hand, Gbeta specifically mediates the translocation of cytosolic beta-adrenergic receptor kinase (betaARK), (^1)one of the G protein-coupled receptor kinases, to the plasma membrane. This translocation allows the phosphorylation of activated receptors as part of the desensitization process (Inglese et al., 1993). A fragment of betaARK corresponding to the last 222 C-terminal amino acids was found to contain the ``Gbeta-binding domain'' (Pitcher et al., 1992). A fusion protein corresponding to this Gbeta-binding domain blocks binding of betaARK to Gbeta (Koch et al., 1993) and prevents receptor phosphorylation. It has recently been shown that this reagent interferes with multiple Gbeta-mediated processes such as Gbeta-dependent activation of adenylyl cyclase type II, betaARK2 regulated olfactory signal transduction, and atrial K channel activation (Reuveny et al., 1994; Boekhoff et al., 1994; Inglese et al., 1994).

In an attempt to study the possible role of Gbeta in the mechanism or regulation of endosome fusion we used betaARK C-terminal fusion protein and peptides derived from the Gbeta-binding domain in a cell-free assay that reconstitutes fusion between endosomes. His6-betaARK fusion protein completely blocked endosome fusion while His6-rhodopsin kinase had no effect. A single 28-amino acid peptide (Peptide G) derived from the targeting domain of betaARK was also found to inhibit fusion. Alignment of the cytosolic small GTP-binding protein ARF and peptide G reveals that they share sequence similarity. Our results suggest that betaARK COOH terminus and peptide G inhibit endosome fusion by blocking the interaction of Gbeta with ARF, a cytosolic factor required for endosome fusion. In order to address this provocative hypothesis, we constructed GST-ARF fusion proteins and studied their direct interaction with purified G proteins. Our results indicate that both Gbeta and Galpha(s) interact with the small GTPase ARF. Activation of Galpha(s) by either GTPS or aluminofluoride complexes completely blocked ARF-Galpha interaction, indicating that the heterotrimer is the most likely candidate for ARF-G protein interaction. Our results suggest that a direct collaboration among heterotrimeric G proteins and ARF may regulate vesicular transport.


EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

Cells and Materials

J774, E-clone (mannose receptor positive), a macrophage cell line, was grown to confluence in minimum essential medium containing Earle's salts and supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. HDP-1, a mouse IgG1 monoclonal antibody specific for dinitrophenol was isolated and mannosylated as described previously (Diaz et al., 1988; Colombo et al., 1992b). beta-Glucuronidase was isolated from rat preputial glands and derivatized with dinitrophenol (DNP) using dinitrofluorobenzene (Diaz et al., 1988). Cytosol from J774 was the high speed supernatant of a cell homogenate obtained as described (Diaz et al., 1988) and stored at -80 °C. Cytosol samples (200 µl) were gel filtered through 1-ml Sephadex G-25 spin columns just before use in the fusion assay. Protein concentration after filtration was 3-5 mg/ml. The His6-fusion proteins, His6-RK carboxyl terminus and His6-betaARK1 carboxyl terminus containing the terminal 91 amino acids of RK and the terminal 222 amino acids of betaARK1, were prepared and purified as described (Inglese et al., 1994). Peptides G(1), G(2), and G(1)`, corresponding to specific betaARK1 and betaARK2 sequences were synthesized and purified as described previously (Koch et al., 1993). Recombinant myristoylated ARF1 and ARF4 were prepared and purified essentially as described (Randazzo et al., 1992). Gbeta subunits were purified from bovine brain as described previously (Casey et al., 1989). Recombinant Galpha subunits were a generous gift from Dr. M. Linder (Washington University, St. Louis, MO) and Dr. J. Garrison (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA). All other chemicals were obtained from Sigma.

Preparation of Endocytic Vesicles

Early endosomes were loaded with mannosylated anti-DNP IgG or with DNP-beta-glucuronidase by a 5 min uptake at 37 °C as described previously (Diaz et al., 1988; Colombo et al., 1992b). After ligand uptake, the macrophages (1 times 10^8 cells) were washed sequentially with 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, and with 250 mM sucrose, 0.5 mM EGTA, 20 mM HEPES-KOH, pH 7.0 (homogenization buffer), and homogenized in the latter buffer (2 ml) using a cell homogenizer (Colombo et al., 1992b). Homogenates were centrifuged at 800 times g for 5 min to eliminate nuclei and intact cells, and then pelleted for 1 min at 37,000 times g in a Beckman L 100 microcentrifuge. The supernatants were centrifuged for additional 5 min at 50,000 times g. The pellets of this second centrifugation were enriched with 5-min endosomes. Endosomal fractions containing each probe were resuspended in homogenization buffer and then mixed in the presence of DNP-BSA as scavenger. The samples were quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 °C.

In Vitro Fusion Assay

Endosomal fractions were quickly thawed and mixed with fusion buffer (250 mM sucrose, 0.5 mM EGTA, 20 mM HEPES-KOH, pH 7.0, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 1.5 mM MgCl(2), 50 mM KCl, 1 mM ATP, 8 mM creatine phosphate, 31 units/ml creatine phosphokinase, and 0.25 mg/ml DNP-BSA), supplemented with gel filtered cytosol. The samples were incubated at 37 °C for 45 min and the reaction was stopped by cooling on ice. To measure the immune complexes formed, the vesicles were solubilized by adding 50 µl of solubilization buffer (1% Triton X-100, 0.2% methylbenzethonium chloride, 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% BSA, 0.15 M NaCl, 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4) containing 50 µg/ml DNP-BSA. For immunoprecipitation the samples were transferred to multiwell plates coated with rabbit anti-mouse IgG. After 30-45 min of incubation at room temperature, the wells were washed three times with 300 µl of solubilization buffer, and beta-glucuronidase activity was measured using 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-glucuronide as substrate in a Microplate fluorometer 7600, Cambridge Technology, Inc. (Colombo et al., 1992b). Fusion was expressed in arbitrary fluorescence units.

