The Endosome Is a Master Regulator of Plasma Membrane Collagen Fibril Assembly
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bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.436925; this version posted March 25, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. The endosome is a master regulator of plasma membrane collagen fibril assembly 1Joan Chang*, 1Adam Pickard, 1Richa Garva, 1Yinhui Lu, 2Donald Gullberg and 1Karl E. Kadler* 1Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, Faculty of Biology, Medical and Health, University of Manchester, Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT UK, 2Department of Biomedicine and Center for Cancer Biomarkers, Norwegian Center of Excellence, University of Bergen, Norway. * Co-corresponding authors: JC email: [email protected] (orcid.org/0000-0002-7283- 9759); KEK email: [email protected] (orcid.org/0000-0003-4977-4683) Keywords: collagen-I, endocytosis, extracellular matrix, fibril, fibrillogenesis, integrin-a11, trafficking, VPS33b, [abstract] [149 word max] Collagen fibrils are the principal supporting elements in vertebrate tissues. They account for 25% of total protein mass, exhibit a broad range of size and organisation depending on tissue and stage of development, and can be under circadian clock control. Here we show that the remarkable dynamic pleomorphism of collagen fibrils is underpinned by a mechanism that distinguishes between collagen secretion and initiation of fibril assembly, at the plasma membrane. Collagen fibrillogenesis occurring at the plasma membrane requires vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) 33b (which is under circadian clock control), collagen-binding integrin-a11 subunit, and is reduced when endocytosis is inhibited. Fibroblasts lacking VPS33b secrete soluble collagen without assembling fibrils, whereas constitutive over-expression of VPS33b increases fibril number with loss of fibril rhythmicity. In conclusion, our study has identified the mechanism that switches secretion of collagen (without forming new fibrils) to new collagen fibril assembly, at the plasma membrane. A primary function of vertebrate cells is to synthesise the matrisome, which is an ensemble of 1000+ genes encoding extracellular matrix (ECM) and ECM-associated proteins 1. The ECM, which can account for up to 70% of the mass of vertebrates, is essential for metazoan development because it provides attachment sites for cell migration and provides biomechanical support and protection against crushing and tensile forces. However, synthesis of the matrisome is, in itself, insufficient to generate a functional ECM; scaffolding proteins, such as collagens, are assembled into defined numbers of elongated fibrils that are organised into precise three-dimensional architectures 2-4 to give tissues and organs their physical form, polarity, mechanical properties, and adaptability to environmental stimuli. Collagen fibrils are the largest (up to centimetres in length5) protein polymers in vertebrates and account for ~25% of total body protein mass 6. They exhibit a characteristic D- periodic axial banding pattern (where D = 67 nm) 7, are roughly circular in cross section, range in diameter from ~12 nm to ~500 nm 8, and grow in length from their two pointed tips 9,10. Studies in tendon and cartilage have shown that collagen fibrils are synthesised during development 4 and persist throughout life without turnover (in humans 11 and mice 12). Therefore, having the right number, length and organisation of collagen fibrils is critical for normal cell behaviour and tissue health. Collagen can be purified from tissues and reconstituted in neutral buffers to generate fibrils with the same D-periodicity as those that occur in vivo 7. However, the fibrils lack a preferred orientation and the control of fibril number and diameter distribution is lost. Collagen fibril length is difficult to ascertain, either in vivo or in vitro; therefore, it is unknown if the centimetre lengths that are attained in vivo are reproduced in vitro. Considering that collagen can self-assemble into fibrils, but that higher- order assemblies are lost in vitro, implies that cells exert control over the fibril assembly process to 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.436925; this version posted March 25, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. produce tissue-specific matrices. We hypothesised that the endosomal system, with its complex collection of vesicles trafficking between the Golgi and the plasma membrane, could contribute to such a mechanism. Support for this hypothesis comes from a previous report that the assembly of collagen fibrils is under the