Regulation of early endosome fusion by phospholipase D activity

Arabidopsis PLDzeta2 regulates vesicle trafficking and is required for auxin response

Phospholipase D (PLD) and its product, phosphatidic acid (PA), play key roles in cellular processes, including stress and hormonal responses, vesicle trafficking, and cytoskeletal rearrangements. We isolated and functionally characterized Arabidopsis thaliana PLDzeta2, which is expressed in various tissues and enhanced by auxin. A PLDzeta2-defective mutant, pldzeta2, and transgenic plants deficient in PLDzeta2 were less sensitive to auxin, had reduced root gravitropism, and suppressed auxin-dependent hypocotyl elongation at 29 degrees C, whereas transgenic seedlings overexpressing PLDzeta2 showed opposite phenotypes, suggesting that PLDzeta2 positively mediates auxin responses. Studies on the expression of auxin-responsive genes and observation of the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) expression in crosses between pldzeta2 and lines containing DR5-GUS indicated that PLDzeta2, or PA, stimulated auxin responses. Observations of the membrane-selective dye FM4-64 showed suppressed vesicle trafficking under PLDzeta2 deficiency or by treatment with 1-butanol, a PLD-specific inhibitor. By contrast, vesicle trafficking was enhanced by PA or PLDzeta2 overexpression. Analyses of crosses between pldzeta2 and lines containing PIN-FORMED2 (PIN2)-enhanced green fluorescent protein showed that PLDzeta2 deficiency had no effect on the localization of PIN2 but blocked the inhibition of brefeldin A on PIN2 cycling. These results suggest that PLDzeta2 and PA are required for the normal cycling of PIN2-containing vesicles as well as for function in auxin transport and distribution, and hence auxin responses.

Renal tubule albumin transport

Albumin is the most abundant protein in serum and contributes to the maintenance of oncotic pressure as well as to transport of hydrophobic molecules. Although albumin is a large anionic protein, it is not completely retained by the glomerular filtration barrier. In order to prevent proteinuria, albumin is reabsorbed along the proximal tubules by receptor-mediated endocytosis, which involves the binding proteins megalin and cubilin. Endocytosis depends on proper vesicle acidification. Disturbance of endosomal acidification or loss of the binding proteins leads to tubular proteinuria. Furthermore, endocytosis is subject to modulation by different signaling systems, such as protein kinase A (PKA), protein kinase C (PKC), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta). In addition to being reabsorbed in the proximal tubule, albumin can also act as a profibrotic and proinflammatory stimulus, thereby initiating or promoting tubulo-interstitial diseases.

Membrane lipids and cell death: an overview

In this article we overview major aspects of membrane lipids in the complex area of cell death, comprising apoptosis and various forms of programmed cell death. We have focused here on glycerophospholipids, the major components of cellular membranes. In particular, we present a detailed appraisal of mitochondrial lipids that attract increasing interest in the field of cell death, while the knowledge of their re-modelling and traffic remains limited. It is hoped that this review will stimulate further studies by lipid experts to fully elucidate various aspects of membrane lipid homeostasis that are discussed here. These studies will undoubtedly reveal new and important connections with the established players of cell death and their action in promoting or blocking membrane alteration of mitochondria and other organelles. We conclude that the new dynamic era of cell death research will pave the way for a better understanding of the 'chemistry of apoptosis'.

