Publications by authors named "Chase Amos"

BLTP2/KIAA0100, a bridge-like lipid transfer protein, was reported to localize at contacts of the ER with either the plasma membrane (PM) or recycling tubular endosomes depending on the cell type. Our findings suggest that mediating bulk lipid transport between the ER and the PM is a key function of this protein, as BLTP2 tethers the ER to tubular endosomes only after they become continuous with the PM and that it also tethers the ER to macropinosomes in the process of fusing with the PM. We further identify interactions underlying binding of BLTP2 to the PM, including phosphoinositides, the adaptor proteins FAM102A/FAM102B, and N-BAR domain proteins at membrane-connected tubules.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

BLTP2/KIAA0100, a bridge-like lipid transfer protein, was reported to localize at contacts of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) with either the plasma membrane (PM) or recycling tubular endosomes depending on the cell type. Our findings suggest that mediating bulk lipid transport between the ER and the PM is a key function of this protein as BLTP2 tethers the ER to tubular endosomes only after they become continuous with the PM and that it also tethers the ER to macropinosomes in the process of fusing with the PM. We further identify interactions underlying binding of BLTP2 to the PM, including phosphoinositides, the adaptor proteins FAM102A and FAM102B, and also N-BAR domain proteins at membrane-connected tubules.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mutations of the bridge-like lipid transport protein VPS13A and the lipid scramblase XK result in Chorea Acanthocytosis (ChAc) and McLeod syndrome (MLS), respectively, two similar conditions involving neurodegeneration and deformed erythrocytes (acanthocytes). VPS13A binds XK, suggesting a model in which VPS13A forms a lipid transport bridge between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM), where XK resides. However, studies of VPS13A in HeLa and COS7 cells showed that this protein localizes primarily at contacts of the ER with mitochondria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Insulin secretion depends on the Ca-regulated fusion of granules with the plasma membrane. A recent model of Ca-triggered exocytosis in secretory cells proposes that lipids in the plasma membrane couple the calcium sensor Syt1 to the membrane fusion machinery (Kiessling , 2018). Specifically, Ca-mediated binding of Syt1's C2 domains to the cell membrane shifts the membrane-anchored SNARE syntaxin-1a to a more fusogenic conformation, straightening its juxtamembrane linker.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In mammals, the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) receives input from vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSN) which detect pheromones, chemical cues released by animals to regulate the physiology or behaviors of other animals of the same species. Cytoarchitecturally, cells within the AOB are segregated into a glomerular layer (GL), mitral cell layer (MCL), and granule cell layer (GCL). While the cells and circuitry of these layers has been well studied, the molecular mechanism underlying the assembly of such circuitry in the mouse AOB remains unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF