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Serum starvation drives ALIX-dependent extracellular vesicle biogenesis and determines tumor progression
Xueqiang Peng, Jiaxing Liu, Guolong Zeng, Yafei Xiao, Zhixiong Hao, Guangpeng He, Hongyuan Jin, Yu Gao, Shilei Tang, Shibo Wei, Yan Li, Yifan Yu, Liang Yang, Hangyu Li
Xueqiang Peng, Jiaxing Liu, Guolong Zeng, Yafei Xiao, Zhixiong Hao, Guangpeng He, Hongyuan Jin, Yu Gao, Shilei Tang, Shibo Wei, Yan Li, Yifan Yu, Liang Yang, Hangyu Li
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Research Article Cell biology Oncology

Serum starvation drives ALIX-dependent extracellular vesicle biogenesis and determines tumor progression

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Abstract

Tumor cells are constantly confronted with nutrient deprivation; however, the effect of serum starvation on the remodeling of endosomal compartments and extracellular vesicles (EVs) in tumor cells remains unclear. Here, we found that serum starvation pronouncedly promotes multivesicular body (MVB) biogenesis, EV formation, and cargo selection. Specifically, by generating a constitutively active Rab5Q79L mutant to induce the enlargement of MVB, we revealed for the first time to our knowledge that ANXA3 is sorted into intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) of MVB. Mechanistically, we confirmed that serum starvation regulates the endosomal sorting complex required for transport–associated (ESCRT-associated) protein ALG-2 interacting protein X (ALIX), which recruits ESCRT-III to MVB and binds to annexin A3 (ANXA3) to mediate its sorting into ILVs of MVB. Our study highlights that serum starvation promotes an ALIX-dependent ESCRT-III recruitment pathway, which loads protumor ANXA3 cargo to exert a profound effect on tumor progression.

Authors

Xueqiang Peng, Jiaxing Liu, Guolong Zeng, Yafei Xiao, Zhixiong Hao, Guangpeng He, Hongyuan Jin, Yu Gao, Shilei Tang, Shibo Wei, Yan Li, Yifan Yu, Liang Yang, Hangyu Li

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Figure 3

Proteomic characteristics of EVs induced by serum starvation.

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Proteomic characteristics of EVs induced by serum starvation.
(A) Venn d...
(A) Venn diagram comparing EV proteins identified under serum starvation and 10% FBS. Numbers indicate shared and unique proteins. (B) Venn diagram showing overlap among proteins from the serum starvation group, DEPs, the 10% FBS group, and Vesiclepedia. (C) Volcano plot of differential EV protein expression under serum starvation versus 10% FBS. (D) GO cellular component enrichment of DEPs shown as a bubble plot. Color indicates fold enrichment, bubble size indicates protein number, and the y axis shows –log10(P value). (E) Relative levels of ANXA3, ANXA1, ANXA5, and ANXA6 in HeLa EVs under 10% FBS or serum starvation based on quantitative proteomics. n = 3. (F) Western blot analysis of ANXA3, ANXA1, ANXA5, and ANXA6 in EVs from HeLa, Huh7, and HCT116 cells under 10% FBS or serum starvation. TSG101 served as an EV marker. Data are presented as mean ± SD. Comparisons between 2 groups were done with 2-tailed Student’s t test. **P < 0.01.

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