Eeva-Liisa Punnonen

At reduced temperature, endocytic membrane traffic is blocked in multivesicular carrier endosomes in rat cardiac myocytes

Temperatures around 20 degrees C are known to block degradation of endocytosed material by preventing its transport to lysosomes, accordingly reduced temperature has been widely used to define endosomes. Newer studies have revealed that the low temperature block is proximal to perinuclear late endosomes, but it is not clear whether the block is already in early endosomes, or whether the traffic proceeds to multivesicular carrier endosomes which mediate transport from early to late compartments. We have now focused on this problem using rat cardiac myocytes. First, cell fractionation on Percoll gradients showed that at reduced temperatures (22 degrees C and 26 degrees C), with prolonged chase periods, endocytosed horseradish peroxidase was able to proceed from early endosomes to later compartments but not up to lysosomes. Further, microscopic experiments with fluorescent endocytic marker FITC-dextran showed that the marker did not accumulate in the perinuclear area, as was the case at 37 degrees C, but stayed in peripheral cytoplasm at reduced temperatures, even after 16-h chase. Second, electron microscopic pulse labeling showed that, at 22 degrees C, endocytosed gold particles (BSA-gold) are transported to compartments not accessible to HRP internalised later to early endosomes. Thus, these gold particles had reached a later compartment. Morphologically these vesicles were multivesicular bodies of 0.5-1 microm in diameter. Third, we used fluorescence microscopy to study the effect of reduced temperature on transferrin uptake and recycling. At 17 degrees C and 22 degrees C, transferrin was internalized normally to peripheral (sorting) and perinuclear (recycling) vesicles. If transferrin was first taken up at 37 degrees C, and the cells were then chased at various temperatures from 37 degrees C to 17 degrees C, the recycling was slowed down but not entirely blocked at the reduced temperatures. From these results we can conclude that (1) endocytic traffic is blocked in multivesicular carrier endosomes at and below 26 degrees C, and that (2) reduced temperature slows down transport in the recycling pathway, without a complete block.

Effects of vinblastine, leucine, and histidine, and 3-methyladenine on autophagy in ehrlich ascites cells

The microtubule inhibitor vinblastine causes accumulation of autophagic vacuoles in many cell types. In hepatocytes, many of the accumulated vacuoles are nascent, which has been interpreted to suggest that vinblastine acts by inhibiting the fusion of hydrolase-containing lysosomes with early autophagic vacuoles. However, our previous results suggested that, in Ehrlich ascites cells, vinblastine causes accumulation mainly of older autophagic vacuoles (AVs). This study was undertaken to further characterize the mode of action of vinblastine in these cells. The vinblastine-accumulated AVs were quantified by electron-microscopic morphometry. In addition, the effects of inhibitors of autophagic segregation (leucine, histidine, and 3-methyladenine) on the vinblastine-induced accumulation of autophagic vacuoles were studied. Protein degradation was measured using [14C]valine. Vinblastine caused accumulation of advanced autophagic vacuoles but did not increase the rate of protein degradation. The volume density of early vacuoles remained at the control level. The amino acids retarded but did not prevent the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles, whereas 3-methyladenine almost completely prevented the accumulation. The results suggest that in Ehrlich ascites cells vinblastine acts by inhibiting the maturation of advanced autophagic vacuoles into residual bodies and by stimulating the formation of new autophagic vacuoles. However, 3-methyladenine almost completely prevents the formation of new autophagic vacuoles in the presence of vinblastine. In conclusion, in Ehrlich ascites cells, vinblastine does not prevent the entry of hydrolases into autophagic vacuoles. This calls into question the importance of microtubules in the transport of lysosomal enzymes into autophagic vacuoles.

Production of recombinant avidin in Escherichia coli

A recombinant avidin (re-Avd), containing amino acids (aa) 1-123 of the native chicken egg-white Avd, was produced in Escherichia coli. When cells were grown at 37 degrees C production was over 1 microgram/ml, due to altering the codon preference of the first ten codons. The re-Avd was recovered as a soluble protein from cells grown at 25 or 30 degrees C, whereas at 37 degrees C it was mostly insoluble in inclusion bodies. Our results indicated that, despite the potentially harmful biotin-binding activity of Avd, it is possible to produce biologically active Avd in E. coli which then can easily be purified by affinity chromatography on a biotin column in a single step.

