James E. Hopper

Gene activation by interaction of an inhibitor with a cytoplasmic signaling protein

Galactose-inducible genes (GAL genes) in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are efficiently transcribed only when the sequence-specific transcription activator Gal4p is activated. Activation of Gal4p requires the interaction between the Gal4p inhibitory protein Gal80p and the galactokinase paralog, Gal3p. It has been proposed that Gal3p binds to a Gal80p-Gal4p complex in the nucleus to activate Gal4p. Here, we present evidence that the Gal3p–Gal80p interaction occurs in the cytoplasm, and concurrently, Gal80p is removed from Gal4p at the GAL gene promoter. We also show that GAL gene expression can be activated by heterologous protein–protein interaction in the cytoplasm that is independent of galactose and Gal3p function. These results indicate that galactose-triggered Gal3p-Gal80p association in the cytoplasm activates Gal4p in the nucleus.

Overproduction of the GAL1 or GAL3 protein causes galactose-independent activation of the GAL4 protein: evidence for a new model of induction for the yeast GAL/MEL regulon.

The transcriptional activation function of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL4 protein is modulated by the GAL80 and GAL3 proteins. In the absence of galactose, GAL80 inhibits the function of GAL4, presumably by direct binding to the GAL4 protein. The presence of galactose triggers the relief of the GAL80 block. The key to this relief is the GAL3 protein. How GAL3 and galactose activate GAL4 is not understood, but the long-standing notion has been that a galactose derivative formed by catalytic activity of GAL3 is the inducer that interacts with GAL80 or the GAL80-GAL4 complex. Here we report that overproduction of the GAL3 protein causes constitutive expression of GAL/MEL genes in the absence of exogenous galactose. Overproduction of the GAL1 protein (galactokinase) also causes constitutivity, consistent with the observations that GAL1 is strikingly similar in amino acid sequence to GAL3 and has GAL3-like induction activity. Cells lacking the GAL10-encoded UDP-galactose-UDP-glucose epimerase retained the constitutivity response to overproduction of GAL3, making it unlikely that constitutivity is due to endogenously produced galactose. A galactose-independent mechanism of constitutivity is further indicated by the inducing properties of two newly created galactokinaseless alleles of GAL1. On the basis of these data, we propose a new model for galactose-induced activation of the GAL4 protein. This model invokes galactose-activation of the GAL3 and GAL1 proteins which in turn elicit an alteration of the GAL80-GAL4 complex to activate GAL4. This model is consistent with all the known features of the system and has important implications for manipulating GAL4-dependent transcriptional activation in vitro.

Evidence for Gal3p's cytoplasmic location and Gal80p's dual cytoplasmic-nuclear location implicates new mechanisms for controlling Gal4p activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

ABSTRACT Genetics and in vitro studies have shown that the direct interaction between Gal3p and Gal80p plays a central role in galactose-dependent Gal4p-mediated GAL gene expression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Precisely how Gal3p-Gal80p interaction effects induction is not clear. It has been assumed that Gal3p interacts with Gal80p in the nucleus upon galactose addition to release Gal80p inhibition of Gal4p. Although Gal80p has been shown to possess nuclear localization signal (NLS) peptides, the subcellular distribution of neither Gal80p nor Gal3p was previously determined. Here we report that Gal3p is located in the cytoplasm and apparently excluded from the nucleus. We show that Gal80p is located in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Converting Gal80p into a nucleus-localized protein (NLS-Gal80p) by exogenous NLS addition impairs GAL gene induction. The impaired induction can be partially suppressed by targeting Gal3p to the nucleus (NLS-Gal3p). We document a very rapid association between NLS-Gal3p and Gal80p in vivo in response to galactose, illustrating that the nuclear import of Gal80p is very rapid and efficient. We also demonstrate that nucleus-localized NLS-Gal80p can move out of the nucleus and shuttle between nuclei in yeast heterokaryons. These results are the first indication that the subcellular distribution dynamics of the Gal3 and Gal80 proteins play a role in regulating Gal4p-mediated GALgene expression in vivo.

