Biogenesis of a novel compartment for autophagosome-mediated unconventional protein secretion

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi-independent, unconventional secretion of Acb1 requires many different proteins. They include proteins necessary for the formation of autophagosomes, proteins necessary for the fusion of membranes with the endosomes, proteins of the multivesicular body pathway, and the cell surface target membrane SNARE Sso1, thereby raising the question of what achieves the connection between these diverse proteins and Acb1 secretion. In the present study, we now report that, upon starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Grh1 is collected into unique membrane structures near Sec13-containing ER exit sites. Phosphatidylinositol 3 phosphate, the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) protein Vps23, and the autophagy-related proteins Atg8 and Atg9 are recruited to these Grh1-containing membranes, which lack components of the Golgi apparatus and the endosomes, and which we call a novel compartment for unconventional protein secretion (CUPS). We describe the cellular proteins required for the biogenesis of CUPS, which we believe is the sorting station for Acb1's release from the cells.