Endosomal trafficking is a recurrently affected pathway in several neurodegenerative diseases. In the following, we describe a number of sources of evidence that point towards a role of Alsin in the process involving Rab5 and suggest that the absence of Alsin or its mutations affect endosomal trafficking at different levels. Neurons use endocytosis to communicate with each other or with other tissues and to survive
[30]. Several in vitro studies support the fact that Alsin dysfunction affects endosomal trafficking owing to the alteration of the VPS9 domain Rab5-mediated pathway
[1][38][9][10][30][40][41]. Rab5 plays a fundamental role in the regulation of organelle binding, endosomal fusion, and motility in endocytosis. To prove this, experiments were performed where whole Alsin and truncated forms were found to be expressed
[19]. It was observed that all forms were capable of triggering the release of GDP from Rab5, leading to endosomal budding
[19]. Furthermore, overexpression of full-length Alsin results in a less efficient stimulation of endosomal fusion by Rab5 compared to RLD-domain-truncated Alsin, suggesting that the RLD domain can prevent Alsin from associating with early endosomes, thus acting as a negative regulator of Rab5-mediated endosomal fusion
[38][9][19][30]. Interestingly, in ALS2 knockout homozygous (ALS2
(−;−)) mouse neurons, an excessive amount of positive Rab5 vesicles and enlarged endosomes were observed, accompanied by a substantial decrease in endosomal motility
[19][30]. Moreover, ALS2
(−;−) mice neurons displayed reduced cell bodies and axons compared to those of wild-type ones; similar effects were observed regarding cerebellar weight and total brain weight
[40]. This evidence would support the idea that malfunctioning or absent Alsin may cause a blockage or slowing of the endosomal trafficking of neurotrophic receptors and lead to decreased neurotrophic support. Even the primary neurons’ function was shown to be altered due to Alsin dysfunction since ALS2
(−;−) mice suffer from disturbance of the endosomal transport of insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor receptors
[9][19][30][41]. Moreover, Alsin is gathered inside the membranous compartments during micropinocytosis thanks to the activation of Rac1
[38][25][40], supporting the role of Alsin in mediating the fusion between early endosomes and macropinosomes. More specifically, the RLD domain drives the localization of Alsin and, therefore, it is essential for the recycling of Alsin in membranes
[9][10][40]. Furthermore, missense mutants, despite displaying Rab5-GEF activity in vitro, are unable to localize Alsin correctly within early endosomes and/or macropinosomes even though the Rac1-induced micropinocytosis are active
[25]. All the missense mutants passed from the cytosol to membrane ruffles, but they did not reach the endosomes or macropinosomes
[38]. This observation suggests that the homo-tetrameric structure of Alsin may be required to activate this pathway; this means that a disordered Alsin structure leads to the loss of normal cellular functions
[38]. Further support for the involvement of Alsin in endolysosomal trafficking is given by experimental evidence of Alsin colocalization with p62/LC3-positive autophagosomes
[42].
In light of this, it has been suggested that Alsin may play a role in the maturation of autophagosomes into late endosomes and eventually participate in lysosome formation by accompanying Rab7 recruitment.
In conclusion, it is not yet possible to establish a comprehensive and consistent picture of the specific activity of Alsin in endosomal trafficking, but the data reported above unequivocally show that the absence of Alsin or certain mutations drive toward a plethora of effects in this process.