Apactin is involved in remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton during regulated exocytosis

Apactin is an 80-kDa type I membrane glycoprotein derived from pro-Muclin, a precursor that also gives rise to the zymogen granule protein Muclin. Previous work showed that apactin is efficiently removed from the regulated secretory pathway and targeted to the actin-rich apical plasma membrane of the pancreatic acinar cell. The cytosolic tail (C-Tail) of apactin consists of 16 amino acids, has Thr casein kinase II and Ser protein kinase C phosphorylation sites, and a C-terminal PDZ-binding domain. Secretory stimulation of acinar cells causes a decrease in Thr phosphorylation and an increase in Ser phosphorylation of apactin. Fusion peptides of the C-Tail domain pulldown actin, ezrin, and EBP50/NHERF in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. HIV TAT-C-Tail fusion peptides were used as dominant negative constructs on living pancreatic cells to study effects on the actin cytoskeleton. During secretory stimulation, TAT-C-Tail-Thr/Asp phosphomimetic peptide caused an increase in actin-coated zymogen granules at the apical surface, while TAT-C-Tail-S/D phosphomimetic peptide caused a broadening of the actin cytoskeleton. These data indicate that stimulation-mediated Thr dephosphorylation allows decreased association of apactin with EBP50/NHERF and fosters actin remodeling to coat zymogen granules. Stimulation-mediated Ser phosphorylation increases apactin association with the actin cytoskeleton, maintaining tight bundling of actin microfilaments at the apical surface. Thus, apactin is involved in remodeling the apical cytoskeleton during regulated exocytosis in a manner controlled by phosphorylation of the apactin C-Tail.     

Binding of the Golgi sorting receptor muclin to pancreatic zymogens through sulfated O-linked oligosaccharides

Sorting and packaging of regulated secretory proteins involves protein aggregation in the trans-Golgi network and secretory granules. In this work, we characterized the pH-dependent interactions of pancreatic acinar cell-regulated secretory proteins (zymogens) with Muclin, a putative Golgi cargo receptor. In solution, purified Muclin co-aggregated with isolated zymogens at mildly acidic pH. In an overlay assay, [35S]sulfate biosynthetically labeled Muclin bound directly at mildly acidic pH to the zymogen granule content proteins amylase, prolipase, pro-carboxypeptidase A1, pro-elastase II, chymotrypsinogen B, and Reg1. Denaturation of Muclin with reducing agents to break the numerous intrachain disulfide bonds in Muclin's scavenger receptor cysteine-rich and CUB domains did not interfere with binding. Non-sulfated [35S]Met/Cys-labeled Muclin showed decreased binding in the overlay assay. Extensive Pronase E digestion of unlabeled Muclin was used to produce glycopeptides, which competed for binding of [35S]sulfate-labeled Muclin to zymogens. The results demonstrate that the sulfated, O-glycosylated groups are responsible for the pH-dependent interactions of Muclin with the zymogens. The behavior of Muclin fulfils the requirement of a Golgi cargo receptor to bind to regulated secretory proteins under the mildly acidic pH conditions that exist in the trans-Golgi network.     

Chromogranin B (secretogranin I), a neuroendocrine-regulated secretory protein, is sorted to exocrine secretory granules in transgenic mice.

Chromogranin B (CgB, secretogranin I) is a secretory granule matrix protein expressed in a wide variety of endocrine cells and neurons. Here we generated transgenic mice expressing CgB under the control of the human cytomegalovirus promoter. Northern and immunoblot analyses, in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry revealed that the exocrine pancreas was the tissue with the highest level of ectopic CgB expression. Upon subcellular fractionation of the exocrine pancreas, the distribution of CgB in the various fractions was indistinguishable from that of amylase, an endogenous constituent of zymogen granules. Immunogold electron microscopy of pancreatic acinar cells showed co-localization of CgB with zymogens in Golgi cisternae, condensing vacuoles/immature granules and mature zymogen granules; the ratio of immunoreactivity of CgB to zymogens being highest in condensing vacuoles/immature granules. CgB isolated from zymogen granules of the pancreas of the transgenic mice aggregated in a mildly acidic (pH 5.5) milieu in vitro, suggesting that low pH-induced aggregation contributed to the observed concentration of CgB in condensing vacuoles. Our results show that a neuroendocrine-regulated secretory protein can be sorted to exocrine secretory granules in vivo, and imply that a key feature of CgB sorting in the trans-Golgi network of neuroendocrine cells, i.e. its aggregation-mediated concentration in the course of immature secretory granule formation, also occurs in exocrine cells although secretory protein sorting in these cells is thought to occur largely in the course of secretory granule maturation.     