Disruption of regulatory gene GAL80 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: effects on carbon-controlled regulation of the galactose/melibiose pathway genes.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transcriptional expression of the galactose-melibiose catabolic pathway genes is under the control of at least three regulatory genes, GAL4, GAL80, and GAL3. We have isolated the GAL80 gene and have studied the effect of a null mutation on the carbon-controlled regulation of the MEL1 and GAL cluster genes. The null mutation was achieved in vivo by replacing the chromosomal wild-type GAL80 allele with an in vitro-created GAL80 deletion-disruption mutation. Enzyme activities and RNA levels for the GAL cluster and MEL1 genes were constitutively expressed in the null mutant strain grown on glycerol-lactate and were higher than in the isogenic wild-type yeast strain when compared after growth on galactose. Carbon catabolite repression of the GAL cluster and MEL1 genes, which occurs at the level of transcription, is retained in the null mutant. Deletion of the GAL80 gene in a gal4 cell does not restore GAL cluster and MEL1 gene expression. The data demonstrate that (i) the GAL80 protein is a purely negative regulator, (ii) the GAL80 protein does not mediate carbon catabolite repression, and (iii) the GAL4 protein is not simply an antagonizer of GAL80-mediated repression.

Novel Gal3 proteins showing altered Gal80p binding cause constitutive transcription of Gal4p-activated genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Gal4p-mediated activation of galactose gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae normally requires both galactose and the activity of Gal3p. Recent evidence suggests that in cells exposed to galactose, Gal3p binds to and inhibits Ga180p, an inhibitor of the transcriptional activator Gal4p. Here, we report on the isolation and characterization of novel mutant forms of Gal3p that can induce Gal4p activity independently of galactose. Five mutant GAL3(c) alleles were isolated by using a selection demanding constitutive expression of a GAL1 promoter-driven HIS3 gene. This constitutive effect is not due to overproduction of Gal3p. The level of constitutive GAL gene expression in cells bearing different GAL3(c) alleles varies over more than a fourfold range and increases in response to galactose. Utilizing glutathione S-transferase-Gal3p fusions, we determined that the mutant Gal3p proteins show altered Gal80p-binding characteristics. The Gal3p mutant proteins differ in their requirements for galactose and ATP for their Gal80p-binding ability. The behavior of the novel Gal3p proteins provides strong support for a model wherein galactose causes an alteration in Gal3p that increases either its ability to bind to Gal80p or its access to Gal80p. With the Gal3p-Gal80p interaction being a critical step in the induction process, the Gal3p proteins constitute an important new reagent for studying the induction mechanism through both in vivo and in vitro methods.

The Gal3p-Gal80p-Gal4p Transcription Switch of Yeast: Gal3p Destabilizes the Gal80p-Gal4p Complex in Response to Galactose and ATP

ABSTRACT The Gal3, Gal80, and Gal4 proteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae comprise a signal transducer that governs the galactose-inducible Gal4p-mediated transcription activation ofGAL regulon genes. In the absence of galactose, Gal80p binds to Gal4p and prohibits Gal4p from activating transcription, whereas in the presence of galactose, Gal3p binds to Gal80p and relieves its inhibition of Gal4p. We have found that immunoprecipitation of full-length Gal4p from yeast extracts coprecipitates less Gal80p in the presence than in the absence of Gal3p, galactose, and ATP. We have also found that retention of Gal80p by GSTG4AD (amino acids [aa] 768 to 881) is markedly reduced in the presence compared to the absence of Gal3p, galactose, and ATP. Consistent with these in vitro results, an in vivo two-hybrid genetic interaction between Gal80p and Gal4p (aa 768 to 881) was shown to be weaker in the presence than in the absence of Gal3p and galactose. These compiled results indicate that the binding of Gal3p to Gal80p results in destabilization of a Gal80p-Gal4p complex. The destabilization was markedly higher for complexes consisting of G4AD (aa 768 to 881) than for full-length Gal4p, suggesting that Gal80p relocated to a second site on full-length Gal4p. Congruent with the idea of a second site, we discovered a two-hybrid genetic interaction involving Gal80p and the region of Gal4p encompassing aa 225 to 797, a region of Gal4p linearly remote from the previously recognized Gal80p binding peptide within Gal4p aa 768 to 881.

Transcription of a yeast phosphoglucomutase isozyme gene is galactose inducible and glucose repressible.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL5 (PGM2) gene was isolated and shown to encode the major isozyme of phosphoglucomutase. Northern (RNA) blot hybridization revealed that the GAL5 transcript level increased three- to fourfold in response to galactose and was severely repressed in response to glucose. Total cellular phosphoglucomutase activity was likewise responsive to galactose and to glucose, and this responsiveness was found to be due primarily to variation in the activity of the major isozyme of phosphoglucomutase. These results imply that the major and minor isozymes of phosphoglucomutase have distinct roles in yeast cells. The galactose inducibility of GAL5 was found to be under the control of the GAL4, GAL80, and GAL3 genes. In striking contrast to other galactose-inducible genes, the GAL5 gene exhibited an unusually high GAL4-independent basal level of expression. These results have implications for metabolic trafficking.

