Distinct changes in endosomal composition promote NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Inflammasome complexes are pivotal in the innate immune response. The NLR family pyrin domain containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is activated in response to a broad variety of cellular stressors. However, a primary and converging sensing mechanism by the NLRP3 receptor initiating inflammasome assembly remains ill defined. Here, we demonstrate that NLRP3 inflammasome activators primarily converge on disruption of endoplasmic reticulum-endosome membrane contact sites (EECS). This defect causes endosomal accumulation of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) and a consequent impairment of endosome-to-trans-Golgi network trafficking (ETT), necessary steps for endosomal recruitment of NLRP3 and subsequent inflammasome activation. Lowering endosomal PI4P levels prevents endosomal association of NLRP3 and inhibits inflammasome activation. Disruption of EECS or ETT is sufficient to enhance endosomal PI4P levels, to recruit NLRP3 to endosomes and to potentiate NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Mice with defects in ETT in the myeloid compartment are more susceptible to lipopolysaccharide-induced sepsis. Our study thus identifies a distinct cellular mechanism leading to endosomal NLRP3 recruitment and inflammasome activation.

The role of NSP6 in the biogenesis of the SARS-CoV-2 replication organelle.

SARS-CoV-2, like other coronaviruses, builds a membrane-bound replication organelle to enable RNA replication1. The SARS-CoV-2 replication organelle is composed of double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) that are tethered to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by thin membrane connectors2, but the viral proteins and the host factors involved remain unknown. Here we identify the viral non-structural proteins (NSPs) that generate the SARS-CoV-2 replication organelle. NSP3 and NSP4 generate the DMVs, whereas NSP6, through oligomerization and an amphipathic helix, zippers ER membranes and establishes the connectors. The NSP6(ΔSGF) mutant, which arose independently in the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Eta, Iota and Lambda variants of SARS-CoV-2, behaves as a gain-of-function mutant with a higher ER-zippering activity. We identified three main roles for NSP6: first, to act as a filter in communication between the replication organelle and the ER, by allowing lipid flow but restricting the access of ER luminal proteins to the DMVs; second, to position and organize DMV clusters; and third, to mediate contact with lipid droplets (LDs) through the LD-tethering complex DFCP1-RAB18. NSP6 thus acts as an organizer of DMV clusters and can provide a selective means of refurbishing them with LD-derived lipids. Notably, both properly formed NSP6 connectors and LDs are required for the replication of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings provide insight into the biological activity of NSP6 of SARS-CoV-2 and of other coronaviruses, and have the potential to fuel the search for broad antiviral agents.

Role of trafficking protein particle complex 2 in medaka development.

The skeletal dysplasia spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda (SEDT) is caused by mutations in the TRAPPC2 gene, which encodes Sedlin, a component of the trafficking protein particle (TRAPP) complex that we have shown previously to be required for the export of type II collagen (Col2) from the endoplasmic reticulum. No vertebrate model for SEDT has been generated thus far. To address this gap, we generated a Sedlin knockout animal by mutating the orthologous TRAPPC2 gene (olSedl) of Oryzias latipes (medaka) fish. OlSedl deficiency leads to embryonic defects, short size, diminished skeletal ossification and altered Col2 production and secretion, resembling human defects observed in SEDT patients. Moreover, SEDT knock-out animals display photoreceptor degeneration and gut morphogenesis defects, suggesting a key role for Sedlin in the development of these organs. Thus, by studying Sedlin function in vivo, we provide evidence for a mechanistic link between TRAPPC2-mediated membrane trafficking, Col2 export, and developmental disorders.

ER exit sites take the strain.

Cells are able to adapt their growth to external mechanical strain. A recent study by Phuyal et al (2022) has shown that these responses depend on the heterodimerization of two small GTPases.

Dynamic tandem proximity-based proteomics-Protein trafficking at the proteome-scale.

TransitID is a new methodology based on proximity labeling allowing for the study of protein trafficking a the proteome scale.

CCDC158: A novel regulator in renal proximal tubular endocytosis unveiled through exome sequencing and interactome analysis.

Renal proximal tubular reabsorption of proteins and polypeptides is tightly regulated by a concerted action of the multi-ligand receptors with subsequent processing from the clathrin-coated pits to early/recycling and late endosomes and towards lysosomes. We performed whole exome-sequencing in a male patient from a consanguineous family, who presented with low- and intermediate molecular weight proteinuria, nephrocalcinosis and oligospermia. We identified a new potential player in tubular endocytosis, coiled-coil domain containing 158 (CCDC158). The variant in CCDC158 segregated with the phenotype and was also detected in a female sibling with a similar clinical kidney phenotype. We demonstrated the expression of this protein in kidney tubules and modeled its structure in silico. We hypothesized that the protein played a role in the tubular endocytosis by interacting with other endocytosis regulators, and used mass spectrometry to identify potential interactors. The role of CCDC158 in receptor-mediated endocytosis was further confirmed by transferrin and GST-RAP trafficking analyses in patient-derived proximal tubular epithelial cells. Finally, as CCDC158 is known to be expressed in the testis, the presence of oligospermia in the male sibling further substantiated the pathogenic role of the detected missense variant in the observed phenotype. In this study, we provide data that demonstrate the potential role of CCDC158 in receptor-mediated endocytosis, most likely by interaction with other endocytosis-related proteins that strongly correlate with the proximal tubular dysfunction phenotype as observed in the patients. However, more studies are needed to fully unravel the molecular mechanism(s) in which CCDC158 is involved.

RNA, a new member in the glycan-club that gets exposed at the cell surface.

In this article we discuss implications of the recent discovery of glycoRNAs found to be present at the cell surface of mammalian cells which was reported by Flynn et al. Cell 2021.

A selective ER-phagy exerts procollagen quality control via a Calnexin-FAM134B complex.

Autophagy is a cytosolic quality control process that recognizes substrates through receptor-mediated mechanisms. Procollagens, the most abundant gene products in Metazoa, are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and a fraction that fails to attain the native structure is cleared by autophagy. However, how autophagy selectively recognizes misfolded procollagens in the ER lumen is still unknown. We performed siRNA interference, CRISPR-Cas9 or knockout-mediated gene deletion of candidate autophagy and ER proteins in collagen producing cells. We found that the ER-resident lectin chaperone Calnexin (CANX) and the ER-phagy receptor FAM134B are required for autophagy-mediated quality control of endogenous procollagens. Mechanistically, CANX acts as co-receptor that recognizes ER luminal misfolded procollagens and interacts with the ER-phagy receptor FAM134B. In turn, FAM134B binds the autophagosome membrane-associated protein LC3 and delivers a portion of ER containing both CANX and procollagen to the lysosome for degradation. Thus, a crosstalk between the ER quality control machinery and the autophagy pathway selectively disposes of proteasome-resistant misfolded clients from the ER.

The TRAPP complex mediates secretion arrest induced by stress granule assembly.

The TRAnsport Protein Particle (TRAPP) complex controls multiple membrane trafficking steps and is strategically positioned to mediate cell adaptation to diverse environmental conditions, including acute stress. We have identified the TRAPP complex as a component of a branch of the integrated stress response that impinges on the early secretory pathway. The TRAPP complex associates with and drives the recruitment of the COPII coat to stress granules (SGs) leading to vesiculation of the Golgi complex and arrest of ER export. The relocation of the TRAPP complex and COPII to SGs only occurs in cycling cells and is CDK1/2-dependent, being driven by the interaction of TRAPP with hnRNPK, a CDK substrate that associates with SGs when phosphorylated. In addition, CDK1/2 inhibition impairs TRAPP complex/COPII relocation to SGs while stabilizing them at ER exit sites. Importantly, the TRAPP complex controls the maturation of SGs. SGs that assemble in TRAPP-depleted cells are smaller and are no longer able to recruit RACK1 and Raptor, two TRAPP-interactive signaling proteins, sensitizing cells to stress-induced apoptosis.

Oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe protein controls cytoskeletal reorganisation during human platelet spreading.

Lowe syndrome (LS) is a rare, X-linked disorder characterised by numerous symptoms affecting the brain, the eyes, and the kidneys. It is caused by mutations in the oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe (OCRL) protein, a 5-phosphatase localised in different cellular compartments that dephosphorylates phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate into phosphatidylinositol-4-monophosphate. Some patients with LS also have bleeding disorders, with normal to low platelet (PLT) count and impaired PLT function. However, the mechanism of PLT dysfunction in patients with LS is not completely understood. The main function of PLTs is to activate upon vessel wall injury and stop the bleeding by clot formation. PLT activation is accompanied by a shape change that is a result of massive cytoskeletal rearrangements. Here, we show that OCRL-inhibited human PLTs do not fully spread, form mostly filopodia, and accumulate actin nodules. These nodules co-localise with ARP2/3 subunit p34, vinculin, and sorting nexin 9. Furthermore, OCRL-inhibited PLTs have a retained microtubular coil with high levels of acetylated tubulin. Also, myosin light chain phosphorylation is decreased upon OCRL inhibition, without impaired degranulation or integrin activation. Taken together, these results suggest that OCRL contributes to cytoskeletal rearrangements during PLT activation that could explain mild bleeding problems in patients with LS.

OCRL deficiency impairs endolysosomal function in a humanized mouse model for Lowe syndrome and Dent disease.

Mutations in OCRL encoding the inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase OCRL (Lowe oculocerebrorenal syndrome protein) disrupt phosphoinositide homeostasis along the endolysosomal pathway causing dysfunction of the cells lining the kidney proximal tubule (PT). The dysfunction can be isolated (Dent disease 2) or associated with congenital cataracts, central hypotonia and intellectual disability (Lowe syndrome). The mechanistic understanding of Dent disease 2/Lowe syndrome remains scarce due to limitations of animal models of OCRL deficiency. Here, we investigate the role of OCRL in Dent disease 2/Lowe syndrome by using OcrlY/- mice, where the lethal deletion of the paralogue Inpp5b was rescued by human INPP5B insertion, and primary culture of proximal tubule cells (mPTCs) derived from OcrlY/- kidneys. The OcrlY/- mice show muscular defects with dysfunctional locomotricity and present massive urinary losses of low-molecular-weight proteins and albumin, caused by selective impairment of receptor-mediated endocytosis in PT cells. The latter was due to accumulation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate PI(4,5)P2 in endolysosomes, driving local hyper-polymerization of F-actin and impairing trafficking of the endocytic LRP2 receptor, as evidenced in OcrlY/- mPTCs. The OCRL deficiency was also associated with a disruption of the lysosomal dynamic and proteolytic activity. Partial convergence of disease-pathways and renal phenotypes observed in OcrlY/- and Clcn5Y/- mice suggest shared mechanisms in Dent diseases 1 and 2. These studies substantiate the first mouse model of Lowe syndrome and give insights into the role of OCRL in cellular trafficking of multiligand receptors. These insights open new avenues for therapeutic interventions in Lowe syndrome and Dent disease.

VAPB depletion alters neuritogenesis and phosphoinositide balance in motoneuron-like cells: relevance to VAPB-linked amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

VAPB and VAPA are ubiquitously expressed endoplasmic reticulum membrane proteins that play key roles in lipid exchange at membrane contact sites. A mutant, aggregation-prone, form of VAPB (P56S) is linked to a dominantly inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; however, it has been unclear whether its pathogenicity is due to toxic gain of function, to negative dominance, or simply to insufficient levels of the wild-type protein produced from a single allele (haploinsufficiency). To investigate whether reduced levels of functional VAPB, independently from the presence of the mutant form, affect the physiology of mammalian motoneuron-like cells, we generated NSC34 clones, from which VAPB was partially or nearly completely depleted. VAPA levels, determined to be over fourfold higher than those of VAPB in untransfected cells, were unaffected. Nonetheless, cells with even partially depleted VAPB showed an increase in Golgi- and acidic vesicle-localized phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI4P) and reduced neurite extension when induced to differentiate. Conversely, the PI4 kinase inhibitors PIK93 and IN-10 increased neurite elongation. Thus, for long-term survival, motoneurons might require the full dose of functional VAPB, which may have unique function(s) that VAPA cannot perform.

