At the neuromuscular junction, the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is specifically clustered in the postsynaptic membrane via interactions with rapsyn and other scaffolding proteins. However, it remains unclear where these proteins bind on the AChR and how the interactions are regulated. Here, we define a phosphorylation-dependent binding site on the receptor that mediates agrin-induced clustering. Using chimeric proteins in which CD4 is fused to the large intracellular loop of each of the AChR subunits we found that agrin induced clustering of only chimeras containing the ␤ subunit loop. By making deletions in the ␤ loop we defined a 20 amino-acid sequence that is sufficient for clustering. The sequence contains a conserved tyrosine (Y390) whose phosphorylation is induced by agrin and whose mutation abolished clustering of ␤ loop chimeras and their ability to inhibit agrin-induced clustering of the endogenous AChR. Phosphorylation of the AChR ␤ subunit is correlated with increased rapsyn/AChR binding, suggesting that the effect of ␤Y390 phosphorylation on clustering is mediated by rapsyn. Indeed, we found that rapsyn associated with CD4-␤ loop chimeras in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, and that agrin increased the ratio of rapsyn binding to wild type AChR but not to AChR-␤ 3F/3F , which lacks ␤ loop tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Together, these findings suggest that agrin-induced phosphorylation of the ␤ subunit motif increases the stoichiometry of rapsyn binding to the AChR, thereby helping to stably cluster the receptor and anchor it at high density in the postsynaptic membrane.

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At the developing vertebrate neuromuscular junction, postsynaptic localization of the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is regulated by agrin signaling via the muscle specific kinase (MuSK) and requires an intracellular scaffolding protein called rapsyn. In addition to its structural role, rapsyn is also necessary for agrin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the AChR, which regulates some aspects of receptor localization. Here, we have investigated the molecular mechanism by which rapsyn mediates AChR phosphorylation. In a heterologous COS cell system, we show that MuSK and rapsyn induced phosphorylation of β subunit tyrosine 390 (Y390) and δ subunit Y393, as in muscle cells. Mutation of β Y390 or δ Y393 did not inhibit MuSK/rapsyn-induced phosphorylation of the other subunit in COS cells, and mutation of β Y390 did not inhibit agrin-induced phosphorylation of the δ subunit in Sol8 muscle cells; thus, their phosphorylation occurs independently, downstream of MuSK activation. In COS cells, we further show that MuSK-induced phosphorylation of the β subunit was mediated by rapsyn, as MuSK plus rapsyn increased β Y390 phosphorylation more than rapsyn alone and MuSK alone had no effect. Intriguingly, MuSK also induced tyrosine phosphorylation of rapsyn itself. We then used deletion mutants to map the rapsyn domains responsible for activation of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases that phosphorylate the AChR subunits. We found that rapsyn C-terminal domains (amino acids 212-412) are both necessary and sufficient for activation of tyrosine kinases and induction of cellular tyrosine phosphorylation. Moreover, deletion of the rapsyn RING domain (365-412) abolished MuSK-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the AChR β subunit. Together, these findings suggest that rapsyn facilitates AChR phosphorylation by activating or localizing tyrosine kinases via its C-terminal domains. Keywords neuromuscular junction; synaptogenesis; agrin; postsynaptic membraneAt the developing neuromuscular junction in vertebrates, several nerve-derived signals combine to localize the acetylcholine receptor at postsynaptic sites (Sanes and Lichtman, 2001, Burden, 2002, Kummer et al., 2006. One essential factor is agrin, which signals via the MuSK receptor tyrosine kinase and induces and/or stabilizes clustering of the AChR in the postsynaptic membrane (reviewed in (Kummer et al., 2006 Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. is prepatterned and AChR clusters occur in the central region of the muscle prior to and even in the absence of neural innervation (Lin et al., 2001, Yang et al., 2001). However, upo...

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