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Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 2005, p. 728-739, Vol. 25, No. 2
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.2.728-739.2005
Human Retrovirus Section, National Cancer Institute,1 Image Analysis Laboratory, SAIC, Frederick, Maryland2
Received 21 June 2004/ Accepted 21 October 2004
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The driving force for nucleocytoplasmic transport is the RanGTP gradient over the nuclear membrane (19, 25, 35, 37, 46). The guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Ran (RanGEF) is confined within the nucleus (6), whereas the RanGTPase-activating protein (RanGAP) is located in the cytoplasm. RanGEF converts RanGDP to RanGTP, and RanGAP activates the RanGTPase to hydrolyze GTP to GDP. The compartmentalization of these factors creates a gradient of RanGTP over the nuclear membrane resulting in high concentrations of RanGTP in the nucleus and high levels of RanGDP in the cytosol. RanGTP promotes the association of cargo with nuclear export receptors, while RanGDP encourages the dissociation of the export complex. Therefore, within the nucleus the export protein, CRM1, binds export cargo proteins and RanGTP to form a functional export complex (16, 18, 26, 41, 43, 52). CRM1 has also been found to interact with the nuclear pore complex, namely nucleoporins Nup214 (17), Nup50 (22), Nup42, and Nup159 (15). However, the mechanism of how export complex finds the nuclear pores is still unknown. Subsequently, CRM1-cargo-RanGTP export complex translocates through the NPC and docks on the nucleoporin Nup214 until it is released and disassembled by RanGAP and RanBP1 or RanBP2 (2, 21, 27, 37, 42).
Previous in vitro studies have shown interaction of CRM1 with NES peptides (16, 18, 41, 43, 52). Residues Asp716 and Lys810 of CRM1 are important for NES binding (3), whereas, based on alignment studies with other Ran-binding proteins, RanGTP binding is expected to be mediated by a region near the N terminus of CRM1 (17, 20). Indeed, a region between residues 61 and 160 was shown to be essential for the interaction of RanGTP with CRM1 (44). It is clear that Ran is required for functional transport of the export complex (3, 16, 18, 43); however, the actual in vivo details of the CRM1-cargo-Ran complex formation and the kinetics behind CRM1-mediated nucleocytoplasmic transport are still largely unknown. A detailed understanding of the basic and important process of macromolecular transport from nucleus to the cytoplasm requires the understanding of timing and location of the different interactions inside living cells. Therefore, we examined the molecular mechanism of CRM1 transport complex formation and its kinetics inside living cells. We used noninvasive microscopy techniques (fluorescence resonance energy transfer [FRET] and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching [FRAP]) to demonstrate true molecular interaction between CRM1 and cargo in living cells. The HIV Rev protein was used as model cargo for the binding studies. Studying the effect of LMB on CRM1 mutants, we found that Ran binding is required for LMB to be able to disrupt the CRM1-cargo interaction, suggesting that Ran plays an essential role in LMB action. Moreover, it is not known how the functional export complex locates the nuclear pores. We found, using FRAP, that CRM1 travels in an unimpeded manner throughout the nucleoplasm. We propose a model in which CRM1 roams through the nucleus in search of high-affinity binding sites.
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pBRev-green fluorescent protein (GFP) and pCRM1-GFP plasmids produce fusion proteins of HIV-1 Rev and human CRM1, respectively, fused to GFP. pBRev-blue fluorescent protein (BFP) expresses the Rev protein fused to BFP (53). pRev-yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) generates Rev protein with YFP at its N terminus. pCFP-Tat produces Tat protein with an N-terminal fusion of cyan fluorescent protein (CFP). pCFP-CRM1 produces a CFP-CRM1 fusion protein with CFP at the N terminus. pCFP-160-819CRM1 produces a fusion protein containing amino acids 160 to 819 of CRM1 fused to the C terminus of CFP. p160-819CRM1-GFP and p160-566CRM1-GFP produce fusion proteins containing amino acids 160 to 819 and 160 to 566 of CRM1, respectively, fused to the N terminus of GFP.