ATP-mediated killing of intracellular mycobacteria by macrophages is a P2X(7)-dependent process inducing bacterial death by phagosome-lysosome fusion

Mycobacterium tuberculosis survives within host macrophages by actively inhibiting phagosome fusion with lysosomes. Treatment of infected macrophages with ATP induces both cell apoptosis and rapid killing of intracellular mycobacteria. The following studies were undertaken to characterize the effector pathway(s) involved. Macrophages were obtained from p47(phox) and inducible NO synthase gene-disrupted mice (which are unable to produce reactive oxygen and nitrogen radicals, respectively) and P2X(7) gene-disrupted mice. RAW murine macrophages transfected with either the natural resistance-associated macrophage protein gene 1 (Nramp1)-resistant or Nramp1-susceptible gene were also used. The cells were infected with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and intracellular mycobacterial trafficking was analyzed using confocal and electron microscopy. P2X(7) receptor activation was essential for effective ATP-induced mycobacterial killing, as its bactericidal activity was radically diminished in P2X(7)(-/-) macrophages. ATP-mediated killing of BCG within p47(phox-/-), inducible NO synthase(-/-), and Nramp(s) cells was unaffected, demonstrating that none of these mechanisms have a role in the ATP/P2X(7) effector pathway. Following ATP stimulation, BCG-containing phagosomes rapidly coalesce and fuse with lysosomes. Blocking of macrophage phospholipase D activity with butan-1-ol blocked BCG killing, but not macrophage death. ATP stimulates phagosome-lysosome fusion with concomitant mycobacterial death via P2X(7) receptor activation. Macrophage death and mycobacterial killing induced by the ATP/P2X(7) signaling pathway can be uncoupled, and diverge proximal to phospholipase D activation.

A role for phospholipase D in GLUT4 glucose transporter translocation

Based on recent studies showing that phospholipase D (PLD)1 is associated with intracellular membranes and promotes membrane budding from the trans-Golgi, we tested its possible role in the membrane trafficking of GLUT4 glucose transporters. Using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, expressed Myc epitope-tagged PLD1 was found to associate with intracellular vesicular structures by a mechanism that requires its N-terminal pleckstrin homology domain. Partial co-localization with expressed GLUT4 fused to green fluorescent protein in both 3T3-L1 adipocytes and Chinese hamster ovary cells was evident. Furthermore, microinjection of purified PLD into cultured adipocytes markedly potentiated the effect of a submaximal concentration of insulin to stimulate GLUT4 translocation to cell surface membranes. Insulin stimulated PLD activity in cells expressing high levels of insulin receptors but no such insulin effect was detected in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Taken together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that PLD1 associated with GLUT4-containing membranes acts in a constitutive manner to promote the mechanism of GLUT4 translocation by insulin.

Studies on the inhibition of endosome fusion by GTPgammaS-bound ARF

Using a cell free assay, we have previously shown that ARF is not required for endosome fusion but that inhibition of fusion by GTPgammaS is dependent on a cytosolic pool of ARFs. Since ARF is proposed to function in intracellular membrane traffic by promoting vesicle biogenesis, and components of clathrin- and COP-coated vesicles have been localized on endosomal structures, we investigated whether ARF-mediated inhibition of early endosome fusion involves the recruitment or irreversible association of these proteins onto endosomal membranes. We now report that depletion of components of clathrin coated vesicles (clathrin, AP-1 and AP-2) or COPI vesicles (beta COP) does not affect the capacity of GTPgammaS-activated ARF to inhibit endosome fusion. Inhibition of fusion by activated ARF is also independent of endosomal acidification since assays performed in the presence of the vacuolar ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A1 are equally sensitive to GTPgammaS-bound ARF. Finally, in contrast to reported effects on lysosomes, we demonstrate that ARF-GTPgammaS does not induce endosomal lysis. These combined data argue that sequestration of known coat proteins to membranes by activated ARF is not involved in the inhibition of early endosome fusion and that its capacity to inhibit fusion involves other specific interactions with the endosome surface. These results contrast with the mechanistic action of ARF on intra-Golgi transport and nuclear envelope assembly.

Molecular aspects of the endocytic pathway

Observation of the flow of material along the endocytic pathway has lead to the description of the basic architecture of the pathway and provided insight into the relationship between compartments. Significant advances have been made in the study of endocytic transport steps at the molecular level, of which studies of cargo selection, vesicle budding and membrane fusion events comprise the major part. Progress in this area has been driven by two approaches, yeast genetics and in vitro or cell-free assays, which reconstitute particular transport steps and allow biochemical manipulation. The complex protein machineries that control vesicle budding and fusion are significantly conserved between the secretory and endocytic pathways such that proteins that regulate particular steps are often part of a larger family of proteins which exercise a conserved function at other locations within the cell. Well characterized examples include vesicle coat proteins, rabs (small GTPases) and soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein (NSF) attachment protein (SNAP) receptors (SNAREs). Intracompartmental pH, lipid composition and cytoskeletal organization have also been identified as important determinants of the orderly flow of material within the endocytic pathway.

Inhibition of in vitro endosomal vesicle fusion activity by aminoglycoside antibiotics

The effects of two aminoglycoside antibiotics, neomycin and Geneticin, on the endocytic pathway were studied using a cell-free assay that reconstitutes endosome-endosome fusion. Both drugs inhibit the rate and extent of endosome fusion in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 values of approximately 45 microM and approximately 1 mM, respectively. Because the IC50 for neomycin falls within the range of affinities reported for its binding to acidic phospholipids, notably phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), these data suggest that negatively charged lipids are required for endosome fusion. A role for negatively charged lipids in membrane traffic has been postulated to involve the activity of a PIP2-dependent phospholipase D (PLD) stimulated by the GTP-binding protein ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF). Although neomycin blocks endosome fusion at a stage of the in vitro reaction that is temporally related to steps inhibited by cytosolic ARFs when they bind guanosine-5'-gamma-thiophosphate (GTPgammaS), these inhibitors appear to act in a synergistic manner. This idea is confirmed by the fact that addition of a PIP2-independent PLD does not suppress neomycin inhibition of endosome fusion; moreover, in vitro fusion activity is not affected by the pleckstrin homology domain of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C delta1, which binds to acidic phospholipids, particularly PIP2, with high affinity. Thus, although aminoglycoside-sensitive elements of endosome fusion are required at mechanistic stages that are also blocked by GTPgammaS-bound ARF, these effects are unrelated to inhibition of the PIP2-dependent PLD activity stimulated by this GTP-binding protein. These results argue that there are additional mechanistic roles for acidic phospholipids in the endosomal pathway.

Receptor-mediated endocytosis in kidney proximal tubules: recent advances and hypothesis

Preparation of kidney proximal tubules in suspension allows the study of receptor-mediated endocytosis, protein reabsorption, and traffic of endosomal vesicles. The study of tubular protein transport in vitro coupled with that of the function of endosomal preparation offers a unique opportunity to investigate a receptor-mediated endocytosis pathway under physiological and pathological conditions. We assume that receptor-mediated endocytosis of albumin in kidney proximal tubules in situ and in vitro can be regulated, on the one hand, by the components of the acidification machinery (V-type H+-ATPase, Cl(-)-channel and Na+/H+-exchanger), giving rise to formation and dissipation of a proton gradient in endosomal vesicles, and, on the other hand, by small GTPases of the ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf)-family. In this paper we thus analyze the recent advances of the studies of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the identification, localization, and function of the acidification machinery (V-type H+-ATPase, Cl(-)-channel) as well as Arf-family small GTPases and phospholipase D in the endocytotic pathway of kidney proximal tubules. Also, we explore the possible functional interaction between the acidification machinery and Arf-family small GTPases. Finally, we propose the hypothesis of the regulation of translocation of Arf-family small GTPases by an endosomal acidification process and its role during receptor-mediated endocytosis in kidney proximal tubules. The results of this study will not only enhance our understanding of the receptor-mediated endocytosis pathway in kidney proximal tubules under physiological conditions but will also have important implications with respect to the functional consequences under some pathological circumstances. Furthermore, it may suggest novel targets and approaches in the prevention and treatment of various diseases (cystic fibrosis, Dent's disease, diabetes and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease).