{"title":"ARIES domains: functional signaling units of type I interferon responses.","authors":"Lauren M Landau, Jonathan C Kagan","doi":"10.1111/febs.70023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The innate immune system relies on a network of signaling proteins classified by shared domains, which serve as functional units that orchestrate inflammatory and host defensive activities. Within type I interferon (IFN) responses, the stimulator of interferon genes protein (STING), mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS), Toll-IL-1 receptor-resistance protein domain-containing adapter-inducing interferon-β (TRIF), Toll-like receptor adapter interacting with SLC15A4 on the lysosome (TASL), insulin receptor tyrosine kinase substrate protein of 53 kDa (IRSp53), and GEM interacting protein (GMIP) utilize a conserved pLxIS motif to recruit IRF family transcription factors. Notably, the pLxIS motif functions within a larger signaling unit, which is referred to here as an Activator of Interferon Expression via a pLxIS motif (ARIES) domain. ARIES domains consist of the pLxIS motif and adjacent kinase activation motifs that together drive IFN responses. This review explores how ARIES domains promote immune responses via shared and distinct signaling mechanisms, protein localization, and regulation of metabolic shifts, underscoring their evolutionary conservation and critical role in host defense.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Timur A Khasanov, Konstantin S Mineev, Aleksandr P Kalinovskii, Yuliya V Korolkova, Victor A Palikov, Yulia A Palikova, Igor A Dyachenko, Sergey A Kozlov, Yaroslav A Andreev, Dmitry I Osmakov
{"title":"Sea anemone Cys-ladder peptide Ms13-1 induces a pain response as a positive modulator of acid-sensing ion channel 1a.","authors":"Timur A Khasanov, Konstantin S Mineev, Aleksandr P Kalinovskii, Yuliya V Korolkova, Victor A Palikov, Yulia A Palikova, Igor A Dyachenko, Sergey A Kozlov, Yaroslav A Andreev, Dmitry I Osmakov","doi":"10.1111/febs.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) is involved in processes associated with fear, learning, and neurodegeneration within the central nervous system. However, ASIC1a is also abundant in the peripheral nervous system, where its role is still poorly understood, largely due to the lack of selective ligands. In this study, we present the discovery of the first selective positive allosteric modulator for ASIC1a, isolated from the sea anemone Metridium senile. The active compound, a peptide named Ms13-1, features a novel type of fold named 'Cys-ladder'. Ms13-1 exhibits high affinity and selectivity for ASIC1a, enhancing channel activation in response to a broad range of acidic stimuli (pH 6.9-5.5) without altering the proton affinity for the channel. Moreover, injection of Ms13-1 into the hind paw of mice provokes robust and long-lasting pain-related behavior, which is significantly attenuated by a selective ASIC1 antagonist. The discovery of this novel selective positive allosteric modulator opens up new perspectives to investigate the role of ASIC1a in various physiological processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Estrogen synthesized in the central nervous system enhances MC4R expression and reduces food intake.","authors":"Takanori Hayashi, Kanako Kumamoto, Tatsuya Kobayashi, Xinfeng Hou, Shizuko Nagao, Nobuhiro Harada, Shinichiro Honda, Yohei Shimono, Eiji Nishio","doi":"10.1111/febs.17426","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.17426","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Estrogen is synthesized throughout various tissues in the body, and its production is regulated by the rate-limiting enzyme aromatase (encoded by the Cyp19a1 gene). Notably, aromatase is also expressed in central nervous system cells, allowing for localized estrogen synthesis in regions such as the hypothalamus. Estrogens produced within these neurons are referred to as neuroestrogens. In this study, we investigated the role of neuroestrogens in the regulation of appetite through modulation of hypothalamic pathways in OVX, ArKO, and aromatase-restored mice. Estrogen suppresses appetite by influencing the expression of appetite-regulating peptides, including POMC and NPY, via MC4R. We explored the direct effects of neuroestrogens, independent from ovarian estrogen, on appetite suppression and the underlying molecular mechanisms. We monitored body weight and food intake and evaluated the expression of Cyp19a1, Mc4r, and other appetite-related genes. Our findings indicate that OVX and ArKO mice exhibited increased body weight and food consumption, which correlated with altered expression of Mc4r and Cyp19a1. Conversely, restoration of Cyp19a1 expression in a neuron specific manner significantly decreased food intake and increased Mc4r expression in the hypothalamus. Furthermore, neuroestrogens enhanced leptin responsiveness. Our results imply that neuroestrogens likely contribute to appetite regulation and may be relevant for body weight reduction.