scholarly journals Anomalous Surface Distribution of Glycosyl Phosphatidyl Inositol–anchored Proteins in Neurons Lacking Acid Sphingomyelinase

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Galvan ◽  
Paola G. Camoletto ◽  
Flavio Cristofani ◽  
Paul P. Van Veldhoven ◽  
Maria Dolores Ledesma

Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) converts sphingomyelin (SM) into ceramide. Mutations in the ASM gene cause the mental retardation syndrome Niemann Pick type A (NPA), characterized as a lysosomal disorder because of the SM accumulation in these organelles. We here report that neurons from mice lacking ASM (ASMKO) present increased plasma membrane SM levels evident in detergent-resistant membranes. Paralleling this lipidic alteration, GPI-anchored proteins show an aberrant distribution in both axons and dendrites instead of the axonal enrichment observed in neurons from wild-type mice. Trafficking analysis suggests that this is due to defective internalization from dendrites. Increasing the SM content in wild-type neurons mimics these defects, whereas SM reduction in ASMKO neurons prevents their occurrence. Moreover, expression of active RhoA, which membrane attachment is affected by SM accumulation, rescues internalization rates in ASMKO neurons. These data unveil an unexpected role for ASM in neuronal plasma membrane organization and trafficking providing insight on the molecular mechanisms involved. They also suggest that deficiencies in such processes could be key pathological events in NPA disease.

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolene Ramsey ◽  
Emily C. Renzi ◽  
Randy J. Arnold ◽  
Jonathan C. Trinidad ◽  
Suchetana Mukhopadhyay

ABSTRACT Palmitoylation is a reversible, posttranslational modification that helps target proteins to cellular membranes. The alphavirus small membrane proteins 6K and TF have been reported to be palmitoylated and to positively regulate budding. 6K and TF are isoforms that are identical in their N termini but unique in their C termini due to a −1 ribosomal frameshift during translation. In this study, we used cysteine (Cys) mutants to test differential palmitoylation of the Sindbis virus 6K and TF proteins. We modularly mutated the five Cys residues in the identical N termini of 6K and TF, the four additional Cys residues in TF's unique C terminus, or all nine Cys residues in TF. Using these mutants, we determined that TF palmitoylation occurs primarily in the N terminus. In contrast, 6K is not palmitoylated, even on these shared residues. In the C-terminal Cys mutant, TF protein levels increase both in the cell and in the released virion compared to the wild type. In viruses with the N-terminal Cys residues mutated, TF is much less efficiently localized to the plasma membrane, and it is not incorporated into the virion. The three Cys mutants have minor defects in cell culture growth but a high incidence of abnormal particle morphologies compared to the wild-type virus as determined by transmission electron microscopy. We propose a model where the C terminus of TF modulates the palmitoylation of TF at the N terminus, and palmitoylated TF is preferentially trafficked to the plasma membrane for virus budding. IMPORTANCE Alphaviruses are a reemerging viral cause of arthritogenic disease. Recently, the small 6K and TF proteins of alphaviruses were shown to contribute to virulence in vivo. Nevertheless, a clear understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which either protein acts to promote virus infection is missing. The TF protein is a component of budded virions, and optimal levels of TF correlate positively with wild-type-like particle morphology. In this study, we show that the palmitoylation of TF regulates its localization to the plasma membrane, which is the site of alphavirus budding. Mutants in which TF is not palmitoylated display drastically reduced plasma membrane localization, which effectively prevents TF from participating in budding or being incorporated into virus particles. Investigation of the regulation of TF will aid current efforts in the alphavirus field searching for approaches to mitigate alphaviral disease in humans.


2010 ◽  
Vol 189 (6) ◽  
pp. 1027-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Tam ◽  
Vincent Idone ◽  
Cecilia Devlin ◽  
Maria Cecilia Fernandes ◽  
Andrew Flannery ◽  
...  

