Functional Complementation of a Membrane Transport Deficiency in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae by Recombinant ND4 Fusion Protein

ND4 is a mitochondrially encoded component of NADH dehydrogenase (Complex I) of the respiratory chain. A cDNA encoding a fusion protein comprised of the N-terminus of GAL10 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and an N-terminally truncated form of human ND4 was isolated by its ability to functionally complement the thymidine transport deficiency of S. cerevisiae grown under conditions of thymidylate starvation. Epitope-tagged GAL10-ND4 was shown by immunological methods to be present in the plasma membranes of yeast expressing the GAL10-ND4 encoding cDNA. The ability of the GAL10-ND4 fusion protein to induce uptake of thymidine raises the possibility that native ND4, which is predicted to have 12 transmembrane domains, may function as a transporter or channel in the mitochondrial inner membrane.