Kinase D interacting substrate of 220 kDa (Kidins220), also known as ankyrin repeat-rich membrane spanning (ARMS), is a protein that is mainly expressed in brain and neural cells where its function is only starting to be characterized. Here, we show that Kidins220/ARMS is also expressed in T lymphocytes where it is highly concentrated at the uropod of polarized T cells. In this cellular model, Kidins220/ARMS colocalizes with typical uropod T-cell molecules and coimmunoprecipitates with ICAM-3. Furthermore, Kidins220/ARMS associates with raft domains at the uropod and coimmunoprecipitates with caveolin-1, a molecule we show here to be also expressed in T cells. Importantly, induction of morphological polarization in primary T lymphocytes and Jurkat cells enhances Kidins220/ARMS colocalization with ICAM-3. Conversely, disruption of cell polarity provokes Kidins220/ARMS redistribution from the uropod to other cellular regions and drastically impairs its association with ICAM-3 in a protein kinase C-dependent manner. Finally, Kidins220/ARMS knockdown in human polarized T-cell lines promotes both basal and stromal cell-derived factor-1a-induced directed migration, identifying a novel function for this molecule. Altogether, our findings show that Kidins220/ARMS is a novel component of the uropod involved in the regulation of T-cell motility, an essential process for the immune response.Keywords: Cell migration . ICAM-3 . Kidins220/ARMS . T cells . Uropod Supporting Information available online à These authors have contributed equally to this study.
IntroductionKinase D interacting substrate of 220 kDa (Kidins220) [1], also known as ankyrin repeat-rich membrane spanning, (ARMS) [2], is an integral membrane protein whose function remains widely unexplored. Kidins220/ARMS was identified in neuronal cells as the first physiological substrate for protein kinase D (PKD), and as a downstream effector of neurotrophin and ephrin receptors. The amino acid sequence of Kidins220/ARMS contains several structural and functional domains and diverse motifs that may potentially link this protein to membranes, cytoskeleton, and different signaling pathways. Kidins220/ARMS is predominantly expressed in brain and neural cells [1,2]. Neurons present a polarized phenotype and a differential distribution of specific molecules along the surfaces of the dendrites, the cell body, and the axonal projection [3]. The segregation and stabilization of many of these molecules to specific cellular subdomains is believed to be regulated in neurons and other polarized cells by the cytoskeleton [4]. It has been recently shown that in hippocampal neurons Kidins220/ARMS modulates the activity of microtubule-regulating proteins and controls neuronal polarity, development, and maturation [5].Resting T lymphocytes are largely spherical nonpolarized cells that upon activation, in response to chemoattractant and other stimuli, undergo morphological and cytoskeletal rearrangements and acquire a polarized morphology that confers them the ability to migrate [6,7...