ARF Binding Assay

An enriched endosomal fraction was prepared by differential centrifugation as described previously (Colombo et al., 1992b). The endosomal fraction (10-20 µg of total protein) was resuspended in the fusion buffer described above, containing gel filtered cytosol (1-2 mg protein/ml). Incubations were carried out in 1.5-ml tubes (Beckman, polyallomer). Incubation volumes were 50 µl. After 5 min of preincubation with the reagents to be tested, 20 µM GTPS was added, and the samples were incubated for additional 20 min at 37 °C. After incubation, the samples were washed with 1 ml of homogenization buffer containing 20 µM GTPS and 1 mM MgCl(2). The membranes were recovered by centrifugation for 5 min at 50,000 times g. Proteins were subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions and transfered onto nitrocellulose in 25 mM Tris, pH 8, 192 mM glycine, and 5% methanol at 150 mA for 1 h. ARF was detected using a polyclonal affinity purified antibody against ARF, kindly provided by J. Rothman (diluted 1:500) and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG (diluted 1:5,000). The visualization was performed using the ECL detection system (Amersham Corp.) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Construction and Isolation of GST Fusion Proteins

cDNA corresponding to human ARF4 (a gift from Richard Kahn, NIH), and ARF4 with the first 17 amino acids deleted were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction using 5` primers containing BamHI sites. The GST gene fusion vector pGEX-3T (Pharmacia Biotech Inc.) was used to construct cDNAs in which the amplified cDNAs were ligated with the 3`-end of the coding region of GST. The clones used in these experiments were verified by sequencing using Sequenase (U. S. Biochemical Corp.). Fusion proteins constructs were introduced into the Escherichia coli strain JM101 and induced with isopropyl-1-thio-beta-D-galactopyranoside to produce GST fusion proteins.

Recombinant C-terminal half of ARF1 (ARF1ct) protein was expressed as follows: the C-terminal half of the ARF1 cDNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The 5`-oligonucleotide primer contained a BamHI linker followed by 14 nucleotide residues downstream of nucleotide residue 307. The 3`-oligonucleotide primer contained an EcoRI linker followed by 16 nucleotide residues complementary to the carboxyl-terminal end of ARF1 cDNA. The amplified cDNA was digested with the restriction enzymes BamHI and EcoRI and then subcloned into the bacterial expression vector pGEX-3T. The recombinant protein was expressed as fusion protein in the E. coli strain JM109, with the NH(2)-terminal end fused to GST and induced with isopropyl-1-thio-beta-D-galactopyranoside to produce GST fusion proteins.

The fusion proteins were purified by glutathione-Sepharose either by standard techniques or using the Sarkosyl method (Frangioni and Neel, 1993). The samples were dialyzed against PBS and, if necessary, concentrated in a Centricon-10 (Amicon). GST-betaARK COOH-terminal and GST-RK COOH-terminal fusion proteins were constructed and purified as described previously (Koch et al., 1993). GST-Rab5 fusion protein, constructed and purified as described (Barbieri et al., 1994), was kindly provided by Mary K. Cullen (Washington University, St. Louis, MO).

Detection of Binding of Gbeta to Fusion Proteins

Binding of Gbeta subunits to the purified GST fusion proteins was done essentially as described previously (Pitcher et al., 1992; Touhara et al., 1994). Briefly, purified bovine brain Gbeta subunits (200-300 nM) were incubated with the GST fusion proteins (600-700 nM) for 30 min on ice in PBS containing 0.01% lubrol. When indicated, purified recombinant Galpha(s) were also added to the binding assay. Glutathione-Sepharose (20 µl of a 50% slurry in PBS/lubrol, Sigma) was added, and incubation was continued on ice for 60 min. The Sepharose beads containing bound GST or GST fusion proteins were subsequently washed four times with PBS/lubrol (400 µl), subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes as described above. Antibodies against Gbeta subunits kindly provided by Gary Johnson (National Jewish Center, Denver) were used at a 1:250 dilution. Galpha(s) was detected using a polyclonal affinity purified antibody against the COOH-terminal end of Galpha(s), kindly provided by Dr. Gary Johnson. Blots were developed with goat anti-rabbit IgG coupled to horseradish peroxidase and detected with the ECL detection system (Amersham) according to the manufacturer's instructions.


RESULTS

The Gbeta-binding Domain of betaARK Inhibits Endosome Fusion

Previous work (Colombo et al., 1992a, 1994a, 1994b) from our laboratory indicates that heterotrimeric G protein(s) regulate fusion among endosomes. Galpha has long been associated with signal transduction pathways. More recently, Gbeta has emerged as a major participant in signal transduction via its interaction with several effectors within the cell (reviewed by Clapham and Neer, 1993; Sternweis, 1994). betaARK is a cytosolic enzyme that is targeted by Gbeta to the membrane (Inglese et al., 1993). A fragment of betaARK corresponding to 222 amino acids of the COOH-terminal domain contains the targeting domain for binding to Gbeta subunits (Pitcher et al., 1992). A fusion protein corresponding to this targeting domain blocks the binding of betaARK to Gbeta (Koch et al., 1993) and other Gbeta-mediated processes.

To assess the possible involvement of Gbeta in the mechanism of endosome fusion, the COOH-terminal betaARK fusion protein was tested in the in vitro endosome fusion assay. Fig. 1A shows that a 6His-COOH-terminal betaARK1 fusion protein (betaARK1ct) completely blocks fusion between endosomes (closed circles). The inhibitory potency of betaARK1ct in the in vitro fusion assay (EC 10-15 µM) was similar to the inhibitory activity against Gbeta activation of betaARK (Koch et al., 1993). Interestingly, the 6His-betaARK2ct corresponding to the same region of betaARK2, another member of the G protein-coupled kinase family, was a better inhibitor of endosome fusion (triangles). In contrast, no effect was observed with the COOH-terminal domain of rhodopsin kinase (open circles). This result is consistent with earlier observations showing that the COOH-terminal domain of RK (RKct) does not bind to Gbeta. RKct lacks the Gbeta-binding domain and consequently does not interact with Gbeta subunits (Pitcher et al., 1992). The differential effect observed with betaARKct and RKct fusion proteins appears to rule out any nonspecific effect of these polypeptides.


