Cell-Free Transfer of Phosphatidylinositol between Membrane Fractions Isolated from Soybean

Transfer of phosphatidylinositol (PI) between membranes was reconstituted in a cell-free system using membrane fractions isolated from dark-grown soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.). Donor membrane vesicles contained [3H]myo-inositol-labeled PI. A fraction enriched in endoplasmic reticulum was a more efficient donor than its parent microsomal membrane fraction. As acceptor, cytoplasmic side-out plasma membrane vesicles were more efficient than cytoplasmic side-in plasma membrane vesicles. Endoplasmic reticulum was also an efficient acceptor, suggesting that transfer occurred to cytoplasmic membrane leaflets. PI transfer was time and temperature dependent but did not require cytosolic proteins, ATP, GTP, cytosol, and acyl-coenzyme A. These results suggest that neither lipid transfer proteins nor transition vesicles, similar to those involved in vesicle trafficking from endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus, were involved. In the presence of Mg2+ and ATP, endoplasmic reticulum PI was not metabolized, whereas PI transferred to the plasma membrane was metabolized into phosphatidylinositol monophosphate and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate. To summarize, the cell-free transfer of endoplasmic reticulum-derived PI was distinct from, for example, vesicle transport from endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi apparatus, not only in its regulation but also in its acceptor unspecificity.