ATP- and growth substance-dependent cell-free enlargement of plasma membrane vesicles from soybean

Growth hormone-responsive and nucleoside triphosphate-dependent enlargement of inside-out vesicles of plasma membranes from soybeans prepared by aqueous two-phase partition and everted by freezing and thawing has been achieved in a cell-free system. In the presence of 100 microM ATP in 40 mM HEPES buffer, pH 7, enlargement of isolated plasma membrane vesicles was accelerated by the synthetic plant growth factor, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), compared to ATP alone, 2,4-D alone or no additions. After 20 min with 1 microM 2,4-D, vesicles increased in diameter, 20% on average. Although vesicle diameters in the presence or absence of 2,4-D overlapped, the means were clearly separated. The 20% increases in diameter corresponded to a doubling of vesicle volume. Both 100 microM ATP and 1 microM 2,4-D were necessary to stimulate the cell-free vesicle enlargement. In the presence of 1 microM 2,4-D, enlargement observed with 100 microM ATP was greater than with either 10 microM ATP or 500 microM ATP alone. In the presence of 100 microM ATP, vesicle enlargement was proportional to the logarithm of 2,4-D concentration. With the growth-inactive 2,4-D analog, 2,3-D, no vesicle enlargement was observed either alone or in the presence of 100 microM ATP. Right side-out vesicles did not enlarge in response to either ATP, 2,4-D or the two in combination suggesting that the responsible ATP site was on the inside of the cell.     

Inside-out but not right side-out plasma membrane vesicles from soybean enlarge when treated with ATP + 2,4-D as determined by electron microscopy and light scattering: evidence for involvement of a plasma membrane AAA-ATPase

The concept that the location of an AAA-ATPase associated with the plant plasma membrane may be indicative of a functional relationship to growth or cell enlargement by analogy with roles in physical membrane displacements as proposed for AAA-ATPases associated with internal membranes was tested. A plant growth hormone-responsive and nucleoside triphosphate-dependent enlargement of inside-out vesicles of plasma membranes from soybeans was utilized in a completely cell-free system. The rate of enlargement was accelerated by the synthetic plant growth factor 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in a log dose-dependent manner and was increased approximately 2-fold with the addition of 1 microM 2,4-D plus 100 microM ATP compared to 100 microM ATP alone, 1 microM 2,4-D alone or no additions. The cell-free enlargement was inhibited by AAA-ATPase-specific antisera and by CoCl2, an inhibitor specific for AAA-ATPases. The responsible ATP site appears to be on the inside of the cell, since right side-out vesicles did not enlarge in response to either ATP, 2,4-D or the two in combination.     

Detergent-like effects of alamethicin on lymphocyte plasma membranes.

Alamethicin enhanced adenylate cyclase and Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activities in microsomes and purified plasma membranes from pig lymphocytes. As this stimulation was also found in inside-out vesicles obtained from these membranes and as we showed that lymphocyte membrane vesicles are not impermeable to 5′AMP, ATP and concanavalin A, it appears clearly that alamethicin effects are not related to its channel-forming properties, but rather to its detergent-like character. Indeed sodium dodecylsulfate and Lubrol PX mimicked alamethicin effects. Moreover alamethicin treatment of plasma membranes induced protein and phospholipid solubilization.     

Isolation by preparative free-flow electrophoresis and aqueous two-phase partition from rat adipocytes of an insulin-responsive small vesicle fraction with glucose transport activity

Preparative free-flow electrophoresis and aqueous two-phase polymer partition were used to obtain a plasma membrane-enriched fraction of adipocytes isolated from epididymal fat pads of the rat together with a fraction enriched in small vesicles with plasma membrane characteristics (thick membranes, clear dark-light-dark pattern). The electrophoretic mobility of the small vesicles was much less than that of the plasma membrane consistent with an inside-out orientation whereby charged molecules normally directed to the cell surface were on the inside. When plasma membranes and the small vesicle fraction were isolated from fat cells treated or not treated with 100 μU/ml insulin and the resident proteins of the two fractions analyzed by SDS-PAGE, the two fractions exhibited characteristics responses involving specific protein bands. Insulin treatment for 2 min resulted in the loss of a 90 kDa band from the plasma membrane. At the same time, a ca. 55-kDa peptide band that was enhanced in the plasma membrane was lost from the small vesicle fraction. The latter corresponded on Western blots to the GLUT-4 glucose transporter. Thus, we suggest that the small vesicle fraction with characteristics of inside-out plasma membrane vesicles may represent the internal vesicular pool of plasma membrane subject to modulation by treatment of adipocytes with insulin.     

ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport in wheat root plasma membrane vesicles

Plasma membrane preparations of high purity were obtained from roots of dark-grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Drabant) by aqueous polymer two-phase partitioning. These preparations mainly contained sealed, right-side-out vesicles (ca 90% exposing the original outside out). By subjecting the preparations to 4 freeze/thaw cycles the proportion of sealed, inside-out (cytoplasmic side out) vesicles increased to ca 30%. Inside-out and right-side-out plasma membrane vesicles were then separated by partitioning the freeze/thawed plasma membranes in another aqueous polymer two-phase system. In this way, highly purified, sealed, inside-out (>60% inside-out) vesicles were isolated and subsequently used for characterization of the Ca²⁺ transport system in the wheat plasma membrane. The capacity for ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ accumulation, nonlatent ATPase activity and proton pumping (the latter two markers for inside-out plasma membrane vesicles) were all enriched in the inside-out vesicle fraction as compared to the right-side-out fraction. This confirms that the ATP-binding site of the ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ transport system, similar to the H⁺-ATPase, is located on the inner cytoplasmic surface of the plant plasma membrane. The ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake was MgATP-dependent with an apparent K_m for ATP of 0.1 mM and a high affinity for Ca²⁺ [K_m(Ca²⁺/EGTA) = 3 μM]. The pH optimum was at 7.4–7.8. ATP was the preferred nucleotide substrate with ITP and GTP giving activities of 30–40% of the ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake seen with ATP. The ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake was stimulated by monovalent cations; K^? and Na⁺ being equally efficient. Vanadate inhibited the ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ accumulation with half-maximal inhibitions at 72, 57 and 2 μM for basal, total (with KCI) and net K⁺-stimulated uptake, respectively. The system was also highly sensitive to erythrosin B with half-maximal inhibition at 25 nM and total inhibition at 1μM. Our results demonstrate the presence of a primary Ca²⁺ transport ATPase in the plasma membrane of wheat roots. The enzyme is likely to be involved in mediating active efflux (ATP-binding sites on the cytoplasmic side) to the plant cell exterior to maintain resting levels of cytoplasmic free Ca²⁺ within the cell.     

Characterization of the early endosome and putative endocytic carrier vesicles in vivo and with an assay of vesicle fusion in vitro

We have investigated two aspects of membrane traffic at early stages of endocytosis: membrane fusion and microtubule-dependent transport. As a marker, we have used the trans-membrane glycoprotein G of vesicular stomatitis virus implanted into the plasma membrane and then internalized for different times at 37 degrees C. The corresponding endosomal fractions were immunoisolated using the cytoplasmic domain of the G protein as antigen. These fractions were then used in an in vitro assay to quantify the efficiency of fusion between endosomal vesicles. To identify the vesicular partners of the fusion, these in vitro studies were combined with in vivo biochemical and morphological experiments. Internalized molecules were delivered to early endosomal elements, which corresponded to a network of tubular and tubulovesicular structures. Rapid recycling back to the plasma membrane and routing to late stages of the pathway occurred from these early endosomal elements. These elements exhibited a high and specific fusion activity with each other in vitro, suggesting that individual elements of the early endosomal compartment interact with each other in vivo. After their appearance in the early endosome, the molecules destined to be degraded were observed at the next stage of the pathway in distinct spherical vesicles (0.5 micron diam) and then in late endosomes and lysosomes. When the microtubules were depolymerized with nocodazole, endocytosis proceeded as in control cells. However, internalized molecules remained in the spherical vesicles and did not appear in late endosomes or lysosomes. These spherical vesicles had relatively little fusion activity with each other or with early endosomal elements in vitro. Our observations suggest that the spherical vesicles mediate transport between the early endosome and late endosomes and that this process requires intact microtubules.     

