Tag Archives: endocytosis

Role of the heparin-binding domain in intracellular trafficking of sHB-EGF

O. I. Krynina, K. Yu. Manoilov, D. V. Kolybo, S. V. Komisarenko

Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: olyakrynina@gmail.com

Received: 11 July 2018; Accepted: 17 May 2019

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a member of the epidermal growth factor fami­ly that was proven as a potent mitogen and chemoattractant. HB-EGF mediated EGFR activation is a key event in the stimulation of gene expression, cell migration and proliferation during both normal and pathogenic physiological processes. The main goal of this research was to reveal the role of the heparin-binding domain of HB-EGF in the ligand-receptor formation and its further internalization to the cytoplasm. We used fluorescently-labeled recombinant derivative of soluble HB-EGF and its truncated form (sHB-EGFΔ84–106) with deletion of the heparin-binding domain. Firstly, the binding kinetics of two forms of sHB-EGF to its cell surface receptors was determined using flow cytometry. To determine how the absence of heparin-binding domain in the structure of HB-EGF affects its internalization, we analyzed the endocytosis process of EGFP-sHB-EGFΔ84–106 and EGFP-sHB-EGF complexes by confocal microscopy. It was found that the full-size form of HB-EGF is characterized by a lower intensity of translocation to the cytoplasm in comparison to HBD-deleted form. Thus, differences in the trafficking of the full-size or truncated forms of sHB-EGF in the cell cytoplasm may reflect the mechanisms of extracellular matrix influence on the biological activity of sHB‑EGF.

Enhancement of internalization of diphtheria toxin recombinant fragments in sensitive cells mediated by toxin’s T-domain

K. Yu. Manoilov, A. J. Labyntsev, N. V. Korotkevych, D. V. Kolybo

Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: manoilovmail@gmail.com

Subunit B of diphtheria toxin (DT) and its R-domain differ by the presence of T-domain. The aim of the present work was to analyze the interaction of these toxin fragments with mammalian cells in order to evaluate the T-domain’s influence on endocytosis in resistant cells. Internalization of recombinant fluorescent subunit B and R-domain was characterized in toxin-resistant L929 cells derived from mouse connective tissue and toxin-sensitive Vero cells from African green monkey kidney. It was found that during incubation of cells in the presence of both subunit B and R-domain in the culture medium, Vero cells internalize more molecules of subunit B than of R-domain. Under the same conditions, L929 cells internalize more molecules of R-domain than of subunit B. Colocalization of fluorescent subunit B and R-domain in L929 was rapid and proceeded almost completely at the early period of incubation compared to Vero cells in which it was slow and occurred gradually. The obtained data suggest that T-domain affects internalization and endosomal transport of DT in cells indirectly correlated with their toxin sensitivity. It was concluded that T-domain participates in intracellular endosomal transport and sorting of DT only in toxin-sensitive cells by enhancing the internalization of toxin molecules.

Effect of diphtheria toxin T-domain on endosomal pH

A. J. Labyntsev, N. V. Korotkevych, D. V. Kolybo, S. V. Komisarenko

Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: lab.andrey@gmail.com

A key step in the mode of cytotoxic action of diphtheria toxin (DT) is the transfer of its catalytic domain (Cd) from endosomes into the cytosol. The main activity in this process is performed by the transport domain (Td), but the molecular mechanism of its action remains unknown. We have previously shown that Td can have some influence on the endosomal transport of DT. The aim of this work was to study the effect of diphtheria toxin on the toxin compartmentalization in the intracellular transporting pathway and endosomal pH. We used recombinant fragments of DT, which differed only by the presence of Td in their structure, fused with fluorescent proteins. It was shown that the toxin fragment with Td moved slower by the pathway early-late endosomes-lysosomes, and had a slightly different pattern of colocalization with endosomal markers than DT fragment without Td. In addition, endosomes containing DT fragments with Td had a constant pH of about 6.5 from the 10th to 50th minute of observation, for the same time endosomes containing DT fragments without Td demons­trated a decrease in pH from 6.3 to 5.5. These results indicate that Td inhibits acidification of endosomal medium. One of possible explanations for this may be the effect of the ion channel formed by the T-domain on the process of the endosomal acidification. This property of Td may not only inhibit maturation of endosomes but also inhibit activation of endosomal pH-dependent proteases, and this promotes successful transport of Cd into the cell cytosol.

Effect of the T-domain on intracellular transport of diphtheria toxin

А. J. Labyntsev, D. V. Kolybo, E. S. Yurchenko,
A. A. Kaberniuk, N. V. Korotkevych, S. V. Komisarenko

Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: lab.andrey@gmail.com

Subunit B of diphtheria toxin (DT), which consists of two domains: R (receptor-binding) and T (transmembrane), plays an important role in toxin-receptor binding on the cell-targets and in transportation of catalytic subunit A to the cell cytosol. Recombinant analogues of the subunit B are promising representatives in the unique class of transporting proteins, able to deliver different types of biologically active molecules to cell cytosol. In the development of these protein constructs understanding of the role of each of the DT fragments in determination of transporting pathways of endocytosed complex toxin-receptor is urgently required.
We have studied in this work the T-domain effect on intracellular transport of recombinant fragments of DT. We have compared intracellular transport of the R-domain and the subunit B, the last one consisted of both R-domain and T-domain. Recombinant fragments of DT used in this work were labeled with fluorescent proteins, which allowed applying colocalization technique for our study. Application of confocal microscopy technique revealed differences in transportation of recombinant derivates of DT in Vero cells: R domain moved faster than subunit B to tubular compartments. Analysis of R-domain and subunit B transportation confirmed almost linear increase of their colocalization with the time regarding to Pearsons correlation coefficient (PCC). However, amount of colocalized with R-domain subunit B were not linearly increased with time according to Manders coefficient (M1), this could indicate the ability of subunit B to transport to such compartments that R-domain do not reach. Possible role of the T-domain in intracellular transportation and compartmentalization of the toxin may be associated with the ability of the T-domain to form a proton channels and its ability to interact with COPI complex.