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Renato X Santos, Sophie H Lee, Richard Lofthouse, Valeria Melis, Lianne Robinson, Michael Leith, Eline Dreesen, Paul Armstrong, Thomas Vorley, Elizabeth A Goatman, Claire Hull, Gernot Riedel, Claude M Wischik, Charles R Harrington
{"title":"Hydromethylthionine sustains truncated tau-dependent inflammation-lowering effects in mouse brain.","authors":"Renato X Santos, Sophie H Lee, Richard Lofthouse, Valeria Melis, Lianne Robinson, Michael Leith, Eline Dreesen, Paul Armstrong, Thomas Vorley, Elizabeth A Goatman, Claire Hull, Gernot Riedel, Claude M Wischik, Charles R Harrington","doi":"10.1111/febs.70021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tauopathies are a heterogeneous mixture of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), characterised by the accumulation of tau filaments in brain tissue. Tau protein aggregation is inhibited by hydromethylthionine (HMT), an effect that appeared to be prevented in clinical trials for subjects already receiving acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or memantine. Since neuroinflammatory responses are associated with tauopathies, we investigated the effect of HMT on the brain immune response and inflammatory status in line 66 (L66) mice, an FTD-like model overexpressing human tau, in the presence of memantine. We determined whether HMT (5 and 15 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup>), either singly or combined with memantine (20 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup>), would have a sustained impact on neuroinflammation following the cessation of drug administration. The levels of core tau fragments in L66<sup>+/-</sup> mice (P301S/G335D-hTau) were decreased in a dose-dependent manner 12 weeks after the last administration of HMT, an effect that was not affected by memantine. HMT lowered the levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), thus favouring an environment conducive to neuronal protection and repair. HMT sustained increased microglial reactivity after its discontinuation, which may assist in the removal of tau aggregates, but co-administration with memantine prevented the HMT-sustained activation of microglia. These findings indicate that HMT has a beneficial effect in reducing neuroinflammation that accompanies a decrease in the accumulation of truncated tau species and that these benefits are not susceptible to interference by memantine. In turn, the nature of drug interference between HMT and memantine seems to be independent of tau and related to microglia reactivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143443081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genetic and functional dissection of the glutamate-proline pathway reveals a shortcut for glutamate catabolism in Leishmania.","authors":"Gustavo Daniel Campagnaro, Angela Kaysel Cruz","doi":"10.1111/febs.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Trypanosomatids are early-divergent eukaryotes that have adapted to parasitism. During their life cycles, these parasites switch between a mammalian and an invertebrate host, and the ability to adapt their metabolism to different nutritional sources is instrumental for their success. In the invertebrate host, these protists have access to high amounts of amino acids and efficiently utilise it for energy production. Proline is a particularly efficient energy source for trypanosomes. Glutamate is also efficiently used by Trypanosoma cruzi and can be converted into proline as part of the glutamate-proline pathway prior to its intramitochondrial catabolism. By employing a series of genetic modifications and functional analysis, we show here that Leishmania parasites, the causative agents