Homicide and concealment of the corpse. Autopsy case series and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: The concealment of the body following a homicide undermines different moments of the forensic and medico-legal investigations. The aim of the present study is to provide an overview of the literature and the forensic casuistry of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Padova for analyzing and discussing diverse methodological approaches for the forensic pathologist dealing with covered-up homicides. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A literature review, updated until September 2019, was performed, and a literature pool of forensic cases was built. In-house cases were included by conducting a retrospective analysis of the forensic caseworks of Padova of the last 20 years. Data regarding epidemiology, methodology of assessment, methods of concealment, and answers to medico-legal issues were extracted for both data sets. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Seventy-eight papers were included in the literature review (78.2% being case reports or case series, 17% retrospective studies, and 6% experimental studies or reviews). Literature and in-house data sets consisted of 145 and 13 cases, respectively. Death scene investigation, radiology, toxicology, and additional analyses were performed in 20-54% of literature and 62-77% of in-house cases. Cover-up by multiple methods prevailed. Death was caused by head trauma in about 40% of cases (both data sets), strangulation in 21% of literature, and 7% of in-house cases, and was undetermined in 17% of literature and 7% of in-house cases. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology of ascertainment should be case-specific and based on a multidisciplinary and multimodal evaluation of all data, including those gained through novel radiological and/or analytical techniques.

FGF signalling regulates bone growth through autophagy.

Skeletal growth relies on both biosynthetic and catabolic processes. While the role of the former is clearly established, how the latter contributes to growth-promoting pathways is less understood. Macroautophagy, hereafter referred to as autophagy, is a catabolic process that plays a fundamental part in tissue homeostasis. We investigated the role of autophagy during bone growth, which is mediated by chondrocyte rate of proliferation, hypertrophic differentiation and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition in growth plates. Here we show that autophagy is induced in growth-plate chondrocytes during post-natal development and regulates the secretion of type II collagen (Col2), the major component of cartilage ECM. Mice lacking the autophagy related gene 7 (Atg7) in chondrocytes experience endoplasmic reticulum storage of type II procollagen (PC2) and defective formation of the Col2 fibrillary network in the ECM. Surprisingly, post-natal induction of chondrocyte autophagy is mediated by the growth factor FGF18 through FGFR4 and JNK-dependent activation of the autophagy initiation complex VPS34-beclin-1. Autophagy is completely suppressed in growth plates from Fgf18(-/-) embryos, while Fgf18(+/-) heterozygous and Fgfr4(-/-) mice fail to induce autophagy during post-natal development and show decreased Col2 levels in the growth plate. Strikingly, the Fgf18(+/-) and Fgfr4(-/-) phenotypes can be rescued in vivo by pharmacological activation of autophagy, pointing to autophagy as a novel effector of FGF signalling in bone. These data demonstrate that autophagy is a developmentally regulated process necessary for bone growth, and identify FGF signalling as a crucial regulator of autophagy in chondrocytes.

Drug Repurposing in Rare Diseases: An Integrative Study of Drug Screening and Transcriptomic Analysis in Nephropathic Cystinosis.

Diagnosis and cure for rare diseases represent a great challenge for the scientific community who often comes up against the complexity and heterogeneity of clinical picture associated to a high cost and time-consuming drug development processes. Here we show a drug repurposing strategy applied to nephropathic cystinosis, a rare inherited disorder belonging to the lysosomal storage diseases. This approach consists in combining mechanism-based and cell-based screenings, coupled with an affordable computational analysis, which could result very useful to predict therapeutic responses at both molecular and system levels. Then, we identified potential drugs and metabolic pathways relevant for the pathophysiology of nephropathic cystinosis by comparing gene-expression signature of drugs that share common mechanisms of action or that involve similar pathways with the disease gene-expression signature achieved with RNA-seq.

