Endocytosis

The DNA damage response triggered by bacterial cytolethal distending toxins (CDTs) is associated with activation of the actin-regulating protein RhoA and phosphorylation of the downstream-regulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38, which promotes the survival of intoxicated (i.e. cells exposed to a bacterial toxin) cells. To identify the effectors of this CDT-induced survival response, we screened a library of 4492 Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants that carry deletions in nonessential genes for reduced growth following inducible expression of CdtB. We identified 78 genes whose deletion confers hypersensitivity to toxin. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that DNA repair and endocytosis were the two most overrepresented signaling pathways. Among the human orthologs present in our data set, FEN1 and TSG101 regulate DNA repair and endocytosis, respectively, and also share common interacting partners with RhoA. We further demonstrate that FEN1, but not TSG101, regulates cell sur...

Animal cells internalize specific extracellular macromolecules (ligands) by using specialized cell surface receptors that operate through a complex and highly regulated process known as receptor-mediated endocytosis, which involves the binding, internalization, and transfer of ligands through a series of distinct intracellular compartments. For the uptake of a variety of carbohydrate-containing macromolecules, such as glycoproteins, animal cells use specialized membrane-bound lectins as endocytic receptors that recognize different sugar residues or carbohydrate structures present on various ligands. The hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor, which recognizes glycoconjugates containing terminal galactose or N-acetylgalactosamine residues, was the first membrane lectin discovered and has been a classical system for studying receptor-mediated endocytosis. Studies of how the asialoglycoprotein receptor functions have led to the discovery of two functionally distinct, parallel pathways of clathrin-mediated endocytosis (called the State 1 and State 2 pathways), which may also be utilized by all the other endocytic recycling receptor systems. Another endocytic membrane lectin, the hyaluronan/chondroitin sulfate receptor, which has recently been purified and cloned, is responsible for the turnover in mammals of these glycosaminoglycans, which are important components of extracellular matrices. We discuss the characteristics and physiological importance of these two proteins as examples of how lectins can function as endocytic receptors.

Cyclodextrins are widely used excipients in pharmaceutical formulations. They are mainly utilized as solubilizers and absorption enhancers, but recent results revealed their effects on cell membranes and pharmacological barriers. In addition to the growing knowledge on their interaction with plasma membranes, it was confirmed that cyclodextrins are able to enter cells by endocytosis. The number of the tested cyclodextrins was limited, and the role of this mechanism in drug absorption and delivery is not known. Our aim was to examine the endocytosis of fluorescently labeled hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, random methyl-β-cyclodextrin and soluble β-cyclodextrin polymer, and the cellular uptake of the fluorescent paclitaxel derivative-random methyl-β-cyclodextrin complex. The studied cyclodextrin derivatives were able to enter Caco-2 intestinal cells and localized in vesicles in the cytoplasm, while their permeability was very limited through Caco-2 monolayers. We demonstrated for the fi...

Concerns over the health effects of nanomaterials in the environment have created a need for microscopy methods capable of examining the biological interactions of nanoparticles (NP). Unfortunately, NP are beyond the diffraction limit of resolution for conventional light microscopy (~200 nm). Fluorescence and electron microscopy techniques commonly used to examine NP interactions with biological substrates have drawbacks that limit their usefulness in toxicological investigation of NP. EM is labor intensive and slow, while fluorescence carries the risk of photobleaching the sample and has size resolution limits. In addition, many relevant particles lack intrinsic fluorescence and therefore can not be detected in this manner. To surmount these limitations, we evaluated the potential of a novel combination of darkfield and confocal laser scanning microscopy (DF-CLSM) for the efficient 3D detection of NP in human lung cells. The DF-CLSM approach utilizes the contrast enhancements of da...

Macrophages isolated from a variety of organs in several animal species exhibit high affinity binding sites that recognize chemically modified proteins. One of these binding sites recognizes human plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) in which the positive charges on the epsilon-amino groups of lysine have been removed or neutralized by chemical modification, thus giving the protein an enhanced negative charge. Effective treatments include reaction of LDL with organic acid anhydrides (acetylation or maleylation) and reaction with aldehydes, such as treatment with malondialdehyde. After the negatively-charged LDL binds to the surface receptor sites, it is rapidly internalized by the macrophages by endocytosis and hydrolyzed in lysosomes. The liberated cholesterol is reesterified in the cytoplasm, producing massive cholesteryl ester deposition. The binding site for negatively-charged LDL has been demonstrated so far only on macrophages and other scavenger cells. It is not expressed in cultured fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, lymphocytes, or adrenal cells. In addition to its affinity for acetylated LDL and malondialdehyde-treated LDL, the macrophage site binds a variety of polyanions. It exhibits a particularly high affinity for certain sulfated polysaccharides (dextran sulfate and fucoidin), certain polynucleotides (polyinosinic acid and polyguanylic acid), polyvinyl sulfate, and maleylated albumin. It is possible that the site that binds negatively-charged LDL may be responsible for the massive accumulation of cholesteryl esters that occurs in vivo in macrophages and other scavenger cells in patients with high levels of circulating plasma LDL.

