Abstract. We have used a lipophilic styryl dye, N-(3-triethylammoniumpropyl)-4-(p-diethylaminophenylhexatrienyl) pyridinium dibromide , as a vital stain to follow bulk membrane-internalization and transport to the vacuole in yeast. After treatment for 60 min at 30°C, FM 4-64 stained the vacuole membrane (ring staining pattern). FM 4-64 did not appear to reach the vacuole by passive diffusion because at 0°C it exclusively stained the plasma membrane (PM). The PM staining decreased after warming cells to 25°C and small punctate structures became apparent in the cytoplasm within 5-10 min. After an additional 20--40 min, the PM and cytoplasmic punctate staining disappeared concomitant with staining of the vacuolar membrane. Under steady state conditions, FM 4-64 staining was specific for vacuolar membranes; other membrane structures were not stained. The dye served as a sensitive reporter of vacuolar dynamics, detecting such events as segregation structure formation during mitosis, vacuole fission/fusion events, and vacuolar morphology in different classes of vacuolar protein sorting (vps) mutants. A particularly striking pattern was observed in class E mutants (e.g., vps27) where 500-700 nm organelles (presumptive prevacuolar compartments) were intensely stained with FM 4-64 while the vacuole membrane was weakly fluorescent. Internalization of FM 4-64 at 15°C delayed vacuolar labeling and trapped FM 4-64 in cytoplasmic intermediates between the PM and the vacuole. The intermediate structures in the cytoplasm are likely to be endosomes as their staining was temperature, time, and energy dependent. Interestingly, unlike Lucifer yellow uptake, vacuolar labeling by FM 4-64 was not blocked in sec18, sec14, end3, and end4 mutants, but was blocked in secl mutant cells. Finally, using permeabilized yeast spheroplasts to reconstitute FM 4-64 transport, we found that delivery of FM 4-64 from the endosomelike intermediate compartment (labeled at 15°C) to the vacuole was ATP and cytosol dependent. Thus, we show that FM 4-64 is a new vital stain for the vacuolar membrane, a marker for endocytic intermediates, and a fluor for detecting endosome to vacuole membrane transport in vitro. ,•ECRETION and endocytosis are major mechanisms of membrane flow to and from the plasma membrane (PM) ~ in eukaryotic ceils. Plasma membrane equilibrium is maintained by the addition of secretory vesicles after fusion and subtraction of endocytic vesicles after invagination. Thus, eukaryotic cells must balance secretory and endocytic traffic to maintain the appropriate protein and lipid content in the PM. Studies on the secretory and endocytic pathways have contributed greatly to our present understandAddress all correspondence to T. A. Vida at his present address: Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas-Houston, Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77225. Ph

We are studying intercompartmental protein transport to the yeast lysosome-like vacuole with a reconstitution assay using permeabilized spheroplasts that measures, in an ATP and cytosol dependent reaction, vacuolar delivery and proteolytic maturation of the Golgi-modified precursor forms of vacuolar hydrolases like carboxypeptidase Y (CPY). To identify the potential donor compartment in this assay, we used subcellular fractionation procedures that have uncovered a novel membrane-enclosed prevacuolar transport intermediate. Differential centrifugation was used to separate permeabilized spheroplasts into 15K and 150K g membrane pellets. Centrifugation of these pellets to equilibrium on sucrose density gradients separated vacuolar and Golgi complex marker enzymes into light and dense fractions, respectively. When the Golgi-modified precursor form of CPY (p2CPY) was examined (after a 5-min pulse, 30-s chase), as much as 30-40% fractionated with an intermediate density between both the vacuole and the Golgi complex. Pulse-chase labeling and fractionation of membranes indicated that p2CPY in this gradient region had already passed through the Golgi complex, which kinetically ordered it between the Golgi and the vacuole. A mutant CPY protein that lacks a functional vacuolar sorting signal was detected in Golgi fractions but not in the intermediate compartment indicating that this corresponds to a post-sorting compartment. Based on the low transport efficiency of the mutant CPY protein in vitro (decreased by sevenfold), this intermediate organelle most likely represents the donor compartment in our reconstitution assay. This organelle is not likely to be a transport vesicle intermediate because EM analysis indicates enrichment of 250-400 nm compartments and internalization of surface-bound 35S-alpha-factor at 15 degrees C resulted in its apparent cofractionation with wild-type p2CPY, indicating an endosome-like compartment (Singer, B., and H. Reizman. 1990. J. Cell Biol. 110:1911-1922). Fractionation of p2CPY accumulated in the temperature sensitive vps15 mutant revealed that the vps15 transport block did not occur in the endosome-like compartment but rather in the late Golgi complex, presumably the site of CPY sorting. Therefore, as seen in mammalian cells, yeast CPY is sorted away from secretory proteins in the late Golgi and transits to the vacuole via a distinct endosome-like intermediate.

