Biology subjects

Gershlick, D. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Gershlick, D. C..

14 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Shape2Fate: a morphology-aware deep learning framework for tracking endocytic and exocytic carriers at nanoscale.

Plasma membrane homeostasis requires balanced exocytosis and endocytosis, yet their coordination at the single-event level in non-neuronal cells is unresolved. We present Shape2Fate, a morphology-aware deep-learning pipeline that detects, tracks, and classifies individual exocytic and endocytic carriers in live-cell total internal reflection fluorescence structured illumination microscopy (TIRF-SIM) movies at [~]100 nm resolution. Trained on synthetic data and exploiting carrier shape evolution rather than fluorescence intensity, Shape2Fate achieves expert-level tracking and outcome classification across diverse cell types, imaging conditions, and microscope platforms. Applying Shape2Fate to constitutive secretion and insulin-stimulated GLUT4 exocytosis in adipocytes, we uncover two opposing exo-endocytic coupling architectures: exocytic fusion locally nucleates de novo clathrin-coated pits, whereas GLUT4 vesicles target pre-existing pits for rapid cargo capture. These findings establish that the spatial rules governing exo-endocytic coordination are not universal but are pathway-specific. Shape2Fate is openly available, enabling direct event-level mechanistic dissection of exo-endocytic coordination across pathways in living cells.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2025

The Golgi vesicle tether p115/USO1 can bind directly to the ER exit site organiser Sec16A

Newly-made secretory and membrane proteins exit the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in COPII vesicles that form at specialised ER exit sites. These exit sites are typically near to the early Golgi compartments that receive these vesicles. A key player in the delivery of vesicles to the early Golgi is p115 (USO1), a homodimer with a folded head domain and a coiled-coil tail that is anchored to Golgi membranes. p115 has been shown to capture vesicles and to bind to SNARE proteins to promote membrane fusion. Here we report that the head domain of human p115 can bind directly to Sec16A, a large scaffolding protein that organises ER sites and promotes COPII vesicle formation. Structural prediction and deletion mapping define the region of interaction to a conserved motif in the unstructured N-terminal region of Sec16A, and mutations in p115 that block motif binding reduce the efficiency of secretion. This interaction could potentially allow a subset of p115 molecules to reach across from the early Golgi to the ER exit sites to contribute to the large-scale organisation of the early secretory pathway.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Volumetric single-molecule tracking inside subcellular structures

The molecular interactions that underpin all cellular functions depend on molecular motion within three-dimensional environments. Large depth-of-field single-molecule localization microscopy (3D-SMLM) methods facilitate these measurements, but their increased optical complexity and bespoke post-processing pipelines can sacrifice important cellular context. Here we combine single-molecule light-field microscopy (SMLFM) with widefield Fourier light-field microscopy for correlative volumetric organelle imaging. The instantaneous acquisition of subcellular volumes improves the sensitivity of molecular organization and diffusion measurements through the rejection of non-specific localizations. We first demonstrate our approach by measuring the molecular organization of a nuclear-localized HaloTag protein relative to cell nuclei. Next, we characterize the molecular diffusion of the soluble protein, calreticulin, in the context of 1-antitrypsin deficiency, which revealed an increase in heterogeneous motion within endoplasmic reticulum inclusions.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2025

Dynamic subcellular proteomics identifies novel regulators of adipocyte insulin action

Insulin acts on adipocytes to suppress lipolysis and increase glucose uptake to control whole-body glucose and lipid metabolism. Regulation of these processes by insulin signalling depends on changes in protein localisation. However, the extent of insulin-stimulated changes to the adipocyte spatial proteome, and the importance of these in the cellular insulin response, is unknown. Here, we use subcellular proteomics approaches to map acute insulin-stimulated protein relocalisation in adipocytes on a cell-wide scale. These data revealed extensive insulin-regulated protein redistribution, with hundreds of novel insulin-responsive proteins. These included the uncharacterised protein C3ORF18, which redistributed to the PM in response to insulin. Studies in C3ORF18-depleted adipocytes suggest this protein is required for maximal insulin signalling. Overall, our data highlight the scale of protein relocalisation in the adipocyte insulin response, and provide an accessible resource to inform further studies into how changes in protein localisation contribute to cellular insulin responses.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2024

