How important are Rho GTPases in neurosecretion?

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18F-FDOPA PET/CT Uptake Parameters Correlate with Catecholamine Secretion in Human Pheochromocytomas

International audienceBackground: 18 F-FDOPA positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (PET/CT) is a sensitive nuclear imaging technology for the diagnosis of pheochromocytomas (PHEO). However, its utility in determining predictive factors for the secretion of catecholamines remains poorly studied. Methods: Thirty-nine histologically confirmed PHEO were included in this retrospective single-center study. Patients underwent 18 F-FDOPA PET/CT before surgery, with an evaluation of several uptake parameters (standardized uptake values [SUV max and SUV mean ] and the metabolic burden [MB] calculated as follows: MB = SUV mean × tumor volume) and measurement of plasma and/or urinary metanephrine (MN), normetanephrine (NM), and chromogranin A. Thirty-five patients were screened for germline mutations in the RET, SDHx, and VHL genes. Once resected, primary cultures of 5 PHEO were used for real-time measurement of catechol-amine release by carbon fiber amperometry. Results: The MB of the PHEO positively correlated with 24-h urinary excre-tion of NM (r = 0.64, p < 0.0001), MN (r = 0.49, p = 0.002), combined MN and NM (r = 0.75, p < 0.0001), and eventually plasma free levels of NM (r = 0.55, p = 0.006). In the mutated patients (3 SDHD, 2 SDHB, 3 NF1, 1 VHL, and 3 RET), a similar correlation was observed between MB and 24-h urinary combined MN and NM (r = 0.86, p = 0.0012). For the first time, we demonstrate a positive correlation between the PHEO-to-liver SUV max ratio and the mean number of secretory granule fusion events of the corresponding PHEO cells revealed by amperometric spikes (p = 0.01). Conclusion: While the 18 F-FDOPA PET/CT MB of PHEO strongly correlates with the concentration of MN, amperometric recordings suggest that 18 F-FDOPA uptake could be enhanced by overactivity of cat-echolamine exocytosis

Exocytosis and Endocytosis in Neuroendocrine Cells: Inseparable Membranes!

International audienceAlthough much has been learned concerning the mechanisms of secretory vesicle formation and fusion at donor and acceptor membrane compartments, relatively little attention has been paid toward understanding how cells maintain a homeostatic membrane balance through vesicular trafficking. In neurons and neuroendocrine cells, release of neurotrans-mitters, neuropeptides, and hormones occurs through calcium-regulated exocytosis at the plasma membrane. To allow recycling of secretory vesicle components and to preserve organelles integrity, cells must initiate and regulate compensatory membrane uptake. This review relates the fate of secretory granule membranes after full fusion exocytosis in neuroendocrine cells. In particular, we focus on the potential role of lipids in preserving and sorting secretory granule membranes after exocytosis and we discuss the potential mechanisms of membrane retrieval

Intersectin: The Crossroad between Vesicle Exocytosis and Endocytosis

International audienceIntersectins (ITSNs) are a family of highly conserved proteins with orthologs from nematodes to mammals. In vertebrates, ITSNs are encoded by two genes (itsn1 and itsn2), which act as scaffolds that were initially discovered as proteins involved in endocytosis. Further investigation demonstrated that ITSN1 is also implicated in several other processes including regulated exocytosis, thereby suggesting a role for ITSN1 in the coupling between exocytosis and endocytosis in excitatory cells. Despite a high degree of conservation amongst orthologs, ITSN function is not so well preserved as they have acquired new properties during evolution. In this review, we will discuss the role of ITSN1 and its orthologs in exo-and endocytosis, in particular in neurons and neuroendocrine cells

αII‐spectrin controls calcium‐regulated exocytosis in neuroendocrine chromaffin cells through neuronal Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome protein interaction

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Oligophrenin-1 Connects Exocytotic Fusion to Compensatory Endocytosis in Neuroendocrine Cells

International audienceOligophrenin-1 (OPHN1) is a protein with multiple domains including a Rho family GTPase-activating (Rho-GAP) domain, and a Bin-Amphiphysin-Rvs (BAR) domain. Involved in X-linked intellectual disability, OPHN1 has been reported to control several synaptic functions, including synaptic plasticity, synaptic vesicle trafficking, and endocytosis. In neuroendocrine cells, hormones and neuropep-tides stored in large dense core vesicles (secretory granules) are released through calcium-regulated exocytosis, a process that is tightly coupled to compensatory endocytosis, allowing secretory granule recycling. We show here that OPHN1 is expressed and mainly localized at the plasma membrane and in the cytosol in chromaffin cells from adrenal medulla. Using carbon fiber amperometry, we found that exocytosis is impaired at the late stage of membrane fusion in Ophn1 knockout mice and OPHN1-silenced bovine chromaffin cells. Experiments performed with ectopically expressed OPHN1 mutants indicate that OPHN1 requires its Rho-GAP domain to control fusion pore dynamics. On the other hand, compensatory endocytosis assessed by measuring dopamine-␤-hydroxylase (secretory granule membrane) internalization is severely inhibited in Ophn1 knockout chromaffin cells. This inhibitory effect is mimicked by the expression of a truncated OPHN1 mutant lacking the BAR domain, demonstrating that the BAR domain implicates OPHN1 in granule membrane recapture after exocytosis. These findings reveal for the first time that OPHN1 is a bifunctional protein that is able, through distinct mechanisms, to regulate and most likely link exocytosis to compensatory endocytosis in chromaffin cells

Endophilin-A controls recruitment, priming and fusion of neurosecretory vesicles

Endophilins-A are conserved endocytic adaptors with membrane curvature-sensing and -inducing properties. We show here that, independently of their role in endocytosis, endophilin-A1 and endophilin-A2 regulate exocytosis of neurosecretory vesicles. The number of neurosecretory vesicles was not altered in chromaffin cells without endophilin, yet fast capacitance and amperometry measurements revealed reduced exocytosis, smaller vesicle pools and changed fusion kinetics. Both endophilin-A1 (brain-enriched) and A2 (ubiquitous) rescued exocytic defects, but endophilin-A2 was more efficient. Distribution of neurosecretory vesicles was altered in the plasma membrane proximity, but levels and distributions of main exocytic and endocytic factors were unchanged, and slow compensatory endocytosis was not robustly affected. Endophilins role in exocytosis is mediated through its SH3-domain and, at least in part, interaction with intersectin, a coordinator of exocytic and endocytic traffic. Altogether, we report that endophilins-A, key endocytic proteins linked to neurodegeneration, directly regulate exocytosis by controlling vesicle recruitment, priming and fusion

Reproducibility of fluorescent expression from engineered biological constructs in E. coli

We present results of the first large-scale interlaboratory study carried out in synthetic biology, as part of the 2014 and 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competitions. Participants at 88 institutions around the world measured fluorescence from three engineered constitutive constructs in E. coli. Few participants were able to measure absolute fluorescence, so data was analyzed in terms of ratios. Precision was strongly related to fluorescent strength, ranging from 1.54-fold standard deviation for the ratio between strong promoters to 5.75-fold for the ratio between the strongest and weakest promoter, and while host strain did not affect expression ratios, choice of instrument did. This result shows that high quantitative precision and reproducibility of results is possible, while at the same time indicating areas needing improved laboratory practices.Peer reviewe