Expression of regulated secretory proteins is sufficient to generate granule-like structures in constitutively secreting cells

The formation of secretory granules and regulated secretion are generally assumed to occur only in specialized endocrine, neuronal, or exocrine cells. We discovered that regulated secretory proteins such as the hormone precursors pro-vasopressin, pro-oxytocin, and pro-opiomelanocortin, as well as the granins secretogranin II and chromogranin B but not the constitutive secretory protein alpha(1)-protease inhibitor, accumulate in granular structures at the Golgi and in the cell periphery in transfected COS-1 fibroblast cells. The accumulations were observed in 30-70% of the transfected cells expressing the pro-hormones and for virtually all of the cells expressing the granins. Similar structures were also generated in other cell lines believed to be lacking a regulated secretory pathway. The accumulations resembled secretory granules morphologically in immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. They were devoid of markers of the endoplasmic reticulum, endosomes, and lysosomes but in part stained positive for the trans-Golgi network marker TGN46, consistent with their formation at the trans-Golgi network. When different regulated proteins were coexpressed, they were frequently found in the same granules, whereas alpha(1)-protease inhibitor could not be detected in accumulations formed by secretogranin II, demonstrating segregation of regulated from constitutive secretory proteins. In pulse-chase experiments, significant intracellular storage of secretogranin II and chromogranin B was observed and secretion of retained secretogranin II was stimulated with the calcium ionophore A23187. The results suggest that expression of regulated cargo proteins is sufficient to generate structures that resemble secretory granules in the background of constitutively secreting cells, supporting earlier proposals on the mechanism of granule formation.     

Lipid raft association of carboxypeptidase E is necessary for its function as a regulated secretory pathway sorting receptor

Membrane carboxypeptidase E (CPE) is a sorting receptor for targeting prohormones, such as pro-opiomelanocortin, to the regulated secretory pathway in endocrine cells. Its membrane association is necessary for it to bind a prohormone sorting signal at the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to facilitate targeting. In this study, we examined the lipid interaction of CPE in bovine pituitary secretory granule membranes, which are derived from the TGN. We show that CPE is associated with detergent-resistant lipid domains, or rafts, within secretory granule membranes. Lipid analysis revealed that these rafts are enriched in glycosphingolipids and cholesterol. Pulse-chase and subcellular fractionation experiments in AtT-20 cells show that the association of CPE with membrane rafts occurred only after it reached the Golgi. Cholesterol depletion resulted in dissociation of CPE from secretory granule membranes and decreased the binding of prohormones to membranes. In vivo cholesterol depletion using lovastatin resulted in the lack of sorting of CPE and its cargo to the regulated secretory pathway. We propose that the sorting receptor function of CPE necessitates its interaction with glycosphingolipid-cholesterol rafts at the TGN, thereby anchoring it in position to bind to its prohormone cargo.     

Exocrine granule specific packaging signals are present in the polypeptide moiety of the pancreatic granule membrane protein GP2 and in amylase: implications for protein targeting to secretory granules.

