Pex3 peroxisome biogenesis proteins function in peroxisome inheritance as class V myosin receptors.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, peroxisomal inheritance from mother cell to bud is conducted by the class V myosin motor, Myo2p. However, homologues of S. cerevisiae Myo2p peroxisomal receptor, Inp2p, are not readily identifiable outside the Saccharomycetaceae family. Here, we demonstrate an unexpected role for Pex3 proteins in peroxisome inheritance. Both Pex3p and Pex3Bp are peroxisomal integral membrane proteins that function as peroxisomal receptors for class V myosin through direct interaction with the myosin globular tail. In cells lacking Pex3Bp, peroxisomes are preferentially retained by the mother cell, whereas most peroxisomes gather and are transferred en masse to the bud in cells overexpressing Pex3Bp or Pex3p. Our results reveal an unprecedented role for members of the Pex3 protein family in peroxisome motility and inheritance in addition to their well-established role in peroxisome biogenesis at the endoplasmic reticulum. Our results point to a temporal link between peroxisome formation and inheritance and delineate a general mechanism of peroxisome inheritance in eukaryotic cells.

Myosin-driven peroxisome partitioning in S. cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the class V myosin motor Myo2p propels the movement of most organelles. We recently identified Inp2p as the peroxisome-specific receptor for Myo2p. In this study, we delineate the region of Myo2p devoted to binding peroxisomes. Using mutants of Myo2p specifically impaired in peroxisome binding, we dissect cell cycle-dependent and peroxisome partitioning-dependent mechanisms of Inp2p regulation. We find that although total Inp2p levels oscillate with the cell cycle, Inp2p levels on individual peroxisomes are controlled by peroxisome inheritance, as Inp2p aberrantly accumulates and decorates all peroxisomes in mother cells when peroxisome partitioning is abolished. We also find that Inp2p is a phosphoprotein whose level of phosphorylation is coupled to the cell cycle irrespective of peroxisome positioning in the cell. Our findings demonstrate that both organelle positioning and cell cycle progression control the levels of organelle-specific receptors for molecular motors to ultimately achieve an equidistribution of compartments between mother and daughter cells.

The peroxisomal membrane protein Inp2p is the peroxisome-specific receptor for the myosin V motor Myo2p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The faithful inheritance of organelles by daughter cells is essential to maintain the benefits afforded to eukaryotic cells by compartmentalization of biochemical functions. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the class V myosin, Myo2p, is involved in transporting different organelles, including the peroxisome, along actin cables to the bud. We identified Inp2p as the peroxisome-specific receptor for Myo2p. Cells lacking Inp2p fail to partition peroxisomes to the bud but are unaffected in the inheritance of other organelles. Inp2p is a peroxisomal membrane protein, preferentially enriched in peroxisomes delivered to the bud. Inp2p interacts directly with the globular tail of Myo2p. Cells overproducing Inp2p often transfer their entire populations of peroxisomes to buds. The levels of Inp2p oscillate with the cell cycle. Organelle-specific receptors like Inp2p explain how a single motor can move different organelles in distinct and specific patterns. To our knowledge, Inp2p is the first peroxisomal protein implicated in the vectorial movement of peroxisomes.

The dynamin-like protein Vps1p of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae associates with peroxisomes in a Pex19p-dependent manner.

Dynamins and dynamin-like proteins play important roles in organelle division. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the dynamin-like protein Vps1p (vacuolar protein sorting protein 1) is involved in peroxisome fission, as cells deleted for the VPS1 gene contain reduced numbers of enlarged peroxisomes. What relationship Vps1p has with peroxisomes remains unclear. Here we show that Vps1p interacts with Pex19p, a peroxin that acts as a shuttling receptor for peroxisomal membrane proteins or as a chaperone assisting the assembly/stabilization of proteins at the peroxisome membrane. Vps1p contains two putative Pex19p recognition sequences at amino acids 509-523 and 633-647. Deletion of the first (but not the second) sequence results in reduced numbers of enlarged peroxisomes in cells, as in vps1delta cells. Deletion of either sequence has no effect on vacuolar morphology or vacuolar protein sorting, suggesting that the peroxisome and vacuole biogenic functions of Vps1p are separate and separable. Substitution of proline for valine at position 516 of Vps1p abrogates Pex19p binding and gives the peroxisome phenotype of vps1delta cells. Microscopic analysis showed that overexpression of Pex19p or redirection of Pex19p to the nucleus does not affect the normal cellular distribution of Vps1p in the cytosol and in punctate structures that are not peroxisomes, suggesting that Pex19p does not function in targeting Vps1p to peroxisomes. Subcellular fractionation showed that a fraction of Vps1p is associated with peroxisomes and that deletion or mutation of the first Pex19p recognition sequence abrogates this association. Our results are consistent with Pex19p acting as a chaperone to stabilize the association of Vps1p with peroxisomes and not as a receptor involved in targeting Vps1p to peroxisomes.