Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry Section, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
J Biol Chem. 2022 Apr;298(4):101826. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101826. Epub 2022 Mar 14.
Ubiquitin (Ub)-mediated regulation of plasmalemmal ion channel activity canonically occurs via stimulation of endocytosis. Whether ubiquitination can modulate channel activity by alternative mechanisms remains unknown. Here, we show that the transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) cation channel is multiubiquitinated within its cytosolic N-terminal and C-terminal intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). Mutagenizing select lysine residues to block ubiquitination of the N-terminal but not C-terminal IDR resulted in a marked elevation of TRPV4-mediated intracellular calcium influx, without increasing cell surface expression levels. Conversely, enhancing TRPV4 ubiquitination via expression of an E3 Ub ligase reduced TRPV4 channel activity but did not decrease plasma membrane abundance. These results demonstrate Ub-dependent regulation of TRPV4 channel function independent of effects on plasma membrane localization. Consistent with ubiquitination playing a key negative modulatory role of the channel, gain-of-function neuropathy-causing mutations in the TRPV4 gene led to reduced channel ubiquitination in both cellular and Drosophila models of TRPV4 neuropathy, whereas increasing mutant TRPV4 ubiquitination partially suppressed channel overactivity. Together, these data reveal a novel mechanism via which ubiquitination of an intracellular flexible IDR domain modulates ion channel function independently of endocytic trafficking and identify a contributory role for this pathway in the dysregulation of TRPV4 channel activity by neuropathy-causing mutations.
泛素(Ub)介导的质膜离子通道活性的调节通常通过刺激内吞作用发生。泛素化是否可以通过替代机制来调节通道活性尚不清楚。在这里,我们表明瞬时受体电位香草素 4(TRPV4)阳离子通道在其细胞质的 N 端和 C 端固有无序区域(IDR)内被多泛素化。突变选择赖氨酸残基以阻止 N 端而非 C 端 IDR 的泛素化导致 TRPV4 介导的细胞内钙内流明显升高,而不增加细胞表面表达水平。相反,通过表达 E3 Ub 连接酶增强 TRPV4 泛素化会降低 TRPV4 通道活性,但不会减少质膜丰度。这些结果表明 Ub 对 TRPV4 通道功能的调节独立于对质膜定位的影响。与泛素化对通道发挥关键负调节作用一致,TRPV4 基因中的致神经病功能获得性突变导致 TRPV4 神经病的细胞和果蝇模型中通道泛素化减少,而增加突变 TRPV4 泛素化部分抑制了通道过度活跃。总之,这些数据揭示了一种新的机制,通过该机制,细胞内柔性 IDR 结构域的泛素化独立于内吞作用来调节离子通道功能,并确定该途径在致神经病突变导致 TRPV4 通道活性失调中的贡献作用。