ATP-dependent calcium transport in plasma membrane vesicles from neutrophil leukocytes

Plasma membrane vesicles were prepared from guinea pig peritoneal exudate neutrophils, using nitrogen cavitation to rupture the plasma membrane and differential centrifugation to separate the vesicles. The vesicles were enriched 13.2-fold in (Na+, K+)-ATPase activity and had a cholesterol:protein ratio of 0.15, characteristic of plasma membranes. Contamination of the vesicle preparation with DNA or marker enzyme activities for intracellular organelles was very low. Studies designed to determine vesicle sidedness and integrity indicated that 33% were sealed, inside-out; 41% were sealed, right side-out, and 26% were leaky. The vesicles accumulated 45Ca2+ in a linear fashion for 45 min. The uptake was dependent on the presence of oxalate and MgATP in the incubating medium. Uptake showed a Ka for free Ca2+ of 164 nM and a Vmax of 17.2 nmol/mg . min (based on total protein). GTP, ITP, CTP, UTP, ADP, or AMP supported uptake at rates less than or equal to 11% of ATP. Ca2+ uptake was maximal at pH 7-7.5. Calcium stimulated the hydrolysis of ATP by the vesicles with a Ka for free Ca2+ of 440 nM and Vmax of 17.5 nmol/mg . min (based on total protein). When the Ca2+ uptake rate was based upon those vesicles expected to transport Ca2+ (33% sealed, inside-out vesicles) and Ca2+-stimulated ATPase activity was based upon those vesicles expected to express that activity (26% leaky + 33% sealed, inside-out vesicles), the molar stoichiometry of Ca2+ transported:ATP hydrolyzed was 2.12 +/- 0.12. Calmodulin did not increase either Vmax or Ka for free Ca2+ of the uptake system in the vesicles, even when they were treated previously with ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid. The high affinity of this system for Ca2+, specificity for ATP, physiological pH optimum, and stoichiometry of Ca2+ transported:ATP hydrolyzed suggest that it represents an important mechanism by which neutrophils maintain low levels of cytoplasmic free Ca2+.     

ATP Photosynthetic vesicles for light-driven bioprocesses

We prepared ATP photosynthetic vesicles from inside-out membranes of Escherichia coli cells that express delta-rhodopsin (a novel light-driven H⁺ transporter) and TF₀F₁-ATP synthase (a thermo-stable ATP synthase). These vesicles showed light-dependent ATP synthesis. Furthermore, coupling the ATP photosynthetic vesicles with an ATP-hydrolyzing hexokinase enabled light-dependent glucose consumption. The ATP photosynthetic vesicles indicate their potential to applied to light-driven ATP-regenerating bioprocess for various ATP-hydrolyzing bioproductions.     

Cytoplasmic dynein-dependent vesicular transport from early to late endosomes [published erratum appears in J Cell Biol 1994 Feb;124(3):397]

We have used an in vitro fusion assay to study the mechanisms of transport from early to late endosomes. Our data show that the late endosomes share with the early endosomes a high capacity to undergo homotypic fusion in vitro. However, direct fusion of early with late endosomes does not occur. We have purified vesicles which are intermediates during transport from early to late endosomes in vivo, and analyzed their protein composition in two-dimensional gels. In contrast to either early or late endosomes, these vesicles do not appear to contain unique proteins. Moreover, these vesicles undergo fusion with late endosomes in vitro, but not with each other or back with early endosomes. In vitro, fusion of these endosomal vesicles with late endosomes is stimulated by polymerized microtubules, consistent with the known role of microtubules during early to late endosome transport in vivo. In contrast, homotypic fusion of early or late endosomes is microtubule-independent. Finally, this stimulation by microtubules depends on microtubule-associated proteins and requires the presence of the minus-end directed motor cytoplasmic dynein, but not the plus-end directed motor kinesin, in agreement with the microtubule organization in vivo. Our data strongly suggest that early and late endosomes are separate, highly dynamic organelles, which are connected by a microtubule-dependent vesicular transport step.     

Localization of enzymes involved in polyphosphoinositids metabolism on the cytoplasmic surface of the human erythrocyte membrane.

