scholarly journals Visualization of retrovirus uptake and delivery into acidic endosomes

2011 ◽  
Vol 434 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kosuke Miyauchi ◽  
Mariana Marin ◽  
Gregory B. Melikyan

Diverse enveloped viruses enter cells by endocytosis and fusion with intracellular compartments. Recent evidence suggests that HIV also infects permissive cell lines by fusing with endosomes in a pH-independent manner. This finding highlights the importance of time-resolved monitoring of viral uptake. In the present study, we designed an imaging-based assay to measure endocytosis in real-time through probing the virus' accessibility to external solutions. Exposure of viruses bearing a pH-sensitive GFP (green fluorescent protein) variant on their surface to solutions of different acidity altered the fluorescence of surface-accessible particles, but not internalized viruses. By sequentially applying acidic and alkaline buffers with or without ammonium chloride, we were able to quantify the fractions of internalized and non-internalized virions, as well as the fraction of detached particles, over time. The exact time of single-virus internalization was assessed from the point when a particle ceased to respond to a perfusion with alternating acidic and alkaline buffers. We found that, surprisingly, HIV pseudoparticles entered acidic compartments shortly after internalization. These results suggest that the virus might be sorted to a quickly maturing pool of endocytic vesicles and thus be trafficked to fusion-permissive sites near the cell nucleus.

2007 ◽  
Vol 407 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nectarios Klonis ◽  
Olivia Tan ◽  
Katherine Jackson ◽  
Daniel Goldberg ◽  
Michael Klemba ◽  
...  

The DV (digestive vacuole) of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is the site of Hb (haemoglobin) digestion and haem detoxification and, as a consequence, the site of action of CQ (chloroquine) and related antimalarials. However, the precise pH of the DV and the endocytic vesicles that feed it has proved difficult to ascertain. We have developed new methods using EGFP [enhanced GFP (green fluorescent protein)] to measure the pH of intracellular compartments. We have generated a series of transfectants in CQ-sensitive and -resistant parasite strains expressing GFP chimaeras of the DV haemoglobinase, plasmepsin II. Using a quantitative flow cytometric assay, the DV pH was determined to be 5.4–5.5. No differences were detected between CQ-sensitive and -resistant strains. We have also developed a method that relies on the pH dependence of GFP photobleaching kinetics to estimate the pH of the DV compartment. This method gives a pH estimate consistent with the intensity-based measurement. Accumulation of the pH-sensitive probe, LysoSensor Blue, in the DV confirms the acidity of this compartment and shows that the cytostomal vesicles are not measurably acidic, indicating that they are unlikely to be the site of Hb digestion or the site of CQ accumulation. We show that a GFP probe located outside the DV reports a pH value close to neutral. The transfectants and methods that we have developed represent useful tools for investigating the pH of GFP-containing compartments and should be of general use in other systems.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 224-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengda Zhang ◽  
James B. Konopka

ABSTRACT Fusions to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) are an effective way to monitor protein localization. However, altered codon usage in Candida species has delayed implementation of new variants. Examination of three new GFP variants in Candida albicans showed that one has higher signal intensity and increased resistance to photobleaching.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 2728-2743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Aschenbrenner ◽  
TinThu Lee ◽  
Tama Hasson

Immunolocalization studies in epithelial cells revealed myo6 was associated with peripherally located vesicles that contained the transferrin receptor. Pulse-chase experiments after transferrin uptake showed that these vesicles were newly uncoated endocytic vesicles and that myo6 was recruited to these vesicles immediately after uncoating. GIPC, a putative myo6 tail binding protein, was also present. Myo6 was not present on early endosomes, suggesting that myo6 has a transient association with endocytic vesicles and is released upon early endosome fusion. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to myo6 as well as the cargo-binding tail (M6tail) alone targeted to the nascent endocytic vesicles. Overexpression of GFP-M6tail had no effect on a variety of organelle markers; however, GFP-M6tail displaced the endogenous myo6 from nascent vesicles and resulted in a significant delay in transferrin uptake. Pulse-chase experiments revealed that transferrin accumulated in uncoated vesicles within the peripheries of transfected cells and that Rab5 was recruited to the surface of these vesicles. Given sufficient time, the transferrin did traffic to the perinuclear sorting endosome. These data suggest that myo6 is an accessory protein required for the efficient transportation of nascent endocytic vesicles from the actin-rich peripheries of epithelial cells, allowing for timely fusion of endocytic vesicles with the early endosome.


2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 3196-3205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles C. Kim ◽  
Denise Monack ◽  
Stanley Falkow

ABSTRACT Two acidified nitrite-inducible genes of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were identified with a green fluorescent protein-based promoter-trap screen. The nitrite-inducible promoters were located upstream of loci that we designated nipAB and nipC, which correspond to hcp-hcr (hybrid cluster protein) of Escherichia coli and norA of Alcaligenes eutrophus, respectively. Maximal induction of the promoters by nitrite was dependent on pH. The nipAB promoter was regulated by oxygen in an Fnr-dependent manner. The nipC promoter was also regulated by oxygen but in an Fnr-independent manner. The promoters were upregulated in activated RAW264.7 macrophage-like cells, which produce NO via the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and the induction was inhibited by aminoguanidine, an inhibitor of iNOS. Although the nipAB and nipC mutants displayed no defects under a variety of in vitro conditions or in tissue culture infections, they exhibited lower oral 50% lethal doses (LD50s) than did the wild type in C57BL/6J mouse infections. The lower LD50s reflected an unexpected increased ability of small inoculating doses of the mutant bacteria to cause lethal infection 2 to 3 weeks after challenge, compared to a similar challenge dose of wild-type bacteria. We conclude that these genes are regulated by physiological nitrogen oxides and that the absence of these bacterial genes in some way diminishes the ability of mice to clear a low dose infection.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 7530-7538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Reuter ◽  
Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

ABSTRACT Proteasomes are energy-dependent proteases that are central to the quality control and regulated turnover of proteins in eukaryotic cells. Dissection of this proteolytic pathway in archaea, however, has been hampered by the lack of substrates that are easily detected in whole cells. In the present study, we developed a convenient reporter system by functional expression of a green fluorescent protein variant with C-terminal fusions in the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii. The levels of this reporter protein correlated with whole-cell fluorescence that was readily detected in culture. Accumulation of the reporter protein was dependent on the sequence of the C-terminal amino acid fusion, as well as the presence of an irreversible, proteasome-specific inhibitor (clasto-lactacystin β-lactone). This inhibitor was highly specific for H. volcanii 20S proteasomes, with a Ki of ∼40 nM. In contrast, phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride did not influence the levels of fluorescent reporter protein or inhibit 20S proteasomes. Together, these findings provide a powerful tool for the elucidation of protein substrate recognition motifs and the identification of new genes which may be involved in the proteasome pathway of archaea.


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