PDZ domain-containing protein as a physiological modulator of TRPV6

The epithelial Ca2+ channel TRPV6 constitutes the apical Ca2+ entry mechanism in active Ca2+ transport in kidney and intestine, but little is known about regulation mechanism of TRPV6. We performed yeast two-hybrid screen with TRPV6 C-terminus since TRPV6 has PDZ (Post-synaptic density-95, Drosophila discs-large protein, Zonula occludens protein 1) binding motif at its C terminal end. As a result, we found that 4 PDZ domain-containing protein, PDZK2, interacts with TRPV6 through its fourth PDZ domain. Glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay shows that TRPV6 and PDZK2 directly interact and that TRPV6 C-terminal PDZ binding motif is primarily responsible for this interaction. Mutant Δ4 lacking last 4 amino acid EYQI did not interact with PDZK2. Heterologous overexpression of both TRPV6 and PDZK2 did not show any effect on the activation of TRPV6. On the other hand, the peak current amplitude of mutant Δ4 decreased compared with that of WT TRPV6. When introduced into HEK293 cells expressing TRPV6, PDZ binding motif peptide (EYQI) markedly reduced the peak current amplitude in divalent free (DVF) solution. Knocking down the endogenous PDZK2 of HEK293 cells by RNAi significantly decreased DVF current density. Taken together, we propose that PDZK2 is an essential TRPV6 interacting protein as a physiological modulator of TRPV6.