Vps4 and the MVB sorting pathway

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In eukaryotes, the 'multivesicular body' (MVB) pathway delivers transmembrane proteins and lipids into the lumen of the lysosome for degradation. As a consequence, MVBs are essential for regulating cell surface protein composition and maintaining lysosomal function. Numerous cellular functions, such as nutrient uptake, cell communication and immune response are dependent on MVBs. The MVB sorting machinery performs a unique membrane budding event, which results in the formation of vesicles into the lumen of the endosome. Retroviruses such as HIV co-opt the MVB machinery during viral infection to complete formation of viral particles via a similar membrane budding event at the plasma membrane. Therefore, the MVB sorting machinery has been recognized as a target for the development of new drugs combating HIV infection, a disease that kills more than 2 million people per year worldwide. Several multiprotein complexes, called the ESCRTs, execute cargo sorting and vesicle formation at the MVB. To perform their function, the soluble ESCRT complexes are recruited from the cytoplasm and sequentially assemble on the endosomal membrane where they sort ubiquitinated cargo into forming vesicles. To complete vesicle formation, the ESCRT complexes are disassembled by the activity of the AAA-type ATPase Vps4. Without Vps4 function, the ESCRT machinery remains on the membrane and MVB vesicle formation is inhibited. Up until now, it had been thought that the disassembly function of Vps4 was a constitutive process. However, our preliminary studies have identified three proteins that regulate the activity of Vps4 on several levels. Vta1 appears to enhance the disassembly reaction that stimulates Vps4 ATPase activity. Fti1 works together with Vta1 in the activation of Vps4. Ist1 interferes with Vps4 function and Ist1 activity itself appears to be regulated by its stability. Based on these findings we propose a revised model in which the Vps4-dependent disassembly of the ESCRT complexes represents a key regulatory step within the MVB pathway. We propose that eukaryotic cells modulate the activity of the MVB pathway by regulating the degradation rate of Ist1, thereby regulating the activity of Vps4.