The intracellular ciliogenesis pathway requires membrane trafficking, fusion, and reorganization. Here, we demonstrate in human cells and zebrafish that the F-BAR domain containing proteins PACSIN1 ...and -2 play an essential role in ciliogenesis, similar to their binding partner and membrane reorganizer EHD1. In mature cilia, PACSINs and EHDs are dynamically localized to the ciliary pocket membrane (CPM) and transported away from this structure on membrane tubules along with proteins that exit the cilium. PACSINs function early in ciliogenesis at the ciliary vesicle (CV) stage to promote mother centriole to basal body transition. Remarkably, we show that PACSIN1 and EHD1 assemble membrane t7ubules from the developing intracellular cilium that attach to the plasma membrane, creating an extracellular membrane channel (EMC) to the outside of the cell. Together, our work uncovers a function for F-BAR proteins and membrane tubulation in ciliogenesis and explains how the intracellular cilium emerges from the cell.
Membrane association with mother centriole (M-centriole) distal appendages is critical for ciliogenesis initiation. How the Rab GTPase Rab11-Rab8 cascade functions in early ciliary membrane assembly ...is unknown. Here, we show that the membrane shaping proteins EHD1 and EHD3, in association with the Rab11-Rab8 cascade, function in early ciliogenesis. EHD1 and EHD3 localize to preciliary membranes and the ciliary pocket. EHD-dependent membrane tubulation is essential for ciliary vesicle formation from smaller distal appendage vesicles (DAVs). Importantly, this step functions in M-centriole to basal body transformation and recruitment of transition zone proteins and IFT20. SNAP29, a SNARE membrane fusion regulator and EHD1-binding protein, is also required for DAV-mediated ciliary vesicle assembly. Interestingly, only after ciliary vesicle assembly is Rab8 activated for ciliary growth. Our studies uncover molecular mechanisms informing a previously uncharacterized ciliogenesis step, whereby EHD1 and EHD3 reorganize the M-centriole and associated DAVs before coordinated ciliary membrane and axoneme growth.
Collective cell migration is required for normal embryonic development and contributes to various biological processes, including wound healing and cancer cell invasion. The M-Ras GTPase and its ...effector, the Shoc2 scaffold, are proteins mutated in the developmental RASopathy Noonan syndrome, and, here, we report that activated M-Ras recruits Shoc2 to cell surface junctions where M-Ras/Shoc2 signaling contributes to the dynamic regulation of cell–cell junction turnover required for collective cell migration. MCF10A cells expressing the dominant-inhibitory M-RasS27N variant or those lacking Shoc2 exhibited reduced junction turnover and were unable to migrate effectively as a group. Through further depletion/reconstitution studies, we found that M-Ras/Shoc2 signaling contributes to junction turnover by modulating the E-cadherin/p120-catenin interaction and, in turn, the junctional expression of E-cadherin. The regulatory effect of the M-Ras/Shoc2 complex was mediated at least in part through the phosphoregulation of p120-catenin and required downstream ERK cascade activation. Strikingly, cells rescued with the Noonan-associated, myristoylated-Shoc2 mutant (Myr-Shoc2) displayed a gain-of-function (GOF) phenotype, with the cells exhibiting increased junction turnover and reduced E-cadherin/p120-catenin binding and migrating as a faster but less cohesive group. Consistent with these results, Noonan-associated C-Raf mutants that bypass the need for M-Ras/Shoc2 signaling exhibited a similar GOF phenotype when expressed in Shoc2-depleted MCF10A cells. Finally, expression of the Noonan-associated Myr-Shoc2 or C-Raf mutants, but not their WT counterparts, induced gastrulation defects indicative of aberrant cell migration in zebrafish embryos, further demonstrating the function of the M-Ras/Shoc2/ERK cascade signaling axis in the dynamic control of coordinated cell movement.
Lowe syndrome is a rare X-linked congenital disease that presents with congenital cataracts and glaucoma, as well as renal and cerebral dysfunction. OCRL , an inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase, is ...mutated in Lowe syndrome. We previously showed that OCRL is involved in vesicular trafficking to the primary cilium. Primary cilia are sensory organelles on the surface of eukaryotic cells that mediate mechanotransduction in the kidney, brain, and bone. However, their potential role in the trabecular meshwork (TM) in the eye, which regulates intraocular pressure, is unknown. Here, we show that TM cells, which are defective in glaucoma, have primary cilia that are critical for response to pressure changes. Primary cilia in TM cells shorten in response to fluid flow and elevated hydrostatic pressure, and promote increased transcription of TNF-α , TGF-β , and GLI1 genes. Furthermore, OCRL is found to be required for primary cilia to respond to pressure stimulation. The interaction of OCRL with transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), a ciliary mechanosensory channel, suggests that OCRL may act through regulation of this channel. A novel disease-causing OCRL allele prevents TRPV4-mediated calcium signaling. In addition, TRPV4 agonist GSK 1016790A treatment reduced intraocular pressure in mice; TRPV4 knockout animals exhibited elevated intraocular pressure and shortened cilia. Thus, mechanotransduction by primary cilia in TM cells is implicated in how the eye senses pressure changes and highlights OCRL and TRPV4 as attractive therapeutic targets for the treatment of glaucoma. Implications of OCRL and TRPV4 in primary cilia function may also shed light on mechanosensation in other organ systems.