In the mouse, more than 16 loci are associated with mutant phenotypes that include defective pigmentation, aberrant targeting of lysosomal enzymes, prolonged bleeding, and immunodeficiency, the result of defective biogenesis of cytoplasmic organelles: melanosomes, lysosomes, and various storage granules. Many of these mouse mutants are homologous to the human HermanskyPudlak syndrome (HPS), Chediak-Higashi syndrome, and Griscelli syndrome. We have mapped and positionally cloned one of these mouse loci, buff (bf), which has a mutant phenotype similar to that of human HPS. Mouse bf results from a mutation in Vps33a and thus is homologous to the yeast vacuolar protein-sorting mutant vps33 and Drosophila carnation (car). This is the first found defect of the class C vacuole͞prevacuole-associated target soluble Nethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (t-SNARE) complex in mammals and the first mammalian mutant found that is directly homologous to a vps mutation of yeast. VPS33A thus is a good candidate gene for a previously uncharacterized form of human HPS.H ermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a disorder of organelle biogenesis in which oculocutaneous albinism, bleeding, and in most cases pulmonary fibrosis result from defects of melanosomes, platelet-dense granules, and lysosomes (1-4). Somewhat similar disorders, Chediak-Higashi and Griscelli syndromes, are additionally associated with severe immunodeficiency (2, 3). Important clues to the pathogenesis of these disorders have come from the mouse, in which Ͼ16 loci have been associated with mutant phenotypes similar to those of human HPS, Chediak-Higashi syndrome, and Griscelli syndrome (5, 6). Several of these genes have been identified recently and in a number of cases have been shown to result in homologous disorders in mice and humans (2-4). Although the functions of many of the corresponding gene products remain unknown, several are involved in various aspects of trafficking proteins to nascent organelles, particularly melanosomes, lysosomes, and cytoplasmic granules. In the yeast, Ͼ65 proteins have been implicated in biogenesis of the cytoplasmic vacuole, including the products of Ͼ40 vacuolar protein-sorting (vps) loci required for trafficking newly synthesized proteins from the late Golgi͞trans-Golgi network to the vacuole (7, 8). It seems likely that at least as many proteins are associated with organellar biogenesis in mammals.We have mapped and positionally cloned the mouse buff (bf ) locus, which is characterized by recessive coat-color hypopigmentation and mild platelet-storage pool deficiency but has little if any effect on lysosomal function. We find that mouse bf results from a missense substitution in Vps33a, a homologue of yeast vps33. The bf mutation results in defective melanosome morphology and melanogenesis both in vivo and in vitro. Expression of wild-type Vps33a in transfected mouse bf-mutant melanocytes complements this aberrant phenotype, whereas expression of bf-mutant Vps33a does not. These results establish murine bf a...

Abstract. Vacuole inheritance is temporally coordinated with the cell cycle and is restricted spatially to an axis between the maternal vacuole and the bud. The new bud vacuole is founded by a stream of vacuolederived membranous vesicles and tubules which are transported from the mother cell into the bud to form the daughter organelle. We now report in vitro formation of vacuole-derived tubules and vesicles. In semiintact cells, formation of tubulovesicular structures requires ATP and the proteins encoded by FAC1 and VAC2, two genes which are required for vacuole inheritance in vivo. Isolation of vacuoles from cell lysates before in vitro incubation reveals that formation of tubulovesicular structures requires cytosol as well as ATP. After forming tubulovesicular structures, isolated vacuoles subsequently increase in size. Biochemical assays reveal that this increase results from vacuole to vacuole fusion, leading to mixing of organellar contents. Intervacuolar fusion is sensitive to the phosphatase inhibitors microcystin-LR and okadaic acid, suggesting that protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation reactions play a role in this event.

Altering the number of surface receptors can rapidly modulate cellular responses to extracellular signals. Some receptors, like the transferrin receptor (TfR), are constitutively internalized and recycled to the plasma membrane. Other receptors, like the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), are internalized after ligand binding and then ultimately degraded in the lysosome. Routing internalized receptors to different destinations suggests that distinct molecular mechanisms may direct their movement. Here, we report that the endosome-associated protein hrs is a subunit of a protein complex containing actinin-4, BERP, and myosin V that is necessary for efficient TfR recycling but not for EGFR degradation. The hrs/actinin-4/BERP/myosin V (CART [cytoskeleton-associated recycling or transport]) complex assembles in a linear manner and interrupting binding of any member to its neighbor produces an inhibition of transferrin recycling rate. Disrupting the CART complex results in shunting receptors to a slower recycling pathway that involves the recycling endosome. The novel CART complex may provide a molecular mechanism for the actin-dependence of rapid recycling of constitutively recycled plasma membrane receptors. INTRODUCTIONEndocytosis is required for the uptake of essential nutrients from the extracellular environment as well as for retrieval of proteins and lipids that are added to the plasma membrane during fusion of regulated and constitutive secretory vesicles (De Camilli and Takei, 1996;Koenig and Ikeda, 1996;Robinson et al., 1996;Mukherjee et al., 1997;Schmid, 1997;Betz and Angleson, 1998;Koenig et al., 1998;Stoorvogel, 1998;D'Hondt et al., 2000;Gruenberg, 2001). The endocytic pathway can be separated into numerous stages based on the movement of cargo and the identification of morphologically defined compartments (De Camilli and Takei, 1996;Koenig and Ikeda, 1996;Robinson et al., 1996;Mukherjee et al., 1997;Schmid, 1997;Betz and Angleson, 1998;Koenig et al., 1998;Stoorvogel, 1998;D'Hondt et al., 2000;Gruenberg, 2001). Early events in the endocytic process include membrane invagination and vesicle budding from the plasma membrane, formation of transport vesicles, and fusion with early endosomes. Later events include cargo sorting, and additional transport/fusion steps, including those responsible for transport to the lysosome for degradation, and those responsible for recycling back to various compartments (De Camilli and Takei, 1996;Koenig and Ikeda, 1996;Robinson et al., 1996;Mukherjee et al., 1997;Schmid, 1997;Betz and Angleson, 1998;Koenig et al., 1998;Stoorvogel, 1998;D'Hondt et al., 2000;Gruenberg, 2001). Although much progress has been made in elucidating the molecular processes involved in early endocytic events, such as those involved in the genesis of clathrin-coated endocytic transport vesicles, an equally clear understanding of later events remains elusive.The early endosome is a crucial point in the endocytic pathway to sort cargo for transport to late endosomes for eventual degradation in the...

ATP-binding domains. One vps33 temperature-sensitive mutant contained a missense mutation near this region of sequence similarity; the mutation resulted in a Leu-646 -* Pro substitution in Vps33p. This temperaturesensitive mutant strain contained normal vacuoles at the permissive temperature but lacked vacuoles specifically in the bud at the nonpermissive temperature. Our data suggest that Vps33p acts in the cytoplasm to facilitate Golgi-to-vacuole protein delivery. We propose that as a consequence of the vps33 protein-sorting defects, abnormalities in vacuolar morphology and vacuole assembly result.

Movement through the endocytic pathway occurs principally via a series of membrane fusion and fission reactions that allow sorting of molecules to be recycled from those to be degraded. Endosome fusion is dependent on SNARE proteins, although the nature of the proteins involved and their regulation has not been fully elucidated. We found that the endosome-associated hepatocyte responsive serum phosphoprotein (Hrs) inhibited the homotypic fusion of early endosomes. A region of Hrs predicted to form a coiled coil required for binding the Q-SNARE, SNAP-25, mimicked the inhibition of endosome fusion produced by full-length Hrs, and was sufficient for endosome binding. SNAP-25, syntaxin 13, and VAMP2 were bound from rat brain membranes to the Hrs coiled-coil domain. Syntaxin 13 inhibited early endosomal fusion and botulinum toxin/E inhibition of early endosomal fusion was reversed by addition of SNAP-25(150–206), confirming a role for syntaxin 13, and establishing a role for SNAP-25 in endosomal fusion. Hrs inhibited formation of the syntaxin 13–SNAP-25–VAMP2 complex by displacing VAMP2 from the complex. These data suggest that SNAP-25 is a receptor for Hrs on early endosomal membranes and that the binding of Hrs to SNAP-25 on endosomal membranes inhibits formation of a SNARE complex required for homotypic endosome fusion.

Abstract. Toward a detailed understanding of protein sorting in the late secretory pathway, we have reconstituted intercompartmental transfer and proteolytic maturation of a yeast vacuolar protease, carboxypeptidase Y (CPY). This in vitro reconstitution uses permeabilized yeast spheroplasts that are first radiolabeled in vivo under conditions that kinetically trap ER and Golgi apparatus-modified precursor forms of CPY (pl and p2, respectively). After incubation at 25°C, up to 45 % of the p2CPY that is retained in the perforated cells can be proteolytically converted to mature CPY (mCPY). This maturation is specific for p2CPY, requires exogenously added ATE an ATP regeneration system, and is stimulated by cytosolic protein extracts. The p2CPY processing shows a 5-min lag period and is then linear for 15-60 min, with a sharp temperature optimum of 25-30°C. After hypotonic extraction, the compartments that contain p2 and mCPY show different osmotic stability characteristics as p2 and mCPY can be separated with centrifugation into a pellet and supernatant, respectively. Like CPY maturation in vivo, the observed in vitro reaction is dependent on the PEP4 gene product, proteinase A, which is the principle processing enzyme. After incubation with ATP and cytosol, mCPY was recovered in a vacuoleenriched fraction from perforated spheroplasts using Ficoll step-gradient centrifugation. The p2CPY precursor was not recovered in this fraction indicating that intercompartmental transport to the vacuole takes place. In addition, intracompartmental processing of p2CPY with autoactivated, prevacuolar zymogen pools of proteinase A cannot account for this reconstitution. Stimulation of in vitro processing with energy and cytosol took place efficiently when the expression of PEP4, under control of the GAL/promoter, was induced then completely repressed before radiolabeling spheroplasts. Finally, reconstitution of p2CPY maturation was not possible with vps mutant perforated cells suggesting that VPS gene product function is necessary for intercompartmental transport to the vacuole in vitro.