The mechanisms for segregation of secretory and membrane proteins incorporated into storage granules from those transported constitutively have been thought to be conserved in diverse cell types, including exocrine and endocrine cells. However, GP2, the major protein of pancreatic zymogen granule membranes, in its native glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked form, is incorporated into secretory granules when expressed in exocrine pancreatic AR42J cells, but not in the endocrine cells such as pituitary AtT20. To determine whether the protein moiety of GP2 contains the cell-type specific information for packaging into granules, a secretory form of GP2 (GP2-GPI-), with the GPI attachment site deleted, was generated and introduced into AR42J and AtT20 cells. Like native GP2, GP2-GPI- localized to the zymogen-like granules of AR42J cells and underwent regulated secretion. In AtT20 cells expressing GP2-GPI-, however, the protein was secreted by the constitutive pathway. Thus, a granule packaging signal is present in the luminal portion of GP2 that is functional only in the exocrine cells. However, this cell-type dependent sorting process is not limited to GP2 or membrane proteins. Amylase, a major content protein of pancreatic acinar and serous salivary gland granules, was also secreted exclusively by the constitutive pathway when expressed in AtT20 cells. The cell-type specific targeting of GP2 to granules correlated with its behavior in an in vitro aggregation assay where it co-aggregated more effectively with content proteins from pancreatic zymogen granules than with those from pituitary granules.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Regulated secretion of mature cathepsin B from rat exocrine pancreatic cells.

By indirect immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy with an antibody that recognizes specifically the two forms of native mature rat cathepsin B (31 kDa and 5:25 kDa) but not the proenzyme, we detected cathepsin B not only in lysosomes of adult rat exocrine pancreatic cells but also in the trans Golgi condensing vacuoles, the zymogen granules and the pancreatic juice in the intralobular ducts. In contrast, immunocytochemistry with an antibody specific for rat cathepsin D showed the latter to be present in the same cells only in lysosomal compartments as expected. The same pattern of labeling with these two antibodies was found in the first zymogen granules to form in 17-day-old fetal rat pancreas. Counts of the extent of immunogold labeling of cathepsin B in the adult exocrine cells showed that the concentration of the enzyme was only two-fold higher in the lysosomal compartments than in the zymogen granules. To confirm these observations, rat pancreatic postnuclear supernatant (PNS), a fraction enriched in zymogen granules and rat pancreatic juice obtained by catheterization of the pancreatic duct, were subjected to 2D gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting with the cathepsin B antibody. All three samples contained a 31 kDa protein recognized by the antibody with a pI of about 4.5, the single chain mature form of cathepsin B. We then radiolabeled pancreatic PNS and zymogen granule fractions with benzyloxycarbonyl-Tyr[125I]-Ala-CHN2, an affinity label that covalently binds to the active sites of mature forms of both cathepsin B and cathepsin L. In both PNS and zymogen granule fractions this reagent labeled cathepsin B. Immunoprecipitation experiments showed that the antibody to cathepsin B recognized specifically both the single chain and the double chain mature forms of cathepsin B in the native state. Finally, Northern blots with a cDNA of rat cathepsin B showed that the concentration of cathepsin B mRNA in total pancreatic RNA increased following in vivo stimulation of the exocrine pancreatic cells with optimal doses of cerulein, a cholecystokinin analogue. We conclude that significant amounts of mature cathepsin B are secreted from exocrine pancreatic cells via the apical regulated exocytotic pathway, and we discuss this in terms of models for sorting of proteins to the cores of dense cored secretory granules.     

Expression of pro-Muclin in pancreatic AR42J cells induces functional regulated secretory granules

It is not clear how protein cargo is sorted to and retained in forming regulated secretory granules (RSG). Here, the sulfated mucin-type glycoprotein pro-Muclin was tested for its ability to induce RSG in the poorly differentiated rat pancreatic cell line AR42J. AR42J cells express RSG content proteins, but they fail to make granules. Adenovirus-pro-Muclin-infected AR42J cells store amylase, accumulate RSG, and respond to hormonal stimulation by secreting the stored protein. Expression of pro-Muclin combined with the inducing effect of dexamethasone resulted in a significant enhancement of the efficiency of regulated secretion. The effect of pro-Muclin was a strong decrease in constitutive secretion compared with dexamethasone-induction alone. A pro-Muclin construct missing the cytosolic tail domain was less effective at improving the efficiency of regulated secretion compared with the full-length construct. Increased expression of cargo (using adenovirus amylase) also modestly enhanced regulated secretion, indicating that part of pro-Muclin's effect may be due to increased expression of cargo protein. Overall, the data show that pro-Muclin acts as a sorting receptor that can induce RSG, and that its cytosolic tail is important in this process. regulated secretion; protein sorting     

A secretion granule membrane protein (GRAMP 92) is found in non-granule membranes including those of the endocytic pathway.