RABGAP1 acts as a sensor to facilitate sorting and processing of amyloid precursor protein

A key hallmark of Alzheimers disease (AD) is the accumulation of extracellular amyloid-{beta} plaques in the brains of patients. Amyloid-{beta} is a 40-42 amino acid peptide produced by the proteolytic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by a series of membrane-bound proteases. APP is a type-I transmembrane protein and thus its trafficking to encounter the proteases represents a rate-limiting step in the progression of AD. Although there has been a focused research effort to understand APP processing, its trafficking itinerary and machinery is incompletely understood. To address this we have performed an unbiased interaction screen for interactors of the cytosolic tail of APP. We identified previously characterised APP binders, as well as novel interactors. We have mapped the binding of APP to multiple new machineries, including RABGAP1. We have demonstrated that RAB-GAP1 partially co-localises with APP and directly interacts with a YENPTY motif in the APP cytosolic tail. Depletion or overexpression of RABGAP1 caused mistrafficking and misprocessing of endogenous APP in both human and rodent neurons. Interestingly, this effect was dependent on the GAP activity of RABGAP1, demonstrating that RABGAP1 affects the trafficking of APP by modulating the RAB activity on endosomal subdomains. This novel trafficking mechanism has implications for other NPXY cargoes and also presents a possible therapeutic avenue to explore.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2024

A short sequence targets transmembrane proteins to primary cilia

Primary cilia are finger-like sensory organelles that extend from the bodies of most cell types and have a distinct lipid and protein composition from the plasma membrane. This partitioning is maintained by a diffusion barrier that restricts the entry of non-ciliary proteins, and allows the selective entry of proteins harboring a ciliary targeting sequence (CTS). However, CTSs are not stereotyped, and previously-reported sequences are insufficient to drive efficient ciliary localization across diverse cell types. Here, we describe a short peptide sequence that efficiently targets transmembrane proteins to primary cilia in all tested cell types, including human neurons. We generate human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines stably expressing a transmembrane construct bearing an extracellular HaloTag and intracellular fluorescent protein, that enables bright, specific labeling of primary cilia in neurons and other cell types. We demonstrate the utility of this resource by developing an image analysis pipeline for the automated measurement of primary cilia to detect changes in their length.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2024

A quantitative pipeline to assess secretion of human leptin coding variants reveals mechanisms underlying leptin deficiencies

The hormone leptin, primarily secreted by adipocytes, plays a crucial role in regulating whole-body energy homeostasis. Homozygous loss-of-function mutations in the leptin gene (LEP) cause hyperphagia and severe obesity, primarily through alterations in leptins affinity for its receptor or changes in serum leptin concentrations. Although serum concentrations are influenced by various factors (e.g., gene expression, protein synthesis, stability in the serum), proper delivery of leptin from its site of synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum via the secretory pathway to the extracellular serum is a critical step. However, the regulatory mechanisms and specific machinery involved in this trafficking route, particularly in the context of human LEP mutations, remain largely unexplored. We have employed the Retention Using Selective Hooks (RUSH) system to elucidate the secretory pathway of leptin. We have refined this system into a medium-throughput assay for examining the pathophysiology of a range of obesity-associated LEP variants. Our results reveal that leptin follows the default secretory pathway, with no additional regulatory steps identified prior to secretion. Through screening of leptin variants, we identified three mutations that lead to proteasomal degradation of leptin and one mutant that significantly decreased leptin secretion, likely through aberrant disulfide bond formation. These observations have identified novel pathogenic effects of leptin variants, which can be informative for therapeutics and diagnostics. Finally, our novel quantitative screening platform can be adapted for other secreted proteins.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2023

