RESUMEN
In macroautophagy, lysosomes fuse with closed autophagosomes but not with unclosed ones. This is achieved, at least in part, by the temporally regulated recruitment of the autophagosomal SNARE STX17 (syntaxin 17) to only mature autophagosomes. However, the molecular mechanism by which STX17 recognizes autophagosomal maturation remains unknown. Our recent study revealed that STX17 recruitment is regulated by the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged C-terminal region of STX17 and the autophagosomal membrane, which becomes negatively charged during maturation due to the accumulation of phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PtdIns4P). Here, we propose an electrostatic maturation model of the autophagosome.
RESUMEN
During macroautophagy, cytoplasmic constituents are engulfed by autophagosomes. Lysosomes fuse with closed autophagosomes but not with unclosed intermediate structures. This is achieved in part by the late recruitment of the autophagosomal SNARE syntaxin 17 (STX17) to mature autophagosomes. However, how STX17 recognizes autophagosome maturation is not known. Here, we show that this temporally regulated recruitment of STX17 depends on the positively charged C-terminal region of STX17. Consistent with this finding, mature autophagosomes are more negatively charged compared with unclosed intermediate structures. This electrostatic maturation of autophagosomes is likely driven by the accumulation of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) in the autophagosomal membrane. Accordingly, dephosphorylation of autophagosomal PI4P prevents the association of STX17 to autophagosomes. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations support PI4P-dependent membrane insertion of the transmembrane helices of STX17. Based on these findings, we propose a model in which STX17 recruitment to mature autophagosomes is temporally regulated by a PI4P-driven change in the surface charge of autophagosomes.