GRAMP 92, a secretion granule-associated membrane protein, has been identified in exocrine and endocrine storage granule membranes using a monoclonal antibody against rat parotid secretion granule membranes. This integral membrane glycoprotein has a M(r) of 92,000 in pancreatic zymogen granule membranes, and is slightly smaller in endocrine granule membranes. In both cases, deglycosylation produces core proteins of M(r) 52,000, that have identical peptide fingerprints. Unlike the slightly smaller zymogen granule membrane glycoprotein GP-2, GRAMP 92 does not appear to be bound to the membrane by a glycophosphatidyl inositol anchor, is not found on the plasma membrane and is not released into the secretion. Within acinar cells, low levels of antigen are observed immunocytochemically over the membranes of most granules. Antigen is highly concentrated on small vesicles that are closely apposed to (and possibly interact with) granules. As well, antigen is localized to organelles in the Golgi and basolateral regions that are part of the endocytic pathway. In hepatocytes a glycoprotein similar if not identical to GRAMP 92 marks the endocytic pathway including lysosomes. These findings indicate that GRAMP 92 is a widely distributed endocytic component and suggest that cells specialized for regulated secretion may adapt such components for storage granule function. Granule-associated GRAMP 92-rich membranes may link the exocytotic and endocytic pathways.     

The perinuclear space of pancreatic acinar cells and the synthetic pathway of zymogen in Scorpaena scrofa L.: ultrastructural aspects

Electron microscopic examination of exocrine pancreatic tissues from the fish Scorpaena scrofa L., probably captured while replenishing the acinar cells, shows two main functional cell morphologies of the same cell type. One cell functional aspect contains numerous well-contrasted small vesicles, the zymogenic vesicles. The other functional morphology is mainly represented by a few cells containing large apical zymogen vesicles with many empty RER cisterns. In our observations, the zymogenic vesicles are always studded with ribosomes. The main cytological finding is to report that zymogenic vesicles can be extruded from the perinuclear space and it confirms the suspected, synthetic activity of this cell compartment. The pool of zymogenic vesicles, maintaining their coat of ribosomes, then fuses and transfers their content into the cis Golgi complex network. Finally, the zymogen vesicles are produced following the classical secretory pathway from the trans Golgi saccular network into the supranuclear, apical region of the acinar cells where the largest vesicles concentrate their content until secretion.     

Core formation and the acquisition of fusion competence are linked during secretory granule maturation in Tetrahymena

The formation of dense core secretory granules is a multistage process beginning in the trans Golgi network and continuing during a period of granule maturation. Direct interactions between proteins in the membrane and those in the forming dense core may be important for sorting during this process, as well as for organizing membrane proteins in mature granules. We have isolated two mutants in dense core granule formation in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, an organism in which this pathway is genetically accessible. The mutants lie in two distinct genes but have similar phenotypes, marked by accumulation of a set of granule cargo markers in intracellular vesicles resembling immature secretory granules. Sorting to these vesicles appears specific, since they do not contain detectable levels of an extraneous secretory marker. The mutants were initially identified on the basis of aberrant proprotein processing, but also showed defects in the docking of the immature granules. These defects, in core assembly and docking, were similarly conditional with respect to growth conditions, and therefore are likely to be tightly linked. In starved cells, the processing defect was less severe, and the immature granules could dock but still did not undergo stimulated exocytosis. We identified a lumenal protein that localizes to the docking-competent end of wildtype granules, but which is delocalized in the mutants. Our results suggest that dense cores have functionally distinct domains that may be important for organizing membrane proteins involved in docking and fusion.     