of leishmaniases, can utilise proline, glutamate and glutamine as energy sources, and although these parasites possess all the genes necessary for the biosynthesis of proline from glutamate, this pathway has, at best, limited function, with at least one of its components (pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase) assuming divergent functions in different life cycle stages of the parasite. In fact, we show that the catabolism of glutamate is independent of proline biosynthesis and the former is most likely directly imported into the mitochondrion and catabolised to recover the cellular redox metabolism and increase mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover, our data suggest a relevant role for glutamate dehydrogenase in nutritional stress response in Leishmania. These findings highlight relevant differences in amino acid metabolism between Trypanosoma and Leishmania and suggest a diversification in amino acid metabolic pathways within Trypanosomatidae.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143443073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhexi Chi, Van Quan Do, Rukhsana Kausar, Hyun Kyung Kim, Nga Thi Thanh Nguyen, Truc Phan Hoang Le, Jungwoo Lee, In-Jeoung Baek, Sang-Wook Lee, Jae Hyung Kim, Sang Yoon Lee
{"title":"HDAC6 inhibition upregulates endothelial SOD3 expression via Sp1 acetylation and attenuates angiotensin II-induced hypertension.","authors":"Zhexi Chi, Van Quan Do, Rukhsana Kausar, Hyun Kyung Kim, Nga Thi Thanh Nguyen, Truc Phan Hoang Le, Jungwoo Lee, In-Jeoung Baek, Sang-Wook Lee, Jae Hyung Kim, Sang Yoon Lee","doi":"10.1111/febs.70026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD3) plays an important role in maintaining vascular redox homeostasis by eliminating superoxides. The angiotensin II (AngII) peptide mediates vasoconstriction in part via reactive oxygen species (ROS) but has pathologic effects when elevated in adults. Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) modulates the acetylation of non-histone substrates and is associated with hypertensive disorders. Here, we investigated the potential regulation of SOD3 by HDAC6 in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) and its implications for AngII-induced oxidative stress and hypertension. HDAC6 inhibition (via the specific inhibitor tubastatin A (TubA), gene knockdown, or a deacetylase activity-deficient mutant) significantly increased SOD3 protein and mRNA expression but did not affect SOD1 or SOD2 protein levels. Conversely, AngII downregulated SOD3 levels and increased ROS and superoxide levels; these effects were antagonized by TubA. We confirmed that the transcription factor Sp1 mediates TubA-induced as well as basal SOD3 expression. Notably, TubA strongly augmented Sp1 acetylation at lysine 703, which activated Sp1 binding to the proximal SOD3 promoter region and, consequently, SOD3 expression. Alternatively, AngII decreased Sp1 acetylation, and TubA-mediated SOD3 induction was reduced upon overexpression of an acetylation-resistant Sp1 mutant (K703R) compared to that by the wild-type protein. Consistent with these findings, aortic SOD3 expression was significantly higher in HDAC6-deficient mice than in wild-type mice. Moreover, AngII infusion-mediated blood pressure elevation was reduced in HDAC6-deficient mice compared with that in wild-type mice. Collectively, our results suggest that HDAC6 inhibition leads to SOD3 upregulation by enhancing Sp1 acetylation in HAECs, thereby mitigating AngII-induced oxidative stress and hypertension.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143434845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sadia Fida Ullah, Mislav Oreb, Eckhard Boles, Vaibhav Srivastava, Verena Seidl-Seiboth, Bernhard Seiboth, Lisa Kappel
