TFEB-dependent lysosome biogenesis is required for senescence.

The accumulation of senescent cells is recognised as a driver of tissue and organismal ageing. One of the gold-standard hallmarks of a senescent cell is an increase in lysosomal content, as measured by senescence-associated ß-galactosidase (Senß-Gal) activity. The lysosome plays a central role in integrating mitogenic and stress cues to control cell metabolism, which is known to be dysregulated in senescence. Despite this, little is known about the cause and consequence of lysosomal biogenesis in senescence. We find here that lysosomes in senescent cells are dysfunctional; they have higher pH, increased evidence of membrane damage and reduced proteolytic capacity. The significant increase in lysosomal content is however sufficient to maintain degradative capacity of the cell to a level comparable to proliferating control cells. We demonstrate that increased nuclear TFEB/TFE3 supports lysosome biogenesis, is a hallmark of multiple forms of senescence and is required for senescent cell survival. TFEB/TFE3 are hypo-phosphorylated and show constitutive nuclear localisation in senescence. Evidence suggests that several pathways may contribute to TFEB/TFE3 dysregulation in senescence.

Mammalian copper homeostasis requires retromer-dependent recycling of the high-affinity copper transporter 1.

The concentration of essential micronutrients, such as copper (used here to describe both Cu+ and Cu2+), within the cell is tightly regulated to avoid their adverse deficiency and toxicity effects. Retromer-mediated sorting and recycling of nutrient transporters within the endo-lysosomal network is an essential process in regulating nutrient balance. Cellular copper homeostasis is regulated primarily by two transporters: the copper influx transporter copper transporter 1 (CTR1; also known as SLC31A1), which controls the uptake of copper, and the copper-extruding ATPase ATP7A, a recognised retromer cargo. Here, we show that in response to fluctuating extracellular copper, retromer controls the delivery of CTR1 to the cell surface. Following copper exposure, CTR1 is endocytosed to prevent excessive copper uptake. We reveal that internalised CTR1 localises on retromer-positive endosomes and, in response to decreased extracellular copper, retromer controls the recycling of CTR1 back to the cell surface to maintain copper homeostasis. In addition to copper, CTR1 plays a central role in the trafficking of platinum. The efficacy of platinum-based cancer drugs has been correlated with CTR1 expression. Consistent with this, we demonstrate that retromer-deficient cells show reduced sensitivity to the platinum-based drug cisplatin.

Loss of the batten disease protein CLN3 leads to mis-trafficking of M6PR and defective autophagic-lysosomal reformation.

Batten disease, one of the most devastating types of neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders, is caused by mutations in CLN3. Here, we show that CLN3 is a vesicular trafficking hub connecting the Golgi and lysosome compartments. Proteomic analysis reveals that CLN3 interacts with several endo-lysosomal trafficking proteins, including the cation-independent mannose 6 phosphate receptor (CI-M6PR), which coordinates the targeting of lysosomal enzymes to lysosomes. CLN3 depletion results in mis-trafficking of CI-M6PR, mis-sorting of lysosomal enzymes, and defective autophagic lysosomal reformation. Conversely, CLN3 overexpression promotes the formation of multiple lysosomal tubules, which are autophagy and CI-M6PR-dependent, generating newly formed proto-lysosomes. Together, our findings reveal that CLN3 functions as a link between the M6P-dependent trafficking of lysosomal enzymes and lysosomal reformation pathway, explaining the global impairment of lysosomal function in Batten disease.

TFEB controls retromer expression in response to nutrient availability.

Endosomal recycling maintains the cell surface abundance of nutrient transporters for nutrient uptake, but how the cell integrates nutrient availability with recycling is less well understood. Here, in studying the recycling of human glutamine transporters ASCT2 (SLC1A5), LAT1 (SLC7A5), SNAT1 (SLC38A1), and SNAT2 (SLC38A2), we establish that following amino acid restriction, the adaptive delivery of SNAT2 to the cell surface relies on retromer, a master conductor of endosomal recycling. Upon complete amino acid starvation or selective glutamine depletion, we establish that retromer expression is upregulated by transcription factor EB (TFEB) and other members of the MiTF/TFE family of transcription factors through association with CLEAR elements in the promoters of the retromer genes VPS35 and VPS26A TFEB regulation of retromer expression therefore supports adaptive nutrient acquisition through endosomal recycling.

Retroviral retention activates a Syk-dependent HemITAM in human tetherin.

Tetherin (BST2/CD317) restricts the release of enveloped viral particles from infected cells. Coupled to this virion retention, hominid tetherins induce proinflammatory gene expression via activating NF-κB. We investigated the events initiating this tetherin-induced signaling and show that physical retention of retroviral particles induces the phosphorylation of conserved tyrosine residues in the cytoplasmic tails of tetherin dimers. This phosphorylation induces the recruitment of spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), which is required for downstream NF-κB activation, indicating that the tetherin cytoplasmic tail resembles the hemi-immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (hemITAMs) found in C-type lectin pattern recognition receptors. Retroviral-induced tetherin signaling is coupled to the cortical actin cytoskeleton via the Rac-GAP-containing protein RICH2 (ARHGAP44), and a naturally occurring tetherin polymorphism with reduced RICH2 binding exhibits decreased phosphorylation and NF-κB activation. Thus, upon virion retention, this linkage to the actin cytoskeleton likely triggers tetherin phosphorylation and subsequent signal transduction to induce an antiviral state.

Anti-BSA antibodies are a major cause of non-specific binding in insulin autoantibody radiobinding assays.

Insulin autoantibodies (IAA) are usually the first risk-markers detected during the type 1 diabetes prodrome, but precise measurement is difficult as insulin binding is often low. Non-specific binding (NSB) of (125)I-labelled insulin necessitates competitive displacement with unlabelled insulin to demonstrate specificity. NSB varies with different batches of label, suggesting that it is caused by impurities in the label. Addition of bovine serum albumin (BSA) can reduce NSB, so we investigated whether BSA antibodies cause lack of specificity in IAA assays. Samples from patients with newly-diagnosed type 1 diabetes, healthy schoolchildren previously found to have raised (125)I-insulin binding (≥ 0.4 units) and IAA-negative schoolchildren were re-assayed for IAA by radiobinding microassay using commercial (125)I-insulin with and without 1g/dl BSA added to the buffer. Of 100 patients, 68 were IAA-positive on re-assay with BSA compared to 72 without BSA (p=0.125). Of 154 schoolchildren who previously had raised (125)I-insulin binding, only 45 had (125)I-insulin binding ≥ 0.4 units on re-assay with BSA compared to 90 without BSA (p<0.001). Following competitive displacement with unlabelled insulin, 40 were IAA-positive with BSA compared to 48 without BSA (p=0.02). No IAA-negative schoolchildren were IAA-positive on re-assay. Levels of NSB were associated with antibodies binding (125)I-BSA and purification of labelled insulin reduced NSB. Addition of BSA to assay buffer improves the screening efficiency of the IAA assay without reducing disease sensitivity in patients. High titre BSA antibodies interfere with IAA measurement because of (125)I-BSA present in some insulin labels. Improved purification of insulin labels should obviate the need for competitive displacement.