1. Impermeable inside-out and right-side-out vesicles were prepared from membranes of human erythrocytes. During preparation of each kind of impermeable vesicle, permeable vesicles were also obtained. 2. Incubation of vesicles with [gamma-32P]ATP at 37 degrees C for periods of up to 1 hr did not change the topography or the permeability of the vesicles. 3. Vesicles incorporated labeled phosphate from [gamma-32P]ATP into both diphosphoinositide and triphosphoinositide, but impermeable inside-out vesicles incorporated significantly more nuclide than did right-side-out vesicles. 4. Permeable vesicles derived during the preparation of inside-out vesicles were as active as impermeable inside-out vesicles in the incorporation of labeled phosphate into the polyphosphoinositides. However, permeable vesicles derived during the preparation of right-side out vesicles were not as active. 5. Impermeable right-side-out vesicles, treated with 0.01 percent saponin, incorporated labeled phosphate into the polyphosphoinositides at a level comparable to that of impermeable inside-out vesicles. 6. These data show that the enzymes involved in metabolism of diphosphoinositide and triphosphoinositide are located on the cytoplasmic surface of the erythrocyte membrane.     

Characterisation of the H+-ATPase in plasma membranes isolated from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Plasma membranes from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were purified by differential centrifugation and two-phase partitioning in an aqueous polymer system. The isolated plasma membranes were virtually free from contaminating chloroplasts, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi membranes as shown by marker enzyme and pigment analysis. The isolated plasma membranes exhibited vanadate sensitive ATPase activity, indicating the presence of a P-type ATPase. This was verified by using antibodies against P-type ATPase from Arabidopsis , which crossreacted with a protein of 109 kDa. The ATPase activity was inhibited to more than 90% by vanadate (K_i= 0.9 μ M ) but not affected by inhibitors specific for F- or V-type ATPases. demonstrating the purity of the plasma membranes. Mg-ATP was the substrate, and the rate of ATP-hydrolysis followed simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics giving a K_m= 0.46 m M . Free Mg²⁺ stimulated the activity, K_1/2= 0.68 m M . Maximal activity was obtained at pH 8. The ATPase activity was latent but stimulated 10 to 20-fold in the presence of detergents. This indicates that the isolated plasma membrane vesicles were tightly sealed and mostly right-side-out, making the ATPase inaccessible to the hydrophilic substrate ATP. In the presence of the Brij 58, the isolated plasma membranes performed ATP dependent H⁺-pumping as shown by the optical pH probe acridine orange. H⁺-pumping was dependent on the presence of valinomycin and K⁺ ions and completely abolished by vanadate. Addition of Brij 58 has been shown to produce 100% sealed inside-out vesicles of plant plasma membranes (Johansson et al. 1995, Plant J. 7: 165–173) and this was also the case for plasma membranes from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.     

Sealed inside-out and right-side-out plasma membrane vesicles : optimal conditions for formation and separation

Plasma membrane preparations of high purity (about 95%) are easily obtained by partitioning in aqueous polymer two-phase systems. These preparations, however, mainly contain sealed right-side-out (apoplastic side out) vesicles. Part of these vesicles have been turned inside-out by freezing and thawing, and sealed inside-out and right-side-out vesicles subsequently separated by repeating the phase partition step. Increasing the KCI concentration in the freeze/thaw medium as well as increasing the number of freeze/thaw cycles significantly increased the yield of inside-out vesicles. At optimal conditions, 15 to 25% of total plasma membrane protein was recovered as inside-out vesicles, corresponding to 5 to 10 milligrams of protein from 500 grams of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) leaves. Based on enzyme latency, trypsin inhibition of NADH-cytochrome c reductase, and H⁺ pumping capacity, a cross-contamination of about 20% between the two fractions of oppositely oriented vesicles was estimated. Thus, preparations containing about 80% inside-out and 80% right-side-out vesicles, respectively, were obtained. ATPase activity and H⁺ pumping were both completely inhibited by vanadate (K_i ≈ 10 micromolar), indicating that the fractions were completely free from nonplasma membrane ATPases. Furthermore, the polypeptide patterns of the two fractions were close to identical, which shows that the vesicles differed in sidedness only. Thus, preparations of both inside-out and right-side-out plasma membrane vesicles are now available. This permits studies on transport, signal transduction mechanisms, enzyme topology, etc., using plasma membrane vesicles of either orientation.     

