title: Calcium-dependent switching of the specificity of phosphoinositide binding to synaptotagmin.
abstract: The synaptic vesicle membrane protein synaptotagmin (tagmin) is essential for fast, calcium-dependent, neurotransmitter release and is likely to be the calcium sensor for exocytosis, because of its many calcium-dependent properties. Polyphosphoinositides are needed for exocytosis, but it has not been known why. We now provide a possible connection between these observations with the finding that the C2B domain of tagmin I binds phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIns-4,5-P2), its isomer phosphatidylinositol-3,4-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIns-3,4,5-P3). Calcium ions switch the specificity of this binding from PIns-3,4,5-P3 (at calcium concentrations found in resting nerve terminals) to PIns-4,5-P2 (at concentration of calcium required for transmitter release). Inositol polyphosphates, known blockers of neurotransmitter release, inhibit the binding of both PIns-4,5-P2 and PIns-3,4,5-P3 to tagmin. Our findings imply that tagmin may operate as a bimodal calcium sensor, switching bound lipids during exocytosis. This connection to polyphosphoinositides, compounds whose levels are physiologically regulated, could be important for long-term memory and learning.
authors.affiliation: Cellular Biochemistry and Biophysics Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schiavo
authors.forename: Q M
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Prestwich
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Söllner
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rothman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D007700:Kinetics; D008081:Liposomes; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008823:Micelles; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D050857:Synaptotagmins
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D008081:Liposomes; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008823:Micelles; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D050857:Synaptotagmins; D002118:Calcium