Papers In Press, published online ahead of print February 5, 2008
J. Biol. Chem, 10.1074/jbc.M800622200
Submitted on January 24, 2008
Accepted on February 5, 2008
Glycine transporter dimers: Evidence for occurrence in the plasma membrane
Ingo Bartholomaeus, Laura Milan-Lobo, Annette Nicke, Sébastien Dutertre, Hanne Hastrup, Alok Jha, Ulrik Gether, Harald H. Sitte, Heinrich Betz, and Volker Eulenburg
Neurochemistry, Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Hessen 60529
Corresponding Author: eulenburg{at}mpih-frankfurt.mpg.de
Different Na+/Cl--dependent neurotransmitter transporters of the SLC6a family have been shown to form dimers or oligomers in both intracellular compartments and at the cell surface. In contrast, the glycine transporters (GlyT) 1 and 2 have been reported to exist as monomers in the plasma membrane based on hydrodynamic and native gel electrophoretic studies. Here, we used cysteine substitution and oxidative crosslinking to show that of GlyT1 and GlyT2 also form dimeric complexes within the plasma membrane. GlyT oligomerization at the cell surface was confirmed for both GlyT1 and GlyT2 by fluorescence resonance energy transfer microscopy. Endoglycosidase treatment and surface biotinylation further revealed that complex-glycosylated GlyTs form dimers located at the cell surface. Furthermore, substitution of tryptophan 469 of GlyT2 by an arginine generated a transporter deficient in dimerization that was retained intracellulary. Based on these results and GlyT structures modelled by using the crystal structure of the bacterial homolog LeuTAa, as a template, residues located within the extracellular loop 3 and at the beginning of transmembrane domain 6 are proposed to contribute to the dimerization interface of GlyTs.