Syntaxin 7 and VAMP-7 are soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors required for late endosome-lysosome and homotypic lysosome fusion in alveolar macrophages

Endocytosis in alveolar macrophages can be reversibly inhibited, permitting the isolation of endocytic vesicles at defined stages of maturation. Using an in vitro fusion assay, we determined that each isolated endosome population was capable of homotypic fusion. All vesicle populations were also capable of heterotypic fusion in a temporally specific manner; early endosomes, isolated 4 min after internalization, could fuse with endosomes isolated 8 min after internalization but not with 12-min endosomes or lysosomes. Lysosomes fuse with 12-min endosomes but not with earlier endosomes. Using homogenous populations of endosomes, we have identified Syntaxin 7 as a soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) required for late endosome-lysosome and homotypic lysosome fusion in vitro. A bacterially expressed human Syntaxin 7 lacking the transmembrane domain inhibited homotypic late endosome and lysosome fusion as well as heterotypic late endosome-lysosome fusion. Affinity-purified antibodies directed against Syntaxin 7 also inhibited lysosome fusion in vitro but had no affect on homotypic early endosome fusion. Previous work suggested that human VAMP-7 (vesicle-associated membrane protein-7) was a SNARE required for late endosome-lysosome fusion. A bacterially expressed human VAMP-7 lacking the transmembrane domain inhibited both late endosome-lysosome fusion and homotypic lysosome fusion in vitro. These studies indicate that: 1) fusion along the endocytic pathway is a highly regulated process, and 2) two SNARE molecules, Syntaxin 7 and human VAMP-7, are involved in fusion of vesicles in the late endocytic pathway in alveolar macrophages.     

Sidedness of plant plasma membrane vesicles altered by conditions of preparation

Right-side-out vesicles of plasma membrane from soybean (Glycine max Merr.) were isolated by aqueous two-phase partition. Inside-out vesicles were formed when these preparations were diluted or frozen and thawed. Sidedness (orientation) was determined by preparative free-flow electrophoresis, concanavalin A binding, and ATPase latency. Under usual conditions of aqueous two-phase partition, the bulk of the vesicles were strongly reactive with concanavalin A-peroxidase and showed a high level of structure-linked latency as expected of a right-side-out (cytoplasmic-side-in) orientation. The vesicles migrated as a single electrophoretic peak. When frozen and thawed, vesicle diameters were reduced and a second population of vesicles of increased electrophoretic mobility was obtained. This second population of vesicles was weakly reactive with concanavalin A-peroxidase and showed low latency as expected of an inside-out (cytoplasmic-side-out) orientation. If the plasma membrane vesicles were diluted with water, a mixture of right-side-out and inside-out vesicles again was obtained. However, some of the cytoplasmic-side-out vesicles that were concanavalin A-unreactive and had low ATPase latency migrated more slowly as a second, less electronegative peak, upon free-flow electrophoresis. The results suggest that right-side-out and inside-out plasma membrane vesicles differ in electrophoretic mobility but that both the orientation and the absolute electrophoretic mobility of the differently oriented vesicles may be influenced by the preparative conditions.     

Intra-endosomal membrane traffic

Following endocytosis, ubiquitinated signaling receptors are incorporated within intraluminal vesicles of forming multivesicular endosomes. These vesicles then follow the pathway from early to late endosomes, remaining within the endosomal lumen, and are eventually delivered to lysosomes, where they are degraded together with their protein cargo. However, intraluminal vesicles do not always end up in lysosomes for degradation; they can also fuse back with the limiting membrane of late endosomes. This route, which might be regulated by lyso-bisphosphatidic acid and its putative effector Alix, can be hijacked by the anthrax toxin and vesicular stomatitis virus and is presumably exploited by proteins and lipids that transit through intraluminal vesicles. Alternatively, these vesicles can be released extracellularly, like HIV in macrophages, upon fusion of endosomes or lysosomes with the plasma membrane.     

