The activity of potassium(K+) channels critically depends ontheirdensityonthecellsurfacemembrane,whichisregulatedbydynamicprotein–proteininteractionsthatofteninvolvedistincttrafficking
signalsonthecargoproteins.InthispaperweexploredthepossibilityofutilizingtheSaccharomyces
cerevisiaestrainB31foridentification ofthesignalmotifsthatregulatesurfaceexpressionofmembraneproteinsandforstudyingstructure–functionrelationshipsofK
+
channels.B31cellslacktheK
+
effluxsystemandwerereportedtoshowoverloadedK
+
-mediatedgrowthinhibitioninhighK
+
media
uponheterologousexpressionofamammalianinwardlyrectifyingK
+
channel(Kir2.1).Weshowthat
whiletheexpressionofwild-typeKir2.1channelinhibitsthegrowthofB31cellsinhighK
+
media,the
humandisease-causingmutationsofKir2.1thatabolishK
+
conduction(V302M)orsurfacetrafficking
(314/315)fullyrestoresthegrowth.Theexpressionoftwo-pore-domainK
+
channelKCNK3orKCNK9
alsoinhibitedthegrowthofB31inhighK
+
mediawhileC-terminalmutationsthatreducetheir14-3-3
protein-dependentcellsurfacetraffickingrestoredthegrowthofB31.Finally,theexpressionofKir2.1
channelsthatwereC-terminallyfusedwithknownsequencemotifsincluding ERretention/retrieval
signalsandanendocytosissignalallowedthegrowthofB31inhighK
+
media.TheseresultsdemonstratethepotentialofB31yeaststrainasauniquebiologicaltooltoscreentherandompeptidelibraries
fornovelsequencesignalsthatdown-regulatesurfaceexpressionofmembraneproteins,aswellasto
systematicallyidentifythestructuraldeterminantsforcellsurfacetraffickingand/orionconductance
ofK
+
channels.