The sphinganine C4-hydroxylase FgSur2 regulates sensitivity to azole antifungal agents and virulence of Fusarium graminearum

Lipid rafts consisting of ergosterol and sphingolipids in the lipid membrane of cells play important roles in various cellular processes. However, the functions of sphingolipids and their synthetic genes in phytopathogenic fungi have not been well understood yet. In this study, we conducted genome-wide searches and carried out systematic gene deletion analysis of the sphingolipid synthesis pathway in Fusarium graminearum, a causal agent of Fusarium head blight of wheat and other cereal crops worldwide. Mycelial growth assays showed that deletion of FgBAR1, FgLAC1, FgSUR2 or FgSCS7 resulted in markedly reduced hyphal growth. Fungicide sensitivity tests showed that the sphinganine C4-hydroxylase gene FgSUR2 deletion mutant (ΔFgSUR2) exhibited significantly increased susceptibility to azole fungicides. In addition, this mutant displayed a remarkable increase in cell membrane permeability. Importantly, ΔFgSUR2 was defective in deoxynivalenol (DON) toxisome formation, leading to dramatically decreased DON biosynthesis. Moreover, the deletion of FgSUR2 resulted in dramatically decreased virulence of the pathogen on host plants. Taken together, these results indicate that FgSUR2 plays an important role in regulating the susceptibility to azoles and virulence of F. graminearum.

Transmembrane topology of mammalian ORMDL proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum as revealed by the substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM™)

Sphingolipids are diverse lipids with essential, and occasionally opposing, functions in the cell and therefore tight control over biosynthesis is vital. Mechanisms governing this regulation are not understood. Initial steps in sphingolipid biosynthesis take place on the cytosolic face of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) is an ER-resident enzyme catalyzing the first-committed step in sphingolipid biosynthesis. Not surprisingly, SPT activity is tightly regulated. ORMDLs are ER-resident proteins recently identified as regulators of SPT activity. ORMDL proteins interact directly with SPT but the nature of this interaction is unknown. ORMDL protein sequences contain hydrophobic regions, yet algorithm-based predictions of transmembrane segments are highly ambiguous, making topology of this key regulator unclear. Here we report use of substituted cysteine accessibility to analyze topology of mammalian ORMDLs. We constructed multiple mutant ORMDLs, each containing a single cysteine strategically placed along the protein length. Combined use of selective membrane permeabilization with an impermeant cysteine modification reagent allowed us to assign transmembrane and cytosolic segments of ORMDL. We confirmed that mammalian ORMDL proteins transit the membrane four times, with amino- and carboxy termini facing the cytosol along with a large cytosolic loop. This model will allow us to determine details of the ORMDL-SPT interaction and identify regions acting as the "lipid sensor" to detect changes in cellular sphingolipid levels. We also observe that SPT and ORMDL are substantially resistant to extraction from membranes with non-ionic detergent, indirectly suggesting that both proteins reside in a specialized subdomain of the ER.

Orm/ORMDL proteins: Gate guardians and master regulators

Sphingolipids comprise a diverse family of lipids that perform multiple functions in both structure of cellular membranes and intra- and inter-cellular signaling. The diversity of this family is generated by an array of enzymes that produce individual classes and molecular species of family members and enzymes which catabolize those lipids for recycling pathways. However, all of these lipids begin their lives with a single step, the condensation of an amino acid, almost always serine, and a fatty acyl-CoA, almost always the 16-carbon, saturated fatty acid, palmitate. The enzyme complex that accomplishes this condensation is serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a membrane-bound component of the endoplasmic reticulum. This places SPT in the unique position of regulating the production of the entire sphingolipid pool. Understanding how SPT activity is regulated is currently a central focus in the field of sphingolipid biology. In this review we examine the regulation of SPT activity by a set of small, membrane-bound proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum, the Orms (in yeast) and ORMDLs (in vertebrates). We discuss what is known about how these proteins act as homeostatic regulators by monitoring cellular levels of sphingolipid, but also how the Orms/ORMDLs regulate SPT in response to other stimuli. Finally, we discuss the intriguing connection between one of the mammalian ORMDL isoforms, ORMDL3, and the pervasive pulmonary disease, asthma, in humans.