Isolation of plasma membrane fractions from green wheat leaves by free-flow electrophoresis or two-phase partition alone or in combination

Plasma membrane vesicles were isolated from shoots of light-grown wheat seedlings by preparative free-flow electrophoresis, aqueous polymer two-phase partition or both. Plasma membrane vesicles were identified from staining of thin sections prepared for electron microscopy with phosphotungstic acid at low pH. The orientation of the plasma membrane vesicles was determined from latency and trypsin sensitivity of K⁺ Mg²⁺ATPase and of glucan synthase II, and concanavalin A-peroxidase binding and membrane asymmetry visualized by electron microscopy. The K⁺Mg²⁺ATPase and of glucan synthase II activities of plasma membrane fractions isolated by two-phase partition were latent and trypsin resistant. The vesicles bound concanavalin A-peroxidase strongly and exhibited a cytoplasmic side-in morphology. These fractions of cytoplasmic side-in vesicles were less than 10% contaminated by cytoplasmic side-out vesicles. By free-flow electrophoresis, two populations of vesicles which stained with phosphotungstic acid at low pH, designated D and E, were obtained. The vesicle population with the lower electrophoretic mobility, fraction E, contained plasma membrane vesicles with properties similar to those of the plasma membrane vesicles obtained after two-phase partition. The phosphotungstic-reactive vesicles with greater electrophoretic mobility, fraction D, were concanavalin A unreactive with the cytoplasmic membrane leaflet outwards. Less than 50% of the K⁺Mg²⁺-ATPase activity of this fraction was latent and trypsin sensitive. The vesicles of fraction D appeared to be preferentially cytoplasmic side-out. The electrophoretic mobilities of cytoplasmic side-out (non-latent glucan synthase II activity) and cytoplasmic side-in (latent glncan synthase II activity) plasma membrane vesicles isolated from a frozen and thawed wheat plasma membrane fraction, corresponded with the mobilities of fraction D and E, respectively, again showing that the plasma membrane vesicles with the lesser electrophoretic mobility were cytoplasmic side-in. The cytoplasmic side-in and cytoplasmic side-out vesicles therefore showed opposite eletrophoretic mobilities compared with a previous free-flow electrophoretic separation of soybean plasma membranes. The majorities of the plasma membrane vesicles of both fractions D and E entered the upper phase upon two-phase partition with the phase composition used for purification of wheat plasma membranes. Thus, neither electrophoretic mobility nor phase partitioning characteristics can be used as the only criteria for assignment of vesicle orientation.     

Identification of an endosome-specific antigen.

We have used successive density gradient centrifugation with vesicles prepared from a human hepatoma Hep G2 post nuclear supernatant to obtain a highly enriched preparation of early endosomes. A monoclonal antibody (8E4) raised against this early endosome preparation recognizes a single polypeptide highly enriched in light vesicle membranes. The antigen has a molecular weight of 195 kDa by SDS-PAGE in the presence or absence of a reducing agent. Western blot analysis shows that the 8E4 antigen is detectable only in light vesicle membranes and not among heavy membranes, whole cytosol, or nuclear pellet proteins. The 8E4 antigen appears to be an integral membrane protein as it is precipitated by Triton X-114. The distribution of the 8E4 antigen in a Nycodenz density gradient fractionation of light vesicle membranes is identical to the distribution of 125I-ASOR-labeled early endosomes but distinct from the distribution of the plasma membrane enzyme, alkaline phosphodiesterase. In addition, incubation of cells with a horseradish peroxidase-transferrin conjugate followed by 3,3'-diaminobenzidine cytochemistry specifically quenches 8E4 antigen detection by protein dot blot analysis. These data strongly suggest that the 8E4 antigen is an integral membrane protein primarily located in endocytic vesicles.     

ATP-dependent primary active transport of cysteinyl leukotrienes across liver canalicular membrane. Role of the ATP-dependent transport system for glutathione S-conjugates