Figure 1: A, the carboxyl-terminal domain of betaARK inhibits in vitro endosome fusion. Endosomes containing fusion probes were mixed in fusion buffer with gel-filtered cytosol (0.2 mg/ml) containing 20 µM GTPS. Increasing concentrations of 6His-betaARK1 COOH terminus (closed circles), 6His betaARK2 COOH terminus (triangles), or 6His RK COOH terminus (open circles) were added to the fusion mixture. B, peptides from the Gbeta-binding domain of betaARK inhibit endosome fusion. Increasing concentrations of peptide G1, a 28-amino acid peptide from the Gbeta-binding domain of the betaARK1 (closed circles). Triangles, peptide G2, a peptide corresponding to the same region of betaARK2. Open circles: peptide G, a nonactive betaARK1 peptide, which is actually the first 15 amino acid residues of peptide G(1), used as a control. The samples were incubated for 45 min at 37 °C to allow fusion to occur. Fusion was stopped by cooling at 4 °C and assessed as described under ``Experimental Procedures.'' Values are expressed as percentage of the control fusion without any addition. Data represent one of three similar experiments.



In order to identify the critical regions involved in betaARK binding to Gbeta, Koch and collaborators(1993) synthesized several peptides corresponding to the targeting domain. A single 28-amino acid peptide (Peptide G(1)) derived from the targeting domain of betaARK1 was found to inhibit Gbeta activation of betaARK with an IC of 76 µM. In contrast, peptide G`(1), containing only the first 15 amino acid residues of peptide G(1), was inactive. Fig. 1B shows that peptide G(1) was also inhibitory of endosome fusion with a similar EC (closed circles). No inhibitory effect was observed with peptide G`(1) (open circles). As observed with betaARK2, peptide G(2) corresponding to the same region of betaARK(2) was a more potent inhibitor of endosome fusion (triangles).

Since the COOH-terminal domain of betaARK selectively binds to Gbeta, the inhibitory effect observed with the fusion protein and with peptide G suggests that a Gbeta-mediated process is involved in in vitro endosome fusion. The results further suggest that betaARKct and peptide G are likely blocking the interaction of Gbeta subunits with a factor(s) required for in vitro endosome fusion.

The Small GTP-binding Protein ARF and the Gbeta-binding Domain of betaARK Share Sequence Similarity

ARF is a Ras-like small GTP-binding protein that was originally identified as the protein cofactor required for efficient ADP-ribosylation of Galpha(s) by cholera toxin (Kahn and Gilman, 1984). It is now clear that ARF has an important role in vesicular transport (reviewed by Nuoffer and Balch, 1994; Rothman and Orci, 1992). Work in our laboratory indicates that ARF is required for in vitro endosome fusion and that in the presence of GTPS, ARF inhibits fusion (Lenhard et al., 1992). Recently, we have shown that ARF plays a regulatory role in receptor-mediated endocytosis (D'Souza-Schorey et al., 1995). Given that ARF is a cytosolic protein involved in fusion between endosomes we compared the sequence of peptides G with members of the ARF family. When peptides G were aligned with ARF a surprising similarity was found among the sequences (Fig. 2). A segment of five amino acids (ELRDA) from peptide G(1) was identical to a fragment corresponding to amino acids 115-119 of ARF1 (see box in Fig. 2). Equivalent sequence similarity was observed with other members of the ARF family.


Figure 2: Homology of peptides G(1) and G(2) to ARFs. Peptide G(1), a 28-amino acid peptide corresponding to betaARK1 residues Trp to Ser and peptide G(2) corresponding to the same region of betaARK2 were aligned with the COOH-terminal half of members of the ARF family using the J. Hein method with PAM250 residue weight table. A segment of five amino acids (ELRDA) from peptide G(1), identical to a fragment corresponding to amino acids 115-119 of ARF1, is boxed. Equivalent sequence similarity was observed with other members of the ARF family. Sequence positions for the rightmost residue of each polypeptide are given in the right-hand column.



betaARKct and Peptide G Interferes with ARF Binding to Membranes

Previous work has shown that addition of GTPS inhibits several assays that reconstitute vesicular transport including transport through the Golgi and fusion between endosomes, in a cytosol-dependent fashion (Rothman and Orci, 1992; Mayorga et al., 1989). The sensitivity to GTPS of several cell-free assays is conferred in part by ARF, a cytosolic protein (Taylor et al., 1992). Since peptide G and ARF have sequences in common, we speculated that peptide G would compete with ARF function. If that were the case, addition of peptide G might be expected to compete both the GTPS- and ARF-dependent inhibition of fusion. As predicted the inhibitory effect of GTPS was reversed by addition of increasing concentrations of peptide G(1) (Fig. 3A). Similarly, the inhibitory effect of ARF was reversed by addition of peptide G(1) (Fig. 3B). Moreover, betaARKct also reversed the inhibitory effect of both GTPS and ARF (data not shown). The observation that both peptide G and the fusion protein containing the COOH-terminal domain of betaARK produce a similar effect rules out the possibility that the effects observed in our assay are due to detergent-like effects sometimes attributed to certain peptides.


