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Summary Artificial cells can shed new light on the molecular basis for life and hold potential for new chemical technologies. Inspired by how nature dynamically regulates its membrane compartments, we aim to repurpose the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) to generate complex membrane architectures as suitable scaffolds for artificial cells. Purified ESCRT-III components perform topological transformations on giant unilamellar vesicles to create complex “vesicles-within-a-vesicle” architectures resembling the compartmentalization in eukaryotic cells. Thus far, the proposed mechanisms for this activity are based on how assembly and disassembly of ESCRT-III on the membrane drives deformation. Here we demonstrate the existence of a negative feedback mechanism from membrane mechanics that regulates ESCRT-III remodeling activity. Intraluminal vesicle (ILV) formation removes excess membrane area, increasing tension, which in turn suppresses downstream ILV formation. This mechanism for in vitro regulation of ESCRT-III activity may also have important implications for its in vivo functions., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • ESCRT proteins are used to create compartmentalized artificial cell architectures • In vitro ESCRT activity is weakly dependent on the stoichiometry of Vps20 or Vps24 • ESCRT function is strongly regulated by membrane tension • Membrane tension provides a negative feedback mechanism to attenuate remodeling, Biochemistry; Bioengineering; Cell Biology; Biophysics

Thaller et al. demonstrate that direct binding between phosphatidic acid (PA) and the ESCRT Chm7 is required for nuclear envelope surveillance; PA also accumulates at nuclear envelope herniations. Thus, tight control of PA metabolism is required for nuclear envelope homeostasis., Mechanisms that control nuclear membrane remodeling are essential to maintain the integrity of the nucleus but remain to be fully defined. Here, we identify a phosphatidic acid (PA)–binding capacity in the nuclear envelope (NE)–specific ESCRT, Chm7, in budding yeast. Chm7’s interaction with PA-rich membranes is mediated through a conserved hydrophobic stretch of amino acids, which confers recruitment to the NE in a manner that is independent of but required for Chm7’s interaction with the LAP2-emerin-MAN1 (LEM) domain protein Heh1 (LEM2). Consistent with the functional importance of PA binding, mutation of this region abrogates recruitment of Chm7 to membranes and abolishes Chm7 function in the context of NE herniations that form during defective nuclear pore complex (NPC) biogenesis. In fact, we show that a PA sensor specifically accumulates within these NE herniations. We suggest that local control of PA metabolism is important for ensuring productive NE remodeling and that its dysregulation may contribute to pathologies associated with defective NPC assembly.

Mechanisms that control nuclear membrane remodeling are essential to maintain the integrity of the nucleus but remain to be fully defined. Here, we identify a phosphatidic acid (PA)-binding activity in the nuclear envelope-specific ESCRT, Chm7, in budding yeast. PA-binding is mediated through a conserved hydrophobic stretch of amino acids, which confers specific binding to the inner nuclear membrane (INM). This INM-binding is independent but nonetheless required for interaction with the LAP2-emerin-MAN1 (LEM) domain protein, Heh1 (LEM2). Consistent with the functional importance of PA-binding, mutation of this region inhibits recruitment of Chm7 to the INM and abolishes Chm7 function in the context of nuclear envelope herniations or “blebs” that form during defective nuclear pore complex (NPC) biogenesis. In fact, we show that PA accumulates at nuclear envelope herniations. We suggest that local control of PA metabolism is important for ensuring productive nuclear envelope remodeling and that its dysregulation may contribute to pathologies associated with defective NPC assembly.

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) organises in supramolecular structures on the surface of lipid bilayers to drive membrane invagination and scission of intraluminal vesicles (ILVs), a process also controlled by membrane mechanics. However, ESCRT association with the membrane is also mediated by electrostatic interactions with anionic phospholipids. Phospholipid distribution within natural biomembranes is inhomogeneous due to, for example, the formation of lipid rafts and curvature-driven lipid sorting. Here, we have used phase-separated giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) to investigate the link between phosphatidylserine (PS)-rich lipid domains and ESCRT activity. We employ GUVs composed of phase separating lipid mixtures, where unsaturated DOPS and saturated DPPS lipids are incorporated individually or simultaneously to enhance PS localisation in liquid disordered (Ld) and/or liquid ordered (Lo) domains, respectively. PS partitioning between the coexisting phases is confirmed by a fluorescent Annexin V probe. Ultimately, we find that ILV generation promoted by ESCRTs is significantly enhanced when PS lipids localise within Ld domains. However, the ILVs that form are rich in Lo lipids. We interpret this surprising observation as preferential recruitment of the Lo phase beneath the ESCRT complex due to its increased rigidity, where the Ld phase is favoured in the neck of the resultant buds to facilitate the high membrane curvature in these regions of the membrane during the ILV formation process. Ld domains offer lower resistance to membrane bending, demonstrating a mechanism by which the composition and mechanics of membranes can be coupled to regulate the location and efficiency of ESCRT activity.