Live-cell imaging. Images of live cells were acquired with a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSM 510; Carl Zeiss Inc., Thornwood, N.Y.) equipped with an Axiovert 200 microscope (Zeiss) and a 40x 1.3-numeric-aperture oil immersion Plan-Neofluar objective. For colocalization of BFP and GFP fusion proteins, BFP was excited with a multiphoton (Verdi/Mira 900; Coherent Inc., Auburn, Calif.) laser line at 780 nm and GFP was excited with an Argon laser line at 488 nm, and emissions were collected with band pass filters of 390 to 465 nm and 500 to 550 nm, respectively. Potential bleed-through was measured by acquiring dual-channel images of cells with single labels with the same setup used for cells coexpressing both labels. No bleed-through was detected.
Fluorescence resonance energy transfer. CFP was excited with an Argon laser line at 458 nm and was detected by using a band pass filter of 480 to 520 nm. YFP was excited with an Argon laser line at 514 nm, and emission was collected with a 565- to 615-nm band pass filter. FRET was determined by the acceptor photobleaching method (4, 5, 28, 29, 58). First, prephotobleach CFP (donor) and YFP (acceptor) images were acquired. A region of interest (ROI) in the nucleolus was rendered free of YFP by repeated scanning with the 514-nm laser line until all YFP was photodestructed. A second postphotobleach CFP and YFP image was acquired. After correction for background and for the photobleaching of the donor due to imaging, the FRET efficiencies (E) in the ROI were calculated from the two CFP images by using the formula: E = 1 D0/D1 (23, 28), where D is the mean intensity of the donor in the area where the acceptor was bleached before (D0) and after (D1) acceptor bleaching.
The image and statistical analyses were performed with Matlab (Mathworks, Inc., Natick, Mass.) and DIPimage (image processing toolbox for Matlab; Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands).
Fluorescence loss in photobleaching and cell viability. Before and then after every 31 s of bleaching, an image was collected of a rectangle of 3 by 10 µm in the cytoplasm with the 488-nm laser line at the same power in each experiment (monitor diode). The depletion of CRM1-GFP from the nucleoli was quantified by measuring the relative fluorescence intensity. The dynamics follow an exponential decay, and the fluorescence could be reduced to an undetectable level in all nucleoli of the tested cell. The FLIP rates for all GFP fusion proteins were obtained under similar conditions, including cell size, expression level, and the area of bleaching. The loss in fluorescence in the nucleoli of the cells was quantified, and the decays were fitted by the nonlinear least-squares Gauss-Newton method. Statistical analysis was performed with Matlab (Mathworks, Inc.). For each experiment, the average half-life (t1/2) was calculated from the fitted decay curve of each cell. The standard Student's t test was used to determine the statistical significance of the results.
To assess that cells remain viable after the photobleaching period, we monitored cells by differential interference contrast (DIC) optics for changes in cellular morphology. No dramatic changes in cellular morphology were detected at up to 800 s of imaging. Therefore, our experimental conditions did not influence the collection of FRAP or FLIP data.
Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching.
