The Crumbs3 Polarity Protein
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Downloaded from http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/ on September 28, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press The Crumbs3 Polarity Protein Ben Margolis Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-5680 Correspondence: [email protected] The Crumbs proteins are evolutionarily conserved apical transmembrane proteins. Drosophila Crumbs was discovered via its crucial role in epithelial polarity during fly em- bryogenesis. Crumbs proteins have variable extracellular domains but a highly conserved intracellular domain that can bind FERM and PDZ domain proteins. Mammals have three Crumbs genes and this review focuses on Crumbs3, the major Crumbs isoform expressed in mammalian epithelial cells. Although initial work has highlighted the role of Crumbs3 in polarity, more recent studies have found it has an important role in tissue morphogenesis functioning as a linker between the apical membrane and the actin cytoskeleton. In addi- tion, recent publications have linked Crumbs3 to growth control via regulation of the Hippo/ Yap pathway. pithelia polarize into apical and basolateral by mutual antagonism of apical and basolateral Emembranes with unique protein composi- protein complexes. In lower organisms, such as tions. This polarization is crucial for proper Drosophila, polarity is maintained solely by an- epithelial functions such as ion transport and tagonistic polarity complexes. In mammalian barrier protection. In mammalian epithelia, a cells, this biochemical polarization is further seal known as the tight junction separates the enforced by the tight junction seal (Shin et al. apical and basolateral membranes (Shin et al. 2006). There are two main evolutionarily con- 2006; Nelson 2009). The tight junction is com- served apical polarity complexes: the Crumbs posed of transmembrane proteins, primarily complex and the partitioning defective (Par) claudins that are organized by scaffold proteins complex (Pieczynski and Margolis 2011). The such as the zonula occludens. Another junc- Crumbs complex consists of three major pro- tion important for polarity is the adherens teins, Crumbs, protein associated with lin-7 one junction, which sits on the lateral membrane (Pals1; Stardust in Drosophila), and PALS1 as- basal to the tight junction. Its primary constit- sociated tight junction protein (Patj), all of uents are the cadherins. Adherens junctions are which are highly conserved from invertebrates mediators of cell–cell adhesion, a component to vertebrates. A similarly evolutionarily con- of polarity in epithelial sheets and tubes (Nel- served polarity complex is the Par complex son et al. 2013). that consists of Par3, Par6, and atypical protein Workover the last 20 years has indicated that kinase C (aPKC) (Pieczynski and Margolis apicobasal polarity is initiated and maintained 2011). aPKC is a crucial component of the apical Editor: Keith E. Mostov Additional Perspectives on Cell Polarity available at www.cshperspectives.org Copyright # 2017 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved Advanced Online Article. Cite this article as Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a027961 1 Downloaded from http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/ on September 28, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press B. Margolis polarity complex as phosphorylation is felt to brain, testis, uterus, eye, and embryonic tissue be the main biochemical effector mechanism (van den Hurk et al. 2005). Knockout of that results in membrane polarization. This re- Crumbs2 in mice results in embryonic lethality view will focus on the Crumbs complex and in at the late gastrulation stage (Xiao et al. 2011). particular the Crumbs3 protein, which is the Recent work has described patients with major Crumbs isoform found in mammalian Crumbs2 mutations resulting in ventriculo- epithelia. Although Crumbs was initially iden- megaly and nephrotic syndrome (Ebarasi et al. tified as a polarity protein, recent studies have 2015; Slavotinek et al. 2015). shown that it has multiple functions in epithe- The Crumbs3 gene is expressed in the ma- lial cells. jority of mammalian epithelia (Makarova et al. 2003). Crumbs3 exists in two variants as a result of alternate splicing of the final exon of the THE CRUMBS PROTEINS Crumbs3 gene. This alternate splicing results Crumbs was first identified in Drosophila as a in a 22–amino acid difference in the carboxyl regulator of epithelial polarity. In Drosophila terminus, altering the sequence of the PDZ- development, Crumbs is crucial for polariza- binding domain (Fan et al. 2007). Crumbs3a tion of the ectoderm that is formed after gas- has the carboxy-terminal sequence glutamic trulation. The external cuticle, which is derived acid–arginine–leucine–isoleucine(ERLI)ami- from this ectoderm, is disrupted when Crumbs no acids, which comprise its PDZ-binding mo- is not present leading to a speckled (crumbs- tif. Crumbs3b has a different carboxyl termi- like) appearance (Tepass et al. 1990). The nus, ending in the sequence cysteine–leucine– Drosophila Crumbs protein has a large extracel- proline–isoleucine (CLPI) that does not bind lular domain with 30 epidermal growth factor PDZ domains. The mechanisms regulating the (EGF)-like repeats, a single-span transmem- abundance of each splice variant are not yet brane region and a conserved cytoplasmic car- determined. The function of the Crumbs3 pro- boxyl terminus. The intracellular carboxyl ter- tein is discussed extensively below. minus contains a FERM (F for 4.1 protein, E for ezrin, R for radixin, and M for moesin)- CRUMBS-BINDING PARTNERS binding domain and a PDZ (P for postsynaptic density-95, D for discs large, and Z for zonula Crumbs binds to the conserved polarity pro- occludens1)-binding domain. In vertebrates, teins Pals1 (Drosophila Stardust) and Par6 via there are three Crumbs genes termed Crumbs1, its PDZ-binding carboxy-terminal sequence, Crumbs2, and Crumbs3. Crumbs1 and Crumbs2 ERLI (Fig. 1) (Hurd et al. 2003; Lemmers have large extracellular domains like the Dro- et al. 2004). Pals1/Stardust is a membrane- sophila Crumbs, whereas Crumbs3 has a very associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) protein short extracellular domain (Makarova et al. with the core complex of PDZ, Src homology 2003). Crumbs1 is primarily localized to the domain 3 (SH3), and guanylate kinase domain retinal pigmented epithelium of the eye and (GUK) (Kamberov et al. 2000; Funke et al. mutations in the gene have been linked to reti- 2005). Loss-of-function of Pals1/Stardust in nal dystrophies (Alves et al. 2014). Many of Drosophila closely phenocopies loss of Crumbs these mutations are found in the extracellular (Bachmann et al. 2001; Hong et al. 2001). The domain of Crumbs1, which is consistent with complex of Crumbs3 bound to Pals1 has been the finding that mutations in the extracellular studied at a crystallographic level. Although the domain of Drosophila Crumbs leads to abnor- Crumbs3 ERLI carboxy-terminal sequence is mal photoreceptor morphogenesis in flies a classic PDZ-binding motif, these structural (Alves et al. 2014). Knockout of Crumbs1 in studies show that the PDZ, SH3, and GUK do- mice leads to photoreceptor degeneration after mains are all required for the high-affinity in- 9 months of age (van de Pavert et al. 2004). teraction between Crumbs3 and Pals1 (Li et al. Crumbs2 gene expression has been detected in 2014). The binding of Pals1 to Crumbs appears 2 Advanced Online Article. Cite this article as Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a027961 Downloaded from http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/ on September 28, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press The Crumbs3 Polarity Protein Crumbs3 Pals1 Par6 aPKC Lin-7 Par3 Patj Tight junction Claudins and JAMs Apical ZO-3 Lateral Lateral proteins Figure 1. Crumbs3 PDZ domain interactions. Through its carboxy-terminal tail (circle), Crumbs3 can bind two PDZ domain proteins, Pals1 (protein associated with lin-7 one) and Par6. Par6 can bind Par3 as well as atypical protein kinase C (aPKC), and aPKC can regulate basolateral polarity complexes via phosphorylation. Pals1 binds Patj (PALS1 associated tight junction protein) and Lin-7 via L27 domains. Patj has 10 PDZ domains that can mediate numerous interactions including to transmembrane tight junction proteins such as claudins and junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs), as well as to tight junction scaffolding proteins such as zonula occlu- dens 3 (ZO-3). to be of a much higher affinity than the binding as well as small G proteins such as Cdc42 (Pie- of Crumbs to Par6 (Whitney et al. 2016). At its czynski and Margolis 2011; Tepass 2012; Whit- amino terminus, Pals1 has two L27 domains ney et al. 2016). (Doerks et al. 2000). One of these L27 domains Several proteins have also been identified binds to the small PDZ scaffold protein Lin-7 that bind to the Crumbs FERM-binding do- (Kamberov et al. 2000). The other L27 domains main (Fig. 2). Yurt was shown to bind the bind the multi-PDZ domain proteins, Patj and FERM-binding domain of Drosophila Crumbs multiple PDZ domain protein 1 (Mupp1) (Roh and function as a negative regulator of Crumbs et al. 2002; Assemat et al. 2013). Patj has multi- (Laprise et al. 2006). Studies have also indicated ple PDZ domains and can connect the Crumbs3 that the mammalian orthologs of Yurt, YMO1, complex to proteins of the tight junction such EHM2, and EPB41L5 have a similar function in as the zonula occludens proteins (Adachi et al. mammalian cells and form a novel complex 2009). The nature and extent of the interaction with Crumbs3 and Pals1 (Laprise et al. 2006, of the Par complex with the Crumbs complex 2009; Gosens et al. 2007). In Drosophila varies depending on the epithelia in which it is Crumbs, the FERM-binding domain interacts studied. There are multiple regulatory factors with the expanded protein to regulate growth that control these interactions, including aPKC control (see below) (Grzeschik et al. 2010; Ling Advanced Online Article. Cite this article as Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a027961 3 Downloaded from http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/ on September 28, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press B.