scholarly journals Inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase depletes cellular phosphatidylserine and mislocalizes K-Ras from the plasma membrane

2015 ◽  
pp. MCB.00719-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang-jin Cho ◽  
Dharini van der Hoeven ◽  
Yong Zhou ◽  
Masashi Maekawa ◽  
Xiaoping Ma ◽  
...  

K-Ras must localize to the plasma membrane for biological activity, thus preventing plasma membrane interaction blocks K-Ras signal output. Here we show that inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) mislocalizes both K-Ras isoforms, K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B, from the plasma membrane to endomembrane and inhibits their nanoclustering. We found that fendiline, a potent ASM-inhibitor, reduces the phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) and cholesterol content of the inner plasma membrane. These lipid changes are causative because supplementation of fendiline-treated cells with exogenous PtdSer rapidly restores K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B plasma membrane binding, nanoclustering, and signal output. Conversely supplementation with exogenous cholesterol restores K-Ras4A, but not K-Ras4B, nanoclustering. These experiments reveal different operational pools of PtdSer on the plasma membrane. Inhibition of ASM elevates cellular sphingomyelin and reduces cellular ceramide levels. Concordantly delivery of recombinant ASM, or exogenous ceramide to fendiline-treated cells rapidly relocalizes K-Ras4B and PtdSer to the plasma membrane. K-Ras4B mislocalization is also recapitulated in ASM-deficient Neimann-Pick Type A and B fibroblasts. This study identifies sphingomyelin metabolism as an indirect regulator of K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B signaling through the control of PtdSer plasma membrane content. It also demonstrates the critical and selective importance of PtdSer to K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B plasma membrane binding and nanoscale spatial organization.

2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 2862-2871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Na ◽  
Ho Kim ◽  
Mary P. Moyer ◽  
Charalabos Pothoulakis ◽  
J. Thomas LaMont

ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile toxin A (TxA), a key mediator of antibiotic-associated colitis, requires binding to a cell surface receptor prior to internalization. Our aim was to identify novel plasma membrane TxA binding proteins on human colonocytes. TxA was coupled with biotin and cross-linked to the surface of HT29 human colonic epithelial cells. The main colonocyte binding protein for TxA was identified as glycoprotein 96 (gp96) by coimmunoprecipitation and mass spectrum analysis. gp96 is a member of the heat shock protein family, which is expressed on human colonocyte apical membranes as well as in the cytoplasm. TxA binding to gp96 was confirmed by fluorescence immunostaining and in vitro coimmunoprecipitation. Following TxA binding, the TxA-gp96 complex was translocated from the cell membrane to the cytoplasm. Pretreatment with gp96 antibody decreased TxA binding to colonocytes and inhibited TxA-induced cell rounding. Small interfering RNA directed against gp96 reduced gp96 expression and cytotoxicity in colonocytes. TxA-induced inflammatory signaling via p38 and apoptosis as measured by activation of BAK (Bcl-2 homologous antagonist/killer) and DNA fragmentation were decreased in gp96-deficient B cells. We conclude that human colonocyte gp96 serves as a plasma membrane binding protein that enhances cellular entry of TxA, participates in cellular signaling events in the inflammatory cascade, and facilitates cytotoxicity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 2473-2485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Dick ◽  
Marilia Barros ◽  
Danni Jin ◽  
Mathias Lösche ◽  
Volker M. Vogt

ABSTRACTThe principles underlying membrane binding and assembly of retroviral Gag proteins into a lattice are understood. However, little is known about how these processes are related. Using purified Rous sarcoma virus Gag and Gag truncations, we studied the interrelation of Gag-Gag interaction and Gag-membrane interaction. Both by liposome binding and by surface plasmon resonance on a supported bilayer, Gag bound to membranes much more tightly than did matrix (MA), the isolated membrane binding domain. In principle, this difference could be explained either by protein-protein interactions leading to cooperativity in membrane binding or by the simultaneous interaction of the N-terminal MA and the C-terminal nucleocapsid (NC) of Gag with the bilayer, since both are highly basic. However, we found that NC was not required for strong membrane binding. Instead, the spacer peptide assembly domain (SPA), a putative 24-residue helical sequence comprising the 12-residue SP segment of Gag and overlapping the capsid (CA) C terminus and the NC N terminus, was required. SPA is known to be critical for proper assembly of the immature Gag lattice. A single amino acid mutation in SPA that abrogates assemblyin vitrodramatically reduced binding of Gag to liposomes.In vivo, plasma membrane localization was dependent on SPA. Disulfide cross-linking based on ectopic Cys residues showed that the contacts between Gag proteins on the membrane are similar to the known contacts in virus-like particles. Taken together, we interpret these results to mean that Gag membrane interaction is cooperative in that it depends on the ability of Gag to multimerize.IMPORTANCEThe retroviral structural protein Gag has three major domains. The N-terminal MA domain interacts directly with the plasma membrane (PM) of cells. The central CA domain, together with immediately adjoining sequences, facilitates the assembly of thousands of Gag molecules into a lattice. The C-terminal NC domain interacts with the genome, resulting in packaging of viral RNA. For assemblyin vitrowith purified Gag, in the absence of membranes, binding of NC to nucleic acid somehow facilitates further Gag-Gag interactions that lead to formation of the Gag lattice. The contributions of MA-mediated membrane binding to virus particle assembly are not well understood. Here, we report that in the absence of nucleic acid, membranes provide a platform that facilitates Gag-Gag interactions. This study demonstrates that the binding of Gag, but not of MA, to membranes is cooperative and identifies SPA as a major factor that controls this cooperativity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (52) ◽  
pp. 17950-17972
Author(s):  
Birgit Meusser ◽  
Bettina Purfuerst ◽  
Friedrich C. Luft

The HIV-1 protein Gag assembles at the plasma membrane and drives virion budding, assisted by the cellular endosomal complex required for transport (ESCRT) proteins. Two ESCRT proteins, TSG101 and ALIX, bind to the Gag C-terminal p6 peptide. TSG101 binding is important for efficient HIV-1 release, but how ESCRTs contribute to the budding process and how their activity is coordinated with Gag assembly is poorly understood. Yeast, allowing genetic manipulation that is not easily available in human cells, has been used to characterize the cellular ESCRT function. Previous work reported Gag budding from yeast spheroplasts, but Gag release was ESCRT-independent. We developed a yeast model for ESCRT-dependent Gag release. We combined yeast genetics and Gag mutational analysis with Gag-ESCRT binding studies and the characterization of Gag-plasma membrane binding and Gag release. With our system, we identified a previously unknown interaction between ESCRT proteins and the Gag N-terminal protein region. Mutations in the Gag-plasma membrane–binding matrix domain that reduced Gag-ESCRT binding increased Gag-plasma membrane binding and Gag release. ESCRT knockout mutants showed that the release enhancement was an ESCRT-dependent effect. Similarly, matrix mutation enhanced Gag release from human HEK293 cells. Release enhancement partly depended on ALIX binding to p6, although binding site mutation did not impair WT Gag release. Accordingly, the relative affinity for matrix compared with p6 in GST-pulldown experiments was higher for ALIX than for TSG101. We suggest that a transient matrix-ESCRT interaction is replaced when Gag binds to the plasma membrane. This step may activate ESCRT proteins and thereby coordinate ESCRT function with virion assembly.


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