A new paxillin-binding protein, PAG3/Papalpha/KIAA0400, bearing an ADP-ribosylation factor GTPase-activating protein activity, is involved in paxillin recruitment to focal adhesions and cell migration.

Paxillin acts as an adaptor molecule in integrin signaling. Paxillin is localized to focal contacts but seems to also exist in a relatively large cytoplasmic pool. Here, we report the identification of a new paxillin-binding protein, PAG3 (paxillin-associated protein with ADP-ribosylation factor [ARF] GTPase-activating protein [GAