Abstract

Septins are cytoskeletal proteins and their interaction with membranes is crucial for their role in various cellular processes. Septins have polybasic regions (PB1 and PB2) which are important for lipid interaction. Earlier, we and others have highlighted the role of the septin C-terminal domain (CTD) to membrane interaction. However, detailed information on residues/group of residues important for such feature is lacking. In this study, we investigate the lipid-binding profile of Schistosoma mansoni Septin10 (SmSEPT10) using PIP strip and Langmuir monolayer adsorption assays. Our findings highlight the CTD as the primary domain responsible for lipid interaction in SmSEPT10, showing binding to phosphatidylinositol phosphates. SmSEPT10 CTD contains a conserved polybasic region (PB3) present in both animals and fungi septins, and a Lys (K367) within its putative amphipathic helix (AH) that we demonstrate as important for lipid binding. PB3 deletion or mutation of this Lys (K367A) strongly impairs lipid interaction. Remarkably, we observe that the AH within a construct lacking the final 43 amino acid residues is insufficient for lipid binding. Furthermore, we investigate the homocomplex formed by SmSEPT10 CTD in solution by cross-linking experiments, CD spectroscopy, SEC-MALS and SEC-SAXS. Taken together, our studies define the lipid-binding region in SmSEPT10 and offer insights into the molecular basis of septin-membrane binding. This information is particularly relevant for less-studied non-human septins, such as SmSEPT10.