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__Reviewer #1 (Evidence, reproducibility and clarity (Required)):
In this article, the authors characterize a complex formed by sec22b-stx1-Esyt2. They investigate how such interactions are involved in the modulation of dynamics of the plasma membrane in the context of neuritogenesis. They conclude that the contact sites between the ER and the plasma membrane, mediated by the afore-mentioned complex, contribute the expansion of the plasma membrane.
**Major comments:**
Overall, the article clearly shows that in mammalian cells there is an interaction between sec22b-stx1-Esyt2 which appears to be important for filopodia formation and possibly neuritogenesis in neurons. However, performing additional experiments to better clarify some links and assumptions made by authors could strengthen the article.
The manuscript relies on work performed either on cell lines (HeLA, PC12) or primary neuronal cultures. Although it is clear the value of the findings obtained using cell lines, they should be seen as a complementary rather than an exclusive approach. This is particularly important as the authors often make claim about neuron-related cellular biology.
For instance, the biochemistry-based findings on the interaction and characterization of the protein complex (Figure 1) are all derived from experiments perfomed in Hela or PC12. As the authors have the capacity to culture and manipulate primary neuronal cultures, such findings should be validates in neuronal cells. The authors could also consider performing biochemical experiments (i.e. co-ip) of the endogenous proteins in neuronal cultures or brain tissue.*
->Endogenous Co-IP has been tried in E18 brain tissue. One experiment using brain tissue demonstrated co-immunoprecipitation of endogenous Sec22b and E-Syt2. Unfortunately, repetitions of this experiment failed due to high background in negative control (naïve Rabbit IgG). We agree with the reviewer that this data is worth trying again. We will carry out this co-immunoprecipitation experiment from cultured neurons to answer the reviewer’s request.
The authors do show some evidence regarding the complex in neuronal cells using PLA (proximity ligation assay, figure 2) or super resolution microscopy, however, these findings should be corroborated by stronger findings targeting interaction and not based on simple proximity.
->We agree with this reviewer that PLA is limited in demonstrating the occurrence of a protein complex. We would like to stress that we have used PLA complementarily to immunoprecipitation and that we already have shown STED super-resolution data (Figure 3). In order to strengthen the STED data, we will include more details in the figure, as a supplementary movie and a supplementary spreadsheet with the quantification of the distance between the E-Syt2/Sec22b clusters to the plasma membrane stained using WGA. The STED data demonstrate that 50% of the clusters are closer than 33.6nm to the plasma membrane, a distance in the range of ER-PM contact sites.
A similar critique regards the experiments using RNA-interference of Figure 4. Performing loss-of-function experiments in neuronal cultures would strengthen and complement the results obtained via over-expression approaches shown in Figure 5.
->The loss-of-function experiments in neuronal cultures using siRNA were attempted unsuccessfully. The three E-Syts have largely different cDNA sequences thus three distinct siRNAs must be transfected in order to silence all three simultaneously. This is quite challenging in neuronal cultures and we were never able to get strong silencing of the three E-Syts. In the following points, we plan to carry out further experiments using expression of a fragment of Sec22b (Longin domain). We are confident that this is a better approach to demonstrate the importance of Sec22b/E-Syt interaction.
*Given that the authors have already in place all the necessary technology for the suggested biochemical and morphological-related experiments, these could be carried out swiftly within 3-4 months.
**Minor comments:**
The manuscript is really technical and at times tough to follow; it could benefit from key sentences to better guide the reader, particularly if not coming from the specialist field, in the appreciation of the experiments and results.
Authors should submit the manuscript to a severe round of proofreading. There are several inconsistencies and sometimes what looks like internal comments: i.e. in the methods "STED Missing" or the fact that "LTP" is used everywhere but not defined and considering that the targeted audience is most likely neuroscience-based could easily lead to confusion.
*
->We fully agree with this reviewer and apologize for leaving behind such errors. We will carefully proofread the revised ms.
*The experiments appear to have been repeated a sufficient number of times and the statistics seem adequate. It would be advisable to show in dot-plots the findings rather than in bar graphs all findings and not just the morphometrics-relative ones.
*
->We will modify the figures according to this reviewer’s suggestion.
Reviewer #1 (Significance (Required)):
*This work closely follows the excellent previous work from the Galli laboratory. As such, it is mostly incremental from a technical perspective and does not present particularly novel findings. An interesting aspect would be in addressing directly the influence of the described interactions in the lipid transfer between ER and the plasma membrane but in that sense the manuscript falls short. Although it is to be appreciated the functional readouts in terms of neuritogenesis, in the present state the manuscript features findings suitable for a very specific audience.
I believe that the appropriate audience for the present manuscript lies within the neuroscientific community interested in development, specifically neuritogenesis, and/or membrane dynamics. Additionally, it might be interesting also for researchers outside of the neuroscience community and interested in the dynamics between ER and plasma membrane.
*
->We are happy to read the comments of this reviewer. Nevertheless, we would like to stress the importance of deciphering precise molecular mechanisms in any biological process. Here, we are the first to demonstrate an interaction between lipid-transfer proteins E-Syts and ER v-SNARE Sec22b. As an example, the molecular mechanism connecting synaptic SNAREs and synaptotagmin has been the topic of more than 500 publications since seminal articles in the early 1990’s. We think that the first article linking E-Syts to SNAREs cannot be considered as a mere increment from our previous work.
The activity of E-Syts to transfer lipids in vitro has been well established __(1–3) In addition, recent work by the De Camilli lab using Origami showed that reducing the distance between liposomes enhanced the lipid transfer mediated by E-Syt2 (3). Therefore, we did not carry out experiments such as combining SNAREs and E-Syt2 in artificial membranes in vitro because we considered that there would not be much more to demonstrate than what has already been done. Furthermore, we considered the experiments in cells, particularly neurons, much more critical at this point. Demonstrating transfer of glycerophospholipid between ER and PM in cells cannot be performed like other lipids’ transfer at other membrane interfaces for the following reasons: phospholipids are very abundant (4) and they are not modified upon transfer (1)__, there are no specific dyes to detect glycerophospholipids (unlike phosphoinositides), and ER and PM are too close to distinguish if a glycerophospholipid is in one or the other membrane. Such a challenging experiment would require the ability to setup a specific biochemical assay circumventing these constraints. We think that this is out of the scope of the present study focused on the role of E-Syt/Sec22b complex.
Nevertheless, in order to get further insights on this question, we will express WT and mutant E-Syt2, purify the PM using the protocol of Figure 4 in Saheki et al __(1)__, followed by lipidomics analysis. We hope that this approach further supports our idea that E-Syts mediate an important lipid transfer mechanism towards the PM.
*
Keywords regarding my expertise:
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Morphometrics, Dendrite, Neurons, Dendritogenesis, Biochemistry, Imaging, Microscopy.
__
Reviewer #2 (Evidence, reproducibility and clarity (Required)):
*This manuscript identifies and characterises a novel interaction between E-Syts and Sec22b and demonstrates that lipid transfer between the ER and PM contributes to the development of filopodia and neuronal expansion. This interaction with E-Syt2 occurs through the Longin domain of Sec22b Sec22b association. The authors suggest a continuum with further interactions with syntaxin1, that mediates neurite outgrowth. Overall I find this study very interesting and convincing. The experimental analysis is well carried out and the claims are well aligned with their results.
I only have minor issues:
Figure 1. Some of the western blots have several bands and it is difficult to know which band is the relevant one. They should be indicated in the fig panel. Further panel E and F are barely readable and should be redrawn with the appropriate line and font size.*
->We will make the changes requested by this reviewer in Figure 1.
Figure 2: is there a difference between the number of dots in axons and dendrites? Can the author elaborate on this aspect as it is not clear from the image presented.
->We could not combine PLA with further staining of MAP2 and TAU. Indeed, to perform PLA, neurons are already double labelled to detect the proteins of interest. At the stage of the neurons used in this study, both axons and dendrites are growing. Therefore, we did not invest in distinguishing between axons and dendrites. Because growth cones are known to be the major sites of membrane growth, we instead distinguished dots within neurites and in growth cones. We will make the other changes requested by this reviewer in Figure 2.
Figure 7: statistical analysis should be indicated from the BoNT/A and BoNT/C as BoNT/A represent an appropriate control cleaving SNAP25 but not Syntaxin.
->We agree with this request and we will add statistical analysis as suggested, using BoNT/A as an additional control.
On top of controlling fusion and neuronal outgrowth, syntaxin has a role in survival and its cleavage leads to neuronal death. Is this pathway mediated by E-Syts interactions?
->We have stated in the ms: “Since exposure to BoNT/C1 at high concentrations and for long incubation periods causes degeneration of neurons in culture __(5,6)__, various concentrations and incubation times were tested, and a 4-hour treatment of neurons with 1nM BoNTs was chosen to avoid such deleterious effects.” Accordingly, we did not see any degeneration in our experimental conditions.__
__
Reviewer #2 (Significance (Required)):
This papers identifies the molecular mechanism of neuronal outgrowth. It is highly significant.
->We are very grateful to this reviewer for pointing out the high significance of our article.
__Reviewer #3 (Evidence, reproducibility and clarity (Required)):
__*1. The evidence for the claim that the Sec22b/Stx1 complex and E-Syts colocalize in native cells (neurons) and bind in heterologous cells is strong (3 independent lines of evidence: co-immunoprecipitation, Proximity Ligation (PLA) and STED super-resolution microscopy)
However, the current title of the paper makes a claim beyond this interaction/proximity, based on evidence that is obtained with E-Syt over-expression in wildtype cells. The physiological relevance of the effects remain elusive with over-expression in wildtype cells only.
Furthermore, it is plausible that overexpression of membrane binding/bending C2-domains promotes neurite outgrowth and ramifications by a non-specific effect (as shown for copine C2 domains, PMID:25450385 and indirect evidence for synaptotagmins1,2,7).*
*
This issue is especially relevant in the light of the fact that loss of all 3 Extended Synaptotagmins does not affect normal mouse development and viability (PMID: 27399837)
It would be more appropriate to choose a more descriptive title*
->We agree with this reviewer that the original title may be too strong and are now proposing the following, more descriptive title:
Role of the Sec22b/E-Syt complex in neurite growth and ramification
We are fully aware that proteins harbouring C2 domains could potentially promote non-specific effects when overexpressed. However, we do not think this is the case here because none of the morphological effects of E-Syt2 expression in neurons and HeLa cells were reproduced by mutants lacking the SMP or the membrane-anchoring domains. Based on work on Copine __(7)__, a cytosolic protein, E-Syt2 still containing 3xC2 domains but lacking the membrane-anchoring domain should have shown a morphological effect if non-specific binding to phosphoinositides was the mechanism of action. We will discuss this point in the ms.
The evidence for the working model that the morphological effects of E-Syt2 depends on the Sec22b/Stx1 complex is not strong. Although plausible, the positive effect on neurite outgrowth (E-Syt2 overexpression) and the negative effects (inhibition by Stx1 cleaveage, Sec22b-Longin or Sec22b extended linker expression) may in fact be independent
The evidence could be strengthened by PLA measurements in neurons over-expressing Myc-E-Syt2 and Sec22b to assess MSC density. It is predicted that in both conditions, MCS density increases. MCS density by PLA measurements could also be performed in Sec22b-P33 and DLongin overexpressed and BoNT/C1 treated neurons. According to the model, the number of MCS should go down. This is of special interest for BoNT/C1 treatment, as it is important to show that the altered morphology is not purely caused by a pre-state of degeneration that is known to be induced by BoNT/C1. In addition, EM measurements of ER-PM distances might provide an independent line of evidence.*
->We agree with this reviewer that additional experiments could strengthen the description of the molecular mechanism. To this end, we will carry out the following experiments:
1/Co-immunoprecipitation experiments of endogenous Syntaxin, Sec22b and E-Syt2 in cells expressing GFP as control or Longin-GFP to demonstrate that expression of the Longin domain perturbs the association of Sec22b with E-Syt2 and Syntaxin.
2/PLA measuring the association between E-Syt2 and Syntaxin in cells expressing GFP as control or Longin-GFP to demonstrate that expression of the Longin domain perturbs the association between E-Syt2 and Syntaxin using a complementary approach.
Unfortunately, membrane-associated, BoNTC1-cleaved syntaxin corresponds to a short fragment undetectable by available antibodies whereas the fragment detected by the antibody after BoNTC1 cleavage lacks the transmembrane domain (Figure 7a). Therefore, we cannot perform PLA in BoNTC1-treated neurons.
We are confident that further exploring the mechanism of action of the Longin domain, together with the data already in the ms, will make it very clear that the morphological effects of E-Syt2 depends on the Sec22b/Stx1 complex.
- Link between neurite outgrowth and lipid transfer is weak. The authors argue that functional E-syt/Sec22b/Stx interaction is important for neurite outgrowth by mediating lipid transfer. The only line of evidence they provide is the absence of outgrowth effects in E-syt mutants lacking SMP or membrane spanning domains. However, from the data it is unclear whether these mutants are correctly folded, expressed and/or localized. Additional ICC stainings of the mutants in neurons are necessary to drive this point home. *
->The mutants and siRNA have been already used and validated in Giordano et al. 2013 __(8)__, therefore we did not carry out experiments aiming at basic characterization of these reagents. To answer this request, we will show images of the subcellular localization by ICC of WT and mutant E-Syt2 in the revised Figure 6 or in a Supplementary Figure.
In addition, the authors might make the link between neurite outgrowth and lipid transfer stronger by examining PM lipid levels and distribution in control, Myc-E-Syt2 and E-Syt2 mutant neurons.
->We agree with this reviewer that this question is of high relevance. In order to answer this request, we will express WT and mutant E-Syt2, purify the PM using the protocol of Figure 4 in Saheki et al __(1)__, followed by lipidomics analysis. We hope that this approach further supports our idea that E-Syts mediate an important lipid transfer mechanism towards the PM.
- There is no clear evidence that E-syt first binds to Sec22b, after which Stx1 leaves SNAP25 and joins the interaction. This should be indicated as speculation.
*
->We will make it clear that our model in Figure 9 is a hypothetical model.
An apparent discrepancy exists between the TKD
E-syts effects (i.e. reduced MSC density, Fig 4) and the lack of neurite outgrowth defects in TKO E-syts. According to the proposed model, the levels of E-syt correlate with the number of MSCs and thereby neurite outgrowth. Furthermore, to knock down E-Syts, single siRNAs against the three E-syts were used in Fig4. Off-target effects are not controlled in this approach. Using multiple siRNAs and/or siRNA resistant rescues would be required for robust conclusions.
*
->The mutants and siRNA have already been used and validated in Giordano et al. 2013 __(8)__, therefore we did not carry out experiments aiming at basic characterization of these reagents. In addition, we would like to stress the complexity of carrying out a rescue experiment of a triple KD of proteins.
Statistical analysis is incomplete.
It is not clear whether statistical assumptions (e.g. normal distribution) were checked before performing the tests, and whether non-parametric alternatives where used if assumptions were not met.
->We thank this reviewer for making this important alert. We would like to stress that we have always checked whether samples followed the normal distribution and made non-parametric tests__. We will include this comment in the methods.__
In Fig4, a T-test is used between multiple groups. This test can only be used when comparing two groups. Number of (independent) measurements is not clear in Fig1, 2, 4
->In all the figure legends the number of repetitions is specified
All figures: display all individual data points in all bar graphs (as shown in 5c)
*
*
\*Minor comments:**
- Inconsistencies on distances in model. Syts are enlongated proteins and thought to be found in MSCs of ~20 nm (Fernandez-Busnadiego, 2015). Trans-SNARE complexes start to interact when the distance between membranes is ~8 nm (Liu, 2007). In the introduction, the authors suggest that incomplete zippering might occur between Stx and Sec22b, resulting in a distance between 10 and 20 nm, which would allow E-Syt localization. In the discussion, however, the authors suggest a model where Sec22b/Stx interaction is important to bring the membranes in ~10 nm distance to enhance LTP activity. Proof for either model is lacking. Please clarify.*
Fig1A: Please clarify the multiple bands? for Stx3 (anti-eGFP).
->These additional bands are recognised by the anti-GFP antibody, the tag being N-terminal, thus they represent proteolytic fragments. We consistently observe these in our experiments.
Fig2: There is no size marker for panels C1-C6
->We will make the appropriate correction.
Fig3: Both proteins seem to show a diffuse pattern. Please specify the validity of measuring average distance. A higher magnification zoom of staining pattern in the growth cone and visualization of the calculation could benefit interpretation.
->We agree with this reviewer that Figure 3 was not optimal to show all the extent of our STED data. In order to strengthen this part, we will include more details in both the figure and as a supplementary movie and supplementary spreadsheet with the quantification of the distance between the E-Syt2/Sec22b clusters to the plasma membrane stained using WGA. The STED data demonstrate that 50% of the clusters are closer than 33.6nm to the plasma membrane, a distance in the range of ER-PM contact sites.
- E-Syt2 and E-Syt3 are used interchangeably throughout the manuscript and E-Syt1 is left out completely. It would help the reader if the authors could elaborate on their interpretation on the similarities and differences in structure and functionality between the three E-Syts.
- Why is there a red line in Fig 7b?*
__->We added the red line to highlight the shift of SNAP25 band in BoNTA samples. If misleading, it can be removed
Reviewer #3 (Significance (Required)):__
A growing body of literature recognizes the importance of close proximities between membranes, facilitating direct interaction between organelles (Scorrano et al., 2019). Membrane Contact Sites (MCSs) are shown to be important for a wide range of cellular functions, such as lipid and calcium transfer. E-Syts have been recognized as one of the key players in neuronal MCSs, mediating lipid transport (Fernández-Busnadiego et al., 2015). A study published in 2014 by the authors of the current study revealed another two proteins important for MSCs in neurons (Petkovic et al., 2014). ER protein Sec22b and PM SNARE Syntaxin1 were shown to form a non-fusogenic trans-SNARE complex, important for lipid-transfer mediated neurite outgrowth. Gallo and colleagues have now provided important new evidence that these two components (E-Syts and Stx1/Sec22b) are together and may work together at MSCs.
->We thank this reviewer for stressing the importance of our article and agree with the conclusion of __Fernández-Busnadiego et al. (9) on E-Syts being one of the key players in neuronal MCSs, mediating lipid transport. We think that our work is a further key piece of evidence in the demonstration of the importance of E-Syts in neuronal development.__
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