Many viruses utilize the host endo-lysosomal network for infection. Tracing the endocytic itinerary of SARS-CoV-2 can provide insights into viral trafficking and aid in designing new therapeutic strategies. Here, we demonstrate that the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is internalized via the pH-dependent CLIC/GEEC (CG) endocytic pathway in human gastric-adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells expressing undetectable levels of ACE2. Ectopic expression of ACE2 (AGS-ACE2) results in RBD traffic via both CG and clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Endosomal acidification inhibitors like BafilomycinA1 and NH4Cl, which inhibit the CG pathway, reduce the uptake of RBD and impede Spike-pseudoviral infection in both AGS and AGS-ACE2 cells. The inhibition by BafilomycinA1 was found to be distinct from Chloroquine which neither affects RBD uptake nor alters endosomal pH, yet attenuates Spike-pseudovirus entry. By screening a subset of FDA-approved inhibitors for functionality similar to BafilomycinA1, we identified Niclosamide as a SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitor. Further validation using a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2 in AGS-ACE2 and Vero cells confirmed its antiviral effect. We propose that Niclosamide, and other drugs which neutralize endosomal pH as well as inhibit the endocytic uptake, could provide broader applicability in subverting infection of viruses entering host cells via a pH-dependent endocytic pathway.

Our understanding of the plasma membrane structure has undergone a major change since the proposal of the fluid mosaic model of Singer and Nicholson in the 1970s. In this model, the membrane, composed of over thousand lipid and protein species, is organized as a well-equilibrated two-dimensional fluid.Here, the distribution of lipids is largely expected to reflect a multicomponent system, and proteins are expected to be surrounded by an annulus of specialized lipid species. With the recognition that a multicomponent lipid membrane is capable of phase segregation, the membrane is expected to appear as patchwork quilt pattern of membrane domains. However, the constituents of a living membrane are far from being well equilibrated. The living cell membrane actively maintains a trans-bilayer asymmetry of composition, and its constituents are subject to a number of dynamic processes due to synthesis, lipid transfer as well as membrane traffic and turnover. Moreover, membrane constituents engage with the dynamic cytoskeleton of a living cell, and are both passively as well as actively manipulated by this engagement. The extracellular matrix and associated elements also interact with membrane proteins contributing to another layer of interaction. At the nano-and mesoscale, the organization of lipids and proteins emerge from these encounters, as well as from protein-protein, protein-lipid, and lipid-lipid interactions in the membrane. New methods to study the organization of membrane components at these scales have also been developed, and provide an opportunity to synthesize a new picture of the living cell surface as an active membrane composite.actin binding proteins, actin cytoskeleton, fluid mosaic model, GPI-anchored proteins, mesoscale organization, nanoclustering, picket fence model, plasma membrane, plasma membrane organization, transmembrane proteins

We show a hierarchical organization of the adhesion receptor CD44 at multiple-length scales on the plasma membrane by studying the diffusion and clustering behavior of the protein.

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2 Keywords: actomyosin, cartography, CD44, fluorescence emission anisotropy, formin, homo-30 FRET, meshwork, meso-scale organization, nanoclustering, nano-scale organization, plasma 31 membrane, single particle tracking 32 Abbreviations: ECD-extra-cellular domain; ICD-intra-cellular domain; ECM-extra-cellular 33 matrix; FRET -Forster"s resonance energy transfer; HA-hyaluronic acid; SPT-single particle 34tracking; DC-SPT-dual color single particle tracking 35 36 37 Abstract: 38Transmembrane adhesion receptors at the cell surface, such as CD44, are often equipped with 39 modules to interact with the extracellular-matrix(ECM) and the intra-cellular cytoskeletal 40 machinery. CD44 has been recently shown to compartmentalize the membrane into domains by 41 acting as membrane pickets, facilitating the function of signaling receptors. While spatial 42 organization and diffusion studies of membrane proteins are usually conducted separately, here 43we combine observations of organization and diffusion by using high spatio-temporal resolution 44imaging on living cells to reveal a hierarchical organization of CD44. CD44 is present in a meso-45 scale meshwork pattern where it exhibits enhanced confinement and is enriched in nano-clusters 46 of CD44 along its boundaries. This nanoclustering is orchestrated by the underlying cortical actin 47 dynamics. Interaction with actin is mediated by specific segments of the intracellular-48 domain(ICD). This influences the organization of the protein at the nano-scale, generating a 49 selective requirement for formin over Arp2/3-based actin-nucleation machinery. The 50 extracellular-domain(ECD) and its interaction with elements of ECM do not influence the meso-51 scale organization, but may serve to reposition the meshwork with respect to the ECM. Taken 52 together, our results capture the hierarchical nature of CD44 organization at the cell surface, with 53 active cytoskeleton-templated nano-clusters localized to a meso-scale meshwork pattern. 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 3 Introduction 62

Herein, we are reporting metal‐free conditions for radical initiation and direct C–H arylation of N‐heteroarenes. Starting from aniline, the corresponding arenediazonium salt generated in situ is reduced to an aryl radical in the presence of chloropromazine hydrochloride, a new reagent for this application. The optimized procedures are mild, operationally simple, and are working successfully with more diverse substrates in comparison to reported methods. The optimized method is also employed for the synthesis of marine natural products Pentabromo‐ and Pentachloropseudilins (PBP/PCP). In the present study, we also validated the potential of the Pentachloropseudilin (PCP), thus synthesized, for inhibition of Myosin1 function in mammalian cells and confirmed that PCP phenocopies Myosin1c depletion in cells.

The spatiotemporal organization of proteins and lipids on the cell surface has direct functional consequences for signaling, sorting, and endocytosis. Earlier studies have shown that multiple types of membrane proteins, including transmembrane proteins that have cytoplasmic actin binding capacity and lipid-tethered glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins (GPI-APs), form nanoscale clusters driven by active contractile flows generated by the actin cortex. To gain insight into the role of lipids in organizing membrane domains in living cells, we study the molecular interactions that promote the actively generated nanoclusters of GPI-APs and transmembrane proteins. This motivates a theoretical description, wherein a combination of active contractile stresses and transbilayer coupling drives the creation of active emulsions, mesoscale liquid order (lo) domains of the GPI-APs and lipids, at temperatures greater than equilibrium lipid phase segregation. To test these ideas, we use spatial imaging of molecular clustering combined with local membrane order, and we demonstrate that mesoscopic domains enriched in nanoclusters of GPI-APs are maintained by cortical actin activity and transbilayer interactions and exhibit significant lipid order, consistent with predictions of the active composite model.

Epithelial tissues can be polarized along two axes: in addition to apical-basal polarity they are often also polarized within the plane of the epithelium, known as planar cell polarity (PCP). PCP depends upon the conserved Wnt/Frizzled (Fz) signaling factors, including Fz itself and Van Gogh (Vang/Vangl in mammals). Here, taking advantage of the complementary features of Drosophila wing and mouse skin PCP establishment, we dissect how Vang/Vangl phosphorylation on a specific conserved tyrosine residue affects its interaction with two cytoplasmic core PCP factors, Dishevelled (Dsh/Dvl1-3 in mammals) and Prickle (Pk/Pk1-3). We demonstrate that Pk and Dsh/Dvl bind to Vang/Vangl in an overlapping region centered around this tyrosine. Strikingly, Vang/Vangl phosphorylation promotes its binding to Prickle, a key effector of the Vang/Vangl complex, and inhibits its interaction with Dishevelled. Thus phosphorylation of this tyrosine appears to promote the formation of the mature Vang/Vangl-Pk complex during PCP establishment and conversely it inhibits the Vang interaction with the antagonistic effector Dishevelled. Intriguingly, the phosphorylation state of this tyrosine might thus serve as a switch between transient interactions with Dishevelled and stable formation of Vang-Pk complexes during PCP establishment.

Cadherin EGF LAG seven-pass G-type receptor (Celsr) proteins 1-3 comprise a subgroup of adhesion GPCRs whose functions range from planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling to axon pathfinding and ciliogenesis. Like its Drosophila ortholog, Flamingo, mammalian Celsr1 is a core component of the PCP pathway, which, among other roles, is responsible for the coordinated alignment of hair follicles across the skin surface. Although the role of Celsr1 in epidermal planar polarity is well established, the contribution of the other major epidermally expressed Celsr protein, Celsr2, has not been investigated. Here, using two new CRISPR/Cas9-targeted Celsr1 and Celsr2 knockout mouse lines, we define the relative contributions of Celsr1 and Celsr2 to PCP establishment in the skin. We find that Celsr1 is the major Celsr family member involved in epidermal PCP. Removal of Celsr1 function alone abolishes PCP protein asymmetry and hair follicle polarization, whereas epidermal PCP is unaffected by loss of Celsr2. Further, elimination of both Celsr proteins only minimally enhances the Celsr1−/− phenotype. Using FRAP and junctional enrichment assays to measure differences in Celsr1 and Celsr2 adhesive interactions, we find that compared to Celsr1, which stably enriches at junctional interfaces, Celsr2 is much less efficiently recruited to and immobilized at junctions. As the two proteins seem equivalent in their ability to interact with core PCP proteins Vangl2 and Fz6, we suggest that perhaps differences in homophilic adhesion contribute to the differential involvement of Celsr1 and Celsr2 in epidermal PCP.