REEP6 mediates trafficking of a subset of Clathrin-coated vesicles and is critical for rod photoreceptor function and survival

Hum Mol Genet. 2017 Jun 15;26(12):2218-2230. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddx111.

Abstract

In retinal photoreceptors, vectorial transport of cargo is critical for transduction of visual signals, and defects in intracellular trafficking can lead to photoreceptor degeneration and vision impairment. Molecular signatures associated with routing of transport vesicles in photoreceptors are poorly understood. We previously reported the identification of a novel rod photoreceptor specific isoform of Receptor Expression Enhancing Protein (REEP) 6, which belongs to a family of proteins involved in intracellular transport of receptors to the plasma membrane. Here we show that loss of REEP6 in mice (Reep6-/-) results in progressive retinal degeneration. Rod photoreceptor dysfunction is observed in Reep6-/- mice as early as one month of age and associated with aberrant accumulation of vacuole-like structures at the apical inner segment and reduction in selected rod phototransduction proteins. We demonstrate that REEP6 is detected in a subset of Clathrin-coated vesicles and interacts with the t-SNARE, Syntaxin3. In concordance with the rod degeneration phenotype in Reep6-/- mice, whole exome sequencing identified homozygous REEP6-E75K mutation in two retinitis pigmentosa families of different ethnicities. Our studies suggest a critical function of REEP6 in trafficking of cargo via a subset of Clathrin-coated vesicles to selected membrane sites in retinal rod photoreceptors.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Clathrin-Coated Vesicles / metabolism
  • Eye Proteins / genetics
  • Light Signal Transduction
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mutation
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / metabolism
  • Protein Isoforms / metabolism
  • Protein Transport
  • Qa-SNARE Proteins / metabolism
  • Retinal Degeneration / metabolism
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / metabolism*
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa / genetics
  • SNARE Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Eye Proteins
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Protein Isoforms
  • Qa-SNARE Proteins
  • REEP6 protein, mouse
  • SNARE Proteins