scholarly journals Signal Integration by Lipid-Mediated Spatial Cross Talk between Ras Nanoclusters

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 862-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhou ◽  
Hong Liang ◽  
Travis Rodkey ◽  
Nicholas Ariotti ◽  
Robert G. Parton ◽  
...  

Lipid-anchored Ras GTPases form transient, spatially segregated nanoclusters on the plasma membrane that are essential for high-fidelity signal transmission. The lipid composition of Ras nanoclusters, however, has not previously been investigated. High-resolution spatial mapping shows that different Ras nanoclusters have distinct lipid compositions, indicating that Ras proteins engage in isoform-selective lipid sorting and accounting for different signal outputs from different Ras isoforms. Phosphatidylserine is a common constituent of all Ras nanoclusters but is only an obligate structural component of K-Ras nanoclusters. Segregation of K-Ras and H-Ras into spatially and compositionally distinct lipid assemblies is exquisitely sensitive to plasma membrane phosphatidylserine levels. Phosphatidylserine spatial organization is also modified by Ras nanocluster formation. In consequence, Ras nanoclusters engage in remote lipid-mediated communication, whereby activated H-Ras disrupts the assembly and operation of spatially segregated K-Ras nanoclusters. Computational modeling and experimentation reveal that complex effects of caveolin and cortical actin on Ras nanoclustering are similarly mediated through regulation of phosphatidylserine spatiotemporal dynamics. We conclude that phosphatidylserine maintains the lateral segregation of diverse lipid-based assemblies on the plasma membrane and that lateral connectivity between spatially remote lipid assemblies offers important previously unexplored opportunities for signal integration and signal processing.

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (9) ◽  
pp. 1603-1608 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.A. Prior ◽  
J.F. Hancock

The Ras GTPases operate as molecular switches that link extracellular stimuli with a diverse range of biological outcomes. Although many studies have concentrated on the protein-protein interactions within the complex signaling cascades regulated by Ras, it is becoming clear that the spatial orientation of different Ras isoforms within the plasma membrane is also critical for their function. H-Ras, N-Ras and K-Ras use different membrane anchors to attach to the plasma membrane. Recently it has been shown that these anchors also act as trafficking signals that direct palmitoylated H-Ras and N-Ras through the exocytic pathway to the cell surface but divert polybasic K-Ras around the Golgi to the plasma membrane via an as yet-unidentified-route. Once at the plasma membrane, H-Ras and K-Ras operate in different microdomains. K-Ras is localized predominantly to the disordered plasma membrane, whereas H-Ras exists in a GTP-regulated equilibrium between disordered plasma membrane and cholesterol-rich lipid rafts. These observations provide a likely explanation for the increasing number of biological differences being identified between the otherwise highly homologous Ras isoforms and raise interesting questions about the role membrane microlocalization plays in determining the interactions of Ras with its effectors and exchange factors.


2015 ◽  
Vol 210 (5) ◽  
pp. 785-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Gabel ◽  
Franck Delavoie ◽  
Valérie Demais ◽  
Cathy Royer ◽  
Yannick Bailly ◽  
...  

Annexin A2, a calcium-, actin-, and lipid-binding protein involved in exocytosis, mediates the formation of lipid microdomains required for the structural and spatial organization of fusion sites at the plasma membrane. To understand how annexin A2 promotes this membrane remodeling, the involvement of cortical actin filaments in lipid domain organization was investigated. 3D electron tomography showed that cortical actin bundled by annexin A2 connected docked secretory granules to the plasma membrane and contributed to the formation of GM1-enriched lipid microdomains at the exocytotic sites in chromaffin cells. When an annexin A2 mutant with impaired actin filament–bundling activity was expressed, the formation of plasma membrane lipid microdomains and the number of exocytotic events were decreased and the fusion kinetics were slower, whereas the pharmacological activation of the intrinsic actin-bundling activity of endogenous annexin A2 had the opposite effects. Thus, annexin A2–induced actin bundling is apparently essential for generating active exocytotic sites.