{"title":"N-acetylglucosamine sensing in the filamentous soil fungus Trichoderma reesei.","authors":"Sadia Fida Ullah, Mislav Oreb, Eckhard Boles, Vaibhav Srivastava, Verena Seidl-Seiboth, Bernhard Seiboth, Lisa Kappel","doi":"10.1111/febs.70015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is involved in diverse signaling pathways in dimorphic yeasts and bacteria and is related to morphogenetic switching, mating, stress, virulence, and cell death. Recently, GlcNAc has been shown to promote plant growth by shaping the bacterial soil community. However, the role of GlcNAc sensing in filamentous soil fungi has not been investigated. By using Trichoderma reesei as a model organism, we show here that GlcNAc impacts the expression of around 2100 genes. Carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and secondary metabolism were the three most strongly affected classes of eukaryotic orthologous groups (KOG classes). Two key regulators of GlcNAc catabolism, the NDT80 domain-containing transcriptional regulator RON1, and a GlcNAc sensor, NGS1, are needed for differential regulation of two-thirds of these genes. In silico structural modeling of NGS1 identified a domain with homology to the GCN5-related histone acetyltransferase from Candida albicans, which serves as a GlcNAc catabolism regulator and GlcNAc sensor. Finally, we characterized the third regulator of GlcNAc sensing in T. reesei, which is the highly specific GlcNAc transporter N-acetylglucosamine transporter (NGT1). Using a deletion mutant of ngt1, we demonstrate that GlcNAc has to enter the cell to activate the GlcNAc catabolic gene expression. Interestingly, in contrast to dimorphic yeasts, the pathways for defense and pathogenicity seem to be induced in T. reesei by external GlcNAc. Given the ancestral role of Trichoderma spp. in the fungal kingdom and the highly conserved GlcNAc catabolism cluster that includes their regulators in many species of fungi, we propose a regulatory network for GlcNAc sensing in soil fungi.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143426685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Su Hyun Lee, Mi-Sun Kwon, Taerim Lee, Sungchul Hohng, Hyunsook Lee
{"title":"Kinesin-like protein KIF18A is required for faithful coordination of chromosome congression with cytokinesis.","authors":"Su Hyun Lee, Mi-Sun Kwon, Taerim Lee, Sungchul Hohng, Hyunsook Lee","doi":"10.1111/febs.70019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The maintenance of genetic integrity in proliferating cells requires the coordinated regulation of DNA replication, chromosome segregation, and cytokinetic abscission. Chromosome-microtubule interactions regulate mitosis, while interactions between the actin cytoskeleton and Myosin IIA dictate cytokinetic abscission. This process, crucial for the equal distribution of the duplicated genome into two daughter cells, occurs perpendicular to the axis of chromosome segregation. However, the mechanism of how microtubule-driven mitosis and actin-associated cytokinesis are precisely coordinated remains poorly understood. This study highlights the role of KIF18A, a kinesin-like protein, in linking kinetochore-microtubule dynamics to cytokinetic axis formation. KIF18A's localization changes through the cell division cycle, from the metaphase plate during chromosome congression to the central spindle in late anaphase, and finally to the spindle midbody in telophase. KIF18A depletion leads to chromosome congression failures and anaphase onset delays. Notably, cells attempting to undergo division in the absence of KIF18A exhibited disruptions in the parallel structure of the central spindle, causing mislocalization of the centralspindlin complex, such as kinesin-like protein KIF23 (also known as MKLP1) and Rac GTPase-activating protein 1 (RACGAP1). These disruptions impair cleavage furrow establishment, causing incomplete cytokinesis and the formation of mononuclear or binucleated cells. Our findings suggest that KIF18A is crucial for coordinating chromosome congression and cytokinesis by regulating the spatial and temporal assembly of the central spindle during late anaphase.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143426674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paul Montaño-Silva, Olga A Callejas-Negrete, Alejandro Pereira-Santana, Jorge Verdín
