Analysis of the cytoplasmic interaction between polycystin-1 and polycystin-2

Casuscelli J, Schmidt S, DeGray B, Petri ET, Celic A, Folta-Stogniew E, Ehrlich BE, Boggon TJ. Analysis of the cytoplasmic interaction between polycystin-1 and polycystin-2. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 297: F1310-F1315, 2009. First published September 2, 2009; doi: 10.1152/ajprenal.00412.2009.-Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) arises following mutations of either Pkd1 or Pkd2. The proteins these genes encode, polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2), form a signaling complex using direct intermolecular interactions. Two distinct domains in the C-terminal tail of PC2 have recently been identified, an EF-hand and a coiled-coil domain. Here, we show that the PC2 coiled-coil domain interacts with the C-terminal tail of PC1, but that the PC2 EF-hand domain does not. We measured the K-0.5 of the interaction between the C-terminal tails of PC1 and PC2 and showed that the direct interaction of these proteins is abrogated by a PC1 point mutation that was identified in ADPKD patients. Finally, we showed that overexpression of the PC1 C-terminal tail in MDCK cells alters the Ca2+ response, but that overexpression of the PC1 C-terminal tail containing the disease mutation does not. These results allow a more detailed understanding of the mechanism of pathogenic mutations in the cytoplasmic regions of PC1 and PC2.