control of the circadian clock 13 and that vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) 33b (a regulator of SNARE-dependent membrane fusion in the endocytic pathway) is circadian clock regulated. VPS33b forms a distinct complex with VIPAS39 (also known as VIPAR) 14, and mutations in the VPS33B gene cause arthrogryposis-renal dysfunction-cholestasis (ARC) syndrome 15, with death usually occurring within the first year of birth with renal insufficiency, jaundice, multiple congenital anomalies, predisposition to infection, and failure to thrive 16. One proposed disease-causing mechanism is abnormal post-Golgi trafficking of lysyl hydroxylase 3 (LH3, PLOD3), which is essential for collagen homeostasis during development 17. Additional support for tight cellular control of collagen fibril formation comes from electron microscope observations of collagen fibrils at the plasma membrane of embryonic avian and rodent tendon fibroblasts 18,19. Here, one of the two tips of newly-formed collagen fibrils is enclosed within a plasma membrane invagination termed a fibripositor 20. The second tip protrudes into the extracellular matrix. One way in which cells could exert control over collagen fibrillogenesis is by separating initiation of fibril formation (nucleation at the plasma membrane) from longitudinal growth. Nucleation at the plasma membrane would give precise control of fibril number whereas propagation (involving either the proximal or distal tip) would contribute to tissue expansion. However, despite ultrastructural observations, direct mechanistic support for these observations was lacking. Here, we showed that cells lacking VPS33b did not exhibit fibripositors and could not assemble collagen fibrils, which was in contrast to control cells that exhibited fibripositors and assembled fibrils at their plasma membrane. Instead, VPS33B knockout cells secreted soluble collagen and accumulated collagen in intracellular puncta. Using a split-GFP approach, we showed that collagen-I and VPS33b were contained in vesicles below the plasma membrane. We showed using biotin-surface labelling that col5a1 (a critical chain of collagen-V) and integrin-a11 subunit (a collagen-binding integrin involved in collagen reorganisation 21) are absent from the surface of VPS33b knockout cells. Together, these results provide insights into the importance of the endosomal system in orchestrating and regulating the assembly of collagen fibrils at the plasma membrane. Results Collagen-I is endocytosed and reassembled into fibrils As a first experiment, we made Cy3 labelled collagen-I (Cy3-colI) using previously described methods 22 and incubated it with freshly isolated tail tendons for 3 days, then imaged the mid-section of the tendon (Figure 1A). Cells in tendon (nuclei marked with Hoechst stain) show a clear uptake of Cy3-colI within the cytoplasm (Figure 1A, yellow box and indicated by yellow arrowheads). Additionally, fibrillar Cy3 fluorescence signals that transverse between cells were also observed (Figure 1A, grey box and indicated by white arrows). Pulse-chase experiments were performed, where Cy3-colI was added to the tendons for 3 days, followed by 5FAM-colI for a further 2 days (Supplementary Figure 1A). The results confirmed that collagen-I can be taken up by cells regardless of the fluorophore used; additionally, there are distinct areas where only Cy3-positivity was observed (Supplementary 1A, yellow box). The persistence of Cy3-colI indicated that not all collagen endocytosed by cells is directed to degradation. 5FAM-positive fibril-like structures were also observed, suggesting that collagen-I taken up by cells is recycled to the matrix (Supplementary 1A, grey box). Next, we added Cy3-colI to 2 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.436925; this version posted March 25, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. cultured tendon fibroblasts. Immunofluorescence staining indicated co-localisation of endogenous collagen-I with Cy3-labelled collagen-I (Figure 1B). Therefore, endocytosed collagen can be repurposed into fibrils without being targeted for degradation. Taken together, these results demonstrated that exogenous collagen-I can be taken up by cells both in vitro and in tendon tissues ex vivo. We considered the possibility that the fluorescent fibril-like structures were the result of Cy3-colI attachment to pre-existing fibres in the extracellular matrix, or to spontaneous cell-free fibrillogenesis. Therefore, we incubated Cy3-colI at concentrations that spanned the 0.4 µg/mL critical concentration for cell-free in vitro fibril formation 23, in the presence and absence of cells (Figure 1C). In the absence of