Rapid plasma membrane resealing is essential for cellular survival. Earlier studies showed that plasma membrane repair requires Ca2+-dependent exocytosis of lysosomes and a rapid form of endocytosis that removes membrane lesions. However, the functional relationship between lysosomal exocytosis and the rapid endocytosis that follows membrane injury is unknown. In this study, we show that the lysosomal enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) is released extracellularly when cells are wounded in the presence of Ca2+. ASM-deficient cells, including human cells from Niemann-Pick type A (NPA) patients, undergo lysosomal exocytosis after wounding but are defective in injury-dependent endocytosis and plasma membrane repair. Exogenously added recombinant human ASM restores endocytosis and resealing in ASM-depleted cells, suggesting that conversion of plasma membrane sphingomyelin to ceramide by this lysosomal enzyme promotes lesion internalization. These findings reveal a molecular mechanism for restoration of plasma membrane integrity through exocytosis of lysosomes and identify defective plasma membrane repair as a possible component of the severe pathology observed in NPA patients.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1244
Author(s):  
Iulia Zoicas ◽  
Fabian Schumacher ◽  
Burkhard Kleuser ◽  
Martin Reichel ◽  
Erich Gulbins ◽  
...  

Human and murine studies identified the lysosomal enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) as a target for antidepressant therapy and revealed its role in the pathophysiology of major depression. In this study, we generated a mouse model with overexpression of Asm (Asm-tgfb) that is restricted to the forebrain to rule out any systemic effects of Asm overexpression on depressive-like symptoms. The increase in Asm activity was higher in male Asm-tgfb mice than in female Asm-tgfb mice due to the breeding strategy, which allows for the generation of wild-type littermates as appropriate controls. Asm overexpression in the forebrain of male mice resulted in a depressive-like phenotype, whereas in female mice, Asm overexpression resulted in a social anxiogenic-like phenotype. Ceramides in male Asm-tgfb mice were elevated specifically in the dorsal hippocampus. mRNA expression analyses indicated that the increase in Asm activity affected other ceramide-generating pathways, which might help to balance ceramide levels in cortical brain regions. This forebrain-specific mouse model offers a novel tool for dissecting the molecular mechanisms that play a role in the pathophysiology of major depression.


1990 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Koval ◽  
R E Pagano

We examined the metabolism and intracellular transport of a fluorescent sphingomyelin analogue, N-(N-[6-[(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]caproyl])- sphingosylphosphorylcholine (C6-NBD-SM), in both normal and Niemann-Pick, type A (NP-A) human skin fibroblast monolayers. C6-NBD-SM was integrated into the plasma membrane bilayer by transfer of C6-NBD-SM monomers from liposomes to cells at 7 degrees C. The cells were washed, and within 3 min of warming to 37 degrees C, both normal and NP-A fibroblasts had internalized C6-NBD-SM from the plasma membrane, resulting in a punctate pattern of intracellular fluorescence. Rates for C6-NBD-SM internalization and transport from intracellular compartments to the plasma membrane (recycling) were similar for normal and NP-A cells. With increasing time at 37 degrees C, internalized C6-NBD-SM accumulated in the lysosomes of NP-A fibroblasts, while normal fibroblasts showed increasing Golgi apparatus fluorescence with no observable lysosomal labeling. Since NP-A fibroblasts lack lysosomal (acid) sphingomyelinase (A-SMase), this result suggested that hydrolysis of C6-NBD-SM prevented its accumulation in the lysosomes of normal fibroblasts during its transport along the degradative pathway. We used the amount of C6-NBD-SM hydrolysis by A-SMase in normal cells as a measure of C6-NBD-SM transported from the cell surface to the lysosomes. After a lag period, C6-NBD-SM was delivered to the lysosomes at a rate of approximately 8%/h. This rate was approximately 18-19 fold slower than the rate of C6-NBD-SM recycling from intracellular compartments to the plasma membrane. Thus, small amounts of C6-NBD-SM were transported along the degradative pathway, while most endocytosed C6-NBD-SM was sorted for transport along the plasma membrane recycling pathway.


Author(s):  
L. M. Marshall

A human erythroleukemic cell line, metabolically blocked in a late stage of erythropoiesis, becomes capable of differentiation along the normal pathway when grown in the presence of hemin. This process is characterized by hemoglobin synthesis followed by rearrangement of the plasma membrane proteins and culminates in asymmetrical cytokinesis in the absence of nuclear division. A reticulocyte-like cell buds from the nucleus-containing parent cell after erythrocyte specific membrane proteins have been sequestered into its membrane. In this process the parent cell faces two obstacles. First, to organize its erythrocyte specific proteins at one pole of the cell for inclusion in the reticulocyte; second, to reduce or abolish membrane protein turnover since hemoglobin is virtually the only protein being synthesized at this stage. A means of achieving redistribution and cessation of turnover could involve movement of membrane proteins by a directional lipid flow. Generation of a lipid flow towards one pole and accumulation of erythrocyte-specific membrane proteins could be achieved by clathrin coated pits which are implicated in membrane endocytosis, intracellular transport and turnover. In non-differentiating cells, membrane proteins are turned over and are random in surface distribution. If, however, the erythrocyte specific proteins in differentiating cells were excluded from endocytosing coated pits, not only would their turnover cease, but they would also tend to drift towards and collect at the site of endocytosis. This hypothesis requires that different protein species are endocytosed by the coated vesicles in non-differentiating than by differentiating cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6978
Author(s):  
Maria J. Iraburu ◽  
Tommy Garner ◽  
Cristina Montiel-Duarte

