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The inhibition of degradation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase by sterol regulatory element binding protein cleavage-activating protein requires four phenylalanine residues in span 6 of HMG-CoA reductase transmembrane domain.

Xu L, Simoni RD.

Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA. xuliwen4@stanford.edu <xuliwen4@stanford.edu>

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. This endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein contains a cytosolic catalytic domain and a transmembrane domain with eight membrane spans that are necessary for sterol-accelerated degradation. Competition experiments showed that wild-type transmembrane domains of HMGR and sterol regulatory element binding protein cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) blocked sterol-accelerated degradation of intact HMGR and HMGal, a model protein containing the membrane domain of HMGR linked to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase. However, mutant transmembrane domains of HMGR and SCAP whose sterol-sensing functions were abolished did not inhibit sterol-accelerated degradation of HMGR and HMGal. In addition, our mutagenesis studies on HMGal indicated that four Phe residues conserved in span 6 of HMGR and the sterol-sensing domains of other sterol-related proteins are required for the regulated degradation of HMGR. These results suggest that HMGR and SCAP compete for binding to a sterol-regulated regulator protein, and this binding may need the four Phe residues.

PMID: 12781775 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]