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Endosomal-lysosomal trafficking is accompanied by the acidification of endosomal compartments by the H+-V-ATPase to reach low lysosomal pH. Disruption of the correct pH impairs lysosomal function and the balance of protein synthesis and degradation (proteostasis). Here, we treated mammalian cells with the small dipeptide LLOMe, which is known to permeabilize lysosomal membranes, and find that LLOMe also impacts late endosomes (LEs) by neutralizing their pH without causing membrane permeabilization. We show that LLOMe leads to hyperactivation of Rab7 (herein referring to Rab7a), and disruption of tubulation and mannose-6-phosphate receptor (CI-M6PR; also known as IGF2R) recycling on pH-neutralized LEs. pH neutralization (NH4Cl) and expression of Rab7 hyperactive mutants alone can both phenocopy the alterations in tubulation and CI-M6PR trafficking. Mechanistically, pH neutralization increases the assembly of the V1G1 subunit (encoded by ATP6V1G1) of the V-ATPase on endosomal membranes, which stabilizes GTP-bound Rab7 via RILP, a known interactor of Rab7 and V1G1. We propose a novel pathway by which V-ATPase and RILP modulate LE pH and Rab7 activation in concert. This pathway might broadly contribute to pH control during physiologic endosomal maturation or starvation and during pathologic pH neutralization, which occurs via lysosomotropic compounds and in disease states., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2024. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

The delivery of newly synthesized soluble lysosomal hydrolases to the endosomal system is essential for lysosome function and cell homeostasis. This process relies on the proper trafficking of the mannose 6-phosphate receptors (MPRs) between the trans-Golgi network (TGN), endosomes and the plasma membrane. Many transmembrane proteins regulating diverse biological processes ranging from virus production to the development of multicellular organisms also use these pathways. To explore how cell signaling modulates MPR trafficking, we used high-throughput RNA interference (RNAi) to target the human kinome and phosphatome. Using high-content image analysis, we identified 127 kinases and phosphatases belonging to different signaling networks that regulate MPR trafficking and/or the dynamic states of the subcellular compartments encountered by the MPRs. Our analysis maps the MPR trafficking pathways based on enzymes regulating phosphatidylinositol phosphate metabolism. Furthermore, it reveals how cell signaling controls the biogenesis of post-Golgi tubular carriers destined to enter the endosomal system through a SRC-dependent pathway regulating ARF1 and RAC1 signaling and myosin II activity., (© 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Lysosomal degradation of signalling receptors such as the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) is an important mechanism for termination of cell signalling. Such degradation involves the endosomal sorting of ubiquitylated receptors into intralumenal vesicles (ILVs) of multivesicular endosomes (MVEs) that move along microtubules to fuse with perinuclear lysosomes. The Rab7-interacting lysosomal protein RILP is interesting in this context as it interacts with Vps22 (also known as EAP30) and Vps36 (also known as EAP45), subunits of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport II (ESCRT-II), as well as with the dynein-dynactin motor complex. Because previous functional studies of RILP have been based on its overexpression, we have asked here whether RILP is required for endocytic trafficking of receptors. Depletion of RILP caused elevated levels of four late-endosomal molecules, lyso-bisphosphatidic acid, Lamp1, CD63 and cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptors. Electron microscopy showed that endosomes of RILP-depleted cells were morphologically distinct from normal late endosomes and had a strongly reduced content of ILVs. As in Vps22-depleted cells, ligand-mediated degradation of EGFRs was strongly inhibited in RILP-depleted cells, in which endocytosed EGFRs were found to accumulate in early endosomes. By contrast, endocytosis and recycling of transferrin receptors occurred normally in RILP-depleted cells. These results establish that RILP, like the ESCRT proteins, is required for biogenesis of MVEs and degradative trafficking of EGFRs but not for trafficking of transferrin receptors through early endosomes. We propose that RILP might coordinate the biogenesis of MVEs with dynein-mediated motility.

