Constitutive Endocytic Recycling and Protein Kinase C-mediated Lysosomal Degradation Control KATP Channel Surface Density

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry 2010-02, Vol.285 (8), p.5963-5973
• Main Authors: Manna, Paul T., Smith, Andrew J., Taneja, Tarvinder K., Howell, Gareth J., Lippiat, Jonathan D., Sivaprasadarao, Asipu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cell Biology; Cell/Endocytosis; Channels/Potassium; Membrane/Channels; Protein/Intracellular Trafficking; Signal Transduction/Phorbol Esters; Signal Transduction/Protein Kinases/Serine/Threonine
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X
• DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M109.066902

Pancreatic ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels control insulin secretion by coupling the excitability of the pancreatic β-cell to glucose metabolism. Little is currently known about how the plasma membrane density of these channels is regulated. We therefore set out to examine in detail the endocytosis and recycling of these channels and how these processes are regulated. To achieve this goal, we expressed KATP channels bearing an extracellular hemagglutinin epitope in human embryonic kidney cells and followed their fate along the endocytic pathway. Our results show that KATP channels undergo multiple rounds of endocytosis and recycling. Further, activation of protein kinase C (PKC) with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate significantly decreases KATP channel surface density by reducing channel recycling and diverting the channel to lysosomal degradation. These findings were recapitulated in the model pancreatic β-cell line INS1e, where activation of PKC leads to a decrease in the surface density of native KATP channels. Because sorting of internalized channels between lysosomal and recycling pathways could have opposite effects on the excitability of pancreatic β-cells, we propose that PKC-regulated KATP channel trafficking may play a role in the regulation of insulin secretion.