The dynamins represent a superfamily of proteins that have been shown to function in a wide range of membrane fusion and fission events. An increasing number of mutations in the human classical dynamins, Dyn-1 and Dyn-2 has been reported, with diseases caused by these changes ranging from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder to epileptic encephalopathies. The budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae expresses a single dynamin-related protein that functions in membrane trafficking, and is considered to play a similar role to Dyn-1 and Dyn-2 during scission of endocytic vesicles at the plasma membrane. Large parts of the dynamin protein are highly conserved across species and this has enabled us in this study to select a number of disease causing mutations and to generate equivalent mutations in Vps1. We have then studied these mutants using both cellular and biochemical assays to ascertain functions of the protein that have been affected by the changes. Specifically, we demonstrate that the Vps1-G397R mutation (Dyn-2 G358R) disrupts protein oligomerization, Vps1-A447T (Dyn-1 A408T) affects the scission stage of endocytosis, while Vps1-R298L (Dyn-1 R256L) affects lipid binding specificity and possibly an early stage in endocytosis. Overall, we consider that the yeast model will potentially provide an avenue for rapid analysis of new dynamin mutations in order to understand the underlying mechanisms that they disrupt.

The yeast dynamin-like protein Vps1 has roles at multiple stages of membrane trafficking including Golgi to vacuole transport, endosomal recycling, endocytosis and in peroxisomal fission. While the majority of the Vps1 amino acid sequence shows a high level of identity with the classical mammalian dynamins, it does not contain a pleckstrin homology domain (PH domain). The Dyn1 PH domain has been shown to bind to lipids with a preference for PI(4,5)P2 and it is considered central to the function of Dyn1 in endocytosis. The lack of a PH domain in Vps1 has raised questions as to whether the protein can function directly in membrane fusion or fission events. Here we demonstrate that the region Insert B, located in a position equivalent to the dynamin PH domain, is able to bind directly to lipids and that mutation of three lysine residues reduces its capacity to interact with lipids, and in particular with PI(4,5)P2. The Vps1 KKK-AAA mutant shows more diffuse staining but does still show some localization to compartments adjacent to vacuoles and to endocytic sites suggesting that other factors are also involved in its recruitment. This mutant selectively blocks endocytosis, but is functional in other processes tested. While mutant Vps1 can localise to endocytic sites, the mutation results in a significant increase in the lifetime of the endocytic reporter Sla2 and a high proportion of defective scission events. Together our data indicate that the lipid binding capacity of the Insert B region of Vps1 contributes to the ability of the protein to associate with membranes and that its capacity to interact with PI(4,5)P2 is important in facilitating endocytic scission.

Artificial cells can shed new light on the molecular basis for life and hold potential for new chemical technologies. Inspired by how nature dynamically regulates its membrane compartments, we aim to repurpose the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) to generate complex membrane architectures as suitable scaffolds for artificial cells. Purified ESCRT-III components perform topological transformations on giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) to create complex “vesicles-within-a-vesicle” architectures resembling the compartmentalisation in eukaryotic cells. Thus far, the proposed mechanisms for this activity are based on how assembly and disassembly of ESCRT-III on the membrane drives deformation. Here we demonstrate the existence of a negative feedback mechanism from membrane mechanics that regulates ESCRT-III activity. ILV formation removes excess membrane area, increasing tension, which in turn suppresses downstream ILV formation. This mechanism for in vitro regulation of ESCRT-III activity may also have important implications for its in vivo functions.