Excitation of GFP was done at 488 nm, and detection was between 500 and 550 nm. The microwell dishes with coverslip bottoms were directly mounted onto an LSM 510 microscope. Live cells were imaged at 37°C (Heating Chamber; 20/20 Technology Inc., Wilmington, N.C.) in DMEM without phenol red and supplemented with 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum (FCS). Qualitative FRAP experiments were performed as follows: a 2-µm-wide strip throughout the cell was photobleached; bleaching was completed in 200 to 600 ms, and recovery images were acquired every 0.4 to 1 s. Quantitative FRAP experiments typically required faster acquisition rates and were therefore performed differently: a smaller field of view was scanned in the nucleus (
20 times fewer lines), leading to a faster acquisition rate (every
30 ms). Three full fields of view were prescanned, followed by bleaching of a 1-µm-diameter spot with the 488-nm laser line for 100 to 200 ms at full power to create a local photobleached region. Note that the photobleaching time was optimized on a few test cells so that a minimum time was established to reach the saturated photobleached region. Quantitative FRAP was necessary to accurately sample the recoveries of the rapid movements of free GFP and CRM1-GFP in the nucleoplasm and the nuclear membrane. Because movement of CRM1-GFP in the nucleolus was much slower, recovery points were collected only every 3 s; however, the same photobleach procedure was performed. Note also that in all experiments, the laser intensity was set low enough to minimize the loss of fluorescence in the full field of view, leading to very low measurable loss during the monitoring period. The fluorescence intensity in the bleached spot of the first image collected after photobleaching was measured, and this value was used as the baseline (i.e., all intensities in the recovery curve were subtracted from this first value). The recovery curve was then normalized so that the final value converged towards 1. For this normalization, the last five time points were used to approximate the asymptotic final recovery value. The recoveries were fitted by an exponential function using the nonlinear least-squares Gauss-Newton method. Statistical analyses were performed with Matlab (Mathworks, Inc.). For each experiment, the average t1/2 and its standard deviation was calculated from the t1/2 of the individual fitted recovery curve of each cell. The standard Student's t test was used to determine the statistical significance of the results.
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FIG. 1. Colocalization of wild-type CRM1-GFP with its Rev cargo in the nucleolus of living cells. Cells expressing Rev-BFP, RevM10-BFP, and/or CRM1-GFP as indicated were analyzed by confocal fluorescence microscopy. The top panels show nucleolar localization of Rev-BFP and RevM10-BFP. The lower panels show localization of CRM1-GFP.
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FIG. 2. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching of CRM1-GFP in living cells. HeLa cells coexpressing Rev-BFP and CRM1-GFP (A) or expressing only CRM1-GFP (B) were imaged by confocal fluorescence microscopy. A 2-µm line was bleached across the width of the cell nucleus as indicated, and images were gathered during the course of recovery.
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FIG. 3. iFRAP of CRM1-GFP. (A) Cells coexpressing Rev-BFP and CRM1-GFP were imaged for GFP before and after photobleaching of CRM1-GFP in the entire nucleus, with the exception of a small spot in the nucleolus. The loss of fluorescence in the unbleached spot was monitored by time-lapse confocal microscopy. Panels: a, before bleach; b, bleach; c, 3 s; d, 12 s; e, 50 s. (B) Quantitation of the iFRAP kinetics.
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FIG. 4. Interaction between CRM1 and cargo in living cells as measured by FRET. (A) Cells expressing CFP-CRM1 and Rev-YFP were analyzed for FRET by confocal microscopy using the photobleach method. This method is based on the principle that energy transfer is eliminated when the acceptor is bleached, thereby yielding an increase in donor fluorescence. Intensity maps of Rev-YFP (A0 and A1) and CFP-CRM1 (D0 and D1) in the nucleoli of a cell are shown. D0 indicates the fluorescence intensity distribution of CFP-CRM1 directly excited at 458 nm. A0 indicates the fluorescence intensity distribution of Rev-YFP excited at 514 nm. Rev-YFP was subsequently photobleached in a specific segment of the nucleolus (dotted box), thereby eliminating energy transfer. A second donor fluorescence image (D1) was then taken. A1 indicates the fluorescence intensity distribution of Rev-YFP after photobleaching. D1 indicates the fluorescence intensity distribution of CFP-CRM1 after photobleaching of the acceptor (Rev-YFP). As negative controls, the intensity maps of Rev-YFP (A0 and A1) and CFP-Tat (D0 and D1) in the nucleoli of a cell were also determined by the same method. (B) Quantification of FRET efficiencies between wild-type CRM1 and Rev proteins. The indicated number of cells (n) were analyzed in two different experiments, and the calculated FRET efficiency is given as a box plot distribution. The box spans the lower- to upper-quartile values. The length of the whiskers is 1.5 times the interquartile range. Outliers (indicated by plus signs) are data with values beyond the ends of the whiskers.
