Alanine Scanning Mutagenesis of the C-Terminal Cytosolic End of Gpm6a Identifies Key Residues Essential for the Formation of Filopodia.

ABSTRACT: Neuronal membrane glycoprotein M6a (Gpm6a) is a protein with four transmembrane regions and the N- and the C-ends facing the cytosol. It functions in processes of neuronal development, outgrowth of neurites, and formation of filopodia, spines, and synapsis. Molecular mechanisms by which Gpm6a acts in these processes are not fully comprehended. Structural similarities of Gpm6a with tetraspanins led us to hypothesize that, similarly to tetraspanins, the cytoplasmic tails function as connections with cytoskeletal and/or signaling proteins. Here, we demonstrate that the C- but not the N-terminal cytosolic end of Gpm6a is required for the formation of filopodia by Gpm6a in cultured neurons from rat hippocampus and in neuroblastoma cells N2a. Further immunofluorescence microcopy and flow cytomet

SUBMITTER: Rosas NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6131581 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature