Growing evidence suggests that phosphoinositides play an important role in membrane traffic. A polyphosphoinositide phosphatase, synaptojanin 1, was identified as a major presynaptic protein associated with endocytic coated intermediates. We report here that synaptojanin 1-deficient mice exhibit neurological defects and die shortly after birth. In neurons of mutant animals, PI(4,5)P2 levels are increased, and clathrin-coated vesicles accumulate in the cytomatrix-rich area that surrounds the synaptic vesicle cluster in nerve endings. In cell-free assays, reduced phosphoinositide phosphatase activity correlated with increased association of clathrin coats with liposomes. Intracellular recording in hippocampal slices revealed enhanced synaptic depression during prolonged high-frequency stimulation followed by delayed recovery. These results provide genetic evidence for a crucial role of phosphoinositide metabolism in synaptic vesicle recycling.

A group of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors, such as 3-methyladenine (3-MA) and wortmannin, have been widely used as autophagy inhibitors based on their inhibitory effect on class III PI3K activity, which is known to be essential for induction of autophagy. In this study, we systematically examined and compared the effects of these two inhibitors on autophagy under both nutrient-rich and deprivation conditions. To our surprise, 3-MA is found to promote autophagy flux when treated under nutrient-rich conditions with a prolonged period of treatment, whereas it is still capable of suppressing starvation-induced autophagy. We first observed that there are marked increases of the autophagic markers in cells treated with 3-MA in full medium for a prolonged period of time (up to 9 h). Second, we provide convincing evidence that the increase of autophagic markers is the result of enhanced autophagic flux, not due to suppression of maturation of autophagosomes or lysosomal function. More importantly, we found that the autophagy promotion activity of 3-MA is due to its differential temporal effects on class I and class III PI3K; 3-MA blocks class I PI3K persistently, whereas its suppressive effect on class III PI3K is transient. Because 3-MA has been widely used as an autophagy inhibitor in the literature, understanding the dual role of 3-MA in autophagy thus suggests that caution should be exercised in the application of 3-MA in autophagy study.Autophagy refers to an evolutionarily conserved process in which intracellular proteins and organelles are sequestered in autophagosomes and subsequently degraded by lysosomal enzymes for the purpose of recycling cellular components to sustain metabolism during nutrient deprivation and to prevent accumulation of damaged proteins and organelles (1, 2). Autophagy is a dynamic process, consisting of several sequential stages (initiation, nucleation, elongation, and maturation) controlled by a group of autophagy-related genes (Atg genes). So far, more than 30 Atg genes have been identified in yeast, and many of them have homologues in mammalian cells (3). Upstream of ATG proteins, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) 4 has been well studied as the key regulatory molecule (4). mTOR is a serine/threonine protein kinase serving as the convergence point for many of the upstream stimuli and pathways to regulate cell growth, cell proliferation, cell motility, cell survival, protein synthesis, translation, and autophagy (5-7). Abundance of nutrients, including growth factors, glucose, and amino acids will activate mTOR and suppress autophagy, whereas nutrient deprivation will suppress mTOR, leading to activation of autophagy. At present, the molecular mechanisms downstream of mTOR responsible for its anti-autophagic function have not been fully understood. In yeast, TOR directly targets the ATG13-ATG1 complex and suppresses its function at the initiation stage of autophagy (8). In mammalian cells, the complex containing ULK1 (the ATG1 homologue), ATG13, and FIP200 is directly cont...

Lipid transfer between cell membrane bilayers at contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and other membranes help to maintain membrane lipid homeostasis. We found that two similar ER integral membrane proteins, oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP)–related protein 5 (ORP5) and ORP8, tethered the ER to the plasma membrane (PM) via the interaction of their pleckstrin homology domains with phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) in this membrane. Their OSBP-related domains (ORDs) harbored either PI4P or phosphatidylserine (PS) and exchanged these lipids between bilayers. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that ORP5 and ORP8 could mediate PI4P/PS counter transport between the ER and the PM, thus delivering PI4P to the ER-localized PI4P phosphatase Sac1 for degradation and PS from the ER to the PM. This exchange helps to control plasma membrane PI4P levels and selectively enrich PS in the PM.

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In striated muscle, the plasma membrane forms tubular invaginations (transverse tubules or T-tubules) that function in depolarization-contraction coupling. Caveolin-3 and amphiphysin were implicated in their biogenesis. Amphiphysin isoforms have a putative role in membrane deformation at endocytic sites. An isoform of amphiphysin 2 concentrated at T-tubules induced tubular plasma membrane invaginations when expressed in nonmuscle cells. This property required exon 10, a phosphoinositide-binding module. In developing myotubes, amphiphysin 2 and caveolin-3 segregated in tubular and vesicular portions of the T-tubule system, respectively. These findings support a role of the bilayer-deforming properties of amphiphysin at T-tubules and, more generally, a physiological role of amphiphysin in membrane deformation.