Figure 3: Peptide G(1) reverses GTPS- and ARF-mediated inhibition of fusion by inhibiting ARF binding to the membranes. A, endosome fusion was tested in the presence of 0.8 mg/ml cytosol supplemented with 20 µM GTPS to inhibit fusion. The inhibitory effect of GTPS was reversed by addition of increasing concentrations of peptide G(1). Endosome fusion was measured as described under ``Experimental Procedures.'' Fusion is expressed in relative units. B, endosomal vesicles were resuspended in cytosol (0.2 mg/ml) containing 20 µM GTPS. Fusion was assessed in the presence (closed circles) or the absence (open circles) of 15 µg/ml purified recombinant myristolated ARF1. The inhibitory effect of ARF was reversed by addition of increasing concentrations of peptide G(1). The results are representative data of a experiment performed three times. C, enriched endosomal fraction (10-20 µg of total protein) was resuspended in fusion buffer, containing 1 mg/ml cytosolic proteins. Samples were incubated for 5 min at 37 °C in the presence of: lane a, no additions; lane b, 50 µM peptide G(1); lane c, 25 µM peptide G(2); lane d, 50 µM peptide G (control peptide). After preincubation, 20 µM GTPS was added, and the samples were incubated for additional 20 min at 37 °C. After incubation, the samples were washed with 1 ml of homogenization buffer containing 20 µM GTPS and 1 mM MgCl(2), and the membranes were recovered by centrifugation for 5 min at 50,000 times g. The membrane proteins were resolved by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred to nitrocellulose, and probed with anti-ARF antibodies. Data represent one of three similar experiments.



As another approach to directly show that peptide G was competing with ARF for interaction with membranes, we studied the binding of ARF to endosomal membranes by Western blot assay. Fig. 3C shows that incubation of enriched endosomal membranes with cytosol in the presence of 20 µM GTPS resulted in binding of ARF (lane a). Preincubation of the membranes for 5 min at 37 °C before the addition of GTPS with peptide G(1) or G(2) (lanes b and c) inhibited the binding of ARF to crude endosomal membranes. As expected no inhibition of ARF binding was observed with the control peptide G(1)` (lane d).

Taken together our results indicate that peptide G interferes with ARF function by blocking the interaction of this protein with the membranes.

Binding of Gbeta Subunits to ARF Fusion Proteins

Based on the sequence similarity between peptide G and ARF and, since peptide G blocks binding of betaARK to Gbeta subunits (Koch et al., 1993), the results suggest that Gbeta is one of the membrane components that may interact with ARF. In order to address this question, we performed an in vitro binding assay using a GST-ARF fusion protein to study the direct interaction between the proteins. We constructed GST-ARF4 and an amino-terminal deletion mutant GST-ARF4 (Delta1-17) with the first 17 amino acids deleted. In order to better define the domain that is involved in the interaction of ARF with Gbeta, a third fusion protein GST-ARF1ct, which contained the carboxyl-terminal half of ARF1, was constructed based on the sequence alignments between peptide G and ARF. Fig. 4shows a diagrammatic representation of the GST-ARF fusion proteins used in the in vitro binding assay. As shown in Fig. 5A both ARF mutants, ARF4 (Delta1-17) and ARF1ct (lanes 4 and 5, respectively), bound Gbeta although to a lesser extent than GST-betaARK1ct (lane 1, positive control). Also, GST-ARF4 bound Gbeta to an extent similar to the mutated forms of ARF (data not shown). The corresponding region of RK (GST-RKct), which does not bind Gbeta, and GST alone were used as negative controls (lanes 2 and 3, respectively). In order to assess the specificity of the interaction between Gbeta and ARF, Rab5, another small GTP-binding protein involved in fusion among endosomes, was tested in the binding assay. GST-Rab5 was negative for binding to Gbeta subunits (lane 6). Although these results indicate that the binding of Gbeta to immobilized ARF is specific, only a small amount of the available Gbeta subunits bound to GST-ARF. However, the binding of Gbeta to GST-ARF4 (Delta1-17) was markedly increased by addition of recombinant Galpha subunits such as Galpha(s) and Galpha (Fig. 5A, lanes 7 and 8), suggesting that ARF interacts more efficiently with the heterotrimer than with Gbeta alone. This was an unexpected observation given previous results showing that Galpha completely inhibited the binding of Gbeta to betaARK (Touhara et al., 1994). Nevertheless, there is a precedent for a possible Galpha-ARF association given the fact that ARF is the co-factor necessary for the ADP-ribosylation of G(s) by cholera toxin (Kahn and Gilman, 1984, 1986). Therefore, Galpha may associate directly with ARF increasing the binding of Gbeta.


Figure 4: Diagrammatic representation of GST-ARF fusion proteins. Each GST fusion protein was constructed, expressed, and purified as described under ``Experimental Procedures.'' The GST protein is shown shaded. ARF4, wild type ARF4. ARF4(Delta 1-17), a mutant ARF4 with the first 17 amino acids deleted. ARF1ct, a mutant ARF1 corresponding to the COOH-terminal half of ARF1. Peptide G is shown to indicate the regions that display homology with ARF.




Figure 5: A, binding of Gbeta to GST-ARF fusion proteins in the presence or absence of Galpha subunits. Purified bovine brain Gbeta subunits (300 nM) were incubated with different GST fusion proteins (600-700 nM) for 30 min on ice in PBS containing 0.01% lubrol. The binding of the proteins to glutathione-Sepharose beads and the detection were performed as described under ``Experimental Procedures.'' Western blot analysis showing Gbeta binding to GST fusion proteins: lane 1, GST-betaARK1ct, positive control; lane 2, GST; lane 3, GST-RKct; lane 4, GST-ARF4 (Delta1-17); lane 5, GST-ARF1ct; lane 6, GST-rab5; lane 7, GST-ARF4 (Delta1-17) + 1.2 µM purified recombinant Galpha(s); lane 8, GST-ARF4 (Delta1-17) + 1.2 µM purified recombinant Galpha. GST, GST-RKct, and GST-rab5 were used as negative controls. The results are representative data of a experiment performed four times. B, binding of Gbeta to GST-ARF(Delta1-17) is competed by purified ARF. Purified bovine brain Gbeta subunits were incubated with GST-ARF(Delta1-17) as described. Control, no additions; +ARF4, 7 µM purified recombinant ARF4; +ARF1, 3 µM purified recombinant ARF1; + BSA, 7 µM BSA (control). The binding and the detection were performed as described under ``Experimental Procedures.'' Data represent one of two similar experiments.



