Loss of Skywalker Reveals Synaptic Endosomes as Sorting Stations for Synaptic Vesicle Proteins

MICAL-L1 is a tubular endosomal membrane hub that connects Rab35 and Arf6 with Rab8a

Endocytosis is a conserved process across species in which cell surface receptors and lipids are internalized from the plasma membrane. Once internalized, receptors can either be degraded or be recycled back to the plasma membrane. A variety of small GTP-binding proteins regulate receptor recycling. Despite our familiarity with many of the key regulatory proteins involved in this process, our understanding of the mode by which these proteins co-operate and the sequential manner in which they function remains limited. In this study, we identify two GTP-binding proteins as interaction partners of the endocytic regulatory protein molecule interacting with casl-like protein 1 (MICAL)-L1. First, we demonstrate that Rab35 is a MICAL-L1-binding partner in vivo. Over-expression of active Rab35 impairs the recruitment of MICAL-L1 to tubular recycling endosomes, whereas Rab35 depletion promotes enhanced MICAL-L1 localization to these structures. Moreover, we demonstrate that Arf6 forms a complex with MICAL-L1 and plays a role in its recruitment to tubular endosomes. Overall, our data suggest a model in which Rab35 is a critical upstream regulator of MICAL-L1 and Arf6, while both MICAL-L1 and Arf6 regulate Rab8a function.

EPI64 protein functions as a physiological GTPase-activating protein for Rab27 protein and regulates amylase release in rat parotid acinar cells

Rab27, a small GTPase, is generally recognized as an important regulator of secretion that interacts with Rab27-specific effectors to regulate events in a wide variety of cells, including endocrine and exocrine cells. However, the mechanisms governing the spatio-temporal regulation of GTPase activity of Rab27 are not firmly established, and no GTPase-activating protein (GAP) specific for Rab27 has been identified in secretory cells. We previously showed that expression of EPI64, a Tre-2/Bub2/Cdc16 (TBC)-domain-containing protein, in melanocytes inactivates endogenous Rab27A on melanosomes (Itoh, T., and Fukuda, M. (2006) J. Biol. Chem. 281, 31823-31831), but the EPI64 role in secretory cells has never been investigated. In this study, we investigated the effect of EPI64 on Rab27 in isoproterenol (IPR)-stimulated amylase release from rat parotid acinar cells. Subcellular fractionation and immunohistochemical analyses indicated that EPI64 was enriched on the apical plasma membrane of parotid acinar cells. We found that an antibody against the TBC/Rab-GAP domain of EPI64 inhibited the reduction in levels of the endogenous GTP-Rab27 in streptolysin-O-permeabilized parotid acinar cells and suppressed amylase release in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that the levels of EPI64 mRNA and EPI64 protein increased after IPR stimulation, and that treatment with actinomycin D or antisense-EPI64 oligonucleotides suppressed the increase of EPI64 mRNA/EPI64 protein and the amount of amylase released. Our findings indicated that EPI64 acted as a physiological Rab27-GAP that enhanced GTPase activity of Rab27 in response to IPR stimulation, and that this activity is required for IPR-induced amylase release.