1. Introduction
Proper cytosolic pH homeostasis is crucial for yeast survival, since protons (H
+) in the cytosol act not only as facilitators for a series of cellular activities but also as potent second messengers in a variety of physiological programs, such as growth, development, and stress responses [
1]. pH homeostasis is tightly related to nutrient signaling, and nutrient supply can regulate cytosolic pH homeostasis [
2]. For instance, when glucose is added to the cultures with carbon-starved budding yeast (
Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells, the cytosol initially acidification before becoming more alkaline, which might be caused by glucose glycolysis leading to the release of H
+ (acidification), followed by H
+ extrusion by the plasma membrane H
+-ATPase (Pma1) (alkalinization) [
3]. Phosphate metabolism in yeast cells is interconnected with intracellular pH, since the uptake of inorganic phosphate, its subsequent intracellular distribution, and its conversion into polyphosphates (PolyP) are dependent on intracellular pH homeostasis; moreover, polyphosphate metabolism contributes to the regulation of cytosolic pH [
4]. In addition to functions in nutrient signaling, cytosolic pH homeostasis also plays a role in protein trafficking along the yeast secretory pathway: aberrant cytosolic pH can lead to the mislocalization of plasma membrane proteins, such as Pma1 [
5]. The yeast strain
Debaryomyces hansenii is better able to regulate pH and exhibits a better ability to cope with NaCl stress than
Saccharomyces cerevisiae [
6].
Pma1 localized to the plasma membrane is the primary determinant of cytosolic pH by pumping cytoplasmic H
+ out of the cell while also creating the necessary electrochemical gradient for H
+-coupled nutrient solute uptake, making Pma1 an essential component of multiple cellular physiological activities in yeast cells [
7]. Glucose stimulates Pma1 activity and is a carbon source for yeast growth [
8]. Budding yeast grown in glucose-limited conditions displays decreased Pma1 activity and depolarized membrane potential with an acidic cytosolic environment, suggesting that Pma1 has an essential role in the coordination of cellular pH and metabolism [2, 9]. Pma1-mediated regulation of cytosolic pH also generates a potential second messenger of glucose availability in the form of H
+ to conserve energy in the face of environmental stress [
2]. In response to glucose supply, the C-terminal tail of Pma1 is a major site of regulation via phosphorylation on Ser/Thr residues, thereby alleviating the autoinhibition imposed by this region on Pma1 activity in glucose-starved yeast cells; the identity of the protein kinases that phosphorylate Pma1 is still not clear [2, 10]. Pma1 is also a key element involved in promoting target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) activation in response to H
+-coupled nutrient uptake [
11], and plays an essential role in PolyP metabolism [
12]. Besides nutrient signaling, Pma1 in budding yeast is also involved in various stress responses, such as exposure to weak acids, reactive oxygen species production, and ethanol treatment [
13]. Studies of the replicative lifespan of budding yeast showed that endocytic genes such as
vacuolar protein sorting 8 (
Vps8),
Vps9, and
Vps21 are important for Pma1 accumulation in mother cells during cell division, although Pma1 accumulation in mother cells does not reflect the age of mother cells [
14]. As Pma1 function is essential for yeast growth, pharmacological drugs have been designed for use in humans using Pma1 as an antifungal target [
15].
Vacuolar H
+-ATPase (V-ATPase) usually acts in close coordination with Pma1 to regulate cellular pH [
1]. V-ATPase is a highly conserved H
+ pump that translocates H
+ from the cytosol to the vacuolar compartment, thereby regulating the luminal acidification of multiple biosynthetic and endocytic organelles in various cellular responses, such as vesicle trafficking and pH homeostasis [
16]. V-ATPase acts interdependently with Pma1 in pH regulation and yeast growth [17-19]. Upon addition of glucose to glucose-deprived yeast cells, the transient cytosolic acidification and a subsequent alkanization of cytosolic pH is delayed in the mutant strains
vacuolar membrane atpase3 (
vma3Δ) and
vacuolar pH1 (
vph1Δ) lacking vacuolar H
+-ATPase activity, which are defective in the regulation of vacuolar pH [
20]. The ubiquitin ligase reverses Spt-phenotype5 (Rsp5) and the arrestin-related adaptor protein regulator of IME2 8 (Rim8) mediate the ubiquitination, internalization, and degradation of Pma1 in
vma mutants to balance overall pH [
18]. The cross-talk between V-ATPase and Pma1 offered a functional basis for exploring the compensatory downregulation of Pma1 in V-ATPase mutant strains, resulting in the isolation of the two phosphatases calcium-responsive calcineurin and glucose-sensitive phosphatase glycogen 7 (Glc7), which is essential for ubiquitination and endocytic downregulation of Pma1 when V-ATPase activity is compromised [
19].
Although the compensatory ubiquitination, internalization, and degradation of Pma1 have been uncovered and largely studied in yeast cells when V-ATPase is defective, whether a similar compensatory mechanism exists in yeast cells lacking Pma1 activity is unknown. Here, we report on the identification of the two arrestin genes arrestin-like yeast protein1 (Aly1) and Aly2 based on their negative synthetic genetic interactions with Pma1 deficient mutants. We demonstrate that Aly1 and Aly2 serve as modulators of cytoplasmic pH when Pma1 is deficient in yeast.
3. Discussion
Aly1 and Aly2 belong to the α-arrestin family of proteins, which comprises 14 members in budding yeast. This family serves as trafficking adaptor proteins in the regulation of signal-induced PM protein endocytosis and intracellular sorting of nutrient permeases [24, 25]. α-arrestins are also named arrestin-related trafficking adaptors (ARTs); Aly1 is also called Art6, and Aly2 is also called Art3. ARTs possess PY motifs that can interact with the WW domain of the ubiquitin ligase Rsp5 to form various ART-Rsp5 complexes [26, 27]. ART-Rsp5 complexes play key roles in the regulation of the composition of PM proteins through endocytosis and recycling. For example, the resistance to O-dinitrobenzene 1 (Rod1)-Rsp5 complex regulates endocytosis and recycling of Jen1 (a yeast monocarboxylate transporter) in response to glucose addition and glucose removal, respectively [
28]. The regulation of the ART-Rsp5 is complex and coordinated, as is that of the endocytosis of amino acid transporters (AATs), which is activated by the Art2-Rsp5 complex through interaction between the basic patch of Art2 and the C-terminal acidic sorting motifs of AATs during amino acid starvation and also activated by the Art1-Rsp5 complex through the interaction of Art1 and the N-terminal acidic sorting motifs of the same AATs under amino acid-replete conditions [
29].
Aly2 localizes to both the PM and the internal compartments of endosomes and
trans-Golgi network (TGN), and its paralog Aly1 localizes to the internal compartments. Aly1 and Aly2 regulate PM endocytosis and intracellular trafficking in response to various cues. Both proteins can bind directly to the y-subunit of the clathrin adaptor AP-1, Apl4, and regulate the intracellular sorting of Gap1, a general amino acid permease, thus mediating Gap1 trafficking from the TGN to the endosome/vacuole under nitrogen-replete conditions and Gap1 recycling from endosomal compartments back to the TGN and/or the PM to under nitrogen-starvation conditions [
27]. Aly1 and Aly2 mediate the endocytosis of Dip5 (dicarboxylic amino acid permease 5), an aspartic acid/glutamic acid transporter [
24]. The dephosphorylation of Aly1 by calcineurin is required for the internalization of Dip5 from the PM to the vacuole but not for the intracellular sorting of Gap1 [
25]. Besides nutrient transporters, Aly2 is also involved in the endocytosis of Acr3, an arsenite and antimonite transporter, to promote Acr3 proteolysis in the vacuole [
30]. Aly1 and Aly2 can also promote K
+ inwardly rectifying channel in mammals (Kir2.1) trafficking to the PM and enhance intracellular potassium levels in a yeast model [
31]. In our study, the loss of Aly1 or Aly2 function caused a rise in intracellular pH and rescued yeast growth when Pma1 was deficient. The protein composition at the PM is tightly regulated in response to various physiological environments to maintain intracellular homeostasis of ions, nutrients, and pH. Although the regulatory role of Aly1 and Aly2 was partially uncovered here, their detailed function and mechanism in pH homeostasis regulation is still unknown. Whether the increased endocytosis of nutrient transporters from the PM or the decreased recycling of these nutrient transporters back to the PM is affected by the loss of Aly1 and Aly2 needs investigation.
Lower intracellular pH can regulate phospholipid metabolism when yeast cells are cultured in glucose-starvation conditions, which is accomplished by the binding of a pH biosensor, phosphatidic acid (PA), to overproducer of inositol 1 (Opi1) to further repress phospholipid metabolic genes [
32]. Besides intracellular pH, Aly1 and Aly2 may also participate in the regulation of lipid metabolism. Aly1 and Aly2 regulate the trafficking of glycerophosphoinositol 1 (Git1), a transporter for glycerophosphoinositol (GPI), and the loss of Aly1 and Aly2 function might influence the phosphoinositol (PI) balance, such as by increasing phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PI3P) on the limiting membrane of the vacuole [
33]. A change in the composition of membrane lipids might influence the trafficking of membrane proteins. Some nutrient proteins are clustered at the PM in sphingolipid- and ergosterol-rich membrane compartments occupied by Can1 (MCCs) and respond to their substrates by conformational changes and lateral movement from the MCCs to surrounding lipid domains, leading to their endocytosis [
26]. How the composition of lipids might have changed following the loss of Aly1 or Aly2 function in the absence of Pma1, and whether the loss of Aly1 or Aly2 function rescues intracellular pH homeostasis through regulating the lipid balance, need further study.
Since Pma1 and V-ATPase act interdependently in the regulation of intracellular pH, V-ATPase is thought to be regulated to balance intracellular pH. When V-ATPase is deficient, Pma1 is degraded through the Rim8-Rsp5 complex to balance intracellular pH [
18]. However, whether and how vacuolar H
+-ATPase is regulated to balance intracellular pH when Pma1 is defective has not been reported yet. Pma1 and V-ATPase act coordinately in response to various cues, such as glucose-replete or -deprivation conditions. When glucose supply is sufficient, intracellular pH decreases, which leads to the activation of Pma1 to pump protons out of the cell but also leads to the activation of V-ATPase through the assembly of the V1 and Vo subunits to pump protons into the vacuole [
7]. However, when glucose is depleted, Pma1 becomes inactive and the V1 and Vo subunits of V-ATPase separate to decrease V-ATPase activity [
7]. The activation of V-ATPase is dependent on external pH, as rapid vacuole acidification can be observed at external pH 5.0 while alkalinization at external pH 7.0 [
9]. In our study, the deficient function of Pma1 resulted in a lower pH in the cytosol; whether V-ATPase activity can be stimulated by the observed lower intracellular pH in the absence of Pma1 function is unknown. 3,5-bisphosphate (PI(3,5)P
2) plays a critical role in activating V-ATPase activity in response to salt stress [
34], and the loss of Aly1 or Aly2 function results in increased accumulation of PI3P [
33], which can be converted to PI(3,5)P
2. These studies offer a clue that the loss of Aly1 or Aly2 function in cells lacking Pma1 activity might partially rescue the intracellular pH homeostasis by stimulating V-ATPase activity through the modulation of lipid composition.