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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Spatio-Temporal Manipulation of Small GTPase Activity at Subcellular Level and on Timescale of Seconds in Living Cells
Published on: March 9, 2012
A bifunctional bacterial protein links GDI displacement to Rab1 activation
Matthias P Machner1, Ralph R Isberg
1Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Abstract:
Rab guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) regulate vesicle trafficking in eukaryotic cells by reversibly associating with lipid membranes. Inactive Rab GTPases are maintained in the cytosol by binding to GDP-dissociation inhibitor (GDI). It is believed that specialized proteins are required to displace GDI from Rab GTPases before Rab activation by guanosine diphosphate-guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GDP-GTP) exchange factors (GEFs). Here, we found that SidM from Legionella pneumophila could act as both GEF and GDI-displacement factor (GDF) for Rab1. Rab1 released from GDI was inserted into liposomal membranes and was used as a substrate for SidM-mediated nucleotide exchange. During host cell infection, recruitment of Rab1 to Legionella-containing vacuoles depended on the GDF activity of SidM. Thus, GDF and GEF activity can be promoted by a single protein, and GDF activity can coordinate Rab1 recruitment from the GDI-bound pool.
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