Topology of morphologically detectable protein and cholesterol in membranes of polypeptide-secreting cells

The freeze-fracture morphology of intracellular and plasma membranes in endocrine and exocrine polypeptide-secreting cells has been studied to detect changes while these membranes interact during secretion. A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of intramembrane particles and filipin binding as indicators of protein and cholesterol content of the membranes, respectively, reveals the following changes. From the forming of the maturing pole of the Golgi complex, membranes lose morphologically detectable protein and gain morphologically detectable cholesterol. The protein-poor, cholesterol-rich secretory granule membrane then interacts with a richly particulate plasma membrane in endocrine cells and with a moderately particulate luminal membrane in exocrine cells. The site of interaction between secretory granule and plasma membrane is characterized by a local clearing of intramembrane particles; by contrast, filipin-binding sites revealing cholesterol are present in this area. In exocrine cells, the fused secretory granule, which is initially rich in filipin-cholesterol complexes and poor in particles, appears to lose progressively its filipin labelling to resemble the poorly labelled luminal membrane. These findings, although they cannot be interpreted definitely at present, clearly show impressive changes of membrane structure along the secretory pathway and suggest that a corresponding degree of functional specialization is needed for proper interaction to occur.     

Breaking the COPI monopoly on Golgi recycling

The unexpected discovery of a transport pathway from the Golgi to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) independent of COPI coat proteins sheds light on how Golgi resident enzymes and protein toxins gain access to the ER from as far as the trans Golgi network. This new pathway provides an explanation for how membrane is recycled to allow for an apparent concentration of anterograde cargo at distinct stages of the secretory pathway. As signal-mediated COPI-dependent recycling also involves the concentration of resident proteins into retrograde COPI vesicles, the main bulk of lipids must be recycled, possibly through a COPI-independent pathway.     

Cholesterol is required for the formation of regulated and constitutive secretory vesicles from the trans-Golgi network

We studied the role of cholesterol in regulated protein secretion in neuroendocrine cells by manipulating the cholesterol content of AtT-20 cells. Depletion of cellular cholesterol levels caused a reversible block of immature secretory granule biogenesis at the level of the trans -Golgi-network, whereas increased cholesterol levels promoted immature secretory granule formation. Cholesterol depletion also blocked the formation of constitutive secretory vesicles, but did not inhibit the transport between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi complex. Our results indicate that the assembly of cholesterol-based lipid microdomains is required for the biogenesis of both regulated and constitutive secretory vesicles from the trans -Golgi-network in neuroendocrine cells.     

Cholesterol Accumulation Increases Insulin Granule Size and Impairs Membrane Trafficking

The formation of mature secretory granules is essential for proper storage and regulated release of hormones and neuropeptides. In pancreatic β cells, cholesterol accumulation causes defects in insulin secretion and may participate in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Using a novel cholesterol analog, we show for the first time that insulin granules are the major sites of intracellular cholesterol accumulation in live β cells. This is distinct from other, non‐secretory cell types, in which cholesterol is concentrated in the recycling endosomes and the trans‐Golgi network. Excess cholesterol was delivered specifically to insulin granules, which caused granule enlargement and retention of syntaxin 6 and VAMP4 in granule membranes, with concurrent depletion of these proteins from the trans‐Golgi network. Clathrin also accumulated in the granules of cholesterol‐overloaded cells, consistent with a possible defect in the last stage of granule maturation, during which clathrin‐coated vesicles bud from the immature granules. Excess cholesterol also reduced the docking and fusion of insulin granules at the plasma membrane. Together, the data support a model in which cholesterol accumulation in insulin secretory granules impairs the ability of these vesicles to respond to stimuli, and thus reduces insulin secretion.     

Monoclonal antibody to a common antigen of secretory granule membranes: intracellular localization and recycling of the antigen after secretion.

