As normalized to the negative control for that experiment using the following formula: Efficiency = 1 ?(fraction cells expressing transgene with ER whorls/fraction cells expressing negative control with ER whorls). An efficiency of 1 reflects full rescue and 0 is a complete non-rescue.Results Both the cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains of Yip1A are required for ER structural maintenanceWe began by testing the cytoplasmic and transmembrane (TM) domains of Yip1A independently for their ability to regulate ER whorls. Two constructs based on the siRNA-immune HA-Yip1A parent rescue construct were generated (schematized in Fig. 1C). One replaced the entire C-terminal multi-pass TM domain of Yip1A with the single pass C-terminally anchored TM domain of Sec61b [32] so as to maintain ER membrane targeting of the cytoplasmic domain (HA-Yip1AN/Sec61bTM; schematized in Fig. 1F). The other truncated the entire N-terminal cytoplasmic domain (HA-Yip1A D1?18; schematized in Fig. 1I). Each construct was transiently transfected into HeLa cells together with the Yip1A siRNA and processed 72 hrs later for immunofluorescence using antibodies against the HA epitope and the integral ER membrane marker calnexin [33]. As expected, HA-Yip1A displayed primarily an ER exit site pattern at steady state (Fig. 1A) with some detectable overlap with the ER marker calnexin (Fig. 1B). Similar to our previous report [10], few if any cells expressing wild type HA-Yip1A displayed whorls (Fig. 1J) while 6863 of cells expressing the negative control construct Activity is in keeping with the high structural similarity of the Myc-Sec61b had ER whorls (Fig. 1J). This was as expected for full rescue by the wild type HA-Yip1A transgene. For ease of comparison across experiments, we present the data from hereon in terms of rescue efficiency (calculated as detailed in MaterialsConstructsThe Title Loaded From File siRNAs used against Yip1A were described previously (10) and synthesized by Ambion (Austin, TX). The myc-tagged Sec61b was subcloned from GFP-Sec61b (kindly provided by Dr. Tom Rapoport, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA) into the EcoRI and XbaI sites of the pCS2-MT vector. The myc-tagged Yif1A construct was cloned by PCR amplification from HeLa cDNA (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and inserting the PCR product into the pCS2-MT vector using EcoRI and XbaI sites. The HA-Yip1A rescue construct was created by replacing the FLAG epitope from the FLAG-Yip1A construct [10] with the HA epitope (YPYDVPDYA) using a PCR-based loop-out/loop-in modification of the QuikChange protocol (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) and was the parent construct for all further HA-Yip1A mutations. The HAYip1AN/Sec61b TM was created by first using a PCR-based loop-out technique (Stratagene) to remove the TM domain region (AA 126?57) of the Yip1A construct and the TM domain from Myc- Sec61b (AA 61?7) was subcloned into the XbaI site at theMutational Analysis of Yip1AFigure 2. Only a few highly conserved residues in the Yip1A cytoplasmic domain are required for function. Cells co-transfected with Yip1A siRNA and HA-Yip1A D1-83 were fixed after 72 h and co-stained with antibodies against HA (A) and calnexin (B). The asterisk (A and B) marks an expressing cell that did not exhibit ER whorls. Scale bar, 10 mm. (C) Quantification of the efficiency of rescue by HA-Yip1A D1?3, HA-Yip1A D1?18 and the negative control Myc-Sec61b. Data were from 3 independent experiments (.100 cells per experiment), 6SD. (D) An alignment of the cytoplasmic domains of human Yip1A with yeast Yip1p. Residues 83?18 are bracketed,.As normalized to the negative control for that experiment using the following formula: Efficiency = 1 ?(fraction cells expressing transgene with ER whorls/fraction cells expressing negative control with ER whorls). An efficiency of 1 reflects full rescue and 0 is a complete non-rescue.Results Both the cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains of Yip1A are required for ER structural maintenanceWe began by testing the cytoplasmic and transmembrane (TM) domains of Yip1A independently for their ability to regulate ER whorls. Two constructs based on the siRNA-immune HA-Yip1A parent rescue construct were generated (schematized in Fig. 1C). One replaced the entire C-terminal multi-pass TM domain of Yip1A with the single pass C-terminally anchored TM domain of Sec61b [32] so as to maintain ER membrane targeting of the cytoplasmic domain (HA-Yip1AN/Sec61bTM; schematized in Fig. 1F). The other truncated the entire N-terminal cytoplasmic domain (HA-Yip1A D1?18; schematized in Fig. 1I). Each construct was transiently transfected into HeLa cells together with the Yip1A siRNA and processed 72 hrs later for immunofluorescence using antibodies against the HA epitope and the integral ER membrane marker calnexin [33]. As expected, HA-Yip1A displayed primarily an ER exit site pattern at steady state (Fig. 1A) with some detectable overlap with the ER marker calnexin (Fig. 1B). Similar to our previous report [10], few if any cells expressing wild type HA-Yip1A displayed whorls (Fig. 1J) while 6863 of cells expressing the negative control construct Myc-Sec61b had ER whorls (Fig. 1J). This was as expected for full rescue by the wild type HA-Yip1A transgene. For ease of comparison across experiments, we present the data from hereon in terms of rescue efficiency (calculated as detailed in MaterialsConstructsThe siRNAs used against Yip1A were described previously (10) and synthesized by Ambion (Austin, TX). The myc-tagged Sec61b was subcloned from GFP-Sec61b (kindly provided by Dr. Tom Rapoport, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA) into the EcoRI and XbaI sites of the pCS2-MT vector. The myc-tagged Yif1A construct was cloned by PCR amplification from HeLa cDNA (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and inserting the PCR product into the pCS2-MT vector using EcoRI and XbaI sites. The HA-Yip1A rescue construct was created by replacing the FLAG epitope from the FLAG-Yip1A construct [10] with the HA epitope (YPYDVPDYA) using a PCR-based loop-out/loop-in modification of the QuikChange protocol (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) and was the parent construct for all further HA-Yip1A mutations. The HAYip1AN/Sec61b TM was created by first using a PCR-based loop-out technique (Stratagene) to remove the TM domain region (AA 126?57) of the Yip1A construct and the TM domain from Myc- Sec61b (AA 61?7) was subcloned into the XbaI site at theMutational Analysis of Yip1AFigure 2. Only a few highly conserved residues in the Yip1A cytoplasmic domain are required for function. Cells co-transfected with Yip1A siRNA and HA-Yip1A D1-83 were fixed after 72 h and co-stained with antibodies against HA (A) and calnexin (B). The asterisk (A and B) marks an expressing cell that did not exhibit ER whorls. Scale bar, 10 mm. (C) Quantification of the efficiency of rescue by HA-Yip1A D1?3, HA-Yip1A D1?18 and the negative control Myc-Sec61b. Data were from 3 independent experiments (.100 cells per experiment), 6SD. (D) An alignment of the cytoplasmic domains of human Yip1A with yeast Yip1p. Residues 83?18 are bracketed,.