Molecular characterization of Osh6p, an oxysterol binding
protein homolog in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Penghua Wang
1
, Wei Duan
1
, Alan L. Munn
2,3
and Hongyuan Yang
1
1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore
2 Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR Biomedical Research Institutes, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
3 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
The oxysterol binding protein (OSBP) and its related
proteins (ORP) constitute a large conserved family of
proteins in eukaryotes [1,2]. OSBP homologs are pre-
sent in many species including humans and the yeast
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (the OSBP homolog in
yeast is OSH). These proteins all share a conserved
 400 amino acid OSBP related domain (ORD),
which contains an ‘OSBP fingerprint’ ‘EQVSHHPP’
[1].
Recent studies on the OSBP homologs of humans
and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have demonstrated the
importance of OSBP proteins in sterol and sphingo-
lipid metabolisms. The canonical OSBP is believed
to play a role in regulating sterol biosynthesis,
Keywords
OSBP; OSH; Osh6p; oxysterol-binding
protein; sterol homeostasis
Correspondence

a role primarily in regulating cellular sterol metabolism, possibly stero
transport.
Abbreviations
ACAT, acyl CoA:cholesterol acyl transferase; CPY, carboxypeptidase Y; DAPI, 4¢-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; GFP, green fluorescent protein;
GST, glutathione-S-transferase; LY, Lucifer yellow; MVB, multivesicular body; ORD, OSBP related domain; ORP, oxysterol binding protein
related protein; OSBP, oxysterol binding protein; OSH, yeast gene encoding oxysterol binding protein; Osh6p, yeast OSBP homolog; PA,
phosphatidic acid; PtdCho, phosphatidylcholine; PtdEtn, phosphatidylethanolamine; PH, pleckstrin homology; PtdIns, phosphatidylinositol;
PtdInsP, phosphatidylinositol phosphate; SD, synthetic dropout; SE, sterol ester; TAG, triacylglycerol.
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS 4703
esterification and sterol-regulated gene transcription.
Lagace et al. [3] reported that overexpression of OSBP
in several cell lines reduced cholesterol ester synthesis
by 50% and showed a 40–60% decrease in acyl-
CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity and
mRNA. In contrast, overexpression of OSBP up-regu-
lated the transcription of sterol-regulated genes and
increased the rate of cholesterol biosynthesis. More-
over, OSBP localization is inherently linked to sterol
homeostasis [4,5] and sphingolipid metabolisms [6]. A
recent report suggested that OSBP may be involved in
vesicle-dependent ceramide transport from the endo-
plasmic reticulum to the Golgi [7]. Overexpression
studies with other human ORPs have also provided
further evidence. Stable overexpression of ORP2 led to
a significant reduction of ACAT activity and choles-
terol esters [8]. Overexpression of a splice variant of
ORP4 (ORP4-S) caused a 40% reduction in esterifica-
tion of low density lipoprotein-derived cholesterol [9].
Most interestingly, the role of OSBP in sterol homeo-
stasis seems to be conserved from mammals to the uni-

Osh1p and Osh2p; Osh3p; Osh4p ⁄ Kes1p and Osh5p;
Osh6p and Osh7p [10]. Among all individual OSH
gene deletions, Osh6D and osh5D exhibited most eleva-
ted sterol levels, highlighting the importance of Osh6p
and Osh5p in maintaining sterol homeostasis [10].
Here, we characterize Osh6p in greater detail and
show that deletion or overexpression of OSH6 causes
sterol-related defects but does not affect endocytosis
and endocytic trafficking of a marker, multivesicular
body sorting (MVB) or carboxypeptidase Y (CPY)
transport to the vacuole.
Results
Osh6p binds phospholipids
As a short Osh protein, Osh6p consists of an ORD for
lipid binding and a putative coiled-coil motif for pro-
tein–protein interaction. In this study, Osh6p was
demonstrated to bind a pool of phosphatidylinositol
phosphates (PtdInsP) including PtdIns(4)P, PtdIns(5)P,
PtdIns(3,4)P
2
and PtdIns(3,5)P
2
with the strongest
binding to PtdIns(5)P (Fig. 1). The ORD domain
showed a very similar lipid binding pattern as the full-
length protein. While the coiled-coil half and glutathi-
one S-transferase (GST) alone (control) failed to bind
any lipids. As a positive control GST-EEA1-a FYVE
protein preferably bound PtdIns(3)P [19], indicating
the specificity and reliability of this assay. Although