{"title":"Cell wall-resident proteins with internal repeats (PIRs) show an inverted architecture in Neurospora crassa, but maintain their role as wall stabilizers.","authors":"Paul Montaño-Silva, Olga A Callejas-Negrete, Alejandro Pereira-Santana, Jorge Verdín","doi":"10.1111/febs.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.70020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Proteins with internal repeats (PIRs) are the second most abundant class of fungal cell wall resident proteins. In yeasts, PIRs preserve the stability of the cell wall under stressful conditions. They are characterized by conserved N-terminal amino acid sequences repeated in tandem (PIR motifs), and a cysteine (Cys)-rich C-terminal domain. PIRs have been identified in several filamentous fungi genomes; however, they have not been studied beyond yeasts. In this work, the diversity, evolution, and biological role of PIRs, with a particular focus on a new PIRs class, was addressed. Bioinformatic inference of PIRs in fungi indicated they were an innovation in Ascomycota. Predicted PIRs clustered in two main groups: classical yeasts PIRs (N-terminal PIR motifs; C-terminal Cys-rich domain), and PIRs from filamentous fungi with an inverted architecture (N-terminal Cys-rich domain; C-terminal PIR motifs), which could harbor additional glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) addition-signals. As representatives of the second group, Neurospora crassa (Nc) PIR-1 (NCU04033) and PIR-2 (NCU07569) were studied. Confocal microscopy of eGFP-labeled Nc PIR-1 and Nc PIR-2 revealed they accumulate in apical plugs; additionally, PIR-1 requires the Kex2 processing site for correct maturation and harbors a predicted GPI modification signal. Moreover, Nc Δpir-1 and Δpir-2 single mutants showed a growth rate similar to that of Nc wild-type (WT), but the double mutant Nc Δpir-1/Δpir-2 grew significantly slower. Similarly, Nc Δpir-1 and Nc Δpir-2 were mildly sensitive to calcofluor white, although Nc Δpir-1/Δpir-2 double mutant was severely impaired. Despite the inverted architecture of Nc PIR-1 and Nc PIR-2, they maintain a role as cell wall stabilizers like classical yeast PIRs.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143416604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dipanjana Ghosh, Teck Kwang Lim, Anindya Basu, Julia Christina Gross, Qingsong Lin
{"title":"Quantitative proteomics identifies possible flow of metastatic cues between progressive stages of colorectal cancer via transfer of ceramide-dependent exosomal cargoes.","authors":"Dipanjana Ghosh, Teck Kwang Lim, Anindya Basu, Julia Christina Gross, Qingsong Lin","doi":"10.1111/febs.17410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.17410","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer metastasis is largely influenced by cell-cell communication, to which exosomes play a vital role. Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) that originate as intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) within multivesicular bodies (MVBs) during endosome maturation. ILV formation depends on several pathways, including that of ceramide synthesis by neutral sphingomyelinase 2 [nSMase2]. Colorectal cancer (CRC)-derived sEVs are reported to carry a diverse range of metastatic cargo proteins; however, segregation of them in the ceramide-dependent sEV pool (sEV<sup>Cer</sup>) remains unexplored. The current study aimed to identify the metastatic proteins that are secreted through sEV<sup>Cer</sup>, from CRC cells of variable metastatic potentials. Primary (SW480) and metastatic (SW620) CRC cells were treated with nSMase2 blocker and sEVs were isolated, followed by extraction of the sEV proteins for a quantitative proteomic profiling using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ). In total, 1781 proteins were identified with unused protein score > 1.3. Of these identified proteins, 22.8% and 17.01% were found to be depleted within sEVs of the treated SW480 and SW620 cells, respectively. These depleted protein pools represented the cargo that are preferentially secreted through sEV<sup>Cer</sup> in respective cell types (Cargo<sup>Cer-SW480</sup> and Cargo<sup>Cer-SW620</sup>). Cargo<sup>Cer-SW480</sup> overrepresented integrin signaling pathway members and Cargo<sup>Cer-SW620</sup> overrepresented integrin as well as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling pathway members. Interestingly, the uniquely overrepresented Cargo<sup>Cer-SW480</sup> and Cargo<sup>Cer-SW620</sup> were biologically connected, rendering possible transfer of metastatic cues via sEV<sup>Cer</sup>. Overall, this study identified Cargo<sup>Cer</sup> and their dynamics over progressive CRC stages, and thereby opens up a new research direction for exploring the flow of metastatic cues through uptake and release of sEV<sup>Cer</sup>.</p>","PeriodicalId":94226,"journal":{"name":"The FEBS journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143416612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}