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CRM1 deletion mutants interact with Rev cargo. A more detailed molecular understanding of the nuclear export reaction in vivo requires a better knowledge of the regions of CRM1 accounting for NES binding. To approach this question in live cells, we monitored the colocalization of Rev-BFP with a series of N-terminal and C-terminal truncations of CRM1-GFP. We constructed GFP fusions of CRM1 that have been C-terminally deleted at amino acid 819 (1-819CRM1-GFP). Other CRM1 mutants lack both N-terminal (the first 160 amino acids) and C-terminal regions (160-819CRM1-GFP and 160-566CRM1-GFP). We found that upon expression in HeLa cells, 1-819CRM1-GFP had a localization similar to that of CRM-GFP, while 160-819CRM1-GFP and 160-566CRM1-GFP were distributed throughout the cell but not in the nucleoli; in addition, 160-819CRM1-GFP concentrated within brighter spots. When coexpressed with Rev-BFP, 1-819CRM1-GFP and 160-819CRM1-GFP translocated to the Rev-containing nucleoli (Fig. 5A). In contrast, 160-566CRM1-GFP did not localize to the nucleolus in the presence of Rev. These results provide strong evidence that amino acids 566 to 819 are essential for cargo binding in vivo. Such relocalization could not be detected by RevM10 in the majority of the cells. RevM10 is a transdominant-negative mutant of Rev that has been mutated in its NES, suggesting that inside cells the interaction between Rev and 1-819CRM1-GFP as well as Rev and 160-819CRM1-GFP is NES specific and not due to unspecific binding to Rev.
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FIG. 5. Interaction of CRM1 with Rev-cargo independent of Ran. (A) Coexpression of Rev-BFP or RevM10-BFP with 1-819CRM1-GFP, 160-819CRM1-GFP, or 160-566CRM1-GFP. The top panels show the nucleolar localization of Rev-BFP or RevM10-BFP. The lower panels display the localization of the coexpressed CRM1 mutants in the same cells. (B) Interaction between CFP-160-819CRM1, a deletion mutant unable to bind Ran (44), and Rev-YFP, as monitored by FRET. Intensity measures of CFP-160-819CRM1 and Rev-YFP as well as CFP-Tat and Rev-YFP in the nucleolus are also shown. First, a donor image, D0 (CFP-160-819CRM1), and an acceptor image, A0 (Rev-YFP), were acquired. Rev-YFP was photobleached in a specific segment of the nucleolus (A1). After photobleaching of the YFP, a second donor image was acquired (D1). An increase in donor fluorescence (CFP-160-819CRM1) after photobleaching the acceptor indicates FRET. (C) Quantification of FRET between CFP-160-819CRM1 and Rev-YFP. A number of cells (n) were analyzed in three different experiments, and the calculated FRET efficiency is given as a box plot distribution. The box spans the lower- to upper-quartile values. The length of the whiskers is 1.5 times the interquartile range. Outliers (indicated by plus signs) are data with values beyond the ends of the whiskers.
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CRM1 export complex disruption by LMB requires the N-terminal domain of CRM1. To get better insight into the molecular aspects of the Rev-CRM1 interface in vivo, we investigated the effect of leptomycin B on Rev interaction with the CRM1 mutants described above. LMB disrupts the Rev-CRM1 interaction by covalently binding to Cys529 of CRM1 (16, 18, 30, 31, 43), thus disrupting Rev-CRM1 colocalization in cells (9). Cells were cotransfected with Rev-BFP and the respective CRM1-GFP mutants. Before adding LMB we verified that the CRM1 mutants colocalized with Rev in the nucleolus of the cells. After 2.5 h of incubation with 50 nM LMB, cells were analyzed for colocalization of the respective CRM1 mutants with Rev in the nucleolus (Fig. 6A). Wild-type CRM1-GFP and 1-819CRM1-GFP redistributed from the nucleolus to nucleoplasm and nuclear membrane, demonstrating that their interaction with Rev in the nucleoli was abolished by LMB. In contrast, the colocalization of 160-819CRM1-GFP with Rev in the nucleolus was unaffected. Therefore, the CRM1 molecules lacking the first 160 N-terminal amino acids (containing the Ran binding site) were not affected by LMB. A summary of these data is given in Fig. 6B. These results suggest that the first 160 N-terminal amino acids are essential for the inhibitory effect of LMB on CRM1-Rev interaction.