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian A. Prior

Ras proteins are small monomeric G-proteins that play a central role in linking extracellular stimuli with the internal kinase cascades that are primarily involved in modulating cell proliferation and differentiation. Constitutively activated mutants of these proteins are found in many human cancers. Differences in the trafficking and plasma membrane localization of Ras isoforms play critical roles in regulating their function. New research is trying to understand the mechanisms behind, and consequences of, these differences.


2015 ◽  
pp. MCB.00719-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang-jin Cho ◽  
Dharini van der Hoeven ◽  
Yong Zhou ◽  
Masashi Maekawa ◽  
Xiaoping Ma ◽  
...  

K-Ras must localize to the plasma membrane for biological activity, thus preventing plasma membrane interaction blocks K-Ras signal output. Here we show that inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) mislocalizes both K-Ras isoforms, K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B, from the plasma membrane to endomembrane and inhibits their nanoclustering. We found that fendiline, a potent ASM-inhibitor, reduces the phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) and cholesterol content of the inner plasma membrane. These lipid changes are causative because supplementation of fendiline-treated cells with exogenous PtdSer rapidly restores K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B plasma membrane binding, nanoclustering, and signal output. Conversely supplementation with exogenous cholesterol restores K-Ras4A, but not K-Ras4B, nanoclustering. These experiments reveal different operational pools of PtdSer on the plasma membrane. Inhibition of ASM elevates cellular sphingomyelin and reduces cellular ceramide levels. Concordantly delivery of recombinant ASM, or exogenous ceramide to fendiline-treated cells rapidly relocalizes K-Ras4B and PtdSer to the plasma membrane. K-Ras4B mislocalization is also recapitulated in ASM-deficient Neimann-Pick Type A and B fibroblasts. This study identifies sphingomyelin metabolism as an indirect regulator of K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B signaling through the control of PtdSer plasma membrane content. It also demonstrates the critical and selective importance of PtdSer to K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B plasma membrane binding and nanoscale spatial organization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 189-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Shankar ◽  
Cecile Boscher ◽  
Ivan R. Nabi

Spatial organization of the plasma membrane is an essential feature of the cellular response to external stimuli. Receptor organization at the cell surface mediates transmission of extracellular stimuli to intracellular signalling molecules and effectors that impact various cellular processes including cell differentiation, metabolism, growth, migration and apoptosis. Membrane domains include morphologically distinct plasma membrane invaginations such as clathrin-coated pits and caveolae, but also less well-defined domains such as lipid rafts and the galectin lattice. In the present chapter, we will discuss interaction between caveolae, lipid rafts and the galectin lattice in the control of cancer cell signalling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huokko ◽  
Tao Ni ◽  
Gregory F. Dykes ◽  
Deborah M. Simpson ◽  
Philip Brownridge ◽  
...  

AbstractHow thylakoid membranes are generated to form a metabolically active membrane network and how thylakoid membranes orchestrate the insertion and localization of protein complexes for efficient electron flux remain elusive. Here, we develop a method to modulate thylakoid biogenesis in the rod-shaped cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 by modulating light intensity during cell growth, and probe the spatial-temporal stepwise biogenesis process of thylakoid membranes in cells. Our results reveal that the plasma membrane and regularly arranged concentric thylakoid layers have no physical connections. The newly synthesized thylakoid membrane fragments emerge between the plasma membrane and pre-existing thylakoids. Photosystem I monomers appear in the thylakoid membranes earlier than other mature photosystem assemblies, followed by generation of Photosystem I trimers and Photosystem II complexes. Redistribution of photosynthetic complexes during thylakoid biogenesis ensures establishment of the spatial organization of the functional thylakoid network. This study provides insights into the dynamic biogenesis process and maturation of the functional photosynthetic machinery.


1994 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Mulholland ◽  
D Preuss ◽  
A Moon ◽  
A Wong ◽  
D Drubin ◽  
...  

