The trans-Golgi network (TGN) is the major sorting station in the secretory pathway of all eukaryotic cells. How the TGN sorts proteins and lipids to generate the enrichment of sphingolipids and sterols at the plasma membrane is poorly understood. To address this fundamental question in membrane trafficking, we devised an immunoisolation procedure for specific recovery of post-Golgi secretory vesicles transporting a transmembrane raft protein from the TGN to the cell surface in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using a novel quantitative shotgun lipidomics approach, we could demonstrate that TGN sorting selectively enriched ergosterol and sphingolipid species in the immunoisolated secretory vesicles. This finding, for the first time, indicates that the TGN exhibits the capacity to sort membrane lipids. Furthermore, the observation that the immunoisolated vesicles exhibited a higher membrane order than the late Golgi membrane, as measured by C-Laurdan spectrophotometry, strongly suggests that lipid rafts play a role in the TGN-sorting machinery.

A critical step in synapse formation is the clustering of neurotransmitter receptors in the postsynaptic membrane, directly opposite the nerve terminal. At the neuromuscular junction, a widely studied model synapse, acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) initially aggregate to form an ovoid postsynaptic plaque. As the synapse matures, the plaque becomes perforated and is eventually transformed into a complex, branched structure. We found that this transformation also occurs in myotubes cultured in the absence of neurons, and used this system to seek machinery that orchestrates postsynaptic maturation. We show that perforations in the AChR aggregate bear structures resembling podosomes, dynamic actin-rich adhesive organelles involved in matrix remodeling in non-neuronal cells but not described in neural structures. The location and dynamics of synaptic podosomes are spatiotemporally correlated with changes in AChR aggregate topology, and pharmacological disruption of podosomes leads to rapid alterations in AChR organization. Our results indicate that synaptic podosomes play critical roles in maturation of the postsynaptic membrane.acetylcholine receptor ͉ endocytosis ͉ neuromuscular junction ͉ synapse formation

Recently synthesized proteins are sorted at the trans-Golgi network into specialized routes for exocytosis. Surprisingly little is known about the underlying molecular machinery. Here, we present a visual screen to search for proteins involved in cargo sorting and vesicle formation. We expressed a GFP-tagged plasma membrane protein in the yeast deletion library and identified mutants with altered marker localization. This screen revealed a requirement of several enzymes regulating the synthesis of sphingolipids and ergosterol in the correct and efficient delivery of the marker protein to the cell surface. Additionally, we identified mutants regulating the actin cytoskeleton (Rvs161p and Vrp1p), known membrane traffic regulators (Kes1p and Chs5p), and several unknown genes. This visual screening method can now be used for different cargo proteins to search in a genome-wide fashion for machinery involved in post-Golgi sorting.exocytosis ͉ lipid rafts ͉ Saccharomyces cerevisiae ͉ sorting ͉ Golgi T he mechanisms responsible for sorting proteins to the cell surface from the Golgi complex are poorly understood in eukaryotic cells. The trans-Golgi network (TGN) has been recognized as a major hub for sorting (1). However, there is also evidence that sorting occurs in endosomes (2). In polarized cells such as epithelial cells and neurons, biosynthetic cargo is delivered to separate membrane domains by pathways employing different sorting principles (3,4). Recent work has demonstrated that yeast cells also have at least two separate routes to the cell surface (5-8). Little is known about the genes that are responsible for sorting and packaging surface cargo into different transport containers. Previous screens aimed at identifying this machinery relied, for example, on major growth defects and the internal accumulation of invertase, which has been later shown to be transported by the minor pathway to the plasma membrane (7,8). These screens have mainly identified mutants that blocked endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-to-Golgi transport and delivery to the plasma membrane (9, 10). However, mutations in regulators of post-Golgi sorting and vesicle formation with few exceptions have not been detected by such screens, probably because a block in one transport route to the cell surface can be rescued by partial rerouting from the affected to the undisturbed pathway (7,8).Here we describe a visual screening procedure devised to circumvent this problem. We aimed at developing an assay sensitive enough to detect sorting defects within the secretory pathway and applicable to genome-wide screening. The screen takes advantage of the systematic yeast knockout array (11), which should contain the nonessential genes responsible for regulating cargo entry into specialized, partially redundant pathways. The results of this genome-wide screen demonstrate the suitability of our visual screening approach for identifying regulators of sorting and vesicle formation involved in surface delivery of biosynthetic cargo. Table 1. Images (GFP and DIC) ...

Little is known about the mechanisms that determine localization of proteins to the plasma membrane in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The length of the transmembrane domains and association of proteins with lipid rafts have been proposed to play a role in sorting to the cell surface. Here, we report that Fus1p, an O-glycosylated integral membrane protein involved in cell fusion during yeast mating, requires O-glycosylation for cell surface delivery. In cells lacking PMT4, encoding a mannosyltransferase involved in the initial step of O-glycosylation, Fus1p was not glycosylated and accumulated in late Golgi structures. A chimeric protein lacking O-glycosylation motif was missorted to the vacuole and accumulated in late Golgi in wild-type cells. Exocytosis of this protein could be restored by addition of a 33-amino acid portion of an O-glycosylated sequence from Fus1p. Our data suggest that O-glycosylation functions as a sorting determinant for cell surface delivery of Fus1p.

SummaryNeuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in mammalian skeletal muscle undergo a postnatal topological transformation from a simple oval plaque to a complex branched structure. We previously showed that podosomes, actin-rich adhesive organelles, promote the remodeling process, and demonstrated a key role for one podosome component, LL5b. To further investigate molecular mechanisms of postsynaptic maturation, we purified LL5b-associated proteins from myotubes and showed that three regulators of the actin cytoskeleton -Amotl2, Asef2 and Flii -interact with LL5b. These and other LL5b-interacting proteins are associated with conventional podosomes in macrophages and podosome-like invadopodia in fibroblasts, strengthening the close relationship between synaptic and non-synaptic podosomes. We then focused on Amotl2, showing that it is associated with synaptic podosomes in cultured myotubes and with NMJs in vivo. Depletion of Amotl2 in myotubes leads to increased size of synaptic podosomes and corresponding alterations in postsynaptic topology. Depletion of Amotl2 from fibroblasts disrupts invadopodia in these cells. These results demonstrate a role for Amotl2 in synaptic maturation and support the involvement of podosomes in this process.