Lipid rafts and plasma membrane microorganization: insights from Ras

The spatial organization of plasma membrane components in discrete microdomains is thought to be a key factor in the generation of distinct signal outputs. A detailed characterization of plasma membrane microdomains, including descriptions of their size, dynamics and abundance, has proved to be a taxing problem for cell biologists and biophysicists. The use of novel techniques is providing exciting new insights into the challenging problem of plasma membrane microstructure and has allowed the visualization of domains with the characteristics expected of lipid rafts - microdomains of the plasma membrane enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids. This review focuses on some of these recent advances and uses Ras signaling as a paradigm for understanding inner plasma membrane organization and the role of lipid rafts in cellular function.

Ras plasma membrane signalling platforms

The plasma membrane is a complex, dynamic structure that provides platforms for the assembly of many signal transduction pathways. These platforms have the capacity to impose an additional level of regulation on cell signalling networks. In this review, we will consider specifically how Ras proteins interact with the plasma membrane. The focus will be on recent studies that provide novel spatial and dynamic insights into the micro-environments that different Ras proteins utilize for signal transduction. We will correlate these recent studies suggesting Ras proteins might operate within a heterogeneous plasma membrane with earlier biochemical work on Ras signal transduction.

Expression of caveolin-1 enhances cholesterol efflux in hepatic cells

HepG2 cells were stably transfected with human caveolin-1 (HepG2/cav cells). Transfection resulted in expression of caveolin-1 mRNA, a high abundance of caveolin-1 protein, and the formation of caveolae on the plasma membrane. Cholesterol efflux from HepG2/cav cells was 280 and 45% higher than that from parent HepG2 cells when human plasma and human apoA-I, respectively, were used as acceptors. The difference in efflux was eliminated by treatment of cells with progesterone. There was no difference in cholesterol efflux to cyclodextrin. Cholesterol efflux from plasma membrane vesicles was similar for the two cell types. Transfection led to a 40% increase in the amount of plasma membrane cholesterol in cholesterol-rich domains ( caveolae and/or rafts) and a 67% increase in the rate of cholesterol trafficking from intracellular compartments to these domains. Cholesterol biosynthesis in HepG2/cav cells was increased by 2-fold, and cholesterol esterification was reduced by 50% compared with parent HepG2 cells. The proliferation rate of transfected cells was significantly lower than that of non-transfected cells. Transfection did not affect expression of ABCA1 or the abundance of ABCA1 protein, but decreased secretion of apoA-I. We conclude that overexpression of caveolin-1 in hepatic cells stimulates cholesterol efflux by enhancing transfer of cholesterol to cholesterol-rich domains in the plasma membrane.

Role of LBPA and Alix in multivesicular liposome formation and endosome organization

What are the components that control the assembly of subcellular organelles in eukaryotic cells? Although membranes can clearly be distorted by cytosolic factors, very little is known about the intrinsic mechanisms that control the biogenesis, shape, and organization of organellar membranes. Here, we found that the unconventional phospholipid lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA) could induce the formation of multivesicular liposomes that resembled the multivesicular endosomes that exist where this lipid is found in vivo. This process depended on the same pH gradient that exists across endosome membranes in vivo and was selectively controlled by Alix. In turn, Alix regulated the organization of LBPA-containing endosomes in vivo.

APPL proteins link Rab5 to nuclear signal transduction via an endosomal compartment

Signals generated in response to extracellular stimuli at the plasma membrane are transmitted through cytoplasmic transduction cascades to the nucleus. We report the identification of a pathway directly linking the small GTPase Rab5, a key regulator of endocytosis, to signal transduction and mitogenesis. This pathway operates via APPL1 and APPL2, two Rab5 effectors, which reside on a subpopulation of endosomes. In response to extracellular stimuli such as EGF and oxidative stress, APPL1 translocates from the membranes to the nucleus where it interacts with the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylase multiprotein complex NuRD/MeCP1, an established regulator of chromatin structure and gene expression. Both APPL1 and APPL2 are essential for cell proliferation and their function requires Rab5 binding. Our findings identify an endosomal compartment bearing Rab5 and APPL proteins as an intermediate in signaling between the plasma membrane and the nucleus.

Arachidonic acid release from mammalian cells transfected with human groups IIA and X secreted phospholipase A(2) occurs predominantly during the secretory process and with the involvement of cytosolic phospholipase A(2)-alpha

Stable expression of human groups IIA and X secreted phospholipases A(2) (hGIIA and hGX) in CHO-K1 and HEK293 cells leads to serum- and interleukin-1beta-promoted arachidonate release. Using mutant CHO-K1 cell lines, it is shown that this arachidonate release does not require heparan sulfate proteoglycan- or glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins. It is shown that the potent secreted phospholipase A(2) inhibitor Me-Indoxam is cell-impermeable. By use of Me-Indoxam and the cell-impermeable, secreted phospholipase A(2) trapping agent heparin, it is shown that hGIIA liberates free arachidonate prior to secretion from the cell. With hGX-transfected CHO-K1 cells, arachidonate release occurs before and after enzyme secretion, whereas all of the arachidonate release from HEK293 cells occurs prior to enzyme secretion. Immunocytochemical studies by confocal laser and electron microscopies show localization of hGIIA to the cell surface and Golgi compartment. Additional results show that the interleukin-1beta-dependent release of arachidonate is promoted by secreted phospholipase A(2) expression and is completely dependent on cytosolic (group IVA) phospholipase A(2). These results along with additional data resolve the paradox that efficient arachidonic acid release occurs with hGIIA-transfected cells, and yet exogenously added hGIIA is poorly able to liberate arachidonic acid from mammalian cells.

