TL;DR: During stimulation the intracellular compartments of this synapse change shape and take up extracellular protein in a manner which indicates that synaptic vesicle membrane added to the surface during exocytosis is retrieved by coated vesicles and recycled into new synaptic vESicles by way of intermediate cisternae.
Abstract: When the nerves of isolated frog sartorius muscles were stimulated at 10 Hz, synaptic vesicles in the motor nerve terminals became transiently depleted. This depletion apparently resulted from a redistribution rather than disappearance of synaptic vesicle membrane, since the total amount of membrane comprising these nerve terminals remained constant during stimulation. At 1 min of stimulation, the 30% depletion in synaptic vesicle membrane was nearly balanced by an increase in plasma membrane, suggesting that vesicle membrane rapidly moved to the surface as it might if vesicles released their content of transmitter by exocytosis. After 15 min of stimulation, the 60% depletion of synaptic vesicle membrane was largely balanced by the appearance of numerous irregular membrane-walled cisternae inside the terminals, suggesting that vesicle membrane was retrieved from the surface as cisternae. When muscles were rested after 15 min of stimulation, cisternae disappeared and synaptic vesicles reappeared, suggesting that cisternae divided to form new synaptic vesicles so that the original vesicle membrane was now recycled into new synaptic vesicles. When muscles were soaked in horseradish peroxidase (HRP), this tracerfirst entered the cisternae which formed during stimulation and then entered a large proportion of the synaptic vesicles which reappeared during rest, strengthening the idea that synaptic vesicle membrane added to the surface was retrieved as cisternae which subsequently divided to form new vesicles. When muscles containing HRP in synaptic vesicles were washed to remove extracellular HRP and restimulated, HRP disappeared from vesicles without appearing in the new cisternae formed during the second stimulation, confirming that a one-way recycling of synaptic membrane, from the surface through cisternae to new vesicles, was occurring. Coated vesicles apparently represented the actual mechanism for retrieval of synaptic vesicle membrane from the plasma membrane, because during nerve stimulation they proliferated at regions of the nerve terminals covered by Schwann processes, took up peroxidase, and appeared in various stages of coalescence with cisternae. In contrast, synaptic vesicles did not appear to return directly from the surface to form cisternae, and cisternae themselves never appeared directly connected to the surface. Thus, during stimulation the intracellular compartments of this synapse change shape and take up extracellular protein in a manner which indicates that synaptic vesicle membrane added to the surface during exocytosis is retrieved by coated vesicles and recycled into new synaptic vesicles by way of intermediate cisternae.
TL;DR: It is shown here that epsin 1 directly modifies membrane curvature on binding to PtdIns(4,5)P2 in conjunction with clathrin polymerization, and it is proposed that this helix is inserted into one leaflet of the lipid bilayer, inducing curvature.
Abstract: Clathrin-mediated endocytosis involves cargo selection and membrane budding into vesicles with the aid of a protein coat. Formation of invaginated pits on the plasma membrane and subsequent budding of vesicles is an energetically demanding process that involves the cooperation of clathrin with many different proteins. Here we investigate the role of the brain-enriched protein epsin 1 in this process. Epsin is targeted to areas of endocytosis by binding the membrane lipid phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P(2)). We show here that epsin 1 directly modifies membrane curvature on binding to PtdIns(4,5)P(2) in conjunction with clathrin polymerization. We have discovered that formation of an amphipathic alpha-helix in epsin is coupled to PtdIns(4,5)P(2) binding. Mutation of residues on the hydrophobic region of this helix abolishes the ability to curve membranes. We propose that this helix is inserted into one leaflet of the lipid bilayer, inducing curvature. On lipid monolayers epsin alone is sufficient to facilitate the formation of clathrin-coated invaginations.
TL;DR: It is reported here that synaptojanin 1-deficient mice exhibit neurological defects and die shortly after birth, providing genetic evidence for a crucial role of phosphoinositide metabolism in synaptic vesicle recycling.
TL;DR: The functional interplay between the coated vesicle machinery and its cargo could ensure sorting fidelity and packaging efficiency and might enable modulation of vesicular trafficking in response to demand.
Abstract: Clathrin-coated vesicles were the first discovered and remain the most extensively characterized transport vesicles. They mediate endocytosis of transmembrane receptors and transport of newly synthesized lysosomal hydrolases from the trans-Golgi network to the lysosome. Cell-free assays for coat assembly, membrane binding, and coated vesicle budding have provided detailed functional and structural information about how the major coat constituents, clathrin and the adaptor protein complexes, interact with each other, with membranes, and with the sorting signals found on cargo molecules. Coat constituents not only serve to shape the budding vesicle, but also play a direct role in the packaging of cargo, suggesting that protein sorting and vesicle budding are functionally integrated. The functional interplay between the coated vesicle machinery and its cargo could ensure sorting fidelity and packaging efficiency and might enable modulation of vesicular trafficking in response to demand.
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that although clathrin coat assembly drives CCV formation, this fundamental reaction is modified by different regulatory proteins, depending on where CCVs are forming in the cell.
Abstract: There has recently been considerable progress in understanding the regulation of clathrin-coated vesicle (CCV) formation and function. These advances are due to the determination of the structure of a number of CCV coat components at molecular resolution and the identification of novel regulatory proteins that control CCV formation in the cell. In addition, pathways of (a) phosphorylation, (b) receptor signaling, and (c) lipid modification that influence CCV formation, as well as the interaction between the cytoskeleton and CCV transport pathways are becoming better defined. It is evident that although clathrin coat assembly drives CCV formation, this fundamental reaction is modified by different regulatory proteins, depending on where CCVs are forming in the cell. This regulatory difference likely reflects the distinct biological roles of CCVs at the plasma membrane and trans-Golgi network, as well as the distinct properties of these membranes themselves. Tissue-specific functions of CCVs require even more-specialized regulation and defects in these pathways can now be correlated with human diseases.