ER-Golgi membrane contact sites.

Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are sites where the membranes of two different organelles come into close apposition (10-30 nm). Different classes of proteins populate MCSs including factors that act as tethers between the two membranes, proteins that use the MCSs for their function (mainly lipid or ion exchange), and regulatory proteins and enzymes that can act in trans across the MCSs. The ER-Golgi MCSs were visualized by electron microscopists early in the sixties but have remained elusive for decades due to a lack of suitable methodological approaches. Here we report recent progress in the study of this class of MCSs that has led to the identification of their main morphological features and of some of their components and roles. Among these, lipid transfer proteins and lipid exchange have been the most studied and understood so far. However, many unknowns remain regarding their regulation and their role in controlling key TGN functions such as sorting and trafficking as well as their relevance in physiological and pathological conditions.

Exiting the Golgi complex.

The composition and identity of cell organelles are dictated by the flux of lipids and proteins that they receive and lose through cytosolic exchange and membrane trafficking. The trans-Golgi network (TGN) is a major sorting centre for cell lipids and proteins at the crossroads of the endocytic and exocytic pathways; it has a complex dynamic structure composed of a network of tubular membranes that generate pleiomorphic carriers targeted to different destinations. Live-cell imaging combined with three-dimensional tomography has recently provided the temporal and topographical framework that allows the assembly of the numerous molecular machineries so far implicated in sorting and trafficking at the TGN.

Phosphoinositides in the kidney.

Phosphoinositides (PIs) play pivotal roles in the regulation of many biological processes. The quality and quantity of PIs is regulated in time and space by the activity of PI kinases and PI phosphatases. The number of PI-metabolizing enzymes exceeds the number of PIs with, in many cases, more than one enzyme controlling the same biochemical step. This would suggest that the PI system has an intrinsic ability to buffer and compensate for the absence of a specific enzymatic activity. However, there are several examples of severe inherited human diseases caused by mutations in one of the PI enzymes, although other enzymes with the same activity are fully functional. The kidney depends strictly on PIs for physiological processes, such as cell polarization, filtration, solute reabsorption, and signal transduction. Indeed, alteration of the PI system in the kidney very often results in pathological conditions, both inherited and acquired. Most of the knowledge of the roles that PIs play in the kidney comes from the study of KO animal models for genes encoding PI enzymes and from the study of human genetic diseases, such as Lowe syndrome/Dent disease 2 and Joubert syndrome, caused by mutations in the genes encoding the PI phosphatases, OCRL and INPP5E, respectively.

Vesicular and non-vesicular transport feed distinct glycosylation pathways in the Golgi.

Newly synthesized proteins and lipids are transported across the Golgi complex via different mechanisms whose respective roles are not completely clear. We previously identified a non-vesicular intra-Golgi transport pathway for glucosylceramide (GlcCer)--the common precursor of the different series of glycosphingolipids-that is operated by the cytosolic GlcCer-transfer protein FAPP2 (also known as PLEKHA8) (ref. 1). However, the molecular determinants of the FAPP2-mediated transfer of GlcCer from the cis-Golgi to the trans-Golgi network, as well as the physiological relevance of maintaining two parallel transport pathways of GlcCer--vesicular and non-vesicular--through the Golgi, remain poorly defined. Here, using mouse and cell models, we clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the intra-Golgi vectorial transfer of GlcCer by FAPP2 and show that GlcCer is channelled by vesicular and non-vesicular transport to two topologically distinct glycosylation tracks in the Golgi cisternae and the trans-Golgi network, respectively. Our results indicate that the transport modality across the Golgi complex is a key determinant for the glycosylation pattern of a cargo and establish a new paradigm for the branching of the glycosphingolipid synthetic pathway.