Cardiac Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Nav1.5 Is Regulated by Nedd4-2 Mediated Ubiquitination

MX van Bemmelen, JS Rougier, B Gavillet… - Circulation …, 2004 - Am Heart Assoc
MX van Bemmelen, JS Rougier, B Gavillet, F Apothéloz, D Daidié, M Tateyama, I Rivolta…
Circulation research, 2004Am Heart Assoc
Nav1. 5, the cardiac isoform of the voltage-gated Na+ channel, is critical to heart excitability
and conduction. However, the mechanisms regulating its expression at the cell membrane
are poorly understood. The Nav1. 5 C-terminus contains a PY-motif (xPPxY) that is known to
act as binding site for Nedd4/Nedd4-like ubiquitin-protein ligases. Because Nedd4-2 is well
expressed in the heart, we investigated its role in the ubiquitination and regulation of Nav1.
5. Yeast two-hybrid and GST-pulldown experiments revealed an interaction between Nav1 …
Nav1.5, the cardiac isoform of the voltage-gated Na+ channel, is critical to heart excitability and conduction. However, the mechanisms regulating its expression at the cell membrane are poorly understood. The Nav1.5 C-terminus contains a PY-motif (xPPxY) that is known to act as binding site for Nedd4/Nedd4-like ubiquitin-protein ligases. Because Nedd4-2 is well expressed in the heart, we investigated its role in the ubiquitination and regulation of Nav1.5. Yeast two-hybrid and GST-pulldown experiments revealed an interaction between Nav1.5 C-terminus and Nedd4-2, which was abrogated by mutating the essential tyrosine of the PY-motif. Ubiquitination of Nav1.5 was detected in both transfected HEK cells and heart extracts. Furthermore, Nedd4-2–dependent ubiquitination of Nav1.5 was observed. To test for a functional role of Nedd4-2, patch-clamp experiments were performed on HEK cells expressing wild-type and mutant forms of both Nav1.5 and Nedd4-2. Nav1.5 current density was decreased by 65% upon Nedd4-2 cotransfection, whereas the PY-motif mutant channels were not affected. In contrast, a catalytically inactive Nedd4-2 had no effect, indicating that ubiquitination mediates this downregulation. However, Nedd4-2 did not alter the whole-cell or the single channel biophysical properties of Nav1.5. Consistent with the functional findings, localization at the cell periphery of Nav1.5-YFP fusion proteins was reduced upon Nedd4-2 coexpression. The Nedd4-1 isoform did not regulate Nav1.5, suggesting that Nedd4-2 is a specific regulator of Nav1.5. These results demonstrate that Nav1.5 can be ubiquitinated in heart tissues and that the ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4-2 acts on Nav1.5 by decreasing the channel density at the cell surface.
Am Heart Assoc