Extensive molecular tinkering in the evolution of the membrane attachment mode of the Rheb GTPase

Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 27;8(1):5239. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23575-0.

Abstract

Rheb is a conserved and widespread Ras-like GTPase involved in cell growth regulation mediated by the (m)TORC1 kinase complex and implicated in tumourigenesis in humans. Rheb function depends on its association with membranes via prenylated C-terminus, a mechanism shared with many other eukaryotic GTPases. Strikingly, our analysis of a phylogenetically rich sample of Rheb sequences revealed that in multiple lineages this canonical and ancestral membrane attachment mode has been variously altered. The modifications include: (1) accretion to the N-terminus of two different phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate-binding domains, PX in Cryptista (the fusion being the first proposed synapomorphy of this clade), and FYVE in Euglenozoa and the related undescribed flagellate SRT308; (2) acquisition of lipidic modifications of the N-terminal region, namely myristoylation and/or S-palmitoylation in seven different protist lineages; (3) acquisition of S-palmitoylation in the hypervariable C-terminal region of Rheb in apusomonads, convergently to some other Ras family proteins; (4) replacement of the C-terminal prenylation motif with four transmembrane segments in a novel Rheb paralog in the SAR clade; (5) loss of an evident C-terminal membrane attachment mechanism in Tremellomycetes and some Rheb paralogs of Euglenozoa. Rheb evolution is thus surprisingly dynamic and presents a spectacular example of molecular tinkering.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carcinogenesis / genetics
  • Carcinogenesis / metabolism
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism*
  • Euglenozoa / genetics
  • Euglenozoa / metabolism
  • Euglenozoa Infections / parasitology
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Humans
  • Phylogeny*
  • Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain Protein / chemistry
  • Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain Protein / genetics*
  • Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain Protein / metabolism*

Substances

  • RHEB protein, human
  • Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain Protein