Gbeta binding to ARF-GST was specifically competed by purified recombinant ARF1 and ARF4 (Fig. 5B), but not by BSA indicating the specificity of the ARF-Gbeta association.

Galpha(s) in the GDP-bound Form Interacts with ARF

As mentioned above addition of Galpha subunits enhanced the binding of Gbeta to ARF. In order to study the possibility that Galpha was also part of the complex, we added recombinant Galpha(s) to the assay in the presence of Gbeta subunits. As shown in Fig. 6A, Galpha was detected using a specific antibody generated against the COOH-terminal domain of Galpha(s). We next asked if Galpha(s) was able to associate with ARF in the absence of Gbeta and if this interaction were specific. Fig. 6B shows that Galpha(s) binds to GST-ARF in the absence of Gbeta, and that a marked increase in binding is observed when both subunits were added to the assay. Essentially, no binding was observed when GST alone was used, indicating the specificity of the protein association.


Figure 6: A, binding of Galpha(s) to GST-ARF. Purified bovine brain Gbeta (300 nM) with or without purified recombinant Galpha(s) (700 nM) was incubated with GST-ARF4(Delta1-17) as described in Fig. 5. B, Galpha(s) interacts with ARF in the presence or absence of Gbeta. GST-ARF4(Delta1-17) or GST alone was incubated with purified bovine brain Gbeta (300 nM), purified recombinant Galpha(s) (500 nM) or both as described. C, activation of Galpha(s) by AlF blocks Galpha(s)-ARF association. GST-ARF4(Delta1-17) was incubated with 300 nM of purified bovine Gbeta subunits and/or with 700 nM recombinant Galpha(s) for 30 min at 30 °C in PBS containing 0.01% lubrol and 10 mM MgCl(2) in the presence or the absence of AlF (100 µM AlNH(4)(SO(4))(2) + 10 mM KF). D, activation of ARF by GTPS inhibits Gbeta-ARF association. GST-ARF4(Delta1-17) was preincubated for 90 min at 37 °C in 50 mM HEPES-K, pH 7.5, containing 0.01% lubrol, 1 mM DTT, and 10 mM MgCl(2) in the presence of 50 µM GTPS, 50 µM GDPbetaS or no additions. Nucleotide exchange on ARF was stopped by cooling at 4 °C. Subsequently, 300 nM of purified bovine Gbeta subunits were added, and the samples were incubated for additional 30 min at 4 °C. The binding of the proteins to glutathione-Sepharose and the detection were performed as described under ``Experimental Procedures.'' Western blot analysis showing Gbeta and/or Galpha(s) binding to GST fusion proteins. Data represent one of three similar experiments.



It is known that GTPases function as molecular switches changing their conformation when they are activated. Aluminum fluoride (AlF) is a classical activator of heterotrimeric G proteins but does not activate members of the small GTPase family such as ARF (Kahn et al., 1992). Therefore, in order to independently activate the heterotrimeric G protein, the effect of AlF was tested in the binding assay. As shown in Fig. 6C, activation of Galpha(s) by AlF completely blocked ARF-Galpha(s) association both in the presence or the absence of Gbeta. As expected, AlF did not affect ARF-Gbeta association.

Given that both ARF and heterotrimeric G proteins are regulated by nucleotide binding we next studied the effect of either GTPS or GDPbetaS. Similar to the effect observed with AlF, GTPS almost completely blocked Galpha(s)-ARF association (data not shown); essentially no effect was observed with GDPbetaS. Our results clearly indicate that Galpha(s) in the GDP-bound form associates with ARF either in the presence or the absence of Gbeta subunits. Activation of Galpha(s) by either GTPS or AlF completely blocked ARF-Galpha interaction, indicating that the heterotrimer is the most likely candidate for ARF-G protein interaction. GTPS inhibited ARF-Gbeta association (Fig. 6D) suggesting that ARF interacts with Gbeta in the GDP-bound state.


DISCUSSION

The beta subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins modulate the activity of several signal-transducing effector molecules such as phospholipase C, phospholipase A2, certain isoforms of adenylate cyclase and cardiac muscarinic potassium channels (reviewd by Clapham and Neer, 1993). Gbeta also mediates the membrane translocation of the beta-adrenergic receptor kinases (betaARK1 and betaARK2) where they phosphorylate activated receptors (Inglese et al., 1993). The COOH-terminal domain of betaARK (betaARKct) contains the targeting domain for binding to Gbeta (Pitcher et al., 1992), and a fusion protein corresponding to this targeting domain blocks the binding of betaARK to Gbeta (Koch et al., 1993). Moreover, betaARKct appears to act as a general Gbeta antagonist, inhibiting Gbeta-mediated signals other than betaARK translocation such as Gbeta-dependent activation of adenylyl cyclase type II, betaARK2-regulated olfactory signal transduction, and atrial K channel activation (Reuveny et al., 1994; Boekhoff et al., 1994; Inglese et al., 1994; Koch et al., 1994).

In this report we present evidence that the COOH-terminal portion of betaARK (betaARKct) and peptides corresponding to the Gbeta-targeting domain of betaARK inhibit in vitro endosome fusion. The results suggest that a Gbeta-mediated signal is involved in either the mechanism or the regulation of endosome fusion. Indeed, our results suggest that betaARKct and peptides from the Gbeta-binding domain (peptides G) block the interaction of Gbeta with a factor(s) required for endosome fusion. We believe that one of these factors is ARF for the following reasons: (i) peptide G and ARF share sequence homology, (ii) peptide G reverses GTPS- and ARF-mediated inhibition of endosome fusion, (iii) peptide G inhibits ARF binding to membranes. Supporting evidence for a direct interaction between ARF and Gbeta was provided by an in vitro binding assay using ARF-GST fusion proteins. Our study establishes that Gbeta binds to ARF and that this interaction is specifically competed by purified recombinant ARF and enhanced by Galpha.

