The Caenorhabditis elegans protein SAS-5 forms large oligomeric assemblies critical for centriole formation

  1. Kacper B Rogala
  2. Nicola J Dynes
  3. Georgios N Hatzopoulos
  4. Jun Yan
  5. Sheng Kai Pong
  6. Carol V Robinson
  7. Charlotte M Deane
  8. Pierre Gönczy
  9. Ioannis Vakonakis  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Oxford, United Kingdom
  2. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland

Abstract

Centrioles are microtubule-based organelles crucial for cell division, sensing and motility. In C. elegans, the onset of centriole formation requires notably the proteins SAS-5 and SAS-6, which have functional homologs across eukaryotic evolution. Whereas the molecular architecture of SAS-6 and its role in initiating centriole formation are well understood, the mechanisms by which SAS-5 and its relatives function is unclear. Here, we combine biophysical and structural analysis to uncover the architecture of SAS-5 and examine its functional implications in vivo. Our work reveals that two distinct self-associating domains are necessary to form higher-order oligomers of SAS-5: a trimeric coiled coil and a novel globular dimeric Implico domain. Disruption of either domain leads to centriole duplication failure in worm embryos, indicating that large SAS-5 assemblies are necessary for function in vivo.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Kacper B Rogala

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Nicola J Dynes

    Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, School of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Georgios N Hatzopoulos

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Jun Yan

    Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Sheng Kai Pong

    Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, School of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Carol V Robinson

    Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Charlotte M Deane

    Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Pierre Gönczy

    Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, School of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Ioannis Vakonakis

    Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    ioannis.vakonakis@bioch.ox.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Anthony A Hyman, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany

Version history

  1. Received: March 10, 2015
  2. Accepted: May 28, 2015
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: May 29, 2015 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: June 18, 2015 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2015, Rogala 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.

Metrics

  • 2,197
    views
  • 514
    downloads
  • 31
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Kacper B Rogala
  2. Nicola J Dynes
  3. Georgios N Hatzopoulos
  4. Jun Yan
  5. Sheng Kai Pong
  6. Carol V Robinson
  7. Charlotte M Deane
  8. Pierre Gönczy
  9. Ioannis Vakonakis
(2015)
The Caenorhabditis elegans protein SAS-5 forms large oligomeric assemblies critical for centriole formation
eLife 4:e07410.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07410

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07410

Further reading

    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Isabelle Petit-Hartlein, Annelise Vermot ... Franck Fieschi
    Research Article

    NADPH oxidases (NOX) are transmembrane proteins, widely spread in eukaryotes and prokaryotes, that produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). Eukaryotes use the ROS products for innate immune defense and signaling in critical (patho)physiological processes. Despite the recent structures of human NOX isoforms, the activation of electron transfer remains incompletely understood. SpNOX, a homolog from Streptococcus pneumoniae, can serves as a robust model for exploring electron transfers in the NOX family thanks to its constitutive activity. Crystal structures of SpNOX full-length and dehydrogenase (DH) domain constructs are revealed here. The isolated DH domain acts as a flavin reductase, and both constructs use either NADPH or NADH as substrate. Our findings suggest that hydride transfer from NAD(P)H to FAD is the rate-limiting step in electron transfer. We identify significance of F397 in nicotinamide access to flavin isoalloxazine and confirm flavin binding contributions from both DH and Transmembrane (TM) domains. Comparison with related enzymes suggests that distal access to heme may influence the final electron acceptor, while the relative position of DH and TM does not necessarily correlate with activity, contrary to previous suggestions. It rather suggests requirement of an internal rearrangement, within the DH domain, to switch from a resting to an active state. Thus, SpNOX appears to be a good model of active NOX2, which allows us to propose an explanation for NOX2’s requirement for activation.

    1. Cell Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Shun Kai Yang, Shintaroh Kubo ... Khanh Huy Bui
    Research Article

    Acetylation of α-tubulin at the lysine 40 residue (αK40) by αTAT1/MEC-17 acetyltransferase modulates microtubule properties and occurs in most eukaryotic cells. Previous literatures suggest that acetylated microtubules are more stable and damage resistant. αK40 acetylation is the only known microtubule luminal post-translational modification site. The luminal location suggests that the modification tunes the lateral interaction of protofilaments inside the microtubule. In this study, we examined the effect of tubulin acetylation on the doublet microtubule (DMT) in the cilia of Tetrahymena thermophila using a combination of cryo-electron microscopy, molecular dynamics, and mass spectrometry. We found that αK40 acetylation exerts a small-scale effect on the DMT structure and stability by influencing the lateral rotational angle. In addition, comparative mass spectrometry revealed a link between αK40 acetylation and phosphorylation in cilia.