Regulation of basal and induced levels of the MEL1 transcript in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The MEL1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for the production of alpha-galactosidase and for the catabolism of melibiose. Production of alpha-galactosidase is induced by galactose or melibiose and repressed by glucose. Inducibility is controlled by the positive and negative regulatory proteins GAL4 and GAL80, respectively. We have cloned the MEL1 gene to study its transcriptional expression and regulation. Evidence is presented that the MEL1 gene encodes alpha-galactosidase and that mel0 is a naturally occurring allele which lacks the alpha-galactosidase-coding sequences. RNAs prepared from wild-type cells and from cells carrying either the noninducible gal4-2 or GAL80S-100 allele grown on three different carbon sources were examined by Northern hybridization analyses. In wild-type cells under noninducing conditions, such as growth on glycerol-lactic acid, the MEL1 transcript was detected at a basal level which was 1 to 2% of the fully induced level. The basal level of expression was diminished in cells carrying the gal4-2 mutant allele but not in cells carrying the GAL80S-100 allele. The basal and induced RNA levels are repressed by glucose. Size determinations of the MEL1 transcripts detected in glycerol-lactic acid- and galactose-grown cells provided no evidence for two distinct transcripts.

Phosphorylated forms of GAL4 are correlated with ability to activate transcription.

GAL4I, GAL4II, and GAL4III are three forms of the yeast transcriptional activator protein that are readily distinguished on the basis of electrophoretic mobility during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Phosphorylation accounts for the reduced mobility of the slowest-migrating form, GAL4III, which is found to be closely associated with high-level GAL/MEL gene expression (L. Mylin, P. Bhat, and J. Hopper, Genes Dev. 3:1157-1165, 1989). Here we show that GAL4II, like GAL4III, can be converted to GAL4I by phosphatase treatment, suggesting that in vivo GAL4II is derived from GAL4I by phosphorylation. We found that cells which overproduced GAL4 under conditions in which it drove moderate to low levels of GAL/MEL gene expression showed only forms GAL4I and GAL4II. To distinguish which forms of GAL4 (GAL4I, GAL4II, or both) might be responsible for transcription activation in the absence of GAL4III, we performed immunoblot analysis on UASgal-binding-competent GAL4 proteins from four gal4 missense mutants selected for their inability to activate transcription (M. Johnston and J. Dover, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:2401-2405, 1987; Genetics 120;63-74, 1988). The three mutants with no detectable GAL1 expression did not appear to form GAL4II or GAL4III, but revertants in which GAL4-dependent transcription was restored did display GAL4II- or GAL4III-like electrophoretic species. Detection of GAL4II in a UASgal-binding mutant suggests that neither UASgal binding nor GAL/MEL gene activation is required for the formation of GAL4II. Overall, our results imply that GAL4I may be inactive in transcriptional activation, whereas GAL4II appears to be active. In light of this work, we hypothesize that phosphorylation of GAL4I makes it competent to activate transcription.

Gene activation by dissociation of an inhibitor from a transcriptional activation domain.

ABSTRACT Gal4 is a prototypical eukaryotic transcriptional activator whose recruitment function is inhibited in the absence of galactose by the Gal80 protein through masking of its transcriptional activation domain (AD). A long-standing nondissociation model posits that galactose-activated Gal3 interacts with Gal4-bound Gal80 at the promoter, yielding a tripartite Gal3-Gal80-Gal4 complex with altered Gal80-Gal4 conformation to enable Gal4 AD activity. Some recent data challenge this model, whereas other recent data support the model. To address this controversy, we imaged fluorescent-protein-tagged Gal80, Gal4, and Gal3 in live cells containing a novel GAL gene array. We find that Gal80 rapidly dissociates from Gal4 in response to galactose. Importantly, this dissociation is Gal3 dependent and concurrent with Gal4-activated GAL gene expression. When galactose-triggered dissociation is followed by galactose depletion, preexisting Gal80 reassociates with Gal4, indicating that sequestration of Gal80 by Gal3 contributes to the observed Gal80-Gal4 dissociation. Moreover, the ratio of nuclear Gal80 to cytoplasmic Gal80 decreases in response to Gal80-Gal3 interaction. Taken together, these and other results provide strong support for a GAL gene switch model wherein Gal80 rapidly dissociates from Gal4 through a mechanism that involves sequestration of Gal80 by galactose-activated Gal3.