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The compartmentalization of cAMP by specifically targeted phosphodiesterases (PDEs) contributes to signal regulation in defined regions of cells. We previously demonstrated that the 20 N-terminal amino acids of Aplysia PDE4 (ApPDE4) long-form (L(N20)) and the two mutants of L(N20) were localized to the Golgi complex. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the Golgi complex targeting of ApPDE4 long-form and its mutated forms are not clear. In the present study, we show that the Golgi complex targeting of L(N20/C14,15S)-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was antimycin A-, phenylarsine oxide (PAO)-, and adenosine-sensitive, but insensitive to high concentrations of wortmannin. On the other hand, the Golgi complex targeting of L(N20)-EGFP and L(N20/C3,14S)-EGFP was antimycin A- and PAO-insensitive. These results suggest that the Golgi-localized lipid kinase protein, phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase type II alpha (PI4KIIα), the activity of which is inhibited by PAO and adenosine, but not by h...

Sec7 protein is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor in the ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) family of small GTP-binding proteins. Aplysia Sec7 proteins (ApSec7s) play many roles in neurite outgrowth and synaptic facilitation in Aplysia neurons. However, the binding property of Aplysia ARF1 by ApSec7 isoforms has not been examined. In this study, we found that the cloned Aplysia ARF1 (ApARF1) protein only localized to the Golgi complex when it was expressed alone in HEK293T cells; however, if ApARF1 was co-expressed with plasma membrane-targeted ApSec7, it localized to both the plasma membrane and the Golgi complex via association with the Sec7 domain of ApSec7. Moreover, in HEK293T cells expressing both ApARF1 and another Sec7 isoform, ApSec7(VPKIS), the pleckstrin homology domain of ApSec7(VPKIS) associated with ApARF1, resulting in its localization to the Golgi complex. Overall, we propose a model in which ApSec7(VPKIS) activates ApARF1 in the Golgi complex, while ApSec7 recruits ApARF1 to the plasma membrane where it activates ApARF1/6 downstream signaling.

Neurite growth requires neurite extension and retraction, which are associated with protein degradation. Autophagy is a conserved bulk degradation pathway that regulates several cellular processes. However, little is known about autophagic regulation during early neurite growth. In this study, we investigated whether autophagy was involved in early neurite growth and how it regulated neurite growth in primary cortical neurons. Components of autophagy were expressed and autophagy was activated during early neurite growth. Interestingly, inhibition of autophagy by atg7 small interfering RNA (siRNA) caused elongation of axons, while activation of autophagy by rapamycin suppressed axon growth. Surprisingly, inhibition of autophagy reduced the protein level of RhoA. Moreover, expression of RhoA suppressed axon overelongation mediated by autophagy inhibition, whereas inhibition of the RhoA signaling pathway by Y-27632 recovered rapamycin-mediated suppression of axon growth. Interestingly, hnRNP-Q1, which negatively regulates RhoA, accumulated in autophagy-deficient neurons, while its protein level was reduced by autophagy activation. Overall, our study suggests that autophagy negatively regulates axon extension via the RhoA-ROCK pathway by regulating hnRNP-Q1 in primary cortical neurons. Therefore, autophagy might serve as a fine-tuning mechanism to regulate early axon extension.