Genome-Wide Screening of Genes Required for Glycosylphosphatidylinositol Biosynthesis

PLoS One. 2015 Sep 18;10(9):e0138553. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138553. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) is synthesized and transferred to proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). GPI-anchored proteins are then transported from the ER to the plasma membrane through the Golgi apparatus. To date, at least 17 steps have been identified to be required for the GPI biosynthetic pathway. Here, we aimed to establish a comprehensive screening method to identify genes involved in GPI biosynthesis using mammalian haploid screens. Human haploid cells were mutagenized by the integration of gene trap vectors into the genome. Mutagenized cells were then treated with a bacterial pore-forming toxin, aerolysin, which binds to GPI-anchored proteins for targeting to the cell membrane. Cells that showed low surface expression of CD59, a GPI-anchored protein, were further enriched for. Gene trap insertion sites in the non-selected population and in the enriched population were determined by deep sequencing. This screening enriched 23 gene regions among the 26 known GPI biosynthetic genes, which when mutated are expected to decrease the surface expression of GPI-anchored proteins. Our results indicate that the forward genetic approach using haploid cells is a useful and powerful technique to identify factors involved in phenotypes of interest.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Endoplasmic Reticulum / metabolism*
  • Genetic Testing
  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / biosynthesis*
  • Golgi Apparatus / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Membrane Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositols
  • Membrane Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grant-in-aids from the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (31400693), and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20140141) (to M. Fujita), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JUSRP51508) (to X.D. Gao and M. Fujita), and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (to T. Kinoshita and M. Fujita). T. Hirata was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellowship.