Yeast Vps55p, a functional homolog of human obesity receptor gene-related protein, is involved in late endosome to vacuole trafficking.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae VPS55 (YJR044c) gene encodes a small protein of 140 amino acids with four potential transmembrane domains. VPS55 belongs to a family of genes of unknown function, including the human gene encoding the obesity receptor gene-related protein (OB-RGRP). Yeast cells with a disrupted VPS55 present normal vacuolar morphology, but exhibit an abnormal secretion of the Golgi form of the soluble vacuolar carboxypeptidase Y.

Mutants defective in secretory/vacuolar pathways in the EUROFAN collection of yeast disruptants.

We have screened the EUROFAN (European Functional Analysis Network) deletion strain collection for yeast mutants defective in secretory/vacuolar pathways and/or associated biochemical modifications. We used systematic Western immunoblotting to analyse the electrophoretic pattern of several markers of the secretory/vacuolar pathways, the soluble alpha-factor, the periplasmic glycoprotein invertase, the plasma membrane GPI-anchored protein Gas1p, and two vacuolar proteins, the soluble carboxypeptidase Y and the membrane-bound alkaline phosphatase, which are targeted to the vacuole by different pathways. We also used colony immunoblotting to monitor the secretion of carboxypeptidase Y into the medium, to identify disruptants impaired in vacuolar targeting.

The novel protein Ccz1p required for vacuolar assembly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae functions in the same transport pathway as Ypt7p.

CCZ1 was previously identified by the sensitivity of ccz1(delta) mutants to high concentrations of Caffeine and the divalent ions Ca(2+ )and Zn(2+). In this paper we show that deletion of CCZ1 leads to aberrant vacuole morphology, similar to the one reported for the family of vacuolar protein sorting (vps) mutants of class B. The ccz1(&Dgr;) cells display severe vacuolar protein sorting defects for both the soluble carboxipeptidase Y and the membrane-bound alkaline phosphatase, which are delivered to the vacuole by distinct routes.

The F-box protein Rcy1p is involved in endocytic membrane traffic and recycling out of an early endosome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, endocytic material is transported through different membrane-bound compartments before it reaches the vacuole. In a screen for mutants that affect membrane trafficking along the endocytic pathway, we have identified a novel mutant disrupted for the gene YJL204c that we have renamed RCY1 (recycling 1). Deletion of RCY1 leads to an early block in the endocytic pathway before the intersection with the vacuolar protein sorting pathway.

Electrochemical detection of nitric oxide production in perfused pig coronary artery: comparison of the performances of two electrochemical sensors.

In situ direct measurement of nitric oxide (NO) in biological media is now possible by means of electrochemical detection. In the literature, there are principally two amperometric approaches based on the direct oxidation of NO either on a sensor made from platinum/ iridium (Pt/Ir) alloy coated with a three-layered membrane or on a nickel porphyrin and Nafion-coated carbon fiber electrode. Nonetheless, the exact nature of the experimental amperometric signal obtained with the Pt/Ir system was never authenticated as being related to NO.