Rab protein evolution and the history of the eukaryotic endomembrane system

Spectacular increases in the quantity of sequence data genome have facilitated major advances in eukaryotic comparative genomics. By exploiting homology with classical model organisms, this makes possible predictions of pathways and cellular functions currently impossible to address in intractable organisms. Echoing realization that core metabolic processes were established very early following evolution of life on earth, it is now emerging that many eukaryotic cellular features, including the endomembrane system, are ancient and organized around near-universal principles. Rab proteins are key mediators of vesicle transport and specificity, and via the presence of multiple paralogues, alterations in interaction specificity and modification of pathways, contribute greatly to the evolution of complexity of membrane transport. Understanding system-level contributions of Rab proteins to evolutionary history provides insight into the multiple processes sculpting cellular transport pathways and the exciting challenges that we face in delving further into the origins of membrane trafficking specificity

Protein Networks Supporting AP-3 Function in Targeting Lysosomal Membrane Proteins

The AP-3 adaptor complex targets selected transmembrane proteins to lysosomes and lysosome-related organelles. We reconstituted its preferred interaction with liposomes containing the ADP ribosylation factor (ARF)-1 guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase), specific cargo tails, and phosphatidylinositol-3 phosphate, and then we performed a proteomic screen to identify new proteins supporting its sorting function. We identified ≈30 proteins belonging to three networks regulating either AP-3 coat assembly or septin polymerization or Rab7-dependent lysosomal transport. RNA interference shows that, among these proteins, the ARF-1 exchange factor brefeldin A-inhibited exchange factor 1, the ARF-1 GTPase-activating protein 1, the Cdc42-interacting Cdc42 effector protein 4, an effector of septin-polymerizing GTPases, and the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase IIIC3 are key components regulating the targeting of lysosomal membrane proteins to lysosomes in vivo. This analysis reveals that these proteins, together with AP-3, play an essential role in protein sorting at early endosomes, thereby regulating the integrity of these organelles

Sec14 like PITPs couple lipid metabolism with phosphoinositide synthesis to regulate golgi functionality

An interface coordinating lipid metabolism with proteins that regulate membrane trafficking is necessary to regulate Golgi morphology and dynamics. Such an interface facilitates the membrane deformations required for vesicularization, forms platforms for protein recruitment and assembly on appropriate sites on a membrane surface and provides lipid co-factors for optimal protein activity in the proper spatio-temporally regulated manner. Importantly, Sec14 and Sec14-like proteins are a unique superfamily of proteins that sense specific aspects of lipid metabolism, employing this information to potentiate phosphoinositide production. Therefore, Sec14 and Sec14 like proteins form central conduits to integrate multiple aspects of lipid metabolism with productive phosphoinositide signaling