Caveolae meet endosomes: A stable relationship?

The endocytic trafficking of caveolae has been the subject of some controversy for many years. A new study (Pelkmans et al.) shows that budded caveolae can interact with both the caveosome and the early endosome and that caveolin-enriched regions of the early endosomal membrane form unusually stable domains that can incorporate cargo in a regulated manner.

Dynamic and regulated association of caveolin with lipid bodies: Modulation of lipid body motility and function by a dominant negative mutant

Caveolins are a crucial component of caveolae but have also been localized to the Golgi complex, and, under some experimental conditions, to lipid bodies (LBs). The physiological relevance and dynamics of LB association remain unclear. We now show that endogenous caveolin-1 and caveolin-2 redistribute to LBs in lipid loaded A431 and FRT cells. Association with LBs is regulated and reversible; removal of fatty acids causes caveolin to rapidly leave the lipid body. We also show by subcellular fractionation, light and electron microscopy that during the first hours of liver regeneration, caveolins show a dramatic redistribution from the cell surface to the newly formed LBs. At later stages of the regeneration process (when LBs are still abundant), the levels of caveolins in LBs decrease dramatically. As a model system to study association of caveolins with LBs we have used brefeldin A (BFA). BFA causes rapid redistribution of endogenous caveolins to LBs and this association was reversed upon BFA washout. Finally, we have used a dominant negative LB-associated caveolin mutant (cav(DGV)) to study LB formation and to examine its effect on LB function. We now show that the cav(DGV) mutant inhibits microtubule-dependent LB motility and blocks the reversal of lipid accumulation in LBs.

The Rab5 effector rabankyrin-5 regulates and coordinates different endocytic mechanisms

The small GTPase Rab5 is a key regulator of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. On early endosomes, within a spatially restricted domain enriched in phosphatydilinositol-3-phosphate [PI(3)P], Rab5 coordinates a complex network of effectors that functionally cooperate in membrane tethering, fusion, and organelle motility. Here we discovered a novel PI(3)P-binding Rab5 effector, Rabankyrin-5, which localises to early endosomes and stimulates their fusion activity. In addition to early endosomes, however, Rabankyrin-5 localises to large vacuolar structures that correspond to macropinosomes in epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Overexpression of Rabankyrin-5 increases the number of macropinosomes and stimulates fluid-phase uptake, whereas its downregulation inhibits these processes. In polarised epithelial cells, this function is primarily restricted to the apical membrane. Rabankyrin-5 localises to large pinocytic structures underneath the apical surface of kidney proximal tubule cells, and its overexpression in polarised Madin-Darby canine kidney cells stimulates apical but not basolateral, non-clathrin-mediated pinocytosis. in demonstrating a regulatory role in endosome fusion and (macro) pinocytosis, our studies suggest that Rab5 regulates and coordinates different endocytic mechanisms through its effector Rabankyrin-5. Furthermore, its active role in apical pinocytosis in epithelial cells suggests an important function of Rabankyrin-5 in the physiology of polarised cells.

Selective stimulation of caveolar endocytosis by glycosphingolipids and cholesterol

Internalization of some plasma membrane constituents, bacterial toxins, and viruses occurs via caveolae; however, the factors that regulate caveolar internalization are still unclear. Here, we demonstrate that a brief treatment of cultured cells with natural or synthetic glycosphingolipids (GSLs) or elevation of cholesterol (either by acute treatment with mbeta-cyclodextrin/cholesterol or by alteration of growth conditions) dramatically stimulates caveolar endocytosis with little or no effect on other endocytic mechanisms. These treatments also stimulated the movement of GFP-labeled vesicles in cells transfected with caveolin-1-GFP and reduced the number of surface-connected caveolae seen by electron microscopy. In contrast, overexpression of caveolin-1 decreased caveolar uptake, but treatment with GSLs reversed this effect and stimulated caveolar endocytosis. Stimulation of caveolar endocytosis did not occur using ceramide or phosphatidylcholine and was not due to GSL degradation because similar results were obtained using a nonhydrolyzable GSL analog. Stimulated caveolar endocytosis required src kinase and PKC-alpha activity as shown by i) use of pharmacological inhibitors, ii) expression of kinase inactive src or dominant negative PKCalpha, and iii) stimulation of src kinase activity upon addition of GSLs or cholesterol. These results suggest that caveolar endocytosis is regulated by a balance of caveolin-1, cholesterol, and GSLs at the plasma membrane.

Clathrin isoform CHC22, a component of neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions, binds sorting nexin 5 and has increased expression during myogenesis and muscle regeneration

The muscle isoform. of clathrin heavy chain, CHC22, has 85% sequence identity to the ubiquitously expressed CHC17, yet its expression pattern and function appear to be distinct from those of well-characterized clathrin-coated vesicles. In mature muscle CHC22 is preferentially concentrated at neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions, suggesting a role at sarcolemmal contacts with extracellular matrix. During myoblast differentiation, CHC22 expression is increased, initially localized with desmin and nestin and then preferentially segregated to the poles of fused myoblasts. CHC22 expression is also increased in regenerating muscle fibers with the same time course as embryonic myosin, indicating a role in muscle repair. CHC22 binds to sorting nexin 5 through a coiled-coil domain present in both partners, which is absent in CHC17 and coincides with the region on CHC17 that binds the regulatory light-chain subunit. These differential binding data suggest a mechanism for the distinct functions of CHC22 relative to CHC17 in membrane traffic during muscle development, repair, and at neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions.