Requirement of STE50 for osmostress-induced activation of the STE11 mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase in the high-osmolarity glycerol response pathway.

Exposure of yeast cells to increases in extracellular osmolarity activates the HOG1 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade, which is composed of three tiers of protein kinases: (i) the SSK2, SSK22, and STE11 MAP kinase kinase kinases (MAPKKKs), (ii) the PBS2 MAPKK, and (iii) the HOG1 MAP kinase. Activation of the MAP kinase cascade is mediated by two upstream mechanisms. The SLN1-YPD1-SSK1 two-component osmosensor activates the SSK2 and SSK22 MAPKKKs by direct interaction of the SSK1 response regulator with these MAPKKKs. The second mechanism of HOG1 MAP kinase activation is independent of the two-component osmosensor and involves the SHO1 transmembrane protein and the STE11 MAPKKK. Only PBS2 and HOG1 are common to the two mechanisms. We conducted an exhaustive mutant screening to identify additional elements required for activation of STE11 by osmotic stress. We found that strains with mutations in the STE50 gene, in combination with ssk2Delta ssk22Delta mutations, were unable to induce HOG1 phosphorylation after osmotic stress. Both two-hybrid analyses and coprecipitation assays demonstrated that the N-terminal domain of STE50 binds strongly to the N-terminal domain of STE11. The binding of STE50 to STE11 is constitutive and is not affected by osmotic stress. Furthermore, the two proteins relocalize similarly after osmotic shock. It was concluded that STE50 fulfills an essential role in the activation of the high-osmolarity glycerol response pathway by acting as an integral subunit of the STE11 MAPKKK.

Regulation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae HOG1 mitogen-activated protein kinase by the PTP2 and PTP3 protein tyrosine phosphatases.

In response to increases in extracellular osmolarity, Saccharomyces cerevisiae activates the HOG1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, which is composed of a pair of redundant MAPK kinase kinases, namely, Ssk2p and Ssk22p, the MAPK kinase Pbs2p, and the MAPK Hog1p. Hog1p is activated by Pbs2p through phosphorylation of specific threonine and tyrosine residues. Activated Hog1p is essential for survival of yeast cells at high osmolarity. However, expression of constitutively active mutant kinases, such as those encoded by SSK2deltaN and PBS2(DD), is toxic and results in a lethal level of Hog1p activation. Overexpression of the protein tyrosine phosphatase Ptp2p suppresses the lethality of these mutations by dephosphorylating Hog1p. A catalytically inactive Cys-to-Ser Ptp2p mutant (Ptp2(C/S)p) is tightly bound to tyrosine-phosphorylated Hog1p in vivo. Disruption of PTP2 leads to elevated levels of tyrosine-phosphorylated Hog1p following exposure of cells to high osmolarity. Disruption of both PTP2 and another protein tyrosine phosphatase gene, PTP3, results in constitutive Hog1p tyrosine phosphorylation even in the absence of increased osmolarity. Thus, Ptp2p and Ptp3p are the major phosphatases responsible for the tyrosine dephosphorylation of Hog1p. When catalytically inactive Hog1(K/N)p is expressed in hog1delta cells, it is constitutively tyrosine phosphorylated. In contrast, Hog1(K/N)p, expressed together with wild-type Hog1p, is tyrosine phosphorylated only when cells are exposed to high osmolarity. Thus, the kinase activity of Hog1p is required for its own tyrosine dephosphorylation. Northern blot analyses suggest that Hog1p regulates Ptp2p and/or Ptp3p activity at the posttranscriptional level.

Yeast HOG1 MAP kinase cascade is regulated by a multistep phosphorelay mechanism in the SLN1-YPD1-SSK1 "two-component" osmosensor.

An osmosensing mechanism in the budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) involves both a two-component signal transducer (Sln1p, Ypd1p and Ssk1p) and a MAP kinase cascade (Ssk2p/Ssk22p, Pbs2p, and Hog1p). The transmembrane protein Sln1p contains an extracellular sensor domain and cytoplasmic histidine kinase and receiver domains, whereas the cytoplasmic protein Ssk1p contains a receiver domain. Ypd1p binds to both Sln1p and Ssk1p and mediates the multistep phosphotransfer reaction (phosphorelay). This phosphorelay system is initiated by the autophosphorylation of Sln1p at His576. This phosphate is then sequentially transferred to Sln1p-Asp-1144, then to Ypd1p-His64, and finally to Ssk1p-Asp554. We propose that the multistep phosphorelay mechanism is a universal signal transduction apparatus utilized both in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.