Biochemical Characterization of the Ran-RanBP1-RanGAP System: Are RanBP Proteins and the Acidic Tail of RanGAP Required for the Ran-RanGAP GTPase Reaction?

Abstract

RanBP type proteins have been reported to increase the catalytic efficiency of the RanGAP-mediated GTPase reaction on Ran. Since the structure of the Ran-RanBP1-RanGAP complex showed RanBP1 to be located away from the active site, we reinvestigated the reaction using fluorescence spectroscopy under pre-steady-state conditions. We can show that RanBP1 indeed does not influence the rate-limiting step of the reaction, which is the cleavage of GTP and/or the release of product P_i. It does, however, influence the dynamics of the Ran-RanGAP interaction, its most dramatic effect being the 20-fold stimulation of the already very fast association reaction such that it is under diffusion control (4.5 × 10⁸ M⁻¹ s⁻¹). Having established a valuable kinetic system for the interaction analysis, we also found, in contrast to previous findings, that the highly conserved acidic C-terminal end of RanGAP is not required for the switch-off reaction. Rather, genetic experiments in Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrate a profound effect of the acidic tail on microtubule organization during mitosis. We propose that the acidic tail of RanGAP is required for a process during mitosis.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (AZ Ku 1339/1-1) and the Louis-Jeantet foundation for support.