Presenting Author Yale University School of Medicine/Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Membrane lipids move from one compartment to another within cells as part of the membranes of vesicular carriers. However, this mode of lipid traffic is complemented by the action of lipid transport proteins that often act at membrane contact sites. Typically, lipid transport by these proteins is achieved by lipid binding modules that shuttle back and forth between the participating membranes. However, recently, studies of VPS13 family proteins (which also comprise the autophagy factor ATG2) have revealed a new mechanism of lipid transfer mediated by rod-like proteins that bridge two adjacent bilayers and harbor a hydrophobic groove that runs along their entire length. Most interestingly, loss of function mutations of members of this protein family result in neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (VPS13C) and a Huntington-like syndrome called chorea acanthocytosis (VPS13A). The talk will provide an overview of the known properties and functions of mammalian VPS13 family proteins and of potential roles of their dysfunction in disease (Leonzino M, Reinisch KM and De Camilli P. 2021. Insights into VPS13 properties and function reveal a new mechanism of eukaryotic lipid transport. PMID: 34216812).
