RESEARCH ARTICLE Ceapins block the unfolded protein response sensor ATF6a by inducing a neomorphic inter-organelle tether Sandra Elizabeth Torres1,2,3, Ciara M Gallagher2,3†‡, Lars Plate4,5†, Meghna Gupta2, Christina R Liem1,3, Xiaoyan Guo6,7, Ruilin Tian6,7, Robert M Stroud2, Martin Kampmann6,7, Jonathan S Weissman1,3*, Peter Walter2,3* 1Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; 2Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; 3Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; 4Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States; 5Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States; 6Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; 7Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, United States *For correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract The unfolded protein response (UPR) detects and restores deficits in the endoplasmic (JSW); a
[email protected] (PW) reticulum (ER) protein folding capacity. Ceapins specifically inhibit the UPR sensor ATF6 , an ER- tethered transcription factor, by retaining it at the ER through an unknown mechanism. Our † These authors contributed genome-wide CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) screen reveals that Ceapins function is completely equally to this work dependent on the ABCD3 peroxisomal transporter. Proteomics studies establish that ABCD3 Present address: ‡Cairn physically associates with ER-resident ATF6a in cells and in vitro in a Ceapin-dependent manner. Biosciences, San Francisco, Ceapins induce the neomorphic association of ER and peroxisomes by directly tethering the United States cytosolic domain of ATF6a to ABCD3’s transmembrane regions without inhibiting or depending on Competing interests: The ABCD3 transporter activity.