GIT proteins, a novel family of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate-stimulated GTPase-activating proteins for ARF6

ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) proteins are key players in numerous vesicular trafficking events ranging from the formation and fusion of vesicles in the Golgi apparatus to exocytosis and endocytosis. To complete their GTPase cycle, ARFs require a guanine nucleotide-exchange protein to catalyze replacement of GDP by GTP and a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) to accelerate hydrolysis of bound GTP. Recently numerous guanine nucleotide-exchange proteins and GAP proteins have been identified and partially characterized. Every ARF GAP protein identified to date contains a characteristic zinc finger motif. GIT1 and GIT2, two members of a new family of G protein-coupled receptor kinase-interacting proteins, also contain a putative zinc finger motif and display ARF GAP activity. Truncation of the amino-terminal region containing the zinc finger motif prevented GAP activity of GIT1, One zinc molecule was found associated per molecule of purified recombinant ARF-GAP1, GIT1, and GIT2 proteins, suggesting the zinc finger motifs of ARF GAPs are functional and should play an important role in their GAP activity. Unlike ARF-GAP1, GIT1 and GIT2 stimulate hydrolysis of GTP bound to ARF6. Accordingly we found that the phospholipid dependence of the GAP activity of ARF-GAP1 and GIT proteins was quite different, as the GIT proteins are stimulated by phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate whereas ARF-GAP1 is stimulated by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and diacylglycerol, These results suggest that although the mechanism of GTP hydrolysis is probably very similar in these two families of ARF GAPs, GIT proteins might specifically regulate the activity of ARF6 in cells in coordination with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathways.