PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mercier, Vincent
AU  - Larios, Jorge
AU  - Molinard, Guillaume
AU  - Goujon, Antoine
AU  - Matile, Stefan
AU  - Gruenberg, Jean
AU  - Roux, Aurélien
TI  - Endosomal Membrane Tension Controls ESCRT-III-Dependent Intra-Lumenal Vesicle Formation
AID  - 10.1101/550483
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 550483
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/21/550483.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/21/550483.full
AB  - Plasma membrane tension strongly affects cell surface processes, such as migration, endocytosis and signalling. However, it is not known whether membrane tension of organelles regulates their functions, notably intracellular traffic. The ESCRT-III complex is the major membrane remodelling complex that drives Intra-Lumenal Vesicle (ILV) formation on endosomal membranes. Here, we made use of a new fluorescent membrane tension probe to show that ESCRT-III subunits are recruited onto endosomal membranes when membrane tension is reduced. We find that tension-dependent recruitment is associated with ESCRT-III polymerization and membrane deformation in vitro, and correlates with increased ILVs formation in ESCRT-III decorated endosomes in vivo. Finally, we find that endosomal membrane tension decreases when ILV formation is triggered by EGF under physiological conditions. These results indicate that membrane tension is a major regulator of ILV formation and of endosome trafficking, leading us to conclude that membrane tension can control organelle functions.One Sentence Summary Membrane tension decrease facilitates membrane remodeling by ESCRT-III polymerization during intra-lumenal vesicle formation.