254)-GFP showed strikingly different localization. As
seen in Fig. 3A, Osh6p(1–254)-GFP was associated
with one or two punctate structures without discernible
peripheral staining. These punctate structures were fur-
ther found to colocalize with the FM4-64 staining
endosomes (Fig. 3B). Most interestingly, the C-ter-
minal half Osh6p(255–448)-GFP was localized to the
nucleoplasm (Fig. 3A), which was further confirmed
by 4¢-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. As
Fig. 3C shows, GFP staining structures were well colo-
calized with DAPI staining nucleus.
Osh6p is required for sterol homeostasis
Osh proteins collectively play a crucial role in main-
taining sterol homeostasis. In addition, deletion of
each individual OSH was also shown to affect sterol
levels to some extent [10]. Here we examined the role
of Osh6p in sterol homeostasis by gene deletion and
overexpression approaches. First we checked the
OSH6 deletion and overexpression strains by Western
blotting using anti-Osh6p serum. Figure 4A shows that
an  50 kDa band was recognized by anti-Osh6p
serum from cell extracts of wildtype cells, which was
absent from extracts of OSH6 knockout cells. On the
other hand, the amount of Osh6p protein overexpro-
duced using the ADH1 promoter from a 2l plasmid
(pADNSOSH6) was increased by more than 10-fold
compared to vector only (pADNS) (Fig. 4B). Next we
analyzed the steady-state ergosterol levels in osh6D and
overexpression cells. Consistent with a previous report
[10], deletion of OSH6 caused an increase in total

in total ergosterol in arv1D compared to wildtype and
no ergosterol was detected in erg3D by GC-MS
(Fig. S1). To examine whether osh6 mutants affected
sterol ester levels, cells were stained with Nile Red,
a dye that specifically stains neutral lipids. As shown
in Fig. 4E, an average of six lipid droplets per cell
(n ¼ 100) was observed in wildtype cells; while there
were about four only in the OSH6 overexpressing cells.
Exposure times were equal for both strains and the
brightness of lipid bodies was almost the same. Dele-
tion of OSH6 resulted in a significant increase of total
sterol levels (Fig. 4C); however, no change in the num-
ber of lipid droplets was observed (data not shown).
In order to elucidate how Osh6p affected sterol lev-
els, we tested sterol esterification and the rate of sterol
biosynthesis in both osh6D and OSH6 overexpressing
strains. Sterol biosynthesis was slightly accelerated in
osh6D but not affected in OSH6 overexpressing cells
(data not shown). Sterol esterification in OSH6 dele-
tion and overexpressing cells was decreased, but tri-
acylglycerol biosynthesis was not significantly affected
(Fig. 5), indicating that fatty acid uptake and transport
was normal. As positive controls, deletion of the major
sterol esterification gene ARE2 reduced
3
H-labeled
sterol esters by  75% [27], and the mutation of VPS4
(vacuolar protein sorting 4) caused a 40% decrease
[34] (Fig. S2).
Osh6p is not essential for fluid-phase endocytosis