While the binding of Gbeta to immobilized ARF is specific, only small amounts of the available Gbeta subunits bound to GST-ARF. However, the binding was increased by the addition of Galpha. A trivial explanation is that most of the Gbeta has been simply denatured during its preparation. Another possibility is that ARF(4) binds only to a specific subset of the Gbeta combinations comprising the heterogeneous preparation isolated from bovine brain. An interesting possibility is that Gbeta may require interaction with another protein to be in the right conformation for binding. The Gbeta-binding domain of betaARK shares homology with the novel pleckstrin homology domain (PH domain). This domain is found in a variety of signaling molecules such Ras-GAP, Ras-GRF, SOS, and others (Shaw, 1993; Musacchio et al., 1993). Recently, it has been shown that proteins with PH domains bind to Gbeta in vitro (Touhara et al., 1994). Protein-protein interactions between proteins containing a PH domain and Gbeta may play a significant role in cellular signaling. Although the presence of a PH domain has not been described for ARF, it is tempting to speculate that putative ARF accessory proteins such as ARF-GAP or ARF-GRF may indeed contain such a domain and that they may regulate ARF activity in conjunction with Gbeta. Current models for the interaction between ARF and target membranes propose that activation of ARF by a protease- and brefeldin A-sensitive membrane-bound nucleotide-exchange factor (Helms and Rothman, 1992; Donaldson et al., 1992b; Randazzo et al., 1993) results in association of ARF-GTP with the lipid bilayer. Our results indicating that ARF in the GDP form interacts with Gbeta suggest that these proteins may form a multimeric complex that allows the interaction of ARF with its nucleotide exchange factor resulting in ARF activation.

The results presented in this report are the first direct evidence indicating that both Galpha(s) and Gbeta associates directly with ARF. There is a precedent for this connection in that ARF is the co-factor necessary for the ADP-ribosylation of G(s) by cholera toxin and a possible interaction with Galpha(s) has been previously suggested (Kahn and Gilman, 1984, 1986). Interestingly, during the purification of ARF from bovine brain, ARF eluted in two peaks, one coincidental with G(s). Addition of AlF was necessary to obtain a single peak of ARF activity (Kahn and Gilman, 1984, 1986). The more likely target for AlF is the GDP-form of Galpha. In agreement with the results of Kahn and Gilman, our data indicate that Galpha(s) in the GDP-bound conformation associates with ARF since activation of Galpha(s) by either GTPS or AlF completely blocked ARF-Galpha interaction. Recently, Finazzi and collaborators(1994) have shown that AlF plus GTP stabilizes the active state of ARF by preventing the rapid hydrolysis of the GTP loaded onto ARF. These authors have postulated that an AlF-sensitive target may lead to a persistent activation of ARF by inhibiting an ARF GAP or by making the ARF-GTP either insensitive or inaccessible to ARF GAP. While the exact role and mechanism of action of Galpha remains to be defined, our results of complete inhibition of Galpha-ARF association by AlF suggest the intriguing possibility that Galpha in the GDP-bound form may regulate ARF GTPase activity.

An interesting outcome of our experiments relates to the role of the amino-terminal domain of ARF in mediating ARF function. It has been reported that the amino terminus of ARF is critical for function since deletion of this domain results in a global reduction of ARF activities (Kahn et al., 1992). A synthetic peptide derived from the amino terminus of ARF inhibits ARF activity including cholera toxin activation, as well as intra-Golgi transport (Kahn et al., 1992) and fusion between endosomes (Lenhard et al., 1992). Moreover, the amino-terminal 13 residues of ARF1 are required for cofactor activity in the ADP-ribosylation by cholera toxin when G(s) is the substrate (Randazzo et al., 1994). However, Vaughan and collaborators (Hong et al., 1994) have shown that the amino terminus of ARF is not necessary for in vitro activation of cholera toxin using as a substrate agmatine. Although the basis for this disparity is not clear, this latest result suggests that other domains, besides the amino terminus, are likely involved in the interaction of ARF with the toxin. Our results indicate that the ARF domain involved in ARF-Gbeta interaction does not require the amino-terminal 17 amino acids since Gbeta binds to GST-ARF4 and to the truncated ARF mutants (ARF4Delta1-17 and ARF1ct) to a comparable extent. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that the presence of GST at the amino terminus may interfere with the proper folding and binding capacity of this domain.

It has been demonstrated that ARF plays an essential role in regulating coatomer binding (Donaldson et al., 1992a; Palmer et al., 1993) and AP-1 recruitment onto Golgi membranes (Traub, et al., 1993; Stamnes et al., 1993). Moreover, a number of studies have provided evidence for the involvement of heterotrimeric G proteins in coat assembly (Donaldson et al., 1991; Ktistakis et al., 1992). Association of ARF and beta-COP with Golgi membranes is sensitive to a number of reagents that modulate heterotrimeric G protein function (Donaldson et al., 1991; Ktistakis et al., 1992). In addition to GTPS, AlF, known to specifically activate trimeric G proteins (Kahn, 1991), enhances the binding of beta-COP to Golgi membranes (Serafini et al., 1991). These findings and the observation that Gbeta inhibits both ARF and beta-COP binding (Donaldson et al., 1991) suggest that G proteins regulate coat protein binding. We have also recently shown that both heterotrimeric G proteins and ARF regulate priming of endosomal membranes for fusion (Lenhard et al., 1994). Addition of Gbeta resulted in inhibition of GTPS-mediated priming of endosomes. In contrast, addition of ARF to the assay enhanced priming in the presence of cytosol. These observations suggest that ARF enhances binding of cytosolic factors required for fusion onto the endosomal membrane. Although the linkage between ARF binding and coat assembly with heterotrimeric G proteins has been proposed based on the data summarized above, to date no direct evidence for the interaction between ARF and trimeric G proteins has been presented. Our data would support a model in which heterotrimeric G proteins regulate binding of essential proteins at least in part, by directly interacting with ARF.

