R-Smad Competition Controls Activin Receptor Output in Drosophila

Animals use TGF-β superfamily signal transduction pathways during development and tissue maintenance. The superfamily has traditionally been divided into TGF-β/Activin and BMP branches based on relationships between ligands, receptors, and R-Smads. Several previous reports have shown that, in cell culture systems, “BMP-specific” Smads can be phosphorylated in response to TGF-β/Activin pathway activation. Using Drosophila cell culture as well as in vivo assays, we find that Baboon, the Drosophila TGF-β/Activin-specific Type I receptor, can phosphorylate Mad, the BMP-specific R-Smad, in addition to its normal substrate, dSmad2. The Baboon-Mad activation appears direct because it occurs in the absence of canonical BMP Type I receptors. Wing phenotypes generated by Baboon gain-of-function require Mad, and are partially suppressed by over-expression of dSmad2. In the larval wing disc, activated Baboon cell-autonomously causes C-terminal Mad phosphorylation, but only when endogenous dSmad2 protein is depleted. The Baboon-Mad relationship is thus controlled by dSmad2 levels. Elevated P-Mad is seen in several tissues of dSmad2 protein-null mutant larvae, and these levels are normalized in dSmad2; baboon double mutants, indicating that the cross-talk reaction and Smad competition occur with endogenous levels of signaling components in vivo. In addition, we find that high levels of Activin signaling cause substantial turnover in dSmad2 protein, providing a potential cross-pathway signal-switching mechanism. We propose that the dual activity of TGF-β/Activin receptors is an ancient feature, and we discuss several ways this activity can modulate TGF-β signaling output

AMPA Receptors Commandeer an Ancient Cargo Exporter for Use as an Auxiliary Subunit for Signaling

Fast excitatory neurotransmission in the mammalian central nervous system is mainly mediated by ionotropic glutamate receptors of the AMPA subtype (AMPARs). AMPARs are protein complexes of the pore-lining α-subunits GluA1-4 and auxiliary β-subunits modulating their trafficking and gating. By a proteomic approach, two homologues of the cargo exporter cornichon, CNIH-2 and CNIH-3, have recently been identified as constituents of native AMPARs in mammalian brain. In heterologous reconstitution experiments, CNIH-2 promotes surface expression of GluAs and modulates their biophysical properties. However, its relevance in native AMPAR physiology remains controversial. Here, we have studied the role of CNIH-2 in GluA processing both in heterologous cells and primary rat neurons. Our data demonstrate that CNIH-2 serves an evolutionarily conserved role as a cargo exporter from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). CNIH-2 cycles continuously between ER and Golgi complex to pick up cargo protein in the ER and then to mediate its preferential export in a coat protein complex (COP) II dependent manner. Interaction with GluA subunits breaks with this ancestral role of CNIH-2 confined to the early secretory pathway. While still taking advantage of being exported preferentially from the ER, GluAs recruit CNIH-2 to the cell surface. Thus, mammalian AMPARs commandeer CNIH-2 for use as a bona fide auxiliary subunit that is able to modify receptor signaling

Imaging and imagination: understanding the endo-lysosomal system

Lysosomes are specialized compartments for the degradation of endocytosed and intracellular material and essential regulators of cellular homeostasis. The importance of lysosomes is illustrated by the rapidly growing number of human disorders related to a defect in lysosomal functioning. Here, we review current insights in the mechanisms of lysosome biogenesis and protein sorting within the endo-lysosomal system. We present increasing evidence for the existence of parallel pathways for the delivery of newly synthesized lysosomal proteins directly from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the endo-lysosomal system. These pathways are either dependent or independent of mannose 6-phosphate receptors and likely involve multiple exits for lysosomal proteins from the TGN. In addition, we discuss the different endosomal intermediates and subdomains that are involved in sorting of endocytosed cargo. Throughout our review, we highlight some examples in the literature showing how imaging, especially electron microscopy, has made major contributions to our understanding of the endo-lysosomal system today

Essential role of endocytosis for interleukin-4-receptor-mediated JAK/STAT signalling

Many important signalling cascades operate through specialized signalling endosomes, but a corresponding mechanism has as yet not been described for hematopoietic cytokine receptors. Based on live-cell affinity measurements, we recently proposed that ligand-induced interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) complex formation and thus JAK/STAT pathway activation requires a local subcellular increase in receptor density. Here, we show that this concentration step is provided by the internalization of IL-4R subunits through a constitutive, Rac1-, Pak- and actin-mediated endocytosis route that causes IL-4R subunits to become enriched by about two orders of magnitude within a population of cortical endosomes. Consistently, ligand-induced receptor dimers are preferentially detected within these endosomes. IL-4 signalling can be blocked by pharmacological inhibitors targeting the actin polymerization machinery driving receptor internalization, placing endocytosis unambigously upstream of receptor activation. Taken together, these observations demonstrate a role for endocytosis that is mechanistically distinct from the scaffolding function of signalling endosomes in other pathways

Luminal signalling links cell communication to tissue architecture during organogenesis

Morphogenesis is the process whereby cell collectives are shaped into differentiated tissues and organs. The self-organizing nature of morphogenesis has been recently demonstrated by studies showing that stem cells in three-dimensional culture can generate complex organoids, such as mini-guts, optic-cups and even mini-brains. To achieve this, cell collectives must regulate the activity of secreted signalling molecules that control cell differentiation, presumably through the self-assembly of microenvironments or niches. However, mechanisms that allow changes in tissue architecture to feedback directly on the activity of extracellular signals have not been described. Here we investigate how the process of tissue assembly controls signalling activity during organogenesis in vivo, using the migrating zebrafish lateral line primordium. We show that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) activity within the tissue controls the frequency at which it deposits rosette-like mechanosensory organs. Live imaging reveals that FGF becomes specifically concentrated in microluminal structures that assemble at the centre of these organs and spatially constrain its signalling activity. Genetic inhibition of microlumen assembly and laser micropuncture experiments demonstrate that microlumina increase signalling responses in participating cells, thus allowing FGF to coordinate the migratory behaviour of cell groups at the tissue rear. As the formation of a central lumen is a self-organizing property of many cell types, such as epithelia and embryonic stem cells, luminal signalling provides a potentially general mechanism to locally restrict, coordinate and enhance cell communication within tissues

Deficiency of the Cytoskeletal Protein SPECC1L Leads to Oblique Facial Clefting

Genetic mutations responsible for oblique facial clefts (ObFC), a unique class of facial malformations, are largely unknown. We show that loss-of-function mutations in SPECC1L are pathogenic for this human developmental disorder and that SPECC1L is a critical organizer of vertebrate facial morphogenesis. During murine embryogenesis, Specc1l is expressed in cell populations of the developing facial primordial, which proliferate and fuse to form the face. In zebrafish, knockdown of a SPECC1L homolog produces a faceless phenotype with loss of jaw and facial structures, and knockdown in Drosophila phenocopies mutants in the integrin signaling pathway that exhibit cell-migration and -adhesion defects. Furthermore, in mammalian cells, SPECC1L colocalizes with both tubulin and actin, and its deficiency results in defective actin-cytoskeleton reorganization, as well as abnormal cell adhesion and migration. Collectively, these data demonstrate that SPECC1L functions in actin-cytoskeleton reorganization and is required for proper facial morphogenesis