CHO cells expressing the human P5-ATPase ATP13A2 are more sensitive to the toxic effects of herbicide paraquat.

P-ATPases are membrane transporters energized by ATP. The subfamily of P5-ATPases is the least studied P-ATPases and the ion substrate specificity of the P5 subfamily is not known. Mutations of the human P5ATPase gene ATP13A2 has been shown to underlie a form of Parkinson disease (PD). We investigated the link between ATP13A2 and environmental factors related to PD development. Increasing concentrations of the synthetic polyamine analog paraquat induced a greater cytotoxic effect over CHO cells expressing ATP13A2. Paraquat-toxicity was associated with increased production of cellular reactive oxygen species and this increment was reversed by the natural polyamine spermidine. Acridine orange fluorescence intensity suggested that ATP13A2 induced the expansion of acidic vesicles that become more alkaline upon external addition of spermidine. Polyamine uptake is proposed to be initiated by a plasma membrane carrier followed by sequestration into acidic vesicles of the late endocytic compartment through an unidentified active mechanism; because ATP13A2 is located in lysosomes and late endosomes, our results open the possibility that ATP13A2 could be one of those active transporters capable of transporting polyamines like spermidine as well as its toxic analog paraquat.

Deletions in the acidic lipid-binding region of the plasma membrane Ca2+ pump. A mutant with high affinity for Ca2+ resembling the acidic lipid-activated enzyme.

The C-terminal segment of the loop between transmembrane helices 2 and 3 (A(L) region) of the plasma membrane Ca(2+) pump (PMCA) is not conserved in other P-ATPases. Part of this region, just upstream from the third transmembrane domain, has been associated with activation of the PMCA by acidic lipids. cDNAs coding for mutants of the Ca(2+) pump isoform h4xb with deletions in the A(L) region were constructed, and the proteins were successfully expressed in either COS or Chinese hamster ovary cells. Mutants with deletions in the segment 296-349 had full Ca(2+) transport activity, but deletions involving the segment of amino acids 350-356 were inactive suggesting that these residues are required for a functional PMCA. In the absence of calmodulin the V(max) of mutant d296-349 was similar to that of the recombinant wild type pump, but its K(0.5) for Ca(2+) was about 5-fold lower. The addition of calmodulin increased the V(max) and the apparent Ca(2+) affinity of both the wild type and d296-349 enzymes indicating that the activating effects of calmodulin were not affected by the deletion. At low concentrations of Ca(2+) and in the presence of saturating amounts of calmodulin, the addition of phosphatidic acid increased about 2-fold the activity of the recombinant wild type pump. In contrast, under these conditions phosphatidic acid did not significantly change the activity of mutant d296-349. Taken together these results suggest that (a) deletion of residues 296-349 recreates a form of PMCA similar to that resulting from the binding of acidic lipids at the A(L) region; (b) the A(L) region acts as an acidic lipid-binding inhibitory domain capable of adjusting the Ca(2+) affinity of the PMCA to the lipid composition of the membrane; and (c) the function of the A(L) region is independent of the autoinhibition by the C-terminal calmodulin-binding region.