Intramembrane particles and filipin labelling on the membranes of autophagic vacuoles and lysosomes in mouse liver

SummaryMorphologically detectable protein (intramembrane particles) and cholesterol (filipin labelling) in the membranes of autophagic vacuoles and lysosomes were studied in mouse hepatocytes using thin-section and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. Both isolated autophagic vacuoles and lysosomes, and intact tissue blocks were used due to the facts (i) that lysosomes are difficult to recognize in freeze-fracture replicas of intact hepatocytes, and (i) that filipin penetration into the tissue blocks is unsatisfactory. Intramembrane particle density was low in the membranes of early autophagic vacuoles (defined as round-shaped vacuoles in which an inner membrane parallel with the outer limiting membrane was clearly visible). The lysosomal membranes contained considerably more intramembrane particles. Particle-rich lysosomes or other vesicles were observed to fuse with the early autophagic vacuoles. The membranes of nascent autophagic vacuoles with morphologically intact contents were usually not labelled by filipin, whereas the membranes of all other autophagic vacuoles and lysosomes were heavily labelled. The increased cholesterol in the membranes of slightly older autophagic vacuoles is presumably derived from cholesterol-rich lysosomes or other vesicles fusing with the vacuoles and from the degrading organelles inside the autophagic vacuoles.

Filipin labelling and intramembrane particles on the membranes of early and later autophagic vacuoles in Ehrlich ascites cells

SummaryCholesterol and intramembrane particle distribution on autophagic vacuole membranes was studied in Ehrlich ascites cells using filipin labelling and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. Unsaturated fatty acids were stained using imidazole-buffered osmium tetroxide. Autophagocytosis was induced with vinblastine, and early autophagic vacuoles were accumulated by lowering the ATP level in the cells with iodoacetate. Filipin labelling was observed in the limiting membranes of later, apparently hydrolase-containing autophagic vacuoles, whereas the most newly-formed, doublemembrane limited vacuoles were not labelled. The limiting membranes of late, residual body-type vacuoles either showed patchy filipin-induced deformation or were completely smooth. Imidazolebuffered osmium tetroxide stained the membranes of newly-formed or developing autophagic vacuoles partly or entirely. The membranes of older vacuoles stained more weakly. Intramembrane particle density on the P-face of the outer limiting membranes of newly-formed autophagic vacuoles was similar to that on endoplasmic reticulum, and the density seemed to increase slightly later on. The size of the P-face particles increased when the vacuoles became older. The limiting membranes of late, residual body-type vacuoles were almost smooth. The inner limiting membranes and the membranes inside the autophagic vacuoles were always almost particle-free. In conclusion, the amount of cholesterol, unsaturated fatty acids and protein in autophagic vacuole membranes changes during vacuole maturation.

Isoproterenol inhibits fluid-phase endocytosis from early to late endosomes.

We have shown recently that isoproterenol affects both the cellular location and the morphology of late endosomes in a pH-dependent manner [Marjomäki et al., Eur. J. Cell Biol. 65, 1-13 (1994)]. In this study, using fluorescence and quantitative electron microscopy, we wanted to examine further what is the fate of internalized markers during their translocation from early to late endosomes under isoproterenol treatment. Fluorescein dextran internalized for 30 min (10-min pulse followed by a 20-min chase) showed accumulation in the cellular periphery during isoproterenol treatment in contrast to the control cells, which accumulated dextran in the perinuclear region. Quantitative electron microscopy showed that the markers accumulated in the early endosomes and putative carrier vesicles. In addition, different particulate markers that were internalized sequentially accumulated in similar structures due to the isoproterenol treatment, altogether suggesting that isoproterenol retards the translocation of markers to the later structures. Prelabelling of the late endosomes with fluorescent dextran or BSA-coated gold particles showed that isoproterenol causes a reduction of the mean size of the prelabelled late endosomes as well as a shift of these vesicles to the cellular periphery. Isoproterenol had no apparent effect on the morphology nor on the location of lysosomes. Percoll fractionation showed that the changes in late endosomal location and morphology did not change their characteristic density. Furthermore, electron microscopy showed that, in the cellular periphery, these late endosomal elements did not fuse with early endosomal structures, which is in agreement with the results of biochemical in vitro cell-free assays carried out by others. In conclusion, the results show that isoproterenol inhibits transport from early to late endosomes in a manner that may be pH- and/or Ca(2+)-dependent. Simultaneously, isoproterenol causes fragmentation of the late endosomal compartment and the shift of these fragments to the cellular periphery, where they have a restricted ability to fuse with earlier endosomal structures.

Cytochemical studies on induced autophagocytosis in mouse exocrine pancreas.

1. The origin of the limiting membranes of autophagic vacuoles (AVs) in mouse pancreatic acinar cells was studied in vinblastine-induced autophagocytosis. 2. The marker enzymes used were adenosine triphosphatase, lipase, inosine diphosphatase and thiamine pyrophosphatase. The following impregnation techniques were used: unbuffered osmium tetroxide impregnation, imidazole-buffered osmium tetroxide impregnation and uranyl-lead-copper impregnation. 3. Only a weak lipase activity was observed between the limiting membranes of a few AVs. The AV membranes were stained heavily with all impregnation techniques used. 4. The origin of AV membranes seems to be same in mouse liver and exocrine pancreas in vinblastine-induced autophagocytosis.