The endocytosis of ligand-bound receptors and their eventual recycling to the plasma membrane (PM) are processes that have an influence on signalling activity and therefore on many cell functions, including migration and proliferation. Like other tyrosine kinase receptors (TKR), the insulin receptor (INSR) has been shown to be endocytosed by clathrin-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Once at the early endosome (EE), the sorting of the receptor, either to the late endosome (LE) for degradation or back to the PM through slow or fast recycling pathways, will determine the intensity and duration of insulin effects. Both the endocytic and the endosomic pathways are regulated by many proteins, the Arf and Rab families of small GTPases being some of the most relevant. Here, we argue for a specific role for the slow recycling route, whilst we review the main molecular mechanisms involved in INSR endocytosis, sorting and recycling, as well as their possible role in cell functions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian-Hao Zhu ◽  
Warwick Stiller ◽  
Philippe Moncuquet ◽  
Stuart Gordon ◽  
Yuman Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract Fiber mutants are unique and valuable resources for understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling initiation and development of cotton fibers that are extremely elongated single epidermal cells protruding from the seed coat of cottonseeds. In this study, we reported a new fuzzless-tufted cotton mutant (Gossypium hirsutum) and showed that fuzzless-tufted near-isogenic lines (NILs) had similar agronomic traits and a higher ginning efficiency compared to their recurrent parents with normal fuzzy seeds. Genetic analysis revealed that the mutant phenotype is determined by a single incomplete dominant locus, designated N5. The mutation was fine mapped to an approximately 250-kb interval containing 33 annotated genes using a combination of bulked segregant sequencing, SNP chip genotyping, and fine mapping. Comparative transcriptomic analysis using 0–6 days post-anthesis (dpa) ovules from NILs segregating for the phenotypes of fuzzless-tufted (mutant) and normal fuzzy cottonseeds (wild-type) uncovered candidate genes responsible for the mutant phenotype. It also revealed that the flanking region of the N5 locus is enriched with differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the mutant and wild-type. Several of those DEGs are members of the gene families with demonstrated roles in cell initiation and elongation, such as calcium-dependent protein kinase and expansin. The transcriptome landscape of the mutant was significantly reprogrammed in the 6 dpa ovules and, to a less extent, in the 0 dpa ovules, but not in the 2 and 4 dpa ovules. At both 0 and 6 dpa, the reprogrammed mutant transcriptome was mainly associated with cell wall modifications and transmembrane transportation, while transcription factor activity was significantly altered in the 6 dpa mutant ovules. These results imply a similar molecular basis for initiation of lint and fuzz fibers despite certain differences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. eabd4113
Author(s):  
Rui Miao ◽  
Wei Yuan ◽  
Yue Wang ◽  
Irene Garcia-Maquilon ◽  
Xiaolin Dang ◽  
...  

The hab1-1abi1-2abi2-2pp2ca-1 quadruple mutant (Qabi2-2) seedlings lacking key negative regulators of ABA signaling, namely, clade A protein phosphatases type 2C (PP2Cs), show more apoplastic H+ efflux in roots and display an enhanced root growth under normal medium or water stress medium compared to the wild type. The presence of low ABA concentration (0.1 micromolar), inhibiting PP2C activity via monomeric ABA receptors, enhances root apoplastic H+ efflux and growth of the wild type, resembling the Qabi2-2 phenotype in normal medium. Qabi2-2 seedlings also demonstrate increased hydrotropism compared to the wild type in obliquely-oriented hydrotropic experimental system, and asymmetric H+ efflux in root elongation zone is crucial for root hydrotropism. Moreover, we reveal that Arabidopsis ABA-insensitive 1, a key PP2C in ABA signaling, interacts directly with the C terminus of Arabidopsis plasma membrane H+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase 2 (AHA2) and dephosphorylates its penultimate threonine residue (Thr947), whose dephosphorylation negatively regulates AHA2.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document