The proteasome biogenesis regulator Rpn4 cooperates with the unfolded protein response to promote ER stress resistance.

Misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) activate the unfolded protein response (UPR), which enhances protein folding to restore homeostasis. Additional pathways respond to ER stress, but how they help counteract protein misfolding is incompletely understood. Here, we develop a titratable system for the induction of ER stress in yeast to enable a genetic screen for factors that augment stress resistance independently of the UPR.

The ER membrane protein complex interacts cotranslationally to enable biogenesis of multipass membrane proteins.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) supports biosynthesis of proteins with diverse transmembrane domain (TMD) lengths and hydrophobicity. Features in transmembrane domains such as charged residues in ion channels are often functionally important, but could pose a challenge during cotranslational membrane insertion and folding. Our systematic proteomic approaches in both yeast and human cells revealed that the ER membrane protein complex (EMC) binds to and promotes the biogenesis of a range of multipass transmembrane proteins, with a particular enrichment for transporters.

Global, quantitative and dynamic mapping of protein subcellular localization.

Subcellular localization critically influences protein function, and cells control protein localization to regulate biological processes. We have developed and applied Dynamic Organellar Maps, a proteomic method that allows global mapping of protein translocation events. We initially used maps statically to generate a database with localization and absolute copy number information for over 8700 proteins from HeLa cells, approaching comprehensive coverage.