Finally, several recent observations implicate a signal transduction mechanism in the regulation of vesicular traffic. The findings from Bomsel and Mostov(1993) indicating that binding of dIgA to the pIgR stimulates the formation of transcytotic vesicles suggest that ligand binding generates a signal that is transduced to the intracellular sorting machinery. Interestingly, in Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with muscarinic receptors, endosomal trafficking was inhibited by carbachol (Haraguchi and Rodbell, 1991). More specifically, antigen-induced activation of the IgE receptor and activation of protein kinase C regulate the GTP-dependent binding of ARF and beta-COP to Golgi membranes (De Matteis et al., 1993). Furthermore, the recent identification of phospholipase D as an effector of ARF (Brown et al., 1993; Kahn et al., 1993) raises the possibility that a novel signal transduction pathway may regulate intracellular membrane traffic. Our results of a direct interaction between ARF and trimeric G proteins suggest that ARF may be a nexus linking heterotrimeric G proteins and downstream effectors (i.e. PLD). Given the enormous potential for specificity with 24 possible combinations of Gbeta and several ARFs, our present observations, together with those of others, provide a novel prospect by which trimeric G proteins and ARF provide fine control of vesicular traffic and its response to extracellular signals.


FOOTNOTES

*
This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants (to P. D. S.) and an American Cancer Society grant (to M. I. C.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore by hereby marked ``advertisement'' in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

§
Leukemia Society Special Fellow grant recipient.

Recipient of the Lucille P. Markey post-doctoral fellowship.

**
Fellow from the CONICET (Argentina).

§§
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University, School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO, 63110. Tel.: 314-362-6950: Fax: 314-362-7463.

(^1)
The abbreviations used are: betaARK, beta-adrenergic receptor kinase; GST, glutathione S-transferase; GTPS, guanosine 5`-O-(thiotriphosphate); DNP, dinitrophenol; BSA, bovine serum albumin; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; AlF, aluminum fluoride; GDPbetaS, guanosine 5`-O-(z-thiodiphosphate); RK, rhodopsin kinase.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to Heather Hall for excellent technical assistance. We thank Drs. Patrick Casey, Narasimhan Gautam, Maurine Linder, Guangpu Li, and Eric Brown for critically reading this manuscript and Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz for providing helpful insights.

Note Added in Proof-While this paper was under review, we became aware of a paper reporting similar results (Franco, M., Paris, S. and Chabre, M.(1995) FEBS Lett.362, 286-290).


