In vivo interaction between RGS4 and calmodulin visualized with FRET techniques: Possible involvement of lipid raft

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) are a family of proteins which accelerate intrinsic GTP-hydrolysis on heterotrimeric G-protein-alpha-subunits. Although it has been suggested that the function of RGS4 is reciprocally regulated by competitive binding of the membrane phospholipid, phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5,-trisphosphate(PtdIns(3,4,5)P-3), and Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM), it remains to be shown that these interactions occur in vivo. Here, using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) techniques, we show that an elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration by ionomycin increased the FRET efficiency from ECFP (a variant of cyan fluorescent protein)-labeled calmodulin to Venus (a variant of yellow fluorescent protein)-labeled RGS4. The increase in FRET efficiency was greatly attenuated by pre-treating the cells with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin, which depletes membrane cholesterol and thus disrupts lipid rafts. These results provide the first demonstration of a Ca2+-dependent interaction between RGS4 and CaM in vivo and show that association in lipid rafts of the plasma membrane might be involved in this physiological regulation of RGS proteins. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.