Several proteins at endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi membrane contact sites contain a PH domain that interacts with the Golgi phosphoinositide PI(4)P, a FFAT motif that interacts with the ER protein VAP-A, and a lipid transfer domain. This architecture suggests the ability to both tether organelles and transport lipids between them. We show that in oxysterol binding protein (OSBP) these two activities are coupled by a four-step cycle. Membrane tethering by the PH domain and the FFAT motif enables sterol transfer by the lipid transfer domain (ORD), followed by back transfer of PI(4)P by the ORD. Finally, PI(4)P is hydrolyzed in cis by the ER protein Sac1. The energy provided by PI(4)P hydrolysis drives sterol transfer and allows negative feedback when PI(4)P becomes limiting. Other lipid transfer proteins are tethered by the same mechanism. Thus, OSBP-mediated back transfer of PI(4)P might coordinate the transfer of other lipid species at the ER-Golgi interface.

In eukaryotic cells, phosphatidylserine (PS) is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but is highly enriched in the plasma membrane (PM), where it contributes negative charge and to specific recruitment of signaling proteins. This distribution relies on transport mechanisms whose nature remains elusive. Here, we found that the PS transporter Osh6p extracted phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) and exchanged PS for PI4P between two membranes. We solved the crystal structure of Osh6p:PI4P complex and demonstrated that the transport of PS by Osh6p depends on PI4P recognition in vivo. Finally, we showed that the PI4P-phosphatase Sac1p, by maintaining a PI4P gradient at the ER/PM interface, drove PS transport. Thus, PS transport by oxysterol-binding protein-related protein (ORP)/oxysterol-binding homology (Osh) proteins is fueled by PI4P metabolism through PS/PI4P exchange cycles.

The Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT)-III mediates membrane fission in fundamental cellular processes, including cytokinesis. ESCRT-III is thought to form persistent filaments that over time increase their curvature to constrict membranes. Unexpectedly, we found that ESCRT-III at the midbody of human cells rapidly turns over subunits with cytoplasmic pools while gradually forming larger assemblies. ESCRT-III turnover depended on the ATPase VPS4, which accumulated at the midbody simultaneously with ESCRT-III subunits, and was required for assembly of functional ESCRT-III structures. In vitro, the Vps2/Vps24 subunits of ESCRT-III formed side-by-side filaments with Snf7 and inhibited further polymerization, but the growth inhibition was alleviated by the addition of Vps4 and ATP. High-speed atomic force microscopy further revealed highly dynamic arrays of growing and shrinking ESCRT-III spirals in presence of Vps4. Continuous ESCRT-III remodeling by subunit turnover might facilitate shape adaptions to variable membrane geometries, with broad implications for diverse cellular processes.