Depletion of intracellular calcium stores activates store-operated calcium entry across the plasma membrane in many cells. STIM1, the putative calcium sensor in the endoplasmic reticulum, and the calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) modulator CRACM1 (also known as Orai1) in the plasma membrane have recently been shown to be essential for controlling the store-operated CRAC current (I CRAC ) [1][2][3][4] . However, individual overexpression of either protein fails to significantly amplify I CRAC . Here, we show that STIM1 and CRACM1 interact functionally. Overexpression of both proteins greatly potentiates I CRAC , suggesting that STIM1 and CRACM1 mutually limit store-operated currents and that CRACM1 may be the long-sought CRAC channel.Receptor-mediated release of Ca 2+ from intracellular stores induces Ca 2+ entry through calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels [5][6][7] . Previous studies have identified STIM1 as the potential sensor for endoplasmic reticulum luminal Ca 2+ concentration 1,8,9 . When Ca 2+ is depleted from intracellular stores, STIM1 translocates to vesicular structures (punctae) underneath the plasma membrane, where it is hypothesized to activate CRAC channels residing in the plasma membrane. A second protein, CRACM1, has recently been identified as essential for activating CRAC channels 3,4 . This protein contains four transmembrane domains, is located in the plasma membrane and, therefore, may represent the CRAC channel itself, a subunit of the channel, or a regulatory molecule that couples to the channel. When overexpressed individually, neither STIM1 nor CRACM1 can significantly potentiate I CRAC 1-4 .To address the potential interaction of STIM1 and CRACM1, both proteins were overexpressed individually, or in combination, in HEK293 and Jurkat T cells and the CRAC (Fig. 1b, d). Consistent with previous work 1,9 , overexpression of STIM1 alone caused a small-to-modest increase in I CRAC in HEK293 and Jurkat cells (Fig. 1a, c). CRACM1 overexpression alone did not affect the CRAC currents induced by store depletion in HEK293 cells (Fig. 1a, b) and caused a small reduction in I CRAC in Jurkat cells (Fig. 1c, d). Unless simply due to a general effect of transfection or variability of I CRAC across preparations, this reduction may be due to some kind of dominant-negative effect. Taken together, the available data on CRACM1 and STIM1 suggest that the individually expressed proteins, although essential for I CRAC manifestation, cannot significantly amplify the current. This would indicate that these proteins are either not sufficient to generate large CRAC currents or that they are stoichiometrically linked and limit each others' ability to generate CRAC currents above normal. Therefore, we co-overexpressed both proteins in HEK293 cells (see Supplementary Information, Fig. S1) and assessed store-operated currents by patch clamp.
HHS Public AccessThe co-overexpression of STIM1 and CRACM1, in both HEK293 and Jurkat cells, is sufficient to generate enormous membrane currents ...