The CXCR2 chemokine receptor is a G-protein-coupled receptor that undergoes clathrin-mediated endocytosis upon ligand binding. The trafficking of CXCR2 is crucial for cells to maintain a proper chemotactic response. The mechanisms that regulate the recycling/degradation sorting decision are unknown. In this study, we used dominant-negative (T19N) and GTPase-deficient activated (Q63L) RhoB mutants, as well as RhoB small interfering RNA (siRNA) to investigate the role of RhoB in CXCR2 trafficking. Expression of either of the RhoB mutants or transfection of RhoB siRNA impaired CXCR2-mediated chemotaxis. Expression of RhoB T19N and transfection of RhoB siRNA impaired sorting of CXCR2 to the lysosome after 3 hours of CXCL8 stimulation and impaired CXCL8-induced CXCR2 degradation. In cells expressing the RhoB Q63L mutant, CXCR2 recycling through the Rab11a recycling compartment was impaired after 30 minutes of CXCL8 stimulation as was CXCL8-induced CXCR2 degradation. For cells expressing activated RhoB, CXCR2 colocalized with Rab4, a marker for the rapid recycling pathway, and with the mannose-6-phosphate receptor, which traffics between the trans-Golgi network and endosomes. These data suggest that CXCR2 recycles through alternative pathways. We conclude that oscillation of RhoB GTPase activity is essential for appropriate sorting decisions, and for directing CXCR2 degradation and recycling--events that are required for optimal chemotaxis.

In mammalian cells, the mannose 6-phosphate receptor pathway accounts for the transport of most soluble acid hydrolases to lysosomes. It is believed that dissociation of mannose 6-phosphate receptors and their ligands is entirely driven by the acidic environment in endosomal compartments. Indeed, pH-perturbing substances such as ammonium chloride and monensin have been shown to inhibit lysosomal enzyme targeting in cells that express both known mannose 6-phosphate receptors. We now demonstrate that ammonium chloride and monensin exert modest effects on the intracellular retention of lysosomal hydrolases in murine cells that synthesize only the 46-kDa mannose 6-phosphate receptor. Neither ammonium chloride nor monensin induces changes to the subcellular localization of lysosomal hydrolases and the 46-kDa mannose 6-phosphate receptor in these cells. This suggests that endosomal dissociation of the receptor and its ligands still occurs in the presence of these agents. We conclude that the murine 46-kDa mannose 6-phosphate receptor has the capacity to deliver its cargo proteins to lysosomes even in the absence of endosomal acidification.

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a key modulator of endothelial cell apoptosis, must be activated from the latent form (LTGF-beta) to induce biological responses. In the present study, we report activation of TGF-beta by functional and physical co-operation of the mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like-growth-factor-II receptor (CD222) and the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (CD87). We show that endothelial cells express CD222 and CD87 in a membrane complex and demonstrate that the association of these two receptors is essential for the release of active TGF-beta in the transduced mouse fibroblast used as model cells. By contrast, smooth-muscle cells, which express CD222 and CD87 at similar density to endothelial cells but not in complexed form, do not activate TGF-beta. We also have found that mini-plasminogen is a high-affinity ligand for CD222 and is essential for the activation of TGF-beta by the CD87-CD222 complex to induce apoptosis in endothelial cells. This specific mechanism of TGF-beta-mediated apoptosis in endothelial cells is thus a potential novel target to be considered for treatment of pathological vascular disorders (e.g. tumor angiogenesis).

The human mannose 6-phosphate uncovering enzyme participates in the uncovering of the mannose 6-phosphate recognition tag on lysosomal enzymes, a process that facilitates recognition of those enzymes by mannose 6-phosphate receptors to ensure delivery to lysosomes. Uncovering enzyme has been identified on the trans-Golgi network at steady state. It has been shown to traffic to the plasma membrane from where it is rapidly internalized via endosomal structures, the process being mediated by a tyrosine-based internalization motif, Y488HPL, in its cytoplasmic tail. Using immunogold electron microscopy a GFP-uncovering enzyme fusion construct was found to be colocalized with the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate receptor in regions of the trans-Golgi network, suggesting that uncovering enzyme might follow a similar pathway of exit from the trans-Golgi network as that of the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. In this study, we identified the signal sequence in the cytoplasmic tail of uncovering enzyme responsible for its exit from the trans-Golgi network. Using GFP fusion constructs of the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of uncovering enzyme, we could show, by automated analysis of confocal immunofluorescence images, that residues Q492EMN in the cytoplasmic tail of uncovering enzyme are involved in its exit from the trans-Golgi network. Detailed characterization of the exit signal revealed that residue Q492 is the most important to the exit function while M494 and N495 also contribute. The cytoplasmic tail of the uncovering enzyme does not possess any of the known canonical signal sequences for interaction with Golgi-associated gamma ear-containing adaptor proteins. The identification of a trans-Golgi network exit signal in its cytoplasmic tail elucidates the trafficking pathway of uncovering enzyme, a crucial player in the process of lysosomal biogenesis.

