Vacuolins and myosin VII are required for phagocytic uptake and phagosomal membrane recycling in Dictyostelium discoideum

Flotillins are lipid rafts residents involved in membrane trafficking and recycling of plasma membrane proteins. Dictyostelium discoideum uses phagocytosis to kill, digest and feed on bacteria. It possesses three flotillin-like vacuolins that are strongly associated with membranes and gradually accumulate on maturing phagosomes. Absence of vacuolins reduced adhesion and particle recognition resulting in a drastic reduction in the uptake of various types of particles. This was caused by a block in the recycling of plasma membrane components and the absence of their specific cortex-associated proteins. In addition, absence of vacuolins also impaired phagolysosome biogenesis, without significantly impacting killing and digestion of a range of bacteria. Strikingly, both absence and overexpression of vacuolins induced a strong down-regulation of myosin VII expression, as well as its partner talin A. Episomal expression of myosin VII fully rescued defects in uptake and adhesion, but not in phagosome maturation. These results suggest a dual role for vacuolins: a novel mechanism involving membrane microdomains and myosin VII/talin A in clustering phagosomal receptors and adhesion molecules at the plasma membrane, and a role in phagolysosomal biogenesis.