Src-family kinases, known to participate in signaling pathways of a variety of surface receptors, are localized to the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane through lipid modification. We show here that Lyn, a member of the Src-family kinases, is biosynthetically transported to the plasma membrane via the Golgi pool of caveolin along the secretory pathway. The trafficking of Lyn from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane is inhibited by deletion of the kinase domain or Csk-induced “closed conformation” but not by kinase inactivation. Four residues (Asp346 and Glu353 on αE helix, and Asp498 and Asp499 on αI helix) present in the C-lobe of the kinase domain, which can be exposed to the molecular surface through an “open conformation,” are identified as being involved in export of Lyn from the Golgi apparatus toward the plasma membrane but not targeting to the Golgi apparatus. Thus, the kinase domain of Lyn plays a role in Lyn trafficking besides catalysis of substrate phosphorylation.

No abstract

Glucokinase is thought to play a glucose-sensor role in the pancreas, and abnormalities in its structure, function, and regulation can induce diabetes. We isolated the human glucokinase gene, and determined its genomic structure including exon-intron boundaries. Structure of the glucokinase gene in human was very similar to that in rat. Then, by screening Japanese diabetic patients using polymerase chain reaction--single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and direct-sequencing strategies, we identified a missense mutation substituting arginine (AGG) for glycine (GGG) at position 261 in exon 7 of the glucokinase gene in a patient with early-onset non-insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM).

We determined that two siblings with type III osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) had the same single base substitution that converted the codon for glycine (Gly) 862 to a codon for serine (Ser) in exon 44 of the alpha 1 chain of the type I (alpha 1(I)) collagen gene (COL1A1). The mutation was also detected in various paternal tissues; the mutant allele accounted for approximately 11% of the COL1A1 alleles in blood, 24% of those in fibroblasts, and 43% of those in sperm determined by allele-specific colony hybridization using amplified genomic sequences. These findings demonstrate that germ-line mosaicism in the phenotypically normal father is responsible for the recurrence. There is a cluster of serine substitutions for Gly (Gly832, Gly844 and Gly901) which is associated with nonlethal phenotypes and which is located between two lethal clusters. In the cases studied here, a Gly862-->Ser mutation was identified that is located inside the nonlethal cluster.