Membrane contact sites, ancient and central hubs of cellular lipid logistics

Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are regions where two organelles are closely apposed to facilitate molecular communication and promote a functional integration of compartmentalized cellular processes. There is growing evidence that MCSs play key roles in controlling intracellular lipid flows and distributions. Strikingly, even organelles connected by vesicular trafficking exchange lipids en bulk via lipid transfer proteins that operate at MCSs. Herein, we describe how MCSs developed into central hubs of lipid logistics during the evolution of eukaryotic cells. We then focus on how modern eukaryotes exploit MCSs to help solve a major logistical problem, namely to preserve the unique lipid mixtures of their early and late secretory organelles in the face of extensive vesicular trafficking. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Membrane Contact Sites edited by Christian Ungermann and Benoit Kornmann.

The histone deacetylase-6 inhibitor tubacin directly inhibits de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis as an off-target effect

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) controls acetylation of a number of cytosolic proteins, most prominently tubulin. Tubacin is a small molecule inhibitor of HDAC6 selected for its selective inhibition of HDAC6 relative to other histone deacetylases. For this reason it has become a useful pharmacological tool to discern the biological functions of HDAC6 in numerous cellular processes. The interest of this laboratory is in the function and regulation of sphingolipids, a family of lipids based on the sphingosine backbone. Sphingolipid biosynthesis is initiated by the rate limiting enzyme serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT). Sphingolipids have critical and diverse functions in cell survival, apoptosis, intra- and intercellular signaling, and in membrane structure. In the course of examining the role of HDAC6 in the regulation of sphingolipid biosynthesis we observed that tubacin strongly inhibited de novo synthesis whereas HDAC6 knockdown very moderately stimulated synthesis. We resolved these seemingly contradictory results by demonstrating that, surprisingly, tubacin is a direct inhibitor of SPT activity in permeabilized cells. Furthermore tubacin inhibits de novo sphingolipid synthesis in intact cells at doses commonly used to test HDAC6 function and does so in an HDAC6-independent manner. Niltubacin is a chemical analog of tubacin which lacks tubacin's HDAC6 activity, and so is often used as a control for off-target effects of tubacin. We find that niltubacin is inactive in the inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis, and so does not serve to distinguish the inhibitory effects of tubacin on HDAC6 from those on sphingolipid biosynthesis. These results indicate that caution should be used in the use of tubacin to study the role of HDAC6.

Biological functions of sphingomyelins. Prog Lipid Res. 2013;52:424-437. [PMID: 23684760 DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2013.05.001]

Sphingomyelin (SM) is a dominant sphingolipid in membranes of mammalian cells and this lipid class is specifically enriched in the plasma membrane, the endocytic recycling compartment, and the trans Golgi network. The distribution of SM and cholesterol among cellular compartments correlate. Sphingolipids have extensive hydrogen-bonding capabilities which together with their saturated nature facilitate the formation of sphingolipid and SM-enriched lateral domains in membranes. Cholesterol prefers to interact with SMs and this interaction has many important functional consequences. In this review, the synthesis, regulation, and intracellular distribution of SMs are discussed. The many direct roles played by membrane SM in various cellular functions and processes will also be discussed. These include involvement in the regulation of endocytosis and receptor-mediated ligand uptake, in ion channel and G-protein coupled receptor function, in protein sorting, and functioning as receptor molecules for various bacterial toxins, and for non-bacterial pore-forming toxins. SM is also an important constituent of the eye lens membrane, and is believed to participate in the regulation of various nuclear functions. SM is an independent risk factor in the development of cardiovascular disease, and new studies have shed light on possible mechanism behind its role in atherogenesis.