Evidence for a physical interaction between presenilin and Notch

William J. Ray, Min Yao, Petra Nowotny, Jeff Mumm, Wanjiang Zhang, Jane Y. Wu, Raphael Kopan, Alison M. Goate

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

161 Scopus citations

Abstract

Genetic analyses in Caenorhabditis elegans demonstrate that sel-12 and hop-1, homologues of the Alzheimer's disease-associated presenilin genes, modify signaling through LIN-12 and GLP-1, homologues of the Notch cell surface receptor. To gain insight into the biochemical basis of this genetic interaction, we tested the possibility that presenilin-1 (PS1) physically associates with the Notch1 receptor in mammalian cells. Notch1 and PS1 coimmunoprecipitated from transiently transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cell lysates in a detergent-sensitive manner, consistent with a noncovalent physical association between the two proteins. The interaction predominantly occurred early in the secretory pathway prior to Notch cleavage in the Golgi, because PS1 immunoprecipitation preferentially recovered the full-length Notch1 precursor. When PS1 was immunoprecipitated from 293 cells that had been metabolically labeled with [35S]methionine and [35S]cysteine, Notch1 was the primary protein detected in PS1 immunoprecipitates, suggesting that this interaction is specific. Furthermore, endogenous Notch and presenilin coimmunoprecipitated from cultured Drosophila cells, indicating that physical interaction can occur at physiological expression levels. These results suggest that the genetic relationship between presenilins and the Notch signaling pathway derives from a direct physical association between these proteins in the secretory pathway.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3263-3268
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume96
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Mar 1999
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evidence for a physical interaction between presenilin and Notch'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this