SGD Paper 
Loewen CJ and Levine TP (2005) A highly conserved binding site in vesicle-associated membrane protein-associated protein (VAP) for the FFAT motif of lipid-binding proteins. J Biol Chem 280(14):14097-104
Abstract: A variety of lipid binding proteins contain a recently described motif designated two phenylalanines in an acidic tract (FFAT), which binds to vesicle-associated-membrane-protein-associated protein (VAP). VAP is a conserved integral membrane protein of the endoplasmic reticulum that contains at its amino-terminus a domain related to the major sperm protein of nematode worms. Here we have studied the FFAT-VAP interaction in S. cerevisiae, where the VAP homologue Scs2 regulates phospholipid metabolism via an interaction with the FFAT motif of Opi1. By introducing mutations at random into Scs2, we found that mutations that abrogated binding to FFAT were clustered in the most highly conserved region. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we identified several critical residues, including two lysines widely separated in the primary sequence. Examining all other conserved basic residues identified a third that was moderately important for binding FFAT. Modelling VAP on the known structure of major sperm protein showed that the critical residues form a patch on a positively charged face of the protein. In vivo functional studies of SCS22, a second SCS2-like gene in S. cerevisiae, showed that SCS2 was the dominant gene in the regulation of Opi1, with a minor contribution from SCS22. We then established that reduction in the affinity of Scs2 mutants for FFAT correlated well with loss of function, indicating the importance of these residues for binding FFAT motifs. Finally, we found that human VAP-A could substitute for Scs2, but that it functioned poorly, suggesting that other factors modulate the binding of Scs2 to proteins with FFAT motifs.
| Status: Published | Type: Journal Article | PubMed ID: 15668246 |
Topics addressed in this paper
Number of different genes curated to this paper: 3
- To find other papers on a gene and topic, click on the colored ball in the appropriate box.
- displays other papers with information about that topic for that gene.
- displays other papers in SGD that are associated with that topic.
The topic is addressed in these papers but does not describe a specific gene or chromosomal feature.
- To go to the Locus page for a gene, click on the gene name.
