Summary
Integrin adhesion receptors consist of non-covalently linked α and β subunits each
of which contains a large extracellular domain, a single transmembrane domain and
a short cytoplasmic tail. Engaged integrins recruit to focal structures globally termed
adhesion complexes. The cytoplasmic domain of the β subunit is essential for this
clustering. β1 and β3 integrins can recruit at distinct cellular locations (i.e. fibrillar
adhesions vs focal adhesions, respectively) but it is not clear whether individual β subunit cytoplasmic
and transmembrane domains are by themselves sufficient to drive orthotopic targeting
to the cognate adhesion complex. To address this question, we expressed fulllength
β3 transmembrane anchored cytoplasmic domains and truncated β3 cytoplasmic domains
as GFP-fusion constructs and monitored their localization in endothelial cells. Membrane-anchored
full-length β3 cytoplasmic domain and a β3 mutant lacking the NXXY motif recruited
to adhesion complexes, while β3 mutants lacking the NPXY and NXXY motifs or the transmembrane
domain did not. Replacing the natural β subunit transmembrane domain with an unrelated
(i.e. HLA-A2 α chain) transmembrane domain significantly reduced recruitment to adhesion
complexes. Transmembrane anchored β3 and cytoplasmic domain constructs, however, recruited
without discrimination to β1– and β3-rich adhesions complexes. These findings demonstrate
that membrane anchorage and the NPXY (but not the NXXY) motif are necessary for β3
cytoplasmic domain recruitment to adhesion complexes and that the natural transmembrane
domain actively contributes to this recruitment. The β3 transmembrane and cytoplasmic
domains alone are insufficient for orthotopic recruitment to cognate adhesion complexes.
Keywords Integrin - adhesion complexes - endothelial cell - transmembrane domain