ORP9 and ORP10 form a heterocomplex to transfer phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate at ER-TGN contact sites

Oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP) and its related proteins (ORPs) are a family of lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) that mediate non-vesicular lipid transport. ORP9 and ORP10, members of the OSBP/ORPs family, are located at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-trans-Golgi network (TGN) membrane contact sites (MCSs). It remained unclear how they mediate lipid transport. In this work, we discovered that ORP9 and ORP10 form a binary complex through intermolecular coiled-coil (CC) domain-CC domain interaction. The PH domains of ORP9 and ORP10 specially interact with phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P), mediating the TGN targeting. The ORP9-ORP10 complex plays a critical role in regulating PI4P levels at the TGN. Using in vitro reconstitution assays, we observed that while full-length ORP9 efficiently transferred PI4P between two apposed membranes, the lipid transfer kinetics was further accelerated by ORP10. Interestingly, our data showed that the PH domains of ORP9 and ORP10 participate in membrane tethering simultaneously, whereas ORDs of both ORP9 and ORP10 are required for lipid transport. Furthermore, our data showed that the depletion of ORP9 and ORP10 led to increased vesicle transport to the plasma membrane (PM). These findings demonstrate that ORP9 and ORP10 form a binary complex through the CC domains, maintaining PI4P homeostasis at ER-TGN MCSs and regulating vesicle trafficking.