New roles for lysosomal trafficking in morphogen gradient sensing

Receptor-ligand interactions for optimized endocytosis in targeted therapies

Receptor-mediated endocytosis plays a crucial role in the success of numerous therapies and remains central to advancing drug development. This process begins with ligand binding to specific receptors, triggering the internalization and intracellular trafficking of receptor-ligand complexes. These complexes are subsequently directed into distinct routes, either toward lysosomal degradation or recycling to the cell surface, with implications for therapeutic outcomes. This review examines receptor-ligand interactions as key modulators of endocytosis, emphasizing their role in shaping therapeutic design and efficacy. Advances in selecting receptor-ligand pairs and engineering ligands with optimized properties have enabled precise control over internalization, endosomal sorting, and trafficking, providing tailored solutions for diverse therapeutic applications. Leveraging these insights, strategies such as RNA-based therapies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and targeted protein degradation (TPD) platforms have been refined to selectively avoid or promote lysosomal degradation, thereby enhancing therapeutic efficacy. By bridging fundamental mechanisms of receptor-mediated endocytosis with innovative therapeutic approaches, this review offers a framework for advancing precision medicine.

Endothelial cell-specific chemotaxis receptor (ECSCR) enhances vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-2/kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) activation and promotes proteolysis of internalized KDR

The endothelial cell-specific chemotaxis receptor (ECSCR) is a cell-surface protein selectively expressed by endothelial cells (ECs), with roles in EC migration, apoptosis and proliferation. Our previous study (Verma, A., Bhattacharya, R., Remadevi, I., Li, K., Pramanik, K., Samant, G. V., Horswill, M., Chun, C. Z., Zhao, B., Wang, E., Miao, R. Q., Mukhopadhyay, D., Ramchandran, R., and Wilkinson, G. A. (2010) Blood 115, 4614-4622) showed that loss of ECSCR in primary ECs reduced tyrosine phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2/kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) but not VEGF receptor 1/FLT1. Here, we show that ECSCR biochemically associates with KDR but not FLT1 and that the predicted ECSCR cytoplasmic and transmembrane regions can each confer association with KDR. Stimulation with VEGF165 rapidly and transiently increases ECSCR-KDR complex formation, a process blocked by the KDR tyrosine kinase inhibitor compound SU5416 or inhibitors of endosomal acidification. Triple labeling experiments show VEGF-stimulated KDR(+)/ECSCR(+) intracellular co-localization. Silencing of ECSCR disrupts VEGF-induced KDR activation and AKT and ERK phosphorylation and impairs VEGF-stimulated KDR degradation. In zebrafish, ecscr interacts with kdrl during intersomitic vessel sprouting. Human placenta and infantile hemangioma samples highly express ECSCR protein, suggesting a role for ECSCR-KDR interaction in these tissues.

Functional coupling of microtubules to membranes - implications for membrane structure and dynamics

The microtubule network dictates much of the spatial patterning of the cytoplasm, and the coupling of microtubules to membranes controls the structure and positioning of organelles and directs membrane trafficking between them. The connection between membranes and the microtubule cytoskeleton, and the way in which organelles are shaped and moved by interactions with the cytoskeleton, have been studied intensively in recent years. In particular, recent work has expanded our thinking of this topic to include the mechanisms by which membranes are shaped and how cargo is selected for trafficking as a result of coupling to the cytoskeleton. In this Commentary, I will discuss the molecular basis for membrane-motor coupling and the physiological outcomes of this coupling, including the way in which microtubule-based motors affect membrane structure, cargo sorting and vectorial trafficking between organelles. Whereas many core concepts of these processes are now well understood, key questions remain about how the coupling of motors to membranes is established and controlled, about the regulation of cargo and/or motor loading and about the control of directionality.

Morphogen gradients in development: from form to function

Morphogens are substances that establish a graded distribution and elicit distinct cellular responses in a dose-dependent manner. They function to provide individual cells within a field with positional information, which is interpreted to give rise to spatial patterns. Morphogens can consist of intracellular factors that set up a concentration gradient by diffusion in the cytoplasm. More commonly, morphogens comprise secreted proteins that form an extracellular gradient across a field of cells. Experimental studies and computational analyses have provided support for a number of diverse strategies by which extracellular morphogen gradients are formed. These include free diffusion in the extracellular space, restricted diffusion aided by interactions with heparan sulfate proteoglycans, transport on lipid-containing carriers or transport aided by soluble binding partners. More specialized modes of transport have also been postulated such as transcytosis, in which repeated rounds of secretion, endocytosis, and intracellular trafficking move morphogens through cells rather than around them, or cytonemes, which consist of filopodial extensions from signal-receiving cells that are hypothesized to reach out to morphogen-sending cells. Once the gradient has formed, cells must distinguish small differences in morphogen concentration and store this information even after the gradient has dissipated. This is often achieved by translating ligand concentration into a proportional increase in numbers of activated cell surface receptors that are internalized and continue to signal from endosomal compartments. Ultimately, this leads to activation of one or a few transcription factors that transduce this information into qualitatively distinct gene responses inside the nucleus.