Untuk memungkinkan keluar masuknya partikel atau substansi, sel harus melakukan transpor pasif dan aktif. Transpor pasif terjadi saat partikel atau substansi memasuki atau keluar dari sel dan sel tidak mengeluarkan energi untuk membuat hal itu terjadi. Transpor aktif terjadi pada saat makromolekul dan materi yang sangat kecil masuk atau keluar sel sehingga sel menggunakan energinya agar hal ini terjadi. Salah satu jenis transpor aktif adalah endositosis. Endositosis merupakan proses masuknya molekul (selain air) yang besar yang tidak bisa memasuki sel dengan difusi melainkan harus dengan transpor aktif. Endositosis mempunyai beberapa jenis tipe. Tipe-tipe itu dibagi tiga: fagositosis, pinositosis, dan endositosis yang diperantarai oleh reseptor (receptor-mediated endocytosis).

Our understanding of endocytosis has evolved remarkably in little more than a decade. This is the result not only of advances in our knowledge of its molecular and biological workings, but also of a true paradigm shift in our understanding of what really constitutes endocytosis and of its role in homeostasis. Although endocytosis was initially discovered and studied as a relatively simple process to transport molecules across the plasma membrane, it was subsequently found to be inextricably linked with almost all aspects of cellular signaling. This led to the notion that endocytosis is actually the master organizer of cellular signaling, providing the cell with understandable messages that have been resolved in space and time. In essence, endocytosis provides the communications and supply routes (the logistics) of the cell. Although this may seem revolutionary, it is still likely to be only a small part of the entire story. A wealth of new evidence is uncovering the surprisingly per...

Recruitment and organization of clathrin at endocytic sites to first form coated pits and then clathrin coated vesicles depends on interactions between the clathrin N-terminal domain (TD) and multiple clathrin binding sequences on the cargo adaptor and accessory proteins that concentrate at such sites. Up to four distinct protein binding sites have been proposed to be present on the clathrin TD, with each site proposed to interact with a distinct clathrin binding motif. However, an understanding of how such interactions contribute to clathrin coat assembly must take into account observations that any three of these four sites on clathrin TD can be mutationally ablated without causing loss of clathrin mediated endocytosis. In order to take an unbiased approach to mapping binding sites for clathrin box motifs on clathrin TD, we used isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Our ITC experiments revealed that a canonical clathrin box motif...

While the COVID-19 pandemic advances, the scientific community struggles in the search for treatments. Several improvements have been made, including the discovery of clinical efficacy of chloroquine (CQ) in COVID-19 patients, but the effective treatment protocols are still missing. In order to find novel treatment options many scientists utilize the in silico approach to identify compounds that could interfere with the key molecules involved in entrance, replication, or dissemination of the SARS-CoV-2. However, most of the identified molecules are currently not available as pharmacological agents, and assessing their safety and efficacy could take many months. Here, we took a different approach based on the proposed pharmacodynamic model of CQ in COVID-19. The main mechanism of action responsible for the favourable outcome of COVID-19 patients treated with CQ seems to be related to pH modulation-mediated effect on the endolysosomal trafficking, a characteristic of chemical compounds often called lysosomotropic agents because of the physico-chemical properties that enable them to passively diffuse through the endosomal membrane and undergo protonation-based trapping in the lumen of the acidic vesicles. In this review, we discuss lysosomotropic and lysosome targeting drugs that are already in clinical use and are characterized by good safety profiles, low cost, and wide availability. We emphasize that some of these drugs, in particular azithromycin and other macrolide antibiotics, indomethacin and some other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, proton pump inhibitors, and fluoxetine could provide additional therapeutic benefits in addition to the potential antiviral effect that still has to be confirmed by well-controlled clinical trials. As some of these drugs, mostly antibiotics, were already empirically used in the treatment of COVID-19, we encourage our colleagues all over the world to publish patient data so potential efficacy of these agents can be evaluated in the clinical context and rapidly implemented in the therapeutic protocols if the beneficial effect on clinical outcome is observed.

With 3·3 billion people at risk of infection, malaria remains one of the world's most significant health problems. Increasing resistance of the main causative parasite to currently available drugs has created an urgent need to elucidate the pathogenesis of the disease in order to develop new treatments. A possible clue to such an understanding is that the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum selectively absorbs vitamin A from the host and appears to use it for its metabolism; serum vitamin A levels are also reduced in children with malaria. Although vitamin A is essential in low concentration for numerous biological functions, higher concentrations are cytotoxic and pro-oxidant, and potentially toxic quantities of the vitamin are stored in the liver. During their life cycle in the host the parasites remain in the liver for several days before invading the red blood cells (RBCs). The hypothesis proposed is that the parasites emerge from the liver packed with vitamin A and use r...

Viral infection converts the normal functions of a cell to optimize viral replication and virion production. One striking observation of this conversion is the reconfiguration and reorganization of cellular actin, affecting every stage of the viral life cycle, from entry through assembly to egress. The extent and degree of cytoskeletal reorganization varies among different viral infections, suggesting the evolution of myriad viral strategies. In this Review, we describe how the interaction of viral proteins with the cell modulates the structure and function of the actin cytoskeleton to initiate, sustain and spread infections. The molecular biology of such interactions continues to engage virologists in their quest to understand viral replication and informs cell biologists about the role of the cytoskeleton in the uninfected cell.