Phosphate Homeostasis - A Vital Metabolic Equilibrium Maintained Through the INPHORS Signaling Pathway.

Cells face major changes in demand for and supply of inorganic phosphate (Pi). Pi is often a limiting nutrient in the environment, particularly for plants and microorganisms. At the same time, the need for phosphate varies, establishing conflicts of goals. Cells experience strong peaks of Pi demand, e.g., during the S-phase, when DNA, a highly abundant and phosphate-rich compound, is duplicated. While cells must satisfy these Pi demands, they must safeguard themselves against an excess of Pi in the cytosol. This is necessary because Pi is a product of all nucleotide-hydrolyzing reactions. An accumulation of Pi shifts the equilibria of these reactions and reduces the free energy that they can provide to drive endergonic metabolic reactions. Thus, while Pi starvation may simply retard growth and division, an elevated cytosolic Pi concentration is potentially dangerous for cells because it might stall metabolism. Accordingly, the consequences of perturbed cellular Pi homeostasis are severe. In eukaryotes, they range from lethality in microorganisms such as yeast (Sethuraman et al., 2001; Hürlimann, 2009), severe growth retardation and dwarfism in plants (Puga et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2015; Wild et al., 2016) to neurodegeneration or renal Fanconi syndrome in humans (Legati et al., 2015; Ansermet et al., 2017). Intracellular Pi homeostasis is thus not only a fundamental topic of cell biology but also of growing interest for medicine and agriculture.

Multi-layered control of Galectin-8 mediated autophagy during adenovirus cell entry through a conserved PPxY motif in the viral capsid.

Cells employ active measures to restrict infection by pathogens, even prior to responses from the innate and humoral immune defenses. In this context selective autophagy is activated upon pathogen induced membrane rupture to sequester and deliver membrane fragments and their pathogen contents for lysosomal degradation. Adenoviruses, which breach the endosome upon entry, escape this fate by penetrating into the cytosol prior to autophagosome sequestration of the ruptured endosome. We show that virus induced membrane damage is recognized through Galectin-8 and sequesters the autophagy receptors NDP52 and p62. We further show that a conserved PPxY motif in the viral membrane lytic protein VI is critical for efficient viral evasion of autophagic sequestration after endosomal lysis. Comparing the wildtype with a PPxY-mutant virus we show that depletion of Galectin-8 or suppression of autophagy in ATG5-/- MEFs rescues infectivity of the PPxY-mutant virus while depletion of the autophagy receptors NDP52, p62 has only minor effects. Furthermore we show that wildtype viruses exploit the autophagic machinery for efficient nuclear genome delivery and control autophagosome formation via the cellular ubiquitin ligase Nedd4.2 resulting in reduced antigenic presentation. Our data thus demonstrate that a short PPxY-peptide motif in the adenoviral capsid permits multi-layered viral control of autophagic processes during entry.

Using AlphaScreen(®) to Identify Small-Molecule Inhibitors Targeting a Conserved Host-Pathogen Interaction.

AlphaScreen(®) is a technology particularly suitable for bi-molecular inhibitor screening assays, e.g. using protein-protein interactions with purified recombinant proteins. Each binding partner of the bi-molecular interaction is coupled either to donor or to acceptor beads. The technology is based on the quantifiable transfer of oxygen singlets from donor to acceptor microbeads brought together by a specific interaction between the partners. We identified the conserved interaction between WW domains of cellular ubiquitin ligases of the Nedd4 family and a short peptide motif (PPxY) present in several structural and non-structural viral proteins as a potential drug target. Using an AlphaScreen assay recapitulating the interaction between Nedd4.2 and the PPxY motif of the adenoviral capsid protein VI, we screened a library of small molecules and identified specific inhibitors of this interaction.

The amphipathic helix of adenovirus capsid protein VI contributes to penton release and postentry sorting.

UNLABELLED: Nuclear delivery of the adenoviral genome requires that the capsid cross the limiting membrane of the endocytic compartment and traverse the cytosol to reach the nucleus. This endosomal escape is initiated upon internalization and involves a highly coordinated process of partial disassembly of the entering capsid to release the membrane lytic internal capsid protein VI. Using wild-type and protein VI-mutated human adenovirus serotype 5 (HAdV-C5), we show that capsid stability and membrane rupture are major determinants of entry-related sorting of incoming adenovirus virions. Furthermore, by using electron cryomicroscopy, as well as penton- and protein VI-specific antibodies, we show that the amphipathic helix of protein VI contributes to capsid stability by preventing premature disassembly and deployment of pentons and protein VI. Thus, the helix has a dual function in maintaining the metastable state of the capsid by preventing premature disassembly and mediating efficient membrane lysis to evade lysosomal targeting. Based on these findings and structural data from cryo-electron microscopy, we suggest a refined disassembly mechanism upon entry. IMPORTANCE: In this study, we show the intricate connection of adenovirus particle stability and the entry-dependent release of the membrane-lytic capsid protein VI required for endosomal escape. We show that the amphipathic helix of the adenovirus internal protein VI is required to stabilize pentons in the particle while coinciding with penton release upon entry and that release of protein VI mediates membrane lysis, thereby preventing lysosomal sorting. We suggest that this dual functionality of protein VI ensures an optimal disassembly process by balancing the metastable state of the mature adenovirus particle.