We characterized the yeast actin cytoskeleton at the ultrastructural level using immunoelectron microscopy. Anti-actin antibodies primarily labeled dense, patchlike cortical structures and cytoplasmic cables. This localization recapitulates results obtained with immunofluorescence light microscopy, but at much higher resolution. Immuno-EM double-labeling experiments were conducted with antibodies to actin together with antibodies to the actin binding proteins Abp1p and cofilin. As expected from immunofluorescence experiments, Abp1p, cofilin, and actin colocalized in immuno-EM to the dense patchlike structures but not to the cables. In this way, we can unambiguously identify the patches as the cortical actin cytoskeleton. The cortical actin patches were observed to be associated with the cell surface via an invagination of plasma membrane. This novel cortical cytoskeleton-plasma membrane interface appears to consist of a fingerlike invagination of plasma membrane around which actin filaments and actin binding proteins are organized. We propose a possible role for this unique cortical structure in wall growth and osmotic regulation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (1) ◽  
pp. C46-C56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille Ehre ◽  
Andrea H. Rossi ◽  
Lubna H. Abdullah ◽  
Kathleen De Pestel ◽  
Sandra Hill ◽  
...  

Airway goblet cells secrete mucin onto mucosal surfaces under the regulation of an apical, phospholipase C/Gq-coupled P2Y2receptor. We tested whether cortical actin filaments negatively regulate exocytosis in goblet cells by forming a barrier between secretory granules and plasma membrane docking sites as postulated for other secretory cells. Immunostaining of human lung tissues and SPOC1 cells (an epithelial, mucin-secreting cell line) revealed an apical distribution of β- and γ-actin in ciliated and goblet cells. In goblet cells, actin appeared as a prominent subplasmalemmal sheet lying between granules and the apical membrane, and it disappeared from SPOC1 cells activated by purinergic agonist. Disruption of actin filaments with latrunculin A stimulated SPOC1 cell mucin secretion under basal and agonist-activated conditions, whereas stabilization with jasplakinolide or overexpression of β- or γ-actin conjugated to yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) inhibited secretion. Myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate, a PKC-activated actin-plasma membrane tethering protein, was phosphorylated after agonist stimulation, suggesting a translocation to the cytosol. Scinderin (or adseverin), a Ca2+-activated actin filament severing and capping protein was cloned from human airway and SPOC1 cells, and synthetic peptides corresponding to its actin-binding domains inhibited mucin secretion. We conclude that actin filaments negatively regulate mucin secretion basally in airway goblet cells and are dynamically remodeled in agonist-stimulated cells to promote exocytosis.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (15) ◽  
pp. 6722-6733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Roy ◽  
Sarah Plowman ◽  
Barak Rotblat ◽  
Ian A. Prior ◽  
Cornelia Muncke ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT H-ras is anchored to the plasma membrane by two palmitoylated cysteine residues, Cys181 and Cys184, operating in concert with a C-terminal S-farnesyl cysteine carboxymethylester. Here we demonstrate that the two palmitates serve distinct biological roles. Monopalmitoylation of Cys181 is required and sufficient for efficient trafficking of H-ras to the plasma membrane, whereas monopalmitoylation of Cys184 does not permit efficient trafficking beyond the Golgi apparatus. However, once at the plasma membrane, monopalmitoylation of Cys184 supports correct GTP-regulated lateral segregation of H-ras between cholesterol-dependent and cholesterol-independent microdomains. In contrast, monopalmitoylation of Cys181 dramatically reverses H-ras lateral segregation, driving GTP-loaded H-ras into cholesterol-dependent microdomains. Intriguingly, the Cys181 monopalmitoylated H-ras anchor emulates the GTP-regulated microdomain interactions of N-ras. These results identify N-ras as the Ras isoform that normally signals from lipid rafts but also reveal that spacing between palmitate and prenyl groups influences anchor interactions with the lipid bilayer. This concept is further supported by the different plasma membrane affinities of the monopalmitoylated anchors: Cys181-palmitate is equivalent to the dually palmitoylated wild-type anchor, whereas Cys184-palmitate is weaker. Thus, membrane affinity of a palmitoylated anchor is a function both of the hydrophobicity of the lipid moieties and their spatial organization. Finally we show that the plasma membrane affinity of monopalmitoylated anchors is absolutely dependent on cholesterol, identifying a new role for cholesterol in promoting interactions with the raft and nonraft plasma membrane.


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