A number of recent studies have highlighted the importance of lipid domains within endocytic organelles in the sorting and movement of integral membrane proteins. In particular, considerable attention has become focussed upon the role of the unusual phospholipid lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA). This lipid appears to be directly involved in the trafficking of cholesterol and glycosphingolipids, and accumulates in a number of lysosomal storage disorders. Antibody-mediated disruption of LBPA function also leads to mis-sorting of cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptors. We now report that the converse is also true, and that spontaneous loss of cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptors from a rat fibroblast cell line led to the formation of aberrant late endocytic structures enriched in LBPA. Accumulation of LBPA was directly dependent upon the loss of the receptors, and could be reversed by expression of bovine cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptors in the mutant cell line. Ultrastructural analysis indicated that the abnormal organelles were electron-dense, had a multi-lamellar structure, accumulated endocytosed probes, and were distinct from dense-core lysosomes present within the same cells. The late endocytic structures present at steady state within any particular cell likely reflect the balance of membrane traffic through the endocytic pathway of that cell, and the rate of maturation of individual endocytic organelles. Moreover, there is considerable evidence which suggests that cargo receptors also play a direct mechanistic role in membrane trafficking events. Therefore, loss of such a protein may disturb the overall equilibrium of the pathway, and hence cause the accumulation of aberrant organelles. We propose that this mechanism underlies the phenotype of the mutant cell line, and that the formation of inclusion bodies in many lysosomal storage diseases is also due to an imbalance in membrane trafficking within the endocytic pathway.

In neuroendocrine cells sorting of proteins from immature secretory granules (ISGs) occurs during maturation and is achieved by clathrin-coated vesicles containing the adaptor protein (AP)-1. We have investigated the role of the mannose-6-phosphate receptors (M6PRs) in the recruitment of AP-1 to ISGs. M6PRs were detected in ISGs isolated from PC12 cells by subcellular fractionation, and by immuno-EM labelling on cryosections. In light of our previous results, where greater than 80% of the ISGs were found to contain furin, we examined the relationship between furin and M6PR on ISGs. By immunoisolation techniques we find that 50% at most of the ISGs contain the cation-independent (CI)-M6PR. Using sequential immunoisolation we could demonstrate that there are two populations of ISGs: those that have both M6PR and furin, and those which contain only furin. Furthermore, using immobilized GST-fusion proteins containing the cytoplasmic domain of the CI-M6PR we have shown binding of AP-1 requires casein kinase II phosphorylation of the CI-M6PR fusion protein, and in particular phosphorylation of Ser(2474). Addition of these phosphorylated GST-CI-M6PR fusion proteins to a cell-free assay reconstituting AP-1 binding to ISGs inhibits AP-1 recruitment to ISGs.

Recycling of mannose 6-phosphate receptors was investigated by microinjection of F(ab) fragments against their carboxy-terminal peptides (residues 54-67 or 150-164 of the cytoplasmic domain of 46 kDa and 300 kDa mannose 6-phosphate receptor, respectively). For each receptor, masking the carboxy-terminal peptide by the corresponding F(ab) fragments resulted in complete depletion of the intracellular pool. Redistributed 300 kDa mannose 6-phosphate receptor was shown to accumulate at the plasma membrane and to internalize anti-ectodomain antibodies. Internalization of anti-ectodomain antibodies was also observed for redistributed 46 kDa mannose 6-phosphate receptor. Semiquantitative analysis suggested that for both redistributed receptors the amount of intracellularly accumulated anti-ectodomain antibodies was reduced. In addition, downstream transport along the endosomal pathway was slowed down. These data suggest that sorting information for early steps in the endocytic pathway is contained within the carboxy-terminal peptides of mannose 6-phosphate receptors.

We fused the cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains of the bovine mannose 6-phosphate/IGF-II receptor (MPR) to lysozyme, a monomeric secretory protein thought to be devoid of sorting information. When the resulting chimera (lys/MPR) was transiently expressed in COS cells or stably expressed in CV1 cells, it had a predominantly intracellular distribution in the trans-Golgi region, with less than 10% present on the surface. In contrast, a similar chimera containing the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of the low density lipoprotein receptor (lys/LDLR) was localized to the plasma membrane, even though it endocytoses efficiently. Exchanging domains between the lys/MPR and lys/LDLR chimeras indicated that the MPR cytoplasmic domain contains the information necessary to specify the intracellular localization of the chimeric molecule. This signal must be located in the membrane-proximal third of the tail, as deletion of the last 120 residues of the 163 residue tail has no obvious effect on the distribution of lys/MPR. However, the recycling of the lys/MPR does not completely mimic that of the intact endogenous MPR, as immunofluorescence labelling shows that they are predominantly in different locations, indicating a role for the lumenal domain of the MPR in determining the steady-state distribution of the MPR itself.