REFERENCES

  1. Balch, W. E., Kahn, R. A., and Schwaninger, R. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267,13053-13061 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Barbieri, M. A., Li, G., Colombo, M. I. and Stahl, P. D. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269,18720-18722 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  3. Barr, F. A., Leyte, A., and Huttner, W. B. (1992) Trends Cell Biol. 2,91-94 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  4. Barroso, M., and Sztul, E. S. (1994) J. Cell Biol. 124,83-100 [Abstract]
  5. Beron, W., Colombo, M. I., Mayorga, L. S., and Stahl, P. D. (1995) Arch. Biochem. Biophys 317,337-342 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  6. Boekhoff, I., Inglese, J., Schleicher, S., Koch, W. J., Lefkowitz, R. J., and Breer, H. (1994) J Biol. Chem. 269,37-40 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  7. Bomsel, M.. and Mostov, K. (1992) Mol. Biol. Cell 3,1317-1328 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  8. Bomsel, M.. and Mostov, K. E. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268,25824-25835 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  9. Brown, A. H., Gutowski, S., Moomaw, C. R., Slaughter, C., and Sternweis, P. C. (1993) Cell 75,1137-1144 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  10. Burgoyne, R. D. (1992) Trends Biochem. Sci. 17,87-88 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  11. Carter, L. L., Redelmeier, T. E., Woollenweber, L. A., and Schmid, S. L. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 120,37-45 [Abstract]
  12. Casey, P. J., Graziano, M. P., and Gilman, A. G. (1989) Biochemistry 28,611-616 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  13. Clapham, D. E., and Neer, E. J. (1993) Nature 365,403-406 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  14. Colombo, M. I., Mayorga, L. S., Casey, P. J. and Stahl, P. D. (1992a) Science 255,1695-1697 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  15. Colombo, M. I., Lenhard, J. M., Mayorga, L. S., and Stahl, P. D. (1992b) Methods Enzymol. 219,32-44 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  16. Colombo, M. I., Lenhard, J., Mayorga, L. S., Beron, W., Hall, H., and Stahl, P. D. (1994a) Mol. Membr. Biol., 11,93-100 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  17. Colombo, M. I., Mayorga, L. S., Nishimoto, I, Ross E. M., and Stahl, P. (1994b) J. Biol. Chem 269,14919-14923 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  18. De Matteis, M. A., Santini, G., Kahn, R. A., Di Tullio, G., and Luini, A. (1993) Nature 364,818-821 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  19. Diaz, R., Mayorga, L. S., and Stahl, P. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263,6093-6100 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  20. Donaldson, J. G., and Klausner, R. D. (1994) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 6,527-532 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  21. Donaldson, J. G., Kahn, R. A., Lippincott-Schwartz, J., and Klausner, R. D. (1991) Science 254,1197-1199 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  22. Donaldson, J. G., Cassel, D., Kahn, R. A. and Klausner, R. D. (1992a) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci U. S. A. 89,6408-6412 [Abstract]
  23. Donaldson J. G., Finazzi, D., and Klausner, R. D. (1992b) Nature 360,350-352 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  24. D'Souza-Schorey, C., Li, G., Colombo, M. I., and Stahl, P. D. (1995) Science 267,1175-1178 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  25. Finazzi, D., Cassel, D., Donaldson, J. G., and Klausner, R. D. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269,13325-13330 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  26. Frangioni, J. V., and Neel, B. G. (1993) Annal. Biochem. 210,179-187 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  27. Gilman, A. G. (1987) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 56,615-649 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  28. Goud, B., and McCaffrey, M. (1991) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 3,626-633 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  29. Hansen, S. H., and Casanova, J. E. (1994) J. Cell Biol. 126,677-687 [Abstract]
  30. Haraguchi, K., and Rodbell, M. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 88,5964-5968 [Abstract]
  31. Helms, J. B., and Rothman, J. E. (1992) Nature 360,352-354 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  32. Hong, J., Haun, R. S., Tsai, S., Moss, J., and Vaughan, M. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269,9743-9745 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  33. Inglese, J., Freedman, N. J., Koch, W. J., and Lefkowitz, R. J. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268,23735-23738 [Free Full Text]
  34. Inglese, J., Luttrell, L. M., Iniguez-Lluhi, J. A., Touhara, K., Koch, W. J., and Lefkowitz, R. J. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 91,3637-3641 [Abstract]
  35. Kahn, R. A. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266,15595-15597 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  36. Kahn, R. A., and Gilman, A. G. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259,6235-6240 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  37. Kahn, R. A., and Gilman, A. G. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261,7906-7911 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  38. Kahn, R. A., Randazzo, P., Serafini, T., Weiss, O., Rulka, C., Clark, J., Amherdt, M., Roller, P., Orci, L., and Rothman, J. E. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267,13039-13046 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  39. Kahn, R. A., Yucel, J. K., and Malhotra, V. (1993) Cell 75,11045-11048
  40. Koch, W. J., Inglese, J., Stone, W. C., and Lefkowitz, R. J. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268,8256-8260 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  41. Koch, W. J., Hawes, B. E., Inglese, J., Luttrell, L. M., and Lefkowitz, R. J. (1994) J. Biol. Chem 269,6193-6197 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  42. Kreis, T. E., and Pepperkok, R. (1994) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 6,533-537 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  43. Ktistakis, N, T., Linder, M. E., and Roth, M. G. (1992) Nature 356,344-346 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  44. Lenhard, J. M., Kahn, R. A., and Stahl, P. D. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267,13047-13052 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  45. Lenhard, J. M., Colombo, M. I., and Stahl, P. D. (1994) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 312,474-479 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  46. Leyte, A., Barr, F. A., Kehlenbach, R. H., and Huttner, W. B. (1992) EMBO J. 11,4795-4804 [Abstract]
  47. Mayorga, L. S., Diaz, R., and Stahl, P. D. (1989) Science 244,1475-1477 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  48. Musacchio, A., Gibson, T., Rice, P., Thompson, J., and Saraste, M. (1993) Trends Biochem. Sci. 18,343-348 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  49. Nuoffer, C., and Balch, W. E. (1994) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 63,949-990 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  50. Palmer, D. J., Helms, J. B., Beckers, C. J., Orci, L., and Rothman, J. E. (1993) J. Biol. Chem 268,12083-12089 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  51. Pimplikar, S. W., and Simons, K. (1993) Nature 362,456-458 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  52. Pitcher, J. A., Inglese, J., Higgins, J. B., Arriza, J. L., Casey, P. J., Kim, C., Benovic, J. L., Kwatra, M. M., Caron, M. G., and Lefkowitz, R. J. (1992) Science 257,1264-1267 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  53. Pryer, N. K., Wuestehube, L. J., and Schekman, R. (1992) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 61,471-516 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  54. Randazzo, P. A., Weiss, O., and Kahn, R. A. (1992) Methods Enzymol. 219,362-369 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  55. Randazzo, P. A., Yang, Y. C., Rulka, C., and Kahn, R. A. (1993) J. Biol Chem. 268,9555-9563 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  56. Randazzo, P. A., Terui, T., Sturch, S., and Kahn, R. A. (1994) J. Cell Biol. 269,29490-29494
  57. Reuveny, E., Slesinger, P. A., Inglese, J., Morales, J. M., Iniguez-Lluhi, J. A., Lefkowitz, R. J., Bourne, H. R., Jan, Y. N., and Jan, L. Y. (1994) Nature 370,143-146 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  58. Rothman, J. E., and Orci, L. (1992) Nature 355,409-415 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  59. Serafini, T. L., Orci, L., Amherdt, M., Brunner, M., Kahn, R. A., and Rothman, J. E. (1991) Cell 67,239-254 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  60. Shaw, G. (1993) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 195,1145-1151 [CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  61. Stamnes, M. A., and Rothman, J. E. (1993) Cell 73,999-1005 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  62. Stearns, T., Hoyt, M. A., Botstein, D., and Kahn, R. A. (1990a) Mol. Cell. Biol. 10,6690-6699 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  63. Stearns, T., Willingham, M. C., Botstein, D., and Kahn, R. A. (1990b) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 87,1238-1242 [Abstract]
  64. Sternweis, P. C. (1994) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 6,198-203 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  65. Stow, J. L., de Almeida, J. B., Narula, N., Holtzman, E. J., Ercolani, L., and Ausiello, D. A. (1991) J. Cell Biol. 114,1113-1124 [Abstract]
  66. Taylor, T. C., Kahn, R. A., and Melancon, P. (1992) Cell 70,69-79 [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  67. Touhara, K., Inglese, J., Pitcher, J. A., Shaw, G., and Lefkowitz, R. J. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269,10217-10220 [Abstract/Free Full Text]
  68. Traub, L., M., Ostrom, J. A., and Kornfeld, S. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 123,561-573 [Abstract]

©1995 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.