Obesity is associated with an enhanced inflammatory response that exacerbates insulin resistance and contributes to diabetes, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease. One mechanism accounting for the increased inflammation associated with obesity is activation of the innate immune signaling pathway triggered by TLR4 recognition of saturated fatty acids, an event that is essential for lipid-induced insulin resistance. Using in vitro and in vivo systems to model lipid induction of TLR4-dependent inflammatory events in rodents, we show here that TLR4 is an upstream signaling component required for saturated fatty acid-induced ceramide biosynthesis. This increase in ceramide production was associated with the upregulation of genes driving ceramide biosynthesis, an event dependent of the activity of the proinflammatory kinase IKKβ. Importantly, increased ceramide production was not required for TLR4-dependent induction of inflammatory cytokines, but it was essential for TLR4-dependent insulin resistance. These findings suggest that sphingolipids such as ceramide might be key components of the signaling networks that link lipid-induced inflammatory pathways to the antagonism of insulin action that contributes to diabetes.

Membrane phosphoinositides control a variety of cellular processes through the recruitment and/or regulation of cytosolic proteins. One mechanism ensuring spatial specificity in phosphoinositide signalling is the targeting of enzymes that mediate their metabolism to specific subcellular sites. Phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase type 1 gamma (PtdInsPKI gamma) is a phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase that is expressed at high levels in brain, and is concentrated at synapses. Here we show that the predominant brain splice variant of PtdInsPKI gamma (PtdInsPKI gamma-90) binds, by means of a short carboxy-terminal peptide, to the FERM domain of talin, and is strongly activated by this interaction. Talin, a principal component of focal adhesion plaques, is also present at synapses. PtdInsPKI gamma-90 is expressed in non-neuronal cells, albeit at much lower levels than in neurons, and is concentrated at focal adhesion plaques, where phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate has an important regulatory role. Overexpression of PtdInsPKI gamma-90, or expression of its C-terminal domain, disrupts focal adhesion plaques, probably by local disruption of normal phosphoinositide balance. These findings define an interaction that has a regulatory role in cell adhesion and suggest new similarities between molecular interactions underlying synaptic junctions and general mechanisms of cell adhesion.

Retroviruses acquire a lipid envelope during budding from the membrane of their hosts. Therefore, the composition of this envelope can provide important information about the budding process and its location. Here, we present mass spectrometry analysis of the lipid content of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and murine leukemia virus (MLV). The results of this comprehensive survey found that the overall lipid content of these viruses mostly matched that of the plasma membrane, which was considerably different from the total lipid content of the cells. However, several lipids are enriched in comparison to the composition of the plasma membrane: (i) cholesterol, ceramide, and GM3; and (ii) phosphoinositides, phosphorylated derivatives of phosphatidylinositol. Interestingly, microvesicles, which are similar in size to viruses and are also released from the cell periphery, lack phosphoinositides, suggesting a different budding mechanism/ location for these particles than for retroviruses. One phosphoinositide, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P 2 ], has been implicated in membrane binding by HIV Gag. Consistent with this observation, we found that PI(4,5)P 2 was enriched in HIV-1 and that depleting this molecule in cells reduced HIV-1 budding. Analysis of mutant virions mapped the enrichment of PI(4,5)P 2 to the matrix domain of HIV Gag. Overall, these results suggest that HIV-1 and other retroviruses bud from cholesterol-rich regions of the plasma membrane and exploit matrix/PI(4,5)P 2 interactions for particle release from cells.Retroviruses rely on their host for many essential parts of the viral replication cycle. Biochemical and antibody-based analyses of the replication cycle and proteins found in the virions have revealed many details of the molecular interactions between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its host (20). In contrast, the role of lipids has been less well studied. With the increasing recognition that lipids play an important role in cellular signaling, it is no coincidence that lipid factors are slowly gaining prominence in our understanding of retroviral replication.Retroviruses, including HIV and murine leukemia virus (MLV), acquire their lipid coats by budding through host plasma membranes. Two important issues arise when considering the roles of lipids in retrovirus assembly and budding. First, the idea that HIV and other retroviruses bud from lipid rafts has gained widespread acceptance (39, 45). Lipid rafts are liquid ordered domains that exist within the liquid disordered phase of the bulk cell membrane. These dynamic lipid-protein assemblies are characterized by high levels of cholesterol, sphingolipids, saturated glycerophospholipids, and raft proteins. Because the half-lives for lipid rafts are extremely short (50), the assignment of HIV to lipid rafts is commonly established through the colocalization of HIV proteins with putative raft proteins and the preponderance of raft lipids, including cholesterol, sphingomyelin (SM), dihydrosphingomyelin (dhSM), ce...