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The CtBP/BARS protein functions in the dynamics of Golgi tubules and is required in the fission machinery operating at Golgi tubular networks. CtBP/BARS is found to use acyl-CoA to selectively catalyze the acylation of lyso-phosphatidic acid to phosphatidic acid in pure lipidic systems as well as in Golgi membranes.

ADP-ribosylation is a posttranslational modification that modulates the functions of many target proteins. We previously showed that the fungal toxin brefeldin A (BFA) induces the ADP-ribosylation of C-terminal-binding protein-1 short-form/BFA-ADP-ribosylation substrate (CtBP1-S/BARS), a bifunctional protein with roles in the nucleus as a transcription factor and in the cytosol as a regulator of membrane fission during intracellular trafficking and mitotic partitioning of the Golgi complex. Here, we report that ADP-ribosylation of CtBP1-S/BARS by BFA occurs via a nonconventional mechanism that comprises two steps: (i) synthesis of a BFA-ADP-ribose conjugate by the ADP-ribosyl cyclase CD38 and (ii) covalent binding of the BFA-ADP-ribose conjugate into the CtBP1-S/BARS NAD+-binding pocket. This results in the locking of CtBP1-S/BARS in a dimeric conformation, which prevents its binding to interactors known to be involved in membrane fission and, hence, in the inhibition of the fission machinery involved in mitotic Golgi partitioning. As this inhibition may lead to arrest of the cell cycle in G2, these findings provide a strategy for the design of pharmacological blockers of cell cycle in tumor cells that express high levels of CD38. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Golgi ribbon is a complex structure of many stacks interconnected by tubules that undergo fragmentation during mitosis through a multistage process that allows correct Golgi inheritance. The fissioning protein CtBP1-S/BARS (BARS) is essential for this, and is itself required for mitotic entry: a block in Golgi fragmentation results in cell-cycle arrest in G2, defining the ‘Golgi mitotic checkpoint’. Here, we clarify the precise stage of Golgi fragmentation required for mitotic entry and the role of BARS in this process. Thus, during G2, the Golgi ribbon is converted into isolated stacks by fission of interstack connecting tubules. This requires BARS and is sufficient for G2/M transition. Cells without a Golgi ribbon are independent of BARS for Golgi fragmentation and mitotic entrance. Remarkably, fibroblasts from BARS-knockout embryos have their Golgi complex divided into isolated stacks at all cell-cycle stages, bypassing the need for BARS for Golgi fragmentation. This identifies the precise stage of Golgi fragmentation and the role of BARS in the Golgi mitotic checkpoint, setting the stage for molecular analysis of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C-terminal binding proteins (CtBPs) are moonlighting proteins involved in nuclear transcriptional corepression and in Golgi membrane tubule fission. Structural information on CtBPs is available for their substrate-binding domain, responsible for transcriptional repressor recognition/binding, and for the nucleotide-binding domain, involved in NAD(H)-binding and dimerization. On the contrary, little is known about the structure of CtBP C-terminal region (∼90 residues), hosting sites for post-translational modifications. In the present communication we apply a combined approach based on bioinformatics, nuclear magnetic resonance, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering, and we show that the CtBP C-terminal region is intrinsically unstructured in the full-length CtBP and in constructs lacking the substrate- and/or the nucleotide-binding domains. The flexible nature of this protein region, and its structural transitions, may be instrumental for CtBP recognition and binding to diverse molecular partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane fission is a fundamental step in membrane transport. So far, the only fission protein machinery that has been implicated in in vivo transport involves dynamin, and functions in several, but not all, transport pathways. Thus, other fission machineries may exist. Here, we report that carboxy-terminal binding protein 3/brefeldin A-ribosylated substrate (CtBP3/BARS) controls fission in basolateral transport from the Golgi to the plasma membrane and in fluid-phase endocytosis, whereas dynamin is not involved in these steps. Conversely, CtBP3/BARS protein is inactive in apical transport to the plasma membrane and in receptor-mediated endocytosis, both steps being controlled by dynamin. This indicates that CtBP3/BARS controls membrane fission in endocytic and exocytic transport pathways, distinct from those that require dynamin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brefeldin A-ADP ribosylated substrate (BARS) is a newly discovered enzyme involved in membrane fission, catalyzing the formation of phosphatidic acid by transfer of an acyl group from acyl-CoA to lysophosphatidic acid. A truncated form of BARS, lacking the C-terminal segment expected to interact with the Golgi membrane, has been expressed in soluble form in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized. BARS crystals diffract up to 2.5 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation and belong to space group P6222/P6422, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 89.2, c = 162.6 A, α = β = 90, γ = 120° and one molecule (39.5 kDa) per asymmetric unit. SeMet-substituted BARS has been crystallized under growth conditions very similar to those of the native protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]