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FIG. 6. Effect of LMB on the colocalization of N- and C-terminal CRM1-GFP deletion mutants with Rev cargo in the nucleolus of living cells. (A) Cells coexpressing Rev-BFP and the indicated CRM1-GFP fusion proteins were analyzed by confocal fluorescence microscopy. The top panels show nucleolar localization of Rev-BFP. The lower panels show the localization of the CRM1-GFP deletion mutants 2.5 h after addition of LMB. (B) CRM1 functional domains and mutants used in this work. Ran-BD, Ran binding domain (20, 44); *, Cys529 (30); NES-BD, NES-binding domain (44). Colocalization with Rev or RevM10 and the effect of LMB on the colocalization of CRM1 mutants are summarized to the right. ND, not determined.
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FIG. 7. Export kinetics of nucleolar Rev-associated CRM1-GFP and 1-819CRM1-GFP in cells as measured by FLIP. (A) Cells expressing Rev-BFP and CRM1-GFP or 1-819CRM1-GFP were imaged before and during sequential photobleaching of the indicated area in the cytoplasm (rectangle). Images shown were collected every 102 s. (B) Quantitative analyses of FLIP. The fluorescence in the nucleus was plotted versus time. The nuclear fluorescence intensity at time zero was normalized to 1.
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400 times) (Fig. 8A and B). Our data suggest that CRM1 travels in an unimpeded manner through the nucleus in search of high-affinity binding sites, such as Rev in the nucleolus and Nup214, Nup159, Nup50, and Nup42 in the nuclear membrane (15, 17, 22).
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FIG. 8. Comparison of recovery rates of free GFP and CRM1-GFP in different cellular compartments during FRAP. (A) Cells expressing CRM1-GFP or coexpressing Rev-BFP and CRM1-GFP were imaged for GFP fluorescence before and after photobleaching a small spot of 1 µm in diameter either on the nuclear membrane (left) or in the nucleolus (right) (indicated by arrows). Fluorescence recovery in the bleached spot was monitored by time-lapse confocal microscopy. (B) Quantitative analyses of FRAP demonstrated that the mobility of CRM1-GFP is similar to that of free GFP in the nucleoplasm but is slower in the nuclear membrane and nucleolus (in the presence of Rev). Cells expressing free GFP or CRM1-GFP or coexpressing Rev-BFP and CRM1-GFP were examined by FRAP. The fluorescence intensity in the bleached spot of the first image collected after photobleaching was measured, and this value was normalized to zero; the intensity in the bleached spot at the end of the recovery (last five time points) was normalized to 1. The average normalized fluorescent values for each time point was plotted (x). Bars represent standard errors. Lines represent fits of determinations from more than six different cells using the least-squares method. The solid black line represents the mean fit. Dashed lines represent standard deviations.