The complexity of eukaryotic cells is underscored by the compartmentalization of chemical signals by phospholipid membranes. A grand challenge of synthetic biology is building life from the ‘bottom-up’, for the purpose of generating systems simple enough to precisely interrogate biological pathways or for adapting biology to perform entirely novel functions. Achieving compartmentalization of chemistries in an addressable manner is a task exquisitely refined by nature and embodied in a unique membrane remodelling machinery that pushes membranes away from the cytosol, the ESCRT-III (endosomal sorting complex required for transport-III) complex. Here, we show efforts to engineer a single ESCRT-III protein merging functional features from its different components. The activity of such a designed ESCRT-III is shown by its ability to drive the formation of compartments encapsulating fluorescent cargo. It appears that the modular nature of ESCRT-III allows its functional repurposing into a minimal machinery that performs sophisticated membrane remodelling, therefore enabling its use to create eukaryotic-like multi-compartment architectures.

Magnesium chelatase (MgCH) initiates chlorophyll biosynthesis by catalysing the ATP-dependent insertion of Mg2+ into protoporphyrin. This large enzyme complex comprises ChlH, I and D subunits, with I and D involved in ATP hydrolysis, and H the protein that handles the substrate and product. The 148 kDa ChlH subunit has a globular N-terminal domain attached by a narrow linker to a hollow cage-like structure. Following deletion of this ~18 kDa domain from the Thermosynechoccus elongatus ChlH, we used single particle reconstruction to show that the apo- and porphyrin-bound forms of the mutant subunit consist of a hollow globular protein with three connected lobes; superposition of the mutant and native ChlH structures shows that, despite the clear absence of the N-terminal ‘head’ region, the rest of the protein appears to be correctly folded. Analyses of dissociation constants shows that the ΔN159ChlH mutant retains the ability to bind protoporphyrin and the Gun4 enhancer protein, although the addition of I and D subunits yields an extremely impaired active enzyme complex. Addition of the Gun4 enhancer protein, which stimulates MgCH activity significantly especially at low Mg2+ concentrations, partially reactivates the ΔN159ChlH–I–D mutant enzyme complex, suggesting that the binding site or sites for Gun4 on H do not wholly depend on the N-terminal domain., The N-terminal domain of the 148 kDa ChlH is essential for normal activity of the ChlH–I–D magnesium chelatase complex. Deleting this 18 kDa domain retains the hollow cage-like structure and porphyrin binding. Chelatase activity is partially restored by the Gun4 protein.

The biosynthesis of chlorophyll, an essential cofactor for photosynthesis, requires the ATP-dependent insertion of Mg(2+) into protoporphyrin IX catalyzed by the multisubunit enzyme magnesium chelatase. This enzyme complex consists of the I subunit, an ATPase that forms a complex with the D subunit, and an H subunit that binds both the protoporphyrin substrate and the magnesium protoporphyrin product. In this study we used electron microscopy and small-angle x-ray scattering to investigate the structure of the magnesium chelatase H subunit, ChlH, from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus. Single particle reconstruction of negatively stained apo-ChlH and Chl-porphyrin proteins was used to reconstitute three-dimensional structures to a resolution of ∼30 Å. ChlH is a large, 148-kDa protein of 1326 residues, forming a cage-like assembly comprising the majority of the structure, attached to a globular N-terminal domain of ∼16 kDa by a narrow linker region. This N-terminal domain is adjacent to a 5 nm-diameter opening in the structure that allows access to a cavity. Small-angle x-ray scattering analysis of ChlH, performed on soluble, catalytically active ChlH, verifies the presence of two domains and their relative sizes. Our results provide a basis for the multiple regulatory and catalytic functions of ChlH of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms and for a chaperoning function that sequesters the enzyme-bound magnesium protoporphyrin product prior to its delivery to the next enzyme in the chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway, magnesium protoporphyrin methyltransferase.

The family of dynamin proteins is known to function in many eukaryotic membrane fusion and fission events. The yeast dynamin-related protein Vps1 functions at several stages of membrane trafficking, including Golgi apparatus to endosome and vacuole, peroxisomal fission, and endocytic scission. We have previously shown that in its endocytic role, Vps1 functions with the amphiphysin heterodimer Rvs161/Rvs167 to facilitate scission and release of vesicles. Phosphoproteome studies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have identified a phosphorylation site in Vps1 at serine 599. In this study, we confirmed this phosphorylation event, and we reveal that, like Rvs167, Vps1 can be phosphorylated by the yeast cyclin-associated kinase Pho85 in vivo and in vitro. The importance of this posttranslational modification was revealed when mutagenesis of S599 to a phosphomimetic or nonphosphorylatable form caused defects in endocytosis but not in other functions associated with Vps1. Mutation to nonphosphorylatable valine inhibited the Rvs167 interaction, while both S599V and S599D caused defects in vesicle scission, as shown by both live-cell imaging and electron microscopy of endocytic invaginations. Our data support a model in which phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of Vps1 promote distinct interactions and highlight the importance of such regulatory events in facilitating sequential progression of the endocytic process.

