Naturally occurring and tumor-associated variants of RNF167 promote lysosomal exocytosis and plasma membrane resealing

Lysosomal exocytosis and resealing of damaged plasma membrane are essential for cellular homeostasis and tumor invasion. However, very little is known of the molecular machinery that regulates these physiological processes. Moreover, no mutations in any of the known regulators of lysosomal exocytosis in primary tumors of patients have been characterized. Here we demonstrate that RNF167-a, a lysosomal associated ubiquitin ligase, negatively regulates lysosomal exocytosis by inducing perinuclear clustering of lysosomes. Importantly, we also characterized a set of novel natural mutations in RNF167-a, which are commonly found in diverse tumor types. We found that RNF167-a-K97N mutant, unlike the wild-type, localizes in the cytoplasm and does not promote perinuclear lysosomal clustering and that cells expressing RNF167-a-K97N exhibit dispersed lysosomes, increased exocytosis, and enhanced plasma membrane repair. Interestingly, these functional features of RNF167-a-K97N were shared with a naturally occurring short version of RNF167, i.e. isoform b. In brief, the results presented here reveal a novel role of RNF167-a as well as its natural variants, RNF167-a-K97N and RNF167-b as an upstream regulator of lysosomal exocytosis and plasma membrane resealing.