Polytopic membrane proteins with multiple transmembrane segments (TMS) co-translationally insert into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane of eukaryotic cells. Discrete sets of polytopic membrane proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae require ER membrane-localized chaperones (MLC) to prevent aggregation and fold properly. Shr3, the best characterized MLC, is specifically required for the functional expression of amino acid permeases (AAP), a family of transport proteins comprised of twelve TMS. We performed comprehensive scanning mutagenesis and deletion analysis of Shr3 combined with split-ubiquitin approaches to probe chaperone-substrate (Shr3-AAP) interactions in vivo. We report a surprisingly low level of sequence specificity underlies Shr3-AAP interactions, which initiate after the first 2 to 4 TMS of AAP partition into the membrane. The Shr3-AAP interactions successively strengthen and then weaken as all 12 TMS are inserted. Thus, Shr3 acts transiently in a co-translationally manner to prevent TMS of translation intermediates from engaging in non-productive interactions, thereby preventing AAP misfolding during biogenesis.

Evidence from multiple laboratories have implicated Ssy1, a non‐transporting amino acid permease, as the receptor component of the yeast plasma membrane (PM)‐localized SPS (Ssy1‐Ptr3‐Ssy5)‐sensor. Upon binding external amino acids, Ssy1 is thought to initiate signaling events leading to the induction of amino acid permease gene expression. In striking contrast, Kralt et al. 2015 (Traffic 16:135‐147) have questioned the role of Ssy1 in amino acid sensing and reported that Ssy1 is a component of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where it reportedly participates in the formation of ER‐PM junctions. Here, we have re‐examined the intracellular location of Ssy1 and tested the role of ER‐PM junctions in SPS sensor signaling. We show that the C‐terminal of Ssy1 carries a functional ER‐exit motif required for proper localization of Ssy1 to the PM. Furthermore, ER‐PM junctions are dispensable for PM‐localization and function of Ssy1; Ssy1 localizes to the PM in a Δtether strain lacking ER‐PM junctions (ist2Δ scs2Δ scs22Δ tcb1Δ tcb2Δ tcb3Δ), and this strain retains the ability to initiate signals induced by extracellular amino acids. The data demonstrate that Ssy1 functions as the primary amino acid receptor and that it carries out this function at the PM.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ssy5 signaling protease is a core component of the plasma membrane (PM)-localized SPS (Ssy1-Ptr3-Ssy5)-sensor. In response to extracellular amino acids, the SPS-sensor orchestrates the proteasomal degradation of the inhibitory Ssy5 prodomain. The unfettered catalytic (Cat)-domain cleaves latent transcription factors Stp1 and Stp2, freeing them from negative N-terminal regulatory domains. By studying the spatial and temporal constraints affecting the unfettered Cat-domain, we found that it can cleave substrates not associated with the PM; the Cat-domain efficiently cleaves Stp1 even when fused to the carboxy-terminal of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein Shr3. The amino acid-induced cleavage of this synthetic membrane-anchored substrate occurs in a Δtether strain lacking ER-PM junctions. We report that the bulk of the Cat-domain is soluble, exhibits a disperse intracellular distribution and is subject to ubiquitylation. Cat-domain ubiquitylation is dependent on Ptr3 and the integral PM casein kinase I (Yck1/2). Time-course experiments reveal that the non- and ubiquitylated forms of the Cat-domain are stable in cells grown in the absence of inducing amino acids. By contrast, amino acid induction significantly accelerates Cat-domain degradation. These findings provide novel insights into the SPS-sensing pathway and suggest that Cat-domain degradation is a requisite for resetting SPS-sensor signaling.