Summary Actin is critical for endocytosis in yeast cells, and also in mammalian cells under tension. However, questions remain as to how force generated through actin polymerization is transmitted to the plasma membrane to drive invagination and scission. Here, we reveal that the yeast dynamin Vps1 binds and bundles filamentous actin. Mutational analysis of Vps1 in a helix of the stalk domain identifies a mutant RR457-458EE that binds actin more weakly. In vivo analysis of Vps1 function demonstrates that the mutation disrupts endocytosis but not other functions of Vps1 such as vacuolar trafficking or peroxisome fission. The mutant Vps1 is stably expressed in cells and co-localizes with the endocytic reporters Abp1 and the amphiphysin Rvs167. Detailed analysis of individual endocytic patch behavior indicates that the mutation causes aberrant movements in later stages of endocytosis, consistent with a scission defect. Ultrastructural analysis of yeast cells using electron microscopy reveals a significant increase in invagination depth, further supporting a role for the Vps1-actin interaction during scission. In vitro analysis of the mutant protein demonstrates that—like wild-type Vps1—it is able to form oligomeric rings, but, critically, it has lost its ability to bundle actin filaments into higher-order structures. A model is proposed in which actin filaments bind Vps1 during invagination, and this interaction is important to transduce the force of actin polymerization to the membrane to drive successful scission., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Yeast dynamin Vps1 forms oligomeric rings that bind and bundle F-actin in vitro • Mutations in the Vps1 stalk region disrupt actin binding and bundling • The Vps1 RR-EE actin binding mutant has defects in endocytic scission in vivo, Palmer et al. reveal that the yeast dynamin Vps1 is able to form oligomeric rings that can directly interact with and bundle F-actin. Defects in the Vps1-actin interaction confer endocytic scission defects in vivo.

The first committed step in chlorophyll biosynthesis is catalysed by magnesium chelatase (E.C. 6.6.1.1), which uses the free energy of ATP hydrolysis to insert an Mg2+ ion into the ring of protoporphyrin IX. We have characterized magnesium chelatase from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus. This chelatase is thermostable, with subunit melting temperatures between 55 and 63°C and optimal activity at 50°C. The T. elongatus chelatase (kcat of 0.16 μM/min) shows a Michaelis–Menten-type response to both Mg2+ (Km of 2.3 mM) and MgATP2− (Km of 0.8 mM). The response to porphyrin is more complex; porphyrin inhibits at high concentrations of ChlH, but when the concentration of ChlH is comparable with the other two subunits the response is of a Michaelis–Menten type (at 0.4 μM ChlH, Km is 0.2 μM). Hybrid magnesium chelatases containing a mixture of subunits from the mesophilic Synechocystis and Thermosynechococcus enzymes are active. We generated all six possible hybrid magnesium chelatases; the hybrid chelatase containing Thermosynechococcus ChlD and Synechocystis ChlI and ChlH is not co-operative towards Mg2+, in contrast with the Synechocystis magnesium chelatase. This loss of co-operativity reveals the significant regulatory role of Synechocystis ChlD.

Vps1 is the yeast dynamin-like protein that functions during several membrane trafficking events including traffic from Golgi to vacuole, endosomal recycling and endocytosis. Vps1 can also function in peroxisomal fission indicating that its ability to drive membrane fission is relatively promiscuous. It has been of interest therefore that several mutations have been identified in Vps1 that only disrupt its endocytic function. Most recently, disruption of the interaction with actin through mutation of residues in one of the central stalk α helices (RR457,458 EE) has been shown to disrupt endocytosis and cause an accumulation of highly elongated invaginations in cells. This data supports the idea that an interaction between Vps1 and actin is important to drive the scission stage in endocytosis. Another Vps1 mutant generated in the study was vps1 E461K. Here we show data demonstrating that the E461K mutation also disrupts endocytosis but at an early stage, resulting in inhibition of the invagination step itself.