Stella Y. Lee

ARFGAP1 promotes the formation of COPI vesicles, suggesting function as a component of the coat

The role of GTPase-activating protein (GAP) that deactivates ADP-ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1) during the formation of coat protein I (COPI) vesicles has been unclear. GAP is originally thought to antagonize vesicle formation by triggering uncoating, but later studies suggest that GAP promotes cargo sorting, a process that occurs during vesicle formation. Recent models have attempted to reconcile these seemingly contradictory roles by suggesting that cargo proteins suppress GAP activity during vesicle formation, but whether GAP truly antagonizes coat recruitment in this process has not been assessed directly. We have reconstituted the formation of COPI vesicles by incubating Golgi membrane with purified soluble components, and find that ARFGAP1 in the presence of GTP promotes vesicle formation and cargo sorting. Moreover, the presence of GTPγS not only blocks vesicle uncoating but also vesicle formation by preventing the proper recruitment of GAP to nascent vesicles. Elucidating how GAP functions in vesicle formation, we find that the level of GAP on the reconstituted vesicles is at least as abundant as COPI and that GAP binds directly to the dilysine motif of cargo proteins. Collectively, these findings suggest that ARFGAP1 promotes vesicle formation by functioning as a component of the COPI coat.

A role for phosphatidic acid in COPI vesicle fission yields insights into Golgi maintenance

Proteins essential for vesicle formation by the Coat Protein I (COPI) complex are being identified, but less is known about the role of specific lipids. Brefeldin-A ADP-ribosylated substrate (BARS) functions in the fission step of COPI vesicle formation. Here, we show that BARS induces membrane curvature in cooperation with phosphatidic acid. This finding has allowed us to further delineate COPI vesicle fission into two sub-stages: 1) an earlier stage of bud-neck constriction, in which BARS and other COPI components are required, and 2) a later stage of bud-neck scission, in which phosphatidic acid generated by phospholipase D2 (PLD2) is also required. Moreover, in contrast to the disruption of the Golgi seen on perturbing the core COPI components (such as coatomer), inhibition of PLD2 causes milder disruptions, suggesting that such COPI components have additional roles in maintaining Golgi structure other than through COPI vesicle formation.

ARFGAP1 plays a central role in coupling COPI cargo sorting with vesicle formation

Examining how key components of coat protein I (COPI) transport participate in cargo sorting, we find that, instead of ADP ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1), its GTPase-activating protein (GAP) plays a direct role in promoting the binding of cargo proteins by coatomer (the core COPI complex). Activated ARF1 binds selectively to SNARE cargo proteins, with this binding likely to represent at least a mechanism by which activated ARF1 is stabilized on Golgi membrane to propagate its effector functions. We also find that the GAP catalytic activity plays a critical role in the formation of COPI vesicles from Golgi membrane, in contrast to the prevailing view that this activity antagonizes vesicle formation. Together, these findings indicate that GAP plays a central role in coupling cargo sorting and vesicle formation, with implications for simplifying models to describe how these two processes are coupled during COPI transport.

A role for BARS at the fission step of COPI vesicle formation from Golgi membrane

The core complex of Coat Protein I (COPI), known as coatomer, is sufficient to induce coated vesicular‐like structures from liposomal membrane. In the context of biological Golgi membrane, both palmitoyl‐coenzyme A (p‐coA) and ARFGAP1, a GTPase‐activating protein (GAP) for ADP‐Ribosylation Factor 1, also participate in vesicle formation, but how their roles may be linked remains unknown. Moreover, whether COPI vesicle formation from Golgi membrane requires additional factors also remains unclear. We now show that Brefeldin‐A ADP‐Ribosylated Substrate (BARS) plays a critical role in the fission step of COPI vesicle formation from Golgi membrane. This role of BARS requires its interaction with ARFGAP1, which is in turn regulated oppositely by p‐coA and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which act as cofactors of BARS. Our findings not only identify a new factor needed for COPI vesicle formation from Golgi membrane but also reveal a surprising mechanism by which the roles of p‐coA and GAP are linked in this process.

Key components of the fission machinery are interchangeable

Brefeldin-A ADP-ribosylated substrate (BARS) and dynamin function in membrane fission in distinct intracellular transport pathways, but whether their functions are mechanistically similar is unclear. Here, we show that ARFGAP1, a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for ADP-ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1), couples to either BARS or endophilin B for vesicle formation by the coat protein I (COPI) complex — a finding that reveals an unanticipated mechanistic flexibility in mammalian COPI transport. Because dynamin is coupled to endophilin A in vesicle formation by the clathrin-coat complex, our finding also predicts that dynamin and ARF GAPs are likely to be functional counterparts in membrane fission among different transport pathways that connect intracellular membrane compartments.

The evolving understanding of COPI vesicle formation.

The coat protein I (COPI) complex is considered to be one of the best-characterized coat complexes. Studies on how it functions in vesicle formation have provided seminal contributions to the general paradigm in vesicular transport that the ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) small GTPases are key regulators of coat complexes. Here, we discuss emerging evidence that suggests the need to revise some long-held views on how COPI vesicle formation is achieved.

Temperature and food mediate long-term thermotactic behavioral plasticity by association-independent mechanisms in C. elegans.

SUMMARY Thermotactic behavior in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits long-term plasticity. On a spatial thermal gradient, C. elegans tracks isotherms near a remembered set-point (TS) corresponding to its previous cultivation temperature. When navigating at temperatures above its set-point (T>TS), C. elegans crawls down spatial thermal gradients towards the TS in what is called cryophilic movement. The TS retains plasticity in the adult stage and is reset by ∼4 h of sustained exposure to a new temperature. Long-term plasticity in C. elegans thermotactic behavior has been proposed to represent an associative learning of specific temperatures conditioned in the presence or absence of bacterial food. Here, we use quantitative behavioral assays to define the temperature and food-dependent determinants of long-term plasticity in the different modes of thermotactic behavior. Under our experimental conditions, we find that starvation at a specific temperature neither disrupts TS resetting toward the starvation temperature nor induces learned avoidance of the starvation temperature. We find that prolonged starvation suppresses the cryophilic mode of thermotactic behavior. The hen-1 and tax-6 genes have been reported to affect associative learning between temperature and food-dependent cues. Under our experimental conditions, mutation in the hen-1 gene, which encodes a secreted protein with an LDL receptor motif, does not significantly affect thermotactic behavior or long-term plasticity. Mutation in the tax-6 calcineurin gene abolishes thermotactic behavior altogether. In summary, we do not find evidence that long-term plasticity requires association between temperature and the presence or absence of bacterial food.

A role for the host coatomer and KDEL receptor in early vaccinia biogenesis

Members of the poxvirus family have been investigated for their applications as vaccines and expression vectors and, more recently, because of concern for their potential as biological weapons. Vaccinia virus, the prototypic member, evolves through multiple forms during its replication. Here, we show a surprising way by which vaccinia hijacks coatomer for early viral biogenesis. Whereas coatomer forms COPI vesicles in the host early secretory system, vaccinia formation bypasses this role of coatomer, but instead, depends on coatomer interacting with the host KDEL receptor. To gain insight into the viral roles of these two host proteins, we have detected them on the earliest recognized viral forms. These findings not only suggest insights into early vaccinia biogenesis but also reveal an alternate mechanism by which coatomer acts.

The Role of N-Glycosylation in Folding, Trafficking, and Functionality of Lysosomal Protein CLN5

CLN5 is a soluble lysosomal protein with unknown function. Mutations in CLN5 lead to neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, a group of inherited neurodegenerative disorders that mainly affect children. CLN5 has eight potential N-glycosylation sites based on the Asn-X-Thr/Ser consensus sequence. Through site-directed mutagenesis of individual asparagine residues to glutamine on each of the N-glycosylation consensus sites, we showed that all eight putative N-glycosylation sites are utilized in vivo. Additionally, localization studies showed that the lack of N-glycosylation on certain sites (N179, N252, N304, or N320) caused CLN5 retention in the endoplasmic reticulum, indicating that glycosylation is important for protein folding. Interestingly, one particular mutant, N401Q, is mislocalized to the Golgi, suggesting that N401 is not important for protein folding but essential for CLN5 trafficking to the lysosome. Finally, we analyzed several patient mutations in which N-glycosylation is affected. The N192S patient mutant is localized to the lysosome, indicating that this mutant has a functional defect in the lysosome. Our results suggest that there are functional differences in various N-glycosylation sites of CLN5 which affect folding, trafficking, and lysosomal function of CLN5.

Lack of motor recovery after prolonged denervation of the neuromuscular junction is not due to regenerative failure.

Motor axons in peripheral nerves have the capacity to regenerate after injury. However, full functional motor recovery rarely occurs clinically, and this depends on the nature and location of the injury. Recent preclinical findings suggest that there may be a time after nerve injury where, while regrowth to the muscle successfully occurs, there is nevertheless a failure to re‐establish motor function, suggesting a possible critical period for synapse reformation. We have now examined the temporal and anatomical determinants for the re‐establishment of motor function after prolonged neuromuscular junction (NMJ) denervation in rats and mice. Using both sciatic transection–resuture and multiple nerve crush models in rats and mice to produce prolonged delays in reinnervation, we show that regenerating fibres reach motor endplates and anatomically fully reform the NMJ even after extended periods of denervation. However, in spite of this remarkably successful anatomical regeneration, after 1 month of denervation there is a consistent failure to re‐establish functional recovery, as assessed by behavioural and electrophysiological assays. We conclude that this represents a failure in re‐establishment of synaptic function, and the possible mechanisms responsible are discussed, as are their clinical implications.