pubmed:abstractText |
Proteins that bind to SNAREs may regulate their function. One such protein, VAP-33, was first discovered in Aplysia californica and has two mammalian homologues, VAP-A and VAP-B. VAP-A has been implicated in vesicle targeting to the plasma membrane based on its location in polarized cells and its ability to bind VAMP in vitro. Here, we demonstrate that VAP-A is a widely expressed resident of the ER/Golgi intermediate compartment in COS-7 cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that VAMP-binding and VAP-dimerization require both the N- and C-terminal domains of VAP-A and also that VAP-A binds to a wide range of SNAREs and fusion-related proteins including syntaxin 1A, rbet1, rsec22, alphaSNAP, and NSF. Together, these results suggest that VAP-A is not a regulator of a specific VAMP, but rather may play a more general role in SNARE-mediated vesicle traffic between the ER and Golgi in nonpolarized cells.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Programme in Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada.
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