Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)
P2) is the major phosphoinositide species in mammalian cells and has been associated with numerous molecular events critical for cellular signaling. PtdIns(4,5)
P2 is hydrolyzed by PLC enzymes to generate diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate, two pivotal second messengers (
Berridge, 1993), and it is also converted by class I phosphoinositol 3-kinases to PtdIns(3,4,5)
P3 (
Toker and Cantley, 1997). PtdIns(4,5)
P2 directly interacts with several ion channels, transporters (
Fuster et al., 2004;
Suh and Hille, 2005), and actin binding proteins (
Hilpela et al., 2004) and regulates enzymes such as PLC and PLD (
Liscovitch et al., 1994;
Lomasney et al., 1996). Several molecules within the receptor internalization machinery also contain inositide binding domains, but the exact lipid species that regulates them in the cell has not been firmly established (
Itoh et al., 2001). It is a major challenge to understand how a single type of molecule is able to regulate so many processes simultaneously and perhaps independently within the plasma membrane (PM).
Part of the problem in studying the multiple functions of PtdIns(4,5)
P2 is that it is difficult to manipulate phosphoinositide levels within the cells. For example, most data on channel regulation rely upon the addition of phospholipids to excised patches and the use of inhibitors such as high concentrations of wortmannin to inhibit PtdIns(4,5)
P2 formation (
Suh and Hille, 2002;
Rohacs et al., 2005). Several attempts have been made to alter the level of PtdIns(4,5)
P2 in intact cells by expressing either phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase or 5-phosphatase (5-ptase) enzymes (
Ono et al., 2004;
Chen et al., 2006). However, prolonged changes in PtdIns(4,5)
P2 levels initiate several trafficking and signaling events that will alter the disposition of the cells by the time the effects are analyzed (
Brown et al., 2001). This makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding direct effect of the lipid on any single process.
To overcome this problem, we developed a strategy to promptly regulate membrane PtdIns(4,5)
P2 levels by a drug-inducible membrane targeting of a type IV 5-ptase enzyme (
Kisseleva et al., 2000;
Kong et al., 2000) based on the heterodimerization of the FRB (fragment of mammalian target of rapamycin [mTOR] that binds FKBP12) and FKBP12 (FK506 binding protein 12;
Muthuswamy et al., 1999). In this approach, the phosphatase is fused to the FKBP12 protein, and upon addition of rapamycin (rapa; or an analogue that does not interact with endogenous mTOR protein) the enzyme rapidly translocates to the membrane where its binding partner, the FRB domain, is targeted. This method has been successfully used to manipulate small GTP binding proteins at the PM (
Inoue et al., 2005) and to study the effects of β-arrestin membrane recruitment (
Terrillon and Bouvier, 2004). In the present study we show the use of this approach to manipulate PM PtdIns(4,5)
P2 levels and demonstrate how these manipulations affect selected processes that are regulated by this phosphoinositide species.