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) 170-5 was generated to the secretory granule membrane of rat parotid acinar cells. The MAb recognized integral membrane glycoproteins (SG 170 antigen) localized on the luminal side of the secretory granules with N-linked carbohydrates, molecular weights 92, 84, 76, 69, and 65 KD. Immunohistochemical studies indicated that the SG 170 antigen was found in the secretory granules of both exocrine and endocrine cells and in the lysosomes of various cells in the rat. Immunoelectron microscopy with immunogold revealed that the antigen was present on the membrane of the secretory granules, lysosomes, the Golgi vesicles, and condensing vacuoles in pancreatic and parotid acinar cells and in AR42J rat pancreatic tumor cells; the Golgi stacks exhibited no immunoreaction. The common localization of the antigen in the secretory granule membranes indicated that this antigen may play an essential role in regulated secretion. Employing HRP-labeled MAb 170-5, we followed the retrieval of the antigen after exocytosis in AR42J cells. The MAb was internalized specifically with antigen-mediated endocytosis. It was transported to endosomes, subsequently to the trans-Golgi network, and then packaged into secretory granules. However, the Golgi stacks revealed no uptake of the labeled antibody.     

Out with a bang! Tetrahymena as a model system to study secretory granule biogenesis

The release of polypeptides in response to extracellular cues is a notable feature of endocrine, exocrine and neuronal cells, and is based on regulated exocytosis via dense-core secretory granules. There is interest in this mode of secretion because of its importance in human physiology and also because regulated exocytosis reflects a complex pathway of membrane traffic that includes compartment-specific reversible macromolecular assembly, coat-independent vesicle budding, maturation/remodeling of both lumenal and membrane constituents, and stimulus-dependent membrane fusion. Secretory granules are absent in most unicellular model organisms but are highly developed in the Ciliates, which therefore offer attractive systems to study these phenomena. In Tetrahymena thermophila , biochemical and genetic approaches have begun yielding insights into issues ranging from control of granule core assembly, based on reverse genetic analysis of granule cargo, to questions about factors involved in granule biogenesis, based on random mutational approaches.     

Sorting of three secretory proteins to distinct secretory granules in acidophilic cells of cow anterior pituitary

The distribution of three proteins discharged by regulated exocytosis--growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and secretogranin II (SgII)--was investigated by double immunolabeling of ultrathin frozen sections in the acidophilic cells of the bovine pituitary. In mammotrophs, heavy PRL labeling was observed over secretory granule matrices (including the immature matrices at the trans Golgi surface) and also over Golgi cisternae. In contrast, in somatotrophs heavy GH labeling was restricted to the granule matrices; vesicles and tubules at the trans Golgi region showed some and the Golgi cisternae only sparse labeling. All somatotrophs and mammotrophs were heavily positive for GH and PRL, respectively, and were found to contain small amounts of the other hormone as well, which, however, was almost completely absent from granules, and was more concentrated in the Golgi complex, admixed with the predominant hormone. Mixed somatomammotrophs (approximately 26% of the acidophilic cells) were heavily positive for both GH and PRL. Although admixed within Golgi cisternae, the two hormones were stored separately within distinct granule types. A third type of granule was found to contain SgII. Spillage of small amounts of each of the three secretory proteins into granules containing predominantly another protein was common, but true intermixing (i.e., coexistence within single granules of comparable amounts of two proteins) was very rare. It is concluded that in the regulated pathway of acidophilic pituitary, cell mechanisms exist that cause sorting of the three secretory proteins investigated. Such mechanisms operate beyond the Golgi cisternae, possibly at the sites where condensation of secretion products into granule matrices takes place.     

Biogenesis of secretory granules

The biogenesis of secretory granules in endocrine, neuroendocrine, and exocrine cells is thought to involve a selective aggregation of the regulated secretory proteins into a dense-cored structure. The dense-core is then enveloped by membrane in the trans-Golgi network and buds, forming an immature secretory granule. The immature secretory granule then undergoes a maturation process which gives rise to the mature secretory granule. The recent data on the processes of aggregation, budding and maturation are summarized here. In addition, the current knowledge about the mature secretory granule is reviewed with emphasis on the biogenesis of the membrane of this organelle.