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In vitro RanGTP cooperative cargo binding to CRM1 has been shown for different proteins, like snurportin (45), Nmd3 (55), and p27 (8). The N-terminal motif of CRM1 has been proposed to account for interaction with RanGTP (7, 32, 59). Previous in vitro showed that deletion of the first 160 residues of CRM1 prevented the interaction of CRM1 with RanGTP in the presence of NES (44). Here we have demonstrated interaction of Rev with N-terminal and C-terminal deletion mutants of CRM1 by colocalization and by FRET. This interaction is specific and NES dependent, because the mutants did not interact with RevM10 that has been mutated in its NES. Although it has been established that Ran-binding is essential for cargo transport, the N-terminal deletion mutant 160-819CRM1-GFP specifically interacts with Rev in the nucleolus, suggesting that in cells CRM1 could interact with Rev independently of Ran. This property might be specific only for Rev. Moreover, the affinity of the Ran-independent complex might be very low. Therefore, it would be interesting to compare inside cells the CRM1-Rev affinity in the presence and absence of Ran. Variation in the amino acid sequence of different NESs might result in different binding affinities to CRM1. Rev has low affinity for CRM1 in vitro (2), but it has the ability to multimerize, which might increase the number of NESs per complex. The Ran-independent interaction of Rev was also proposed by Askjaer et al. on the basis of in vitro gel-shift assays and protein footprinting data (3). However, in vitro this Ran-independent interaction was NES independent, as M10 and M32 mutants obtained an identical Ran-independent footprint (3).
Another important issue addressed here is the molecular basis for LMB inhibition. Interestingly, LMB did not disrupt complexes of CRM1 from which the first 160 N-terminal amino acids were deleted, even though this mutant contains the LMB interaction site (Cys529), suggesting that the N-terminal region of CRM1 plays a role in LMB action. One hypothesis is that transport to the cytoplasm and disruption of the complex in the cytoplasm is required for LMB action. In fact, N-terminal deletion mutants of CRM1 are not trafficking to the cytoplasm. However, this hypothesis would suggest a high-affinity binding of the 160-819 CRM1 to Rev. Another possibility is that binding of RanGTP to CRM1 induces a conformational change in the complex that makes it accessible to LMB or that enables LMB to discharge the NES. A conformational change upon binding of RanGTP to CRM1 was suggested earlier on the basis of site-specific cross-linking data, which demonstrated that CRM1 was only cross-linked to Cys89 of Rev in the presence of RanGTP (3).
The exact mechanism by which CRM1 moves from the nucleolus to the nuclear membrane is not presently known. Therefore, we studied the mobility of CRM1-GFP in different nuclear locations by FRAP. We demonstrate that CRM1-GFP is highly mobile within the nucleus. It has similar mobility as free GFP, which diffuses freely in the cell. However, in this experimental setup we anticipate a mix of free and cargo-bound CRM1. These data imply that CRM1-GFP travels unimpeded through the nucleoplasm. The high mobility of CRM1 in the nucleoplasm is not unprecedented. It has been shown in earlier studies that proteins can move by a passive, diffusion-based mechanism throughout the nucleus (11, 40). Diffusion provides an efficient, rapid mode of transport. The data support a model in which CRM1 roams through the nucleus in search of high-affinity binding sites, e.g., Rev in the nucleolus and Nup214, Nup159, Nup50, and Nup42 in the NPCs. This roaming behavior has been clearly demonstrated for DNA repair factors and DNA replication factors (24, 33). Our data were obtained upon CRM1-GFP overexpression, suggesting that most of the molecules are indeed not in complexes in the nucleoplasm. It would be of interest to further examine the specific movement and mobility of the CRM1-cargo-RanGTP transport complex in the nucleoplasm.
In conclusion, the data suggest a model for CRM1-cargo-RanGTP complex formation. We propose that CRM1 roams through the nucleus in search of high-affinity binding sites, such as Rev cargo in the nucleolus and nucleoporins in the NPCs. In the case of Rev cargo binding in the nucleolus, CRM1 binds to Rev in anticipation of Ran. However, it would be of importance to measure the binding affinities of the different complexes inside cells. In addition, data suggest a new role for Ran in the dissociation of the export complex from the nucleoli. It will be of interest to apply this methodology to investigate this phenomenon in more detail and to determine the general applicability of these conclusions.
This work has been funded in part by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under contract number N01-CO-12400.
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