The liver is the major organ which eliminates leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and other cysteinyl leukotrienes from the blood circulation into bile. Transport of LTC4 was studied using inside-out vesicles enriched in canalicular and sinusoidal membranes from rat liver. The incubation of canalicular membrane vesicles with [3H]LTC4 in the presence of ATP resulted in an uptake of LTC4 into vesicles. The initial rate of ATP-stimulated LTC4 uptake was about 40-fold higher in canalicular than in sinusoidal membrane vesicles. When liver plasma membrane vesicles were incubated in the absence of ATP, an apparent transient uptake of LTC4 was observed which was temperature-dependent and not affected by the osmolarity. This indicates that LTC4 was bound to proteins on the surface of plasma membrane vesicles. Two proteins with relative molecular weights of 17,000 and 25,000 were detected by direct photoaffinity labeling as major LTC4-binding proteins. One protein (Mr 25,000) was ascribed to subunit 1 (Ya) of glutathione S-transferase which was associated with the membrane. LTD4, LTE4, N-acetyl-LTE4, and omega-carboxy-N-acetyl-LTE4 were also transported into liver plasma membrane vesicles in an ATP-dependent manner with initial rates relative to LTC4 (1.0) of 0.46, 0.11, 0.35, and 0.22, respectively. Mutual competition between the cysteinyl leukotrienes and S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-glutathione for uptake indicated that they are transported by a common carrier. Apparent Km values of the transport system for LTC4, LTD4, and N-acetyl-LTE4 were 0.25, 1.5, and 5.2 microM, respectively. The ATP-dependent transport of LTC4 into vesicles was not inhibited by doxorubicin, daunorubicin, or verapamil, or by the monoclonal antibody C219, suggesting that the transport system differs from P-glycoprotein. Liver plasma membrane vesicles prepared from mutant rats deficient in the hepatobiliary excretion of cysteinyl leukotrienes lacked the ATP-dependent transport of cysteinyl leukotrienes and S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-glutathione. These results demonstrate that the ATP-dependent carrier system is responsible for the transport of cysteinyl leukotrienes and glutathione S-conjugates from the hepatocytes into bile.     

Proteolytic cleavage of ricin A chain in endosomal vesicles. Evidence for the action of endosomal proteases at both neutral and acidic pH

Macrophages actively internalize macromolecules into endosomal vesicles containing proteases. The plant toxin, ricin A chain delivered into this pathway by receptor-mediated endocytosis, was found to be exquisitely sensitive to cleavage by these proteases. Proteolytic fragments of ricin A chain were generated within cells as early as 2-3 min after internalization. Toxin proteolysis was initiated in early endosomal vesicles, and transport to lysosomes was not required. As endosomes transit the cell, their lumenal pH drops from neutral to acidic. Previous studies in macrophages had suggested that endosomal proteolysis is dependent on vesicle acidification. Isolated endosomal vesicles containing ricin A chain catalyzed the cleavage of this protein in vitro; however, proteolysis was observed at both neutral and acidic pH. Experiments using isolated endosomes demonstrated that both cysteine and aspartyl proteases were responsible for the cleavage of ricin A chain. The cysteine protease, cathepsin B, catalyzed toxin proteolysis in endosomes between pH 4.5 and 7.0 while aspartyl protease activity was maximal below pH 5.5. Radiolabeling the lumenal contents of macrophage endosomes confirmed that both the cysteine protease, cathepsin B, and the aspartyl protease, cathepsin D, were present in these vesicles. These proteases were not present on the plasma membrane but were found in early endosomes indicating they are derived from an intracellular source. The presence of proteases with different pH optima in early endosomes suggests that processing in these vesicles may be regulated by changes in endosomal pH. This result represents an important difference in protein processing in endosomes versus lysosomes and provides new insights into the function of endosomal proteases.     

Endosomal trafficking of the Menkes copper ATPase ATP7A is mediated by vesicles containing the Rab7 and Rab5 GTPase proteins

The Cu-ATPase ATP7A (MNK) is localized in the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and relocalizes in the plasma membrane via vesicle-mediated traffic following exposure of the cells to high concentrations of copper. Rab proteins are organelle-specific GTPases, markers of different endosomal compartments; their role has been recently reviewed (Trends Cell Biol. 11(2001) 487). In this article we analyze the endosomal pathway of trafficking of the MNK protein in stably transfected clones of CHO cells, expressing chimeric Rab5-myc or Rab7-myc proteins, markers of early or late endosome compartments, respectively. We demonstrate by immunofluorescence and confocal and electron microscopy techniques that the increase in the concentration of copper in the medium (189 microM) rapidly induces a redistribution of the MNK protein from early sorting endosomes, positive for Rab5-myc protein, to late endosomes, containing the Rab7-myc protein. Cell fractionation experiments confirm these results; i.e., the MNK protein is recruited to the endosomal fraction on copper stimulation and colocalizes with Rab5 and Rab7 proteins. These findings allow the first characterization of the vesicles involved in the intracellular routing of the MNK protein from the TGN to the plasma membrane, a key mechanism allowing appropriate efflux of copper in cells grown in high concentrations of the metal.