Binding of the exocyst complex to the SNARE regulator Sec1

Vesicles in eukaryotic cells act as intracellular carriers to transport cargo between membrane‐bound organelles and the plasma membrane. Cellular trafficking is a highly regulated process that is critical for maintaining cellular growth, homeostasis, signaling and division. These cellular trafficking events ultimately culminate in membrane fusion, where secretory vesicles release their contents to the extracellular space. However, the molecular and structural underpinnings of trafficking and membrane fusion still remains misunderstood. The process of intracellular membrane fusion relies on several conserved protein families, including SNAREs, Sec1/Munc18 (SM) proteins, multi‐subunit tethering complexes (e.g. exocyst), and Rab GTPases. Each of these regulatory factors plays multiple roles in assisting vesicle docking and SNARE assembly, indicating a trafficking system with overlapping sets of reactions. Exocyst, a hetero‐octameric protein complex, is proposed to tether vesicles to the plasma membrane and promote specific SNARE‐mediated membrane fusion. Previous binding experiments using recombinant proteins revealed interactions between two exocytic SNARE proteins and Sec1 with a single subunit of exocyst, Sec6. Currently, Sec6 is proposed to bind both binary (Sso1:Sec9), and ternary (Sso1:Sec9:Snc2) SNARE complexes during SNARE complex assembly. The timing in which Sec1 binds to the ternary SNARE complex and exocyst to mediate membrane fusion is unknown. Temperature sensitive sec1 yeast cells are defective for cell growth, SNARE complex assembly, and secretion of protein and lipid cargo at the restrictive temperature. This evidence suggests that Sec1 may play both a general and a specific role during membrane trafficking. Recent structural evidence from a mutant “activated” yeast exocyst complex shows increased flexibility and dynamics of two subunits of exocyst, Exo70 and Sec6, which lead to increased binding to SNAREs compared to wild‐type exocyst. Our study aims to further investigate the mechanisms of SNARE assembly and membrane fusion, using biochemical and EM methods to characterize the interactions of yeast exocyst, Sec1 and SNARE proteins. Using purified forms of each of the proteins and complexes, interactions between Sec1, SNARE proteins, and exocyst (wild type and activated mutant) are being analyzed and quantified.