Septin-coated microtubules promote maturation of multivesicular bodies by inhibiting their motility

The microtubule cytoskeleton consists of microtubule subsets with distinct compositions of microtubule-associated proteins, which instruct the position and traffic of subcellular organelles. In the endocytic pathway, these microtubule-associated cues are poorly understood. Here, we report that in MDCK cells, endosomes with multivesicular body (MVB) and late endosome (LE) markers localize preferentially to microtubules coated with septin GTPases. Compared with early endosomes, CD63-containing MVBs/LEs are largely immotile on septin-coated microtubules. In vitro reconstitution assays revealed that the motility of isolated GFP-CD63 endosomes is directly inhibited by microtubule-associated septins. Quantification of CD63-positive endosomes containing the early endosome antigen (EEA1), the Rab7 effector and dynein adaptor RILP or Rab27a, showed that intermediary EEA1- and RILP-positive GFP-CD63 preferentially associate with septin-coated microtubules. Septin knockdown enhanced GFP-CD63 motility and decreased the percentage of CD63-positive MVBs/LEs with lysobiphosphatidic acid without impacting the fraction of EEA1-positive CD63. These results suggest that MVB maturation involves immobilization on septin-coated microtubules, which may facilitate multivesiculation and/or organelle–organelle contacts.