1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
  2. Cell Biology

The Sec7 N-terminal regulatory domains facilitate membrane-proximal activation of the Arf1 GTPase

  1. Brian C Richardson
  2. Steve L Halaby
  3. Margaret A Gustafson
  4. J Christopher Fromme  Is a corresponding author
  1. Cornell University, United States
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12411
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  1. Brian C Richardson
  2. Steve L Halaby
  3. Margaret A Gustafson
  4. J Christopher Fromme
(2016)
The Sec7 N-terminal regulatory domains facilitate membrane-proximal activation of the Arf1 GTPase
eLife 5:e12411.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12411
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Abstract

The Golgi complex is the central sorting compartment of eukaryotic cells. Arf guanine nucleotide exchange factors (Arf-GEFs) regulate virtually all traffic through the Golgi by activating Arf GTPase trafficking pathways. The Golgi Arf-GEFs contain multiple autoregulatory domains, but the precise mechanisms underlying their function remain largely undefined. We report a crystal structure revealing that the N-terminal DCB and HUS regulatory domains of the Arf-GEF Sec7 form a single structural unit. We demonstrate that the established role of the N-terminal region in dimerization is not conserved; instead, a C-terminal autoinhibitory domain is responsible for dimerization of Sec7. We find that the DCB/HUS domain amplifies the ability of Sec7 to activate Arf1 on the membrane surface by facilitating membrane insertion of the Arf1 amphipathic helix. This enhancing function of the Sec7 N-terminal domains is consistent with the high rate of Arf1-dependent trafficking to the plasma membrane necessary for maximal cell growth.

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Author details

  1. Brian C Richardson

    Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Steve L Halaby

    Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Margaret A Gustafson

    Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. J Christopher Fromme

    Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
    For correspondence
    jcf14@cornell.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Copyright

© 2016, Richardson et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Brian C Richardson
  2. Steve L Halaby
  3. Margaret A Gustafson
  4. J Christopher Fromme
(2016)
The Sec7 N-terminal regulatory domains facilitate membrane-proximal activation of the Arf1 GTPase
eLife 5:e12411.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12411

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12411

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