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Specificity domains distinguish the Ras-related GTPases Ypt1 and Sec4

Nature volume 362, pages 563–565 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

THE essential Ras-related GTPases1–2 Ypt1 and Sec4 act at distinct stages of the secretion pathway in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Ypt1 is required for vesicular transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus, whereas Sec4 is required for fusion of secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane3–6. Here we use chimaeras of the two proteins to identify a 9-residue segment of Ypt1 that, when substituted for the analogous segment of Sec4, allows the chimaera to perform the minimal functions of both proteins in vivo. This segment corresponds to loop L7 of the p21ras crystal structure7. Substitution of a 24-residue Ypt1 segment, including the residues just mentioned, together with 12 residues of Ypt1 corresponding to the 'effector region' of p21ras (loop L2; refs 7, 8), transforms Sec4 into a fully functional Ypt1 protein without residual Sec4 function.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    Barbara Dunn & David Botstein

  2. Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA

    Tim Stearns

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  1. Barbara Dunn
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Dunn, B., Stearns, T. & Botstein, D. Specificity domains distinguish the Ras-related GTPases Ypt1 and Sec4. Nature 362, 563–565 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/362563a0

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