Identification of a modulator of the actin cytoskeleton, mitochondria, nutrient metabolism and lifespan in yeast.

In yeast, actin cables are F-actin bundles that are essential for cell division through their function as tracks for cargo movement from mother to daughter cell. Actin cables also affect yeast lifespan by promoting transport and inheritance of higher-functioning mitochondria to daughter cells. Here, we report that actin cable stability declines with age. Our genome-wide screen for genes that affect actin cable stability identified the open reading frame YKL075C. Deletion of YKL075C results in increases in actin cable stability and abundance, mitochondrial fitness, and replicative lifespan. Transcriptome analysis revealed a role for YKL075C in regulating branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism. Consistent with this, modulation of BCAA metabolism or decreasing leucine levels promotes actin cable stability and function in mitochondrial quality control. Our studies support a role for actin stability in yeast lifespan, and demonstrate that this process is controlled by BCAA and a previously uncharacterized ORF YKL075C, which we refer to as actin, aging and nutrient modulator protein 1 (AAN1).

Touch and Go: Membrane Contact Sites Between Lipid Droplets and Other Organelles.

Lipid droplets (LDs) have emerged not just as storage sites for lipids but as central regulators of metabolism and organelle quality control. These critical functions are achieved, in part, at membrane contact sites (MCS) between LDs and other organelles. MCS are sites of transfer of cellular constituents to or from LDs for energy mobilization in response to nutrient limitations, as well as LD biogenesis, expansion and autophagy. Here, we describe recent findings on the mechanisms underlying the formation and function of MCS between LDs and mitochondria, ER and lysosomes/vacuoles and the role of the cytoskeleton in promoting LD MCS through its function in LD movement and distribution in response to environmental cues.

Imaging the Actin Cytoskeleton in Live Budding Yeast Cells.

Although budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is widely used as a model organism in biological research, studying cell biology in yeast was hindered due to its small size, rounded morphology, and cell wall. However, with improved techniques, researchers can acquire high-resolution images and carry out rapid multidimensional analysis of a yeast cell. As a result, imaging in yeast has emerged as an important tool to study cytoskeletal organization, function, and dynamics. This chapter describes techniques and approaches for visualizing the actin cytoskeleton in live yeast cells.

Imaging the Actin Cytoskeleton in Fixed Budding Yeast Cells.

Budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is an appealing model organism to study the organization and function of the actin cytoskeleton. With the advent of techniques to perform high-resolution, multidimensional analysis of the yeast cell, imaging of yeast has emerged as an important tool for research on the cytoskeleton. This chapter describes techniques and approaches for visualizing the actin cytoskeleton in fixed yeast cells with wide-field and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.

Membrane dynamics and protein targets of lipid droplet microautophagy during ER stress-induced proteostasis in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Our previous studies reveal a mechanism for lipid droplet (LD)-mediated proteostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) whereby unfolded proteins that accumulate in the ER in response to lipid imbalance-induced ER stress are removed by LDs and degraded by microlipophagy (µLP), autophagosome-independent LD uptake into the vacuole (the yeast lysosome). Here, we show that dithiothreitol- or tunicamycin-induced ER stress also induces µLP and identify an unexpected role for vacuolar membrane dynamics in this process. All stressors studied induce vacuolar fragmentation prior to µLP. Moreover, during µLP, fragmented vacuoles fuse to form cup-shaped structures that encapsulate and ultimately take up LDs. Our studies also indicate that proteins of the endosome sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) are upregulated, required for µLP, and recruited to LDs, vacuolar membranes, and sites of vacuolar membrane scission during µLP. We identify possible target proteins for LD-mediated ER proteostasis. Our live-cell imaging studies reveal that one potential target (Nup159) localizes to punctate structures that colocalizes with LDs 1) during movement from ER membranes to the cytosol, 2) during microautophagic uptake into vacuoles, and 3) within the vacuolar lumen. Finally, we find that mutations that inhibit LD biogenesis, homotypic vacuolar membrane fusion or ESCRT function inhibit stress-induced autophagy of Nup159 and other ER proteins. Thus, we have obtained the first direct evidence that LDs and µLP can mediate ER stress-induced ER proteostasis, and identified direct roles for ESCRT and vacuolar membrane fusion in that process.

Lysosomal recycling of amino acids affects ER quality control.

Recent work has highlighted the fact that lysosomes are a critical signaling hub of metabolic processes, providing fundamental building blocks crucial for anabolic functions. How lysosomal functions affect other cellular compartments is not fully understood. Here, we find that lysosomal recycling of the amino acids lysine and arginine is essential for proper ER quality control through the UPRER. Specifically, loss of the lysine and arginine amino acid transporter LAAT-1 results in increased sensitivity to proteotoxic stress in the ER and decreased animal physiology. We find that these LAAT-1-dependent effects are linked to glycine metabolism and transport and that the loss of function of the glycine transporter SKAT-1 also increases sensitivity to ER stress. Direct lysine and arginine supplementation, or glycine supplementation alone, can ameliorate increased ER stress sensitivity found in laat-1 mutants. These data implicate a crucial role in recycling lysine, arginine, and glycine in communication between the lysosome and ER.

Live-cell imaging of mitochondrial motility and interactions in Drosophila neurons and yeast.

Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that undergo directed movement and anchorage, which in turn are critical for calcium buffering and energy mobilization at specific regions within cells or at sites of contact with other organelles. Physical and functional interactions between mitochondria and other organelles also impact processes, including phospholipid biogenesis and calcium homeostasis. Indeed, mitochondrial motility, localization, and interaction with other organelles are compromised in many neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we describe methods to visualize and carry out quantitative analysis of mitochondrial movement in two genetically-manipulatable, widely-used model systems: Drosophila neurons and the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We also describe approaches for multi-color imaging in living yeast cells that may be used to visualize colocalization of proteins within mitochondria, as well as interactions of mitochondria with other organelles.

Reciprocal interactions between mtDNA and lifespan control in budding yeast.

Loss of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) results in loss of mitochondrial respiratory activity, checkpoint-regulated inhibition of cell cycle progression, defects in growth, and nuclear genome instability. However, after several generations, yeast cells can adapt to the loss of mtDNA. During this adaptation, rho0 cells, which have no mtDNA, exhibit increased growth rates and nuclear genome stabilization. Here, we report that an immediate response to loss of mtDNA is a decrease in replicative lifespan (RLS). Moreover, we find that adapted rho0 cells bypass the mtDNA inheritance checkpoint, exhibit increased mitochondrial function, and undergo an increase in RLS as they adapt to the loss of mtDNA. Transcriptome analysis reveals that metabolic reprogramming to compensate for defects in mitochondrial function is an early event during adaptation and that up-regulation of stress response genes occurs later in the adaptation process. We also find that specific subtelomeric genes are silenced during adaptation to loss of mtDNA. Moreover, we find that deletion of SIR3, a subtelomeric gene silencing protein, inhibits silencing of subtelomeric genes associated with adaptation to loss of mtDNA, as well as adaptation-associated increases in mitochondrial function and RLS extension.

Whi2 is a conserved negative regulator of TORC1 in response to low amino acids.

Yeast WHI2 was originally identified in a genetic screen for regulators of cell cycle arrest and later suggested to function in general stress responses. However, the function of Whi2 is unknown. Whi2 has predicted structure and sequence similarity to human KCTD family proteins, which have been implicated in several cancers and are causally associated with neurological disorders but are largely uncharacterized. The identification of conserved functions between these yeast and human proteins may provide insight into disease mechanisms. We report that yeast WHI2 is a new negative regulator of TORC1 required to suppress TORC1 activity and cell growth specifically in response to low amino acids. In contrast to current opinion, WHI2 is dispensable for TORC1 inhibition in low glucose. The only widely conserved mechanism that actively suppresses both yeast and mammalian TORC1 specifically in response to low amino acids is the conserved SEACIT/GATOR1 complex that inactivates the TORC1-activating RAG-like GTPases. Unexpectedly, Whi2 acts independently and simultaneously with these established GATOR1-like Npr2-Npr3-Iml1 and RAG-like Gtr1-Gtr2 complexes, and also acts independently of the PKA pathway. Instead, Whi2 inhibits TORC1 activity through its binding partners, protein phosphatases Psr1 and Psr2, which were previously thought to only regulate amino acid levels downstream of TORC1. Furthermore, the ability to suppress TORC1 is conserved in the SKP1/BTB/POZ domain-containing, Whi2-like human protein KCTD11 but not other KCTD family members tested.

Mitochondrial anchorage and fusion contribute to mitochondrial inheritance and quality control in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Higher-functioning mitochondria that are more reduced and have less ROS are anchored in the yeast bud tip by the Dsl1-family protein Mmr1p. Here we report a role for mitochondrial fusion in bud-tip anchorage of mitochondria. Fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) and network analysis experiments revealed that mitochondria in large buds are a continuous reticulum that is physically distinct from mitochondria in mother cells. FLIP studies also showed that mitochondria that enter the bud can fuse with mitochondria that are anchored in the bud tip. In addition, loss of fusion and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by deletion of mitochondrial outer or inner membrane fusion proteins (Fzo1p or Mgm1p) leads to decreased accumulation of mitochondria at the bud tip and inheritance of fitter mitochondria by buds compared with cells with no mtDNA. Conversely, increasing the accumulation and anchorage of mitochondria in the bud tip by overexpression of MMR1 results in inheritance of less-fit mitochondria by buds and decreased replicative lifespan and healthspan. Thus quantity and quality of mitochondrial inheritance are ensured by two opposing processes: bud-tip anchorage by mitochondrial fusion and Mmr1p, which favors bulk inheritance; and quality control mechanisms that promote segregation of fitter mitochondria to the bud.

Genome-wide consequences of deleting any single gene.

Loss or duplication of chromosome segments can lead to further genomic changes associated with cancer. However, it is not known whether only a select subset of genes is responsible for driving further changes. To determine whether perturbation of any given gene in a genome suffices to drive subsequent genetic changes, we analyzed the yeast knockout collection for secondary mutations of functional consequence. Unlike wild-type, most gene knockout strains were found to have one additional mutant gene affecting nutrient responses and/or heat-stress-induced cell death. Moreover, independent knockouts of the same gene often evolved mutations in the same secondary gene. Genome sequencing identified acquired mutations in several human tumor suppressor homologs. Thus, mutation of any single gene may cause a genomic imbalance, with consequences sufficient to drive adaptive genetic changes. This complicates genetic analyses but is a logical consequence of losing a functional unit originally acquired under pressure during evolution.