A protein kinase network regulates the function of aminophospholipid flippases

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 5;107(1):34-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0912497106. Epub 2009 Dec 4.

Abstract

Limited exposure of aminophospholipids on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane is a fundamental feature of eukaryotic cells and is maintained by the action of inward-directed P-type ATPases ("flippases"). Yeast S. cerevisiae has five flippases (Dnf1, Dnf2, Dnf3, Drs2, and Neo1), but their regulation is poorly understood. Two paralogous plasma membrane-associated protein kinases, Pkh1 and Pkh2 (orthologs of mammalian PDK1), are required for viability of S. cerevisiae cells because they activate several essential downstream protein kinases by phosphorylating a critical Thr in their activation loops. Two such targets are related protein kinases Ypk1 and Ypk2 (orthologs of mammalian SGK1), which have been implicated in multiple processes, including endocytosis and coupling of membrane expansion to cell wall remodeling, but the downstream effector(s) of these kinases have been elusive. Here we show that a physiologically relevant substrate of Ypk1 is another protein kinase, Fpk1, a known flippase activator. We show that Ypk1 phosphorylates and thereby down-regulates Fpk1, and further that a complex sphingolipid counteracts the down-regulation of Fpk1 by Ypk1. Our findings delineate a unique regulatory mechanism for imposing a balance between sphingolipid content and aminophospholipid asymmetry in eukaryotic plasma membranes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / genetics
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / metabolism*
  • Isoenzymes / genetics
  • Isoenzymes / metabolism
  • Phospholipid Transfer Proteins / genetics
  • Phospholipid Transfer Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / enzymology
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / physiology*
  • Sphingolipids / chemistry
  • Sphingolipids / metabolism*
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Isoenzymes
  • Phospholipid Transfer Proteins
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Sphingolipids
  • Protein Kinases
  • Fpk1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3
  • MCK1 protein, S cerevisiae