Cells were cotransfected with RGEF-1b and either FLAG-tagged LET-60 or RAP-1 transgenes. After incubation with 50 nM PMA or vehicle for 15 min, cells were lysed and amounts of LET-60-GTP or RAP-1-GTP were assayed by western immunoblot analysis. RGEF-1b promoted modest accumulation of LET-60-GTP in untreated cells (Figure 1A, lane 3).
In contrast, RGEF-1b activity increased ∼6-fold when cells were incubated with PMA (Figure 1A, lane 4). If RGEF-1b has a functional C1 domain, it will be regulated by endogenous DAG. Cells were transfected with bombesin receptor, RGEF-1b and FLAG-LET-60 transgenes. Bombesin receptor, which has seven transmembrane domains and couples with heterotrimeric Gq protein, promotes DAG production C59 wnt order (Feng et al., 2007). When bombesin peptide
binds, the receptor elicits PLCβ activation via Gαq-GTP. PLCβ generates DAG and IP3 by cleaving PI4,5P2 in membranes. Incubation of cells with bombesin increased RGEF-1b-mediated LET-60 activation ∼4-fold (Figure 1B, lanes 3 and 4). Stimulation by both bombesin and PMA (a DAG surrogate) suggests that DAG is a major regulator of RGEF-1b catalytic activity. Modest basal and PMA-stimulated accumulation of RAP-1-GTP was evident in HEK293 cells lacking ISRIB datasheet RGEF-1b because of endogenous GEFs (Figure 1C, lanes 1 and 2). Expression of RGEF-1b elicited increased accumulation of RAP-1-GTP in the absence of stimuli (Figure 1C, lane 3). Moreover, PMA further enhanced RGEF-1b catalyzed loading of GTP onto RAP-1 (Figure 1C, lane 4). Thus, LET-60 and RAP-1 are RGEF-1b substrates. A fragment of genomic DNA (2670 bp) that precedes exon 1 of the rgef-1 gene was amplified by PCR. This DNA, which contains promoter-enhancer elements, was inserted upstream from a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene in a C. elegans expression plasmid (pPD 95.77). Animals stably expressing the rgef-1::GFP transgene were generated by microinjection. Cells producing GFP were identified by fluorescence microscopy and reference to the WORMATLAS anatomy database. rgef-1 promoter activity was evident in a high proportion of neurons ( Figures 2A and 2C) in four independently Sodium butyrate isolated
strains. GFP was not detected in nonneuronal cells. Terminal divisions and differentiation of neurons were completed before rgef-1 promoter activity was switched on during late embryonic development ( Figure 2E). Panneuronal GFP fluorescence was sustained from the end of embryogenesis (hatching) through adulthood. We characterized a gene deletion mutant (rgef-1(ok675)) acquired from the C. elegans Knockout Consortium. Gene fragments were amplified by PCR ( Figure S2). DNA sequencing revealed that nucleotides 1493–2594 were deleted from the rgef-1 gene. This eliminated exons 5–7 and part of exon 8 ( Figures S1A and S2), which encode the RGEF-1b catalytic domain. Splicing of exon 4 to exon 9 would yield a mutant protein lacking GTP exchange activity. Thus, the disrupted rgef-1 gene is a null mutant.