Sensory cilia and intraflagellar transport (IFT), a pathway essential for ciliogenesis, play important roles in embryonic development and cell differentiation. In vertebrate photoreceptors IFT is ...required for the early development of ciliated sensory outer segments (OS), an elaborate organelle that sequesters the many proteins comprising the phototransduction machinery. As in other cilia and flagella, heterotrimeric members of the kinesin 2 family have been implicated as the anterograde IFT motor in OS. However, in Caenorhabditis elegans, OSM-3, a homodimeric kinesin 2 motor, plays an essential role in some, but not all sensory cilia. Kif17, a vertebrate OSM-3 homologue, is known for its role in dendritic trafficking in neurons, but a function in ciliogenesis has not been determined. We show that in zebrafish Kif17 is widely expressed in the nervous system and retina. In photoreceptors Kif17 co-localizes with IFT proteins within the OS, and co-immunoprecipitates with IFT proteins. Knockdown of Kif17 has little if any effect in early embryogenesis, including the formation of motile sensory cilia in the pronephros. However, OS formation and targeting of the visual pigment protein is severely disrupted. Our analysis shows that Kif17 is essential for photoreceptor OS development, and suggests that Kif17 plays a cell type specific role in vertebrate ciliogenesis.
In the original version of this Article, the fifth sentence of the abstract incorrectly read 'Remarkably, we show that PACSIN1 and EHD1 assemble membrane t7ubules from the developing intracellular ...cilium that attach to the plasma membrane, creating an extracellular membrane channel (EMC) to the outside of the cell.', and should have read 'Remarkably, we show that PACSIN1 and EHD1 assemble membrane tubules from the developing intracellular cilium that attach to the plasma membrane, creating an extracellular membrane channel (EMC) to the outside of the cell.'. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.
Primary cilia are sensory organelles that protrude from the cell membrane. Defects in the primary cilium cause ciliopathy disorders, with retinal degeneration as a prominent phenotype. Here, we ...demonstrate that the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), essential for photoreceptor development and function, requires a functional primary cilium for complete maturation and that RPE maturation defects in ciliopathies precede photoreceptor degeneration. Pharmacologically enhanced ciliogenesis in wild-type induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-RPE leads to fully mature and functional cells. In contrast, ciliopathy patient-derived iPSC-RPE and iPSC-RPE with a knockdown of ciliary-trafficking protein remain immature, with defective apical processes, reduced functionality, and reduced adult-specific gene expression. Proteins of the primary cilium regulate RPE maturation by simultaneously suppressing canonical WNT and activating PKCδ pathways. A similar cilium-dependent maturation pathway exists in lung epithelium. Our results provide insights into ciliopathy-induced retinal degeneration, demonstrate a developmental role for primary cilia in epithelial maturation, and provide a method to mature iPSC epithelial cells for clinical applications.
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•Primary cilium-induced RPE maturation is mediated by WNT suppression and PKCδ activation•iPSC-RPE cells derived from ciliopathy patients show defective structure and function•RPE maturation defects in a ciliopathy mouse model precede photoreceptor degeneration•Cilium-dependent maturation pathway also exists in iPSC-derived lung epithelium
May-Simera et al. show that primary cilia regulate the maturation and polarization of human iPSC-RPE, mouse RPE, and human iPSC-lung epithelium through canonical WNT suppression and PKCδ activation. RPE cells derived from ciliopathy patients exhibit defective structure and function. These results provide insights into ciliopathy-induced retinal degeneration.
Intraflagellar transport (IFT) provides a mechanism for the transport of cilium-specific proteins, but the mechanisms for linkage of cargo and IFT proteins have not been identified. Using the sensory ...outer segments (OS) of photoreceptors, which are derived from sensory cilia, we have identified IFT-cargo complexes containing IFT proteins, kinesin 2 family proteins, two photoreceptor-specific membrane proteins, guanylyl cyclase 1 (GC1, Gucy2e) and rhodopsin (RHO), and the chaperones, mammalian relative of DNAJ, DnajB6 (MRJ), and HSC70 (Hspa8). Analysis of these complexes leads to a model in which MRJ through its binding to IFT88 and GC1 plays a critical role in formation or stabilization of the IFT-cargo complexes. Consistent with the function of MRJ in the activation of HSC70 ATPase activity, Mg-ATP enhances the co-IP of GC1, RHO, and MRJ with IFT proteins. Furthermore, RNAi knockdown of MRJ in IMCD3 cells expressing GC1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reduces cilium membrane targeting of GC1-GFP without apparent effect on cilium elongation.