PS
PI(3)P
10
3
500 250 125 62 31 pmol
GST
GST-Osh6p
GST-Osh6pCC
GST-Osh6pORD
PA
PA
PA
PI(3)P
PI(3)P
PI(3)P
Fig. 2. Osh binds PA as described in Fig. 1 except for the concen-
trations used for GST fusions and GST, which were 60 n
M and
120 n
M, respectively. The amount of lipid spotted is indicated on
the top of blots.
Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis P. Wang et al.
4706 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS
0 min of chase. At 5 min of chase, one or two large
dots were observed around the vacuole, which repre-
sent late endosomal ⁄ prevacuolar structures. At 10 min,
punctate staining diminished and vacuolar staining in-
creased, and finally punctate staining was almost lost
with predominant vacuolar staining at 30 min. Com-
pared with wildtype, no delay of FM4-64 transport was

GFP
Merge
DAPI
DIC
GFP
Osh6p (1-254)
-GFP
GFP DIC
Osh6p -GFP
Osh6p (255-448)
-GFP
AC
B
Fig. 3. Localization of Osh6p. (A) Exponentially growing cells (Y10000) expressing GFP fusions from YEplac181 vector were mounted on a
glass slide and visualized using a Leica fluorescence microscope. (B) Colocalization of Osh6p(1–254)-GFP with FM4-64 positive compart-
ments. Cells (Y10000) were labeled with FM4-64 in ice-water for 30 min and then shifted to 15 °C for 20 min allowing FM4-64 to be inter-
nalized. Cells were immediately put back on ice and washed thoroughly to remove excess dye. GFP and FM4-64 images were acquired via
a GFP filter and Texas Red filter, respectively. Arrows indicate some colocalization. (C) Colocalization of Osh6p(255–448)-GFP with DAPI
stained nucleus. Scale bar: 5 lm. DIC, differential interference contrast.
P. Wang et al. Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS 4707
osh6D showed no delay in CPY maturation. Although
even wildtype cells secret a minute fraction of CPY pre-
cursors, we could not detect CPY in the extracellular
extracts from either wildtype or osh6D cells in this
study. This discrepancy may be due to insufficient pro-
teins loaded for detection. We next checked the role
of Osh6p in the multivesicular body (MVB) pathway
using GFP fusions of the surface receptor-Ste3p and
vacuolar hydrolase-carboxypeptidase S. MVB is a pro-

pADNS pADNSOSH6
VATPase60
Osh6p
Nile Red DIC
pADNS
pADNS
OSH6
pADNS
pADNS
OSH6
pADNS
OSH6
pADNS
1µg/ml nystatin
No nystatin
Fig. 4. Osh6p is required for maintaining sterol homeostasis. (A,B) Western blotting. Osh6p was detected using rabbit anti-Osh6p serum at
1 : 300 dilution. Dpm1p and VATPase60 were used as internal loading controls. pADNS represents the Y10000 strain harboring vector (pADNS);
pADNSOSH6 shows Y10000 strain transformed with pADNSOSH6 overexpressing OSH6 from the ADH1 promoter. (C) Total sterols (free and
esterified) were extracted with hexane and blow-dried under a stream of nitrogen. Ergosterol was identified and quantified by GC-MS. Results
were obtained from two independent experiments (n ¼ 3). The x-axis denotes strain genotype. Wildtype (WT) vector: Y10000 cells transformed
with YCplac111-scGFP; osh6D vector: Y15074 cells transformed with YCplac111-scGFP; osh6D OSH6-GFP: Y15074 cells carrying YCp OSH6-
GFP; WT pADNS ⁄ WT pADNSOSH6: Y10000 cells harbouring pADNS ⁄ pADNSOSH6. (D) Nystatin assay. Cells at mid log phase were serially
diluted by 10-fold and grown on SD solid medium lacking leucine with (upper) or without (lower) 1 lgÆmL
)1
nystatin at 30 °C for 48 h. (E) Visual-
ization of lipid droplets. Cells at stationary phase were stained with Nile Red and visualized via a Texas Red filter using a Leica fluorescence
microscope. Scale bar: 5 lm. DIC, differential interference contrast.
Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis P. Wang et al.
4708 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS
growth arrest. Reintroduction of any OSH gene can

In addition, bacterially expressed Osh6p shows no
affinity for ergosterol, diacylglycerol (DAG) or cera-
mide in our assay system (data not shown). Our results
represent a novel and exciting finding given the fact
that the bypass sec14 mutants require a basal PA level
to exert their suppression effects [25,26]. Consistent
with this, the three OSBP homologs: Kes1p, ORP1and
ORP2 which are potentially involved in the Golgi
secretory function are able to bind PA with varying
affinity [13–15]. Further, our results demonstrate that
the N-terminal half (amino acids 1–300) containing the
conserved OSBP domain is sufficient and indispensable
for Osh6p binding to phospholipids. Unlike the long
Osh proteins, Osh6p contains no canonical PH domain
that mediates phospholipid binding [23,24]. However,
it is possible that Osh6p may bind phospholipids
through a domain other than PH. In support of this,
the short Kes1p containing no PH domain was also
shown to bind PtdIns (4,5)P [15]. Although the role of
the conserved ORD domain is unclear, our results
imply that it could recognize specific lipid ligand(s).
As an effort to understand the role of Osh6p in
the vesicular transport, we examined the cellular
location of Osh6p. Although the cellular location of
the full-length protein could not be pinpointed in this
study, the patch-like structures might possibly repre-
sent endoplasmic reticulum. Interestingly, the N ter-
minus (1–254) is localized to endosomes and the
C terminus (255–448) to the nucleoplasm. To our
knowledge, Osh6p may be the first of the OSBP

3
H]oleic acid
into sterol esters (SE) or TAG and expressed as
3
H-labeled SE or TAG
per mg of dry cells. Results were obtained from two independent
experiments (n ¼ 4). The x-axis denotes strain genotype. cpm,
counts per minute; WT, Y10000; osh6D, Y15074; pADNS (vector
control) and pADNS OSH6 indicate Y10000 cells transformed with
pADNS ⁄ pADNSOSH6.
P. Wang et al. Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS 4709
WT
DICFITC
Fig. 6. Osh6p is not essential for Lucifer yellow (LY) uptake and FM4-64 transport. (A) Wildtype (Y10000) or osh6D (Y15074) cells at early
log phase were allowed to internalize LY for 1 h and images were captured using a Leica fluorescence microscope. DIC, differential interfer-
ence contrast; FITC, fluorescent image. (B) Cells at early log phase were labeled with FM4-64 at 15 °C for 20 min. After removal of excess
FM4-64, cells were chased for 0, 5, 10, and 30 min at 30 °C. FM4-64 staining was visualized using a Leica fluorescence microscope
equipped with a Texas Red light filter. Upper panels: DIC and FM4-64 images of Y10000 (wildtype). Lower panels: DIC and FM4-64 images
of Y15074 (osh6D). Time of chase is indicated at the bottom. Scale bar: 5 lm.
Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis P. Wang et al.
4710 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS
(for example the nucleoplasm or endoplasmic reticu-
lum membrane).
Excess intracellular sterols are normally converted to
sterol esters, a process that is catalyzed by Are1p and
Are2p in yeast [27]. Sterol esterification is primarily
regulated by the availability of sterol substrates. How-
ever, excess ergosterol observed in osh6D does not
result in enhanced sterol esterification (Fig. 5A) or

