Endophilin A3 forms filamentous structures that colocalise with microtubules but not with actin filaments

Endophilin A3 is a member of the endophilin family of proteins, thought to play a role in the formation of clathrin-coated vesicles from the plasma membrane in the process of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. We investigated the localisation of both endogenous and overexpressed endophilin A3 within mammalian cells. Endophilin A3 demonstrated a complex cellular distribution with bright punctate structures and filamentous strands superimposed on a diffuse cytoplasmic background. The endophilin A3 structures did not colocalise with mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum or lysosomes. Direct immunolocalisation and cytoskeletal perturbation studies showed that the filamentous structures were more likely to be colocalised with microtubules than actin filaments. We therefore propose that endophilin A3 has a role in transport along or as part of the structure of microtubules, in addition to its suggested role in endocytosis. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.