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Acta Physiologica 2012; Volume 206, Supplement 692
The 63rd National Congress of the Italian Physiological Society
9/21/2012-9/23/2012
Verona, Italy
INVESTIGATING LEUCINE RICH REPEAT KINASE 2 (LRRK2) BINDING PARTNERS: ROLE OF P21 ACTIVATED KINASE 6 (PAK6)
Abstract number: P1.14
CIVIERO1 L, BELLUZZI1 E, TOFFOLETTO1 S, BEILINA3 S, BUBACCO1 L, BAEKELANDT2 V, BUBACCO1 L, TAYMANS2 JM, COOKSON3 M, GREGGIO1 E
1Dept of Biology, Univ. of Padova, Padova, Italy
2Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
3Cell Biology and Gene Expression Unit, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, USA
LRRK2 is a large, multidomain protein. Mutations in LRRK2 gene account for up to 13% of familiar Parkinson's disease cases. Despite intense research efforts, information on the physiological and pathological function(s) of LRRK2 is still fragmentary. Since LRRK2 contains an enzymatic core composed of a GTPase and a kinase domain, it is thought to act as a signaling molecule. Furthermore, the primary structure of LRRK2 includes several domains that are predicted to function in protein-protein interactions. To shed more light on LRRK2 signaling pathways, we used a high throughput approach to search for binding partners. Highly pure LRRK2 protein was probed against 9000 recombinant proteins linked to a solid surface in a Protoarray. One of the most promising LRRK2 interactors is p21-activate kinase 6 (PAK6), a brain-specific dimeric kinase implicated in the regulation of cell morphology and cytoskeleton rearrangements. Here, we validate the interaction between the two proteins by co-immunoprecipitation and immunocytochemistry. Interestingly, in HEK293T cell model the two kinases co-localize and are associated with filamentous peripheral structures positive to F-actin staining. In this frame we are also investigating the role of PAK6 expression level on LRRK2 phosphorylation status. In conclusion, our results point to PAK6 as a novel LRRK2 interactor and suggest a potential role of the LRRK2-PAK6 complex on the regulation of cytoskeleton dynamics.
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Acta Physiologica 2012; Volume 206, Supplement 692 :P1.14