In eukaryotes, the multivesicular body (MVB) sorting pathway plays an essential role in regulating cell surface protein composition, thereby impacting numerous cellular functions. Vps4, an ATPase associated with a variety of cellular activities, is required late in the MVB sorting reaction to dissociate the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT), a requisite for proper function of this pathway. However, regulation of Vps4 function is not understood. We characterize Vta1 as a positive regulator of Vps4 both in vivo and in vitro. Vta1 promotes proper assembly of Vps4 and stimulates its ATPase activity through the conserved Vta1/SBP1/LIP5 region present in Vta1 homologues across evolution, including human SBP1 and Arabidopsis thaliana LIP5. These results suggest an evolutionarily conserved mechanism through which the disassembly of the ESCRT proteins, and thereby MVB sorting, is regulated by the Vta1/SBP1/LIP5 proteins.

Ubiquitin (Ub) sorting receptors facilitate the targeting of ubiquitinated membrane proteins into multivesicular bodies (MVBs). Ub-binding domains (UBDs) have been described in several endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT). Using available structural information, we have investigated the role of the multiple UBDs within ESCRTs during MVB cargo selection. We found a novel UBD within ESCRT-I and show that it contributes to MVB sorting in concert with the known UBDs within the ESCRT complexes. These experiments reveal an unexpected level of coordination among the ESCRT UBDs, suggesting that they collectively recognize a diverse set of cargo rather than act sequentially at discrete steps.

A subset of proteins that transit the endosomal system are directed into the intralumenal vesicles of multivesicular bodies (MVBs). MVB formation is critical for a variety of cellular functions including receptor down-regulation, viral budding, antigen presentation, and the generation of lysosome-related organelles. Entry of transmembrane proteins into the intralumenal vesicles of a MVB is a highly regulated process that is positively modulated by covalent modification of cargoes with ubiquitin. To identify additional MVB sorting signals, we examined the previously described ubiquitination-independent MVB cargo Sna3. Although Sna3 ubiquitination is not essential, Sna3 MVB sorting is positively modulated by its ubiquitination. Examination of MVB sorting determinants within a form of Sna3 lacking all lysine residues identified two critical regions: an amino-terminal tyrosine-containing region and a carboxyl-terminal PPAY motif. This PPAY motif interacts with the WW domains of the ubiquitin ligase Rsp5, and mutations in either the WW or, surprisingly, the HECT domains of Rsp5 negatively impacted MVB targeting of lysine-minus Sna3. These data indicate that Rsp5 function is required for MVB targeting of Sna3 in a capacity beyond cargo ubiquitination. These results uncover a series of determinants impacting Sna3 MVB sorting, including unexpected roles for Rsp5.

SUMMARY The abundance of cell surface membrane proteins is regulated by internalization and delivery into intralumenal vesicles (ILVs) of multivesicular bodies (MVB). Many cargoes are ubiquitinated, allowing access to an ESCRT-dependent pathway into MVBs. Yet, how non-ubiquitinated proteins, such as Glycosylphosphatidylinisotol-anchored proteins, enter MVBs is unclear, supporting the possibility of mechanistically distinct ILV biogenesis pathways. Here we show a family of highly ubiquitinated tetraspan Cos proteins provide a Ub-signal in trans, allowing sorting of non-ubiquitinated MVB cargo into the canonical ESCRT- and Ub-dependent pathway. Cos proteins create discrete endosomal subdomains that concentrate Ub-cargo prior to their envelopment into ILVs and the activity of Cos proteins is required not only for efficient sorting of canonical Ub-cargo but is also essential for sorting non-ubiquitinated cargo into MVBs. Expression of these proteins increases during nutrient stress though a NAD+/Sir2-dpendent mechanism that in turn accelerates the down-regulation of a broad range of cell surface proteins.

Vps4 disassembly of ESCRT-III plays an important role in MVB sorting, viral budding, and cytokinesis. An in vitro system was developed to investigate this process. These studies revealed new insights into the mechanisms of Vps4 function.

The multivesicular body (MVB) sorting pathway impacts a variety of cellular functions in eukaryotic cells. Perhaps the best understood role for the MVB pathway is the degradation of transmembrane proteins within the lysosome. Regulation of cargo selection by this pathway is critically important for normal cell physiology, and recent advances in our understanding of this process have highlighted the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) as pivotal players in this reaction. To better understand the mechanisms of cargo selection during MVB sorting, we performed a genetic screen to identify novel factors required for cargo-specific selection by this pathway and identified the Mvb12 protein. Loss of Mvb12 function results in differential defects in the selection of MVB cargoes. A variety of analyses indicate that Mvb12 is a stable member of ESCRT-I, a heterologous complex involved in cargo selection by the MVB pathway. Phenotypes displayed upon loss of Mvb12 are distinct from those displayed by the previously described ESCRT-I subunits (vacuolar protein sorting 23, -28, and -37), suggesting a distinct function than these core subunits. These data support a model in which Mvb12 impacts the selection of MVB cargoes by modulating the cargo recognition capabilities of ESCRT-I. INTRODUCTIONThe endosomal system coordinates protein trafficking between various subcellular compartments, including the Golgi, plasma membrane, and lysosome. Cell surface proteins, including activated receptors, that have undergone endocytosis are typically recycled to the plasma membrane or targeted deeper into the endosomal pathway for degradation within the lysosome. Endosomal membrane proteins destined for the lumen of the lysosome undergo an additional sorting reaction during their inclusion into the multivesicular body (MVB) pathway (for review, see Gruenberg and Stenmark, 2004;Babst, 2005). MVBs form when the limiting membrane of the late endosome invaginates and buds into the lumen of the organelle, actively selecting a subset of the proteins from the limiting membrane in the process (Gorden et al., 1978;Haigler et al., 1979). The intralumenal vesicles within the MVB and their contents are exposed to hydrolases within the lysosome as a consequence of heterotypic fusion of these organelles. By contrast, proteins within the limiting membrane of the MVB are delivered to the limiting membrane of the lysosome/vacuole after heterotypic fusion (Odorizzi et al., 1998).Sorting of cargo into the MVB pathway and heterotypic fusion with the lysosme/vacuole leads to delivery into the hydrolytic lumen of the organelle, and therefore entry into this pathway must be highly regulated. Ubiquitination is the best-characterized cis-acting signal mediating entry into the MVB pathway (for reviews, see Katzmann et al., 2002;Hicke and Dunn, 2003;Raiborg et al., 2003). Studies in organisms ranging from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to mammalian cells have demonstrated that ubiquitin modification of a variety of MVB cargoes is a requisit...

Background: Vta1 promotes Vps4 ATPase activity and facilitates ESCRT-III stimulation of Vps4. Results: The Vta1 VSE (Vps4 stimulatory element) mediates ESCRT-III-enhanced activation of Vps4 and contributes to Vta1 function in vivo. Conclusion: ESCRT-III binding Vta1 relieves autoinhibition of the VSE to promote activation of Vps4. Significance: These studies identify a novel mechanism whereby ESCRT-III and Vta1 regulate Vps4 activity.

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