80% increase in osh6D cells.
In summary, this study provides a detailed charac-
terization of Osh6p, one of the seven OSBP homo-
logs in yeast. We show, for the first time, a direct
binding of PA by the ORD domain and the cellular
location of Osh6p. We further demonstrate that dele-
tion or overexpression of OSH6 affects sterol homeo-
stasis but not endocytosis or CPY secretion. Our
results suggest that the primary molecular function
of Osh6p is likely to be in sterol metabolism, prob-
ably sterol transport.
Experimental procedures
Materials
Mouse anti-CPY, Dpm1p, VATPase60 and rabbit anti-
GST IgGs were obtained from Molecular Probes (Eugene,
OR, USA). Mouse anti-GST IgG was purchased from
Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA). YPD
medium contained 2% (w ⁄ v) dextrose, 2% (w ⁄ v) peptone
and 1% (w ⁄ v) yeast extract (Gibco-BRL ⁄ Life Technologies,
Paisley, UK). Synthetic dropout medium (SD) was com-
prised of 0.67% (w ⁄ v) yeast nitrogen base, 2% (w ⁄ v)
P2
P1
M
P2
P1
M
WT
osh6∆
0 5 10 30

nitrogen base. LB broth contained 1% (w ⁄ v) tryptone,
0.5% (w ⁄ v) yeast extract, and 1% (w ⁄ v) sodium chloride.
Construction of plasmids and strains
Construction of expression plasmids were performed
according to the universal protocols [29]. For plasmids and
strains used in this study, see Tables 1 and 2.
Biochemical assays
Expression and purification of GST fusion protein was per-
formed essentially according to a method of Dowler et al.
[30].
Fluorescence microscopy
FM4-64 staining was performed according to a previously
described method [21]. Cells at early log-phase (D
600
¼ 0.2)
were stained with FM4-64 at a final concentration of
1.2 lgÆmL
)1
at 15 °C for 20 min for preliminary labeling
and the excess dye was removed by washing with ice-cold
labeling medium. Cells were then resuspended in fresh labe-
ling medium and incubated at 30 °C. An aliquot was
removed at 0, 5, 10 and 30 min time points and endocytosis
was stopped by addition of ice-cold NaF ⁄ NaN
3
to a final
concentration of 12 mm. All samples were thoroughly
washed with ice-cold wash buffer (1· NaCl ⁄ P
i
,10mm

Amersham
pYEX4T-1 Pcup1, GST, URA3, leu2-d, 2l BD biosciences
pADNSOSH6 pADNS, OSH6(1–448)
pADNS P
ADH1
, LEU2, 2l
YCpOSH6-GFP YCplac111, OSH6 promoter, OSH6(1–448), GFP
YEpOSH6(1–254)-GFP YEplac181, OSH6 promoter, OSH6(1–254),GFP
YEpOSH6(255–448)-GFP YEplac181, OSH1 promoter, OSH6(255–448),GFP
YEpOSH6-GFP YEplac181, OSH6 promoter, OSH6(1–448),GFP
YCplac111-scGFP YCplac111, GFP, CEN, LEU2 [31]
YEplac181-scGFP YEplac181, GFP, 2l, LEU2 [31]
YEp-p
OSH1
-GFP YEplac181, OSH1 promoter, GFP
Table 2. Strains.
Strain name Genotype Ref. or source
Y10000 BY4742, MATa his3D1 leu2D0 lys2D0 ura3D0 Euroscarf
Y15074 BY4742, MATa his3D1 leu2D0 lys2D0 ura3D0 osh6D::KanMX4 Euroscarf
JRY6326 SEY6210, TRP1::PMET3-OSH2 osh1D::kan-MX4 osh2D::kan-MX4
osh3D::LYS2 osh4D::HIS3 osh5D::LEU2 osh6D::LEU2 osh7D::HIS3
[10]
SEY6210 MATa ura3-52 his3D200 lys2-801 leu2-3,112 trp1D901 suc2D9 [10]
SEY6201 SEY6210, osh6D::LEU2 [10]
Y12667 BY4742, MATa his3D1 leu2D0 lys2D0 ura3D0 erg3D::KanMX4 Euroscarf
Y15151 BY4742, MATa his3D1 leu2D0 lys2D0 ura3D0 arv1D::KanMX4 Euroscarf
Y15588 BY4742, MATa his3D1 leu2D0 lys2D0 ura3D0 vps4D::KanMX4 Euroscarf
Y15394 BY4742, MATa his3D1 leu2D0 lys2D0 ura3D0 are2D::KanMX4 Euroscarf
Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis P. Wang et al.
4712 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS

50 lL stop solution (0.2 m NaF and NaN
3
) on ice (labeled
as 0 min). Subsequently, at times of 5, 10 and 30 min,
0.5 mL sample was removed and treated with stop solution
as previously. Cells were converted to spheroplasts and then
lysed. CPY was immunoprecipitated from the growth
medium ⁄ periplasm (extracellular) or spheroplast lysate
(intracellular) using anti-CPY IgG and Protein A sepharose
beads. After stringency wash, bound CPY was eluted and
separated by SDS ⁄ PAGE, and finally detected by radiopho-
tography.
GC-MS analysis of ergosterol
Sterol lipids were extracted using a method of Beh et al.
[10]. For triplicate analysis of a same culture, 150 mL of
exponentially growing yeast (D
600
¼ 0.5–0.8) were split into
three equal volumes and harvested by brief centrifugation
(5 mL was removed for dry weight analysis). Cells were
washed once with 50 mL distilled water. The cell pellets
were resuspended in 1.25 mL of 0.1 m HCl and boiled for
20 min. Cells were washed twice with 5 mL of distilled
water and then the cell pellets were resuspended in 0.5 mL
of 67% (v ⁄ v) methanol. Cells were lyzed with glass beads
by vigorous vortexing for 3 min. For total sterol analysis
(free and esterified), 1.25 mL of methanol and 0.63 mL of
60% KOH were added to the slurry followed by heating at
70 °C for 90 min. Sterols were extracted with 2 mL of
hexane four times. Ergosterol was identified and quantified

)1
, Amersham) in
200 lL isopropanol was added to the cell suspension. Lipids
were extracted from the cell suspension with 5 mL of hexane
by vigorous vortexing. Phase separation was induced by addi-
tion of 5 mL of KCl ⁄ methanol (2 m KCl ⁄ methanol ¼ 2:1,
v ⁄ v). The hexane extracts were blow-dried under a nitrogen
stream. Sterol esters or TAG were separated by TLC and
quantified using a scintillation counter.
Protein lipid overlay assay
Protein lipid overlay assay was carried out following a
method of Dowler et al. [30]. Phosphatidylinositol phos-
phate (PtdInsP) strips containing indicated lipids were
blocked in blocking solution [3% (w ⁄ v) fatty acid free BSA
in TBST (50 mm Tris ⁄ HCl, pH 7.5, 150 mm NaCl and 0.1%
(v ⁄ v) Tween-20)] at room temperature for 2 h. The PtdInsP
strips were then incubated with GST fusion proteins at a
concentration of 30–60 nm for fusion proteins or 60–120 nm
for GST only for 2 h at room temperature. After washing
with six changes of TBST over 0.5 h, the PtdInsP strips were
incubated with anti-GST monoclonal antibody (1 : 3000)
for 1 h, washed again as previously, and then incubated with
mouse anti-IgG horseradish peroxidase conjugate (1 : 4000)
for 1 h. The PtdInsP strips were finally washed with 12
changes of TBST over 1 h. The protein-bound lipid ligands
were detected by enhanced chemiluminescence (Amersham
Biosciences).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a Young Investigator
Award from the National University of Singapore, a

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Supplementary material
Fig. S1. Analysis of total ergosterol (free and esteri-
fied) by GC-MS.
Fig. S2. Oleate incorporation. Sterol esterification or
TAG synthesis was determined by incorporation of
[
3
H]oleic acid into sterol esters (SE) or TAG and
expressed as
3
H-labeled sterol esters or TAG per mg
of dry cells.
P. Wang et al. Yeast OSBP and sterol homeostasis
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 4703–4715 ª 2005 FEBS 4715