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Biology subjects

Leidal, A. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Leidal, A. M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Autophagy cargo receptors are secreted via extracellular vesicles and particles in response to endolysosomal inhibition or impaired autophagosome maturation

The endosome-lysosome (endolysosome) system plays central roles in both autophagic degradation and secretory pathways, including the exocytic release of extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs). Although previous work has revealed important interconnections between autophagy and EVP-mediated secretion, our molecular understanding of these secretory events during endolysosome inhibition remains incomplete. Here, we delineate a secretory autophagy pathway upregulated in response to endolysosomal inhibition that mediates the EVP-associated extracellular release of autophagic cargo receptors, including p62/SQSTM1. This extracellular secretion is highly regulated and critically dependent on multiple ATGs required for the progressive steps of early autophagosome formation as well as Rab27a-dependent exocytosis. Furthermore, the disruption of autophagosome maturation, either due to genetic inhibition of the autophagosome-to-autolyosome fusion machinery or blockade via the SARS-CoV2 viral protein ORF3a, is sufficient to induce robust EVP-associated secretion of autophagy cargo receptors. Finally, we demonstrate that this ATG-dependent, EVP-mediated secretion pathway buffers against the intracellular accumulation of autophagy cargo receptors when classical autophagic degradation is impaired. Based on these results, we propose that secretory autophagy via EVPs functions as an alternate route to clear sequestered material and maintain proteostasis in response to endolysosomal dysfunction or impaired autophagosome maturation.

cell biology↗

ECM dimensionality tunes actin tension to modulate the endoplasmic reticulum and spheroid phenotype

Primary tissue organoids and cell spheroids recapitulate tissue physiology with remarkable fidelity. We investigated how engagement with a three dimensional laminin-rich extracellular matrix supports the polarized, stress resilient spheroid phenotype of mammary epithelial cells. Cells within a three dimensional laminin-rich extracellular matrix decreased and redistributed the actin crosslinker filamin to reduce their cortical actin tension. Cells with low cortical actin tension had increased plasma membrane protrusions that promoted negative plasma membrane curvature and fostered protein associations with the plasma membrane, consistent with efficient protein secretion. By contrast, cells engaging a laminin-rich extracellular matrix in two dimensions had high filamin-dependent cortical actin tension, exhibited compromised endoplasmic reticulum function including increased expression of PKR-like Endoplasmic Reticulum Kinase signaling effectors, and had compromised protein secretion. Cells with low filamin-mediated cortical actin tension and reduced endoplasmic reticulum stress response signaling secreted, and assembled, a polarized endogenous basement membrane and survived better, and their spheroids were more resistant to exogenous stress. The findings implicate filamin-dependent cortical actin tension in endoplasmic reticulum function and highlight a role for mechanics in organoid homeostasis.

cell biology↗

mTORC1 activity is dispensable for synthesis of KSHV lytic proteins

Herpesvirus genomes are decoded by host RNA polymerase II, generating viral messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs) that are post-transcriptionally modified and exported to the cytoplasm. These viral mRNAs have 5{square}-m7GTP caps and poly(A) tails that enable assembly of host translation initiation factors (TIFs) required for viral protein synthesis. Here we show that maximal production of viral proteins during lytic replication requires both the canonical host TIF eukaryotic initiation factor 4F (eIF4F) and the alternative host TIF eIF3d. Despite this, production of infectious virions is largely dependent on eIF3d, with eIF4F playing a minor role. Investigating the effects of eIF3d silencing on the host proteome revealed that it is required for accumulation of proteins involved in cholesterol metabolism, as well as the accumulation of intracellular cholesterol during KSHV lytic replication. In KSHV infected and uninfected cells alike, eIF3d supports efficient translation of cholesterol biosynthesis enzymes, including squalene epoxidase (SQLE), whose function is required to support productive lytic replication during cholesterol scarcity. These findings position eIF3d as a critical TIF required to support translation of essential host mRNAs required for KSHV replication. AUTHOR SUMMARYAnimal cells tightly regulate uptake, synthesis, storage, and export of cholesterol to ensure optimal membrane fluidity and permeability. Many enveloped viruses require cholesterol to support membrane fusion events during cell entry and cell surface budding events during assembly and egress. Herpesviruses like Kaposis sarcoma-associated virus (KSHV) require cholesterol to support entry, but its role in post-entry events, including budding and fusion at internal membranes, remains incompletely understood. Here, through our studies of KSHV protein synthesis, we uncovered a new mechanism of cellular control of cholesterol metabolism involving the host translation initiation factor (TIF) eIF3d. We demonstrated that eIF3d was required to support efficient translation of host mRNAs encoding key proteins required for cholesterol biosynthesis and uptake. Using a lytic reactivation model that bypasses the entry step, we observed that productive KSHV lytic replication is accompanied by eIF3d-dependent increases in intracellular cholesterol. Preventing cholesterol synthesis and uptake, or silencing eIF3d, strongly inhibited production of infectious virions. These studies shed new light on the importance of intracellular cholesterol to support KSHV replication, and provide motivation for future studies of how cholesterol influences discrete post-entry steps of KSHV infection.

microbiology↗