Apical scaffolding protein NHERF2 modulates the localization of alternatively spliced plasma membrane Ca2+ pump 2B variants in polarized epithelial cells.

Abstract The membrane localization of the plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase isoform 2 (PMCA2) in polarized cells is determined by alternative splicing; the PMCA2w/b splice variant shows apical localization, whereas the PMCA2z/b and PMCA2x/b variants are mostly basolateral. We previously reported that PMCA2b interacts with the PDZ protein Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor 2 (NHERF2), but the role of this interaction for the specific membrane localization of PMCA2 is not known. Here we show that co-expression of NHERF2 greatly enhanced the apical localization of GFP-tagged PMCA2w/b in polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. GFP-PMCA2z/b was also redirected to the apical membrane by NHERF2, whereas GFP-PMCA2x/b remained exclusively basolateral. In the presence of NHERF2, GFP-PMCA2w/b co-localized with the actin-binding protein ezrin even after disruption of the actin cytoskeleton by cytochalasin D or latrunculin B. Surface biotinylation and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments demonstrated that NHERF2-mediated anchorage to the actin cytoskeleton reduced internalization and lateral mobility of the pump. Our results show that the specific interaction with NHERF2 enhances the apical concentration of PMCA2w/b by anchoring the pump to the apical membrane cytoskeleton. The data also suggest that the x/b splice form of PMCA2 contains a dominant lateral targeting signal, whereas the targeting and localization of the z/b form are more flexible and not fully determined by intrinsic sequence features.