A Conserved Transmembrane Domain Lysine in the Integrin Beta1 Subunit Regulates Renal Collecting Duct Cell Function

Integrins are heterodimeric trans-membrane receptor proteins that mediate the interaction of cells with extracellular matrix proteins (ECM). They mediate various growth factor dependent cell-signaling pathways during the development of fibrosis that is characteristic of all forms of chronic kidney diseases. Although integrin β1 is the most abundant integrin subunit in kidney and can form complexes with 12 different α subunits, integrin β3 is the best studied integrin β subunit and serves as the canonical model for integrin function based on the high sequence homology between the trans-membrane and cytosolic domains of integrin β subunits. A conserved lysine residue towards the C-terminus of integrin β3 subunit is reported to be important for regulating the activation of integrin αIIbβ3 complexes; however the functional importance of this lysine is unknown in β1 integrins. We investigated the role of this lysine residue in integrin β1-dependent kidney collecting duct cell function. We expressed the mutant protein where the lysine is mutated to glutamic acid in collecting duct cells null for integrin β1. Collecting duct cells expressing mutant protein had decreased the adhesion of cells to collagen IV mediated by integrin α1β1 by 80% (0.95 vs 0.18). This mutation also decreased the ability of IMCD cells adhesion to collagen I mediated by integrin α2β1 by 82% (0.78 vs 0.15). In contrast to earlier reports in integrin β3, this mutation did not significantly alter the amount of active integrin β1 on the cell surface as estimated by FACS analysis; however we did observe a decrease in conformation specific antibody binding on cells adhered to collagen (0.70 vs 0.30). We also investigated the role of this lysine residue in complex formation of purified integrin β1 with integrin α1 and α2 TM/CT domains in phospholipid bicelles using fluorescence anisotropy. The dissociation constant for binding was estimated to be >3.2 mol and mutation of lysine residue did not significantly alter their binding ability. This contrasted with integrin αIIb β3 where we found fourfold decrease in binding ability (Kd 0.09 ± 0.03 mol and 0.33 ± 0.05 mol). Our data clearly suggest that conserved transmembrane lysine in both integrin β3 and integrin β1 regulate cell functions by distinct mechanisms.