The role of the AP-1 adaptor complex in outgoing and incoming membrane traffic

The AP-1 adaptor complex is found in all eukaryotes, but it has been implicated in different pathways in different organisms. To look directly at AP-1 function, we generated stably transduced HeLa cells co-expressing tagged AP-1 and various tagged membrane proteins. Live cell imaging showed that AP-1 is recruited onto tubular carriers trafficking from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane, as well as onto transferrin-containing early/recycling endosomes. Analysis of single AP-1 vesicles showed that they are a heterogeneous population, which start to sequester cargo by 30 minutes after exit from the ER. Vesicle capture showed that AP-1 vesicles contain transmembrane proteins found at the TGN and early/recycling endosomes, as well as lysosomal hydrolases, but very little of the anterograde adaptor GGA2. Together, our results support a model in which AP-1 retrieves proteins from post-Golgi compartments back to the TGN, analogous to COPIs role in the early secretory pathway. We propose that this is the function of AP-1 in all eukaryotes. SummaryRobinson et al. investigate AP-1 function using complementary approaches on cells co-expressing tagged AP-1 and cargo proteins. Their results support a model in which AP-1 is recruited onto post-Golgi carriers and early/recycling endosomes, where it retrieves selected proteins back to the TGN.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Recruitment of PI4KIIIbeta to the Golgi by ABCD3 is dependent on an upstream pathway of a SNARE complex and golgins

ACBD3 is a protein localised to the Golgi apparatus and recruits other proteins, such as PI4KIII{beta}, to the Golgi. However, the mechanism through which ACBD3 itself is recruited to the Golgi is poorly understood. This study demonstrates there are two mechanisms for ACBD3 recruitment to the Golgi. First, we identified that an MWT374-376 motif in the unique region upstream of the GOLD domain in ACBD3 is essential for Golgi localisation. Second, we use unbiased proteomics to demonstrate that ACBD3 interacts with SCFD1, a Sec1/Munc-18 (SM) protein, and a SNARE protein, SEC22B. CRISPR-KO of SCFD1 causes ACBD3 to become cytosolic. We also found that ACBD3 is redundantly recruited to the Golgi apparatus by two golgins: golgin-45 and giantin, which bind to ACBD3 through interaction with the MWT374-376 motif. Taken together, our results demonstrate that ACBD3 is recruited to the Golgi in a two-step sequential process, with the SCFD1-mediated interaction occurring upstream of the interaction with the golgins.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Oxygen is a critical regulator of cellular metabolism and function in cell culture

Cell culture is generally considered to be hyperoxic. However, the importance of cellular oxygen consumption is often underappreciated, with rates of oxygen consumption often sufficient to cause hypoxia at cell monolayers. We initially focused on cultured adipocytes as a terminally differentiated cell-type with substantial oxygen consumption rates to support diverse cellular functions. Under standard conditions, cultured adipocytes are hypoxic and highly glycolytic. Increasing oxygen diverted glucose flux toward mitochondria and resulted in thousands of gene expression changes that pointed toward alleviated physiological transcriptional responses to hypoxia. Phenotypically, providing more oxygen increased adipokine secretion and rendered adipocytes more sensitive to insulin and lipolytic stimuli. The functional benefits of increasing pericellular oxygen were transferable to other cellular systems including hPSC-derived hepatocytes and cardiac organoids. Our findings suggest that oxygen is limiting in many terminally-differentiated cell culture systems, and that controlling oxygen availability can improve the quality and translatability of cell models.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2022

The exocyst complex is an essential component of the mammalian constitutive secretory pathway

Secreted proteins fulfil a vast array of different functions, including adaptive immunity, cell signalling and extracellular matrix remodelling. In the trans-Golgi network, proteins destined for constitutive secretion are sorted into post-Golgi carriers which fuse with the plasma membrane to deliver their contents to the extracellular space. The molecular machinery involved is poorly understood. Here, we have used kinetic trafficking assays and transient CRISPR knock-outs to study the biosynthetic sorting route from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane. Depletion of core-exocyst subunits reduces carrier fusion and causes cargo accumulation in the post-Golgi carriers. Exocyst subunits co-localise with carriers fusing at the plasma membrane and we show that the exocyst complex is recruited directly to these carriers. Abrogation of exocyst followed by kinetic trafficking assays with multiple different soluble cargoes results in cargo accumulation of all tested cargoes. Unbiased secretomics reveals a drastic reduction in the secretion of soluble proteins to the extracellular milieu after knock-out of exocyst subunits. Importantly, the knock-out of exocyst subunits in specialised secretory cell types prevents the constitutive secretion of antibodies in lymphocytes and of the hormones leptin and adiponectin in adipocytes. Together these data identify the exocyst complex as the functional tether of secretory post-Golgi carriers at the plasma membrane and an essential component of the mammalian constitutive secretory pathway.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Pathogenic mutations in Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 sequester Rab8a to damaged lysosomes and regulate transferrin-mediated iron uptake in microglia

Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) cause autosomal dominant Parkinsons disease (PD) while polymorphic LRRK2 variants are associated with sporadic PD. PD-linked mutations increase LRRK2 kinase activity and induce neurotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. The small GTPase Rab8a is a LRRK2 kinase substrate and is involved in receptor-mediated recycling and endocytic trafficking of transferrin, but the effect of PD-linked LRRK2 mutations on the function of Rab8a are poorly understood. Here, we show that gain-of-function mutations in LRRK2 induce sequestration of endogenous Rab8a into lysosomes in cells while pharmacological inhibition of LRRK2 kinase activity reverses this phenotype. Furthermore, we show that LRRK2 mutations drive accumulation of endocytosed transferrin into Rab8a-positive lysosomes leading to a dysregulation of iron transport. LRRK2 has been nominated as an integral part of cellular responses downstream of proinflammatory signals and is activated in microglia in post-mortem PD tissue. Here, we show that iPSC-derived microglia from patients carrying the most common LRRK2 mutation, G2019S, mistraffic transferrin to lysosomes proximal to the nucleus in proinflammatory conditions. Furthermore, G2019S knock-in mice show significant increase in iron deposition in microglia following intrastriatal LPS injection compared to wild type mice, accompanied by striatal accumulation of ferritin. Our data support a role of LRRK2 in modulating iron uptake and storage in response to proinflammatory stimuli in microglia.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Mutations in Auxilin cause parkinsonism via impaired clathrin-mediated trafficking at the Golgi apparatus and synapse

Parkinsons disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative motor disorder characterized in part by neuropathological lesions in the nigrostriatal pathway. Loss of function mutations in Auxilin, the major neuronal clathrin uncoating protein, cause an aggressive form of juvenile onset PD. How mutations in Auxilin cause PD, is currently not understood. Here, we generated a novel mouse model carrying an endogenous pathogenic Auxilin mutation that phenocopies neurological features observed in patients, including motor impairments and seizures. Unbiased mapping of the Auxilin interactome identified synaptic and Golgi-resident clathrin adaptor proteins as novel interactors. Impaired clathrin-mediated trafficking in mutant Auxilin mice, both at the Golgi and the synapse, results in neuropathological lesions in the nigrostriatal pathway. Collectively, these results provide molecular mechanisms of PD pathogenesis in Auxilin mutation carriers, reinforcing a key role for clathrin-mediated trafficking in PD, and expand our understanding of the cellular function of Auxilin.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

A Neurodevelopmental Disorder Caused by Mutations in the VPS51 Subunit of the GARP and EARP Complexes

GARP and EARP are related heterotetrameric protein complexes that associate with the cytosolic face of the trans-Golgi network and recycling endosomes, respectively. At these locations, GARP and EARP function to promote the fusion of endosome-derived transport carriers with their corresponding compartments. GARP and EARP share three subunits, VPS51, VPS52 and VPS53, and each has an additional complex-specific subunit, VPS54 or VPS50, respectively. The role of these complexes in human physiology, however, remains poorly understood. By exome sequencing, we have identified compound heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding the shared GARP/EARP subunit VPS51 in a six-year-old patient with severe global developmental delay, microcephaly, hypotonia, epilepsy, cortical vision impairment, pontocerebellar abnormalities, failure to thrive, liver dysfunction, lower extremity edema and dysmorphic features. The mutation in one allele causes a frameshift that produces a longer but highly unstable protein that is degraded by the proteasome. In contrast, the other mutant allele produces a protein with a single amino-acid substitution that is stable but assembles less efficiently with the other GARP/EARP subunits. Consequently, skin fibroblasts from the patient have reduced levels of fully-assembled GARP and EARP complexes. Likely because of this deficiency, the patients fibroblasts display altered distribution of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor, which normally sorts acid hydrolases to lysosomes. Furthermore, a fraction of the patients fibroblasts exhibit swelling of lysosomes. These findings thus identify a novel genetic locus for a neurodevelopmental disorder and highlight the critical importance of GARP/EARP function in cellular and organismal physiology.

cell biology↗