Functional analysis of calcineurin-mediated signalling pathways using fission yeast as a model organism

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Calcineurin (protein phosphatase 2B), the only serine/threonine phosphatase under the control of Ca2+/calmodulin, is an important mediator in signal transmission, connecting the Ca2+-dependent signalling to a wide variety of cellular responses. Calcineurin is an in vivo target of the immunosuppressant drug FK506 in fission yeast, and inhibition of calcineurin activity by gene disruption or by the addition of FK506 to the media does not affect the vegetative growth of fission yeast. We performed a genetic screen to search for the mutations that show sensitivity to the immunosuppressive drug FK506, and identified eight complementation groups. We identified PI4P5K Ypt3 small GTPase, subunits of clathrin-adaptor complex and demonstrated that these molecules and calcineurin share an essential function in cellular events such as cytokinesis, cell integrity and membrane trafficking. We also identified a downstream target of calcinerin ; Prz1, a zinc finger-type transcription factor. Prz1 was shown to be dephosphorylated by calcineurin and its transcriptional activity was also under the control of calcineurin-mediated signalling. Another approach to identify molecules that functionally interact with calcineurin signalling utilizes our discovery that calcineurin and the Pmk1 MAPK signalling function antagonistically in the Cl- homeostasis of fission yeast. Using this approach, we identified pmp1+ encoding MAPK phosphatase, pek1+ encoding MAPK kinase, and rnc1+, encoding an RNA-bindign protein. We also demonstrated that Pmp1 dephosphorylates and inactivates Pmk1, thereby negatively regulates Pmk1 siganlling. Rnc1 is a KH-type RNA-binding protein that binds and stabilizes the Pmp1 mRNA, thus acting as a negative feedback regulator of MAPK signalling.