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. 1999 Jun 15;18(12):3305–3316. doi: 10.1093/emboj/18.12.3305

Drainin required for membrane fusion of the contractile vacuole in Dictyostelium is the prototype of a protein family also represented in man.

M Becker 1, M Matzner 1, G Gerisch 1
PMCID: PMC1171411  PMID: 10369671

Abstract

The contractile vacuole expels water by forming a channel with the plasma membrane and thus enables cells to survive in a hypo-osmotic environment. Here we characterize drainin, a Dictyostelium protein involved in this process, as the first member of a protein family represented in fission yeast, Caenorhabditis elegans and man. Gene replacement in Dictyostelium shows that drainin acts at a checkpoint of channel formation between the contractile vacuole and the plasma membrane. A green fluorescent protein fusion of drainin localizes specifically to the contractile vacuole and rescues its periodic discharge in drainin-null cells. Drainin is a peripheral membrane protein, requiring a short hydrophobic stretch in its C-terminal region for localization and function. We suggest that drainin acts in a signaling cascade that couples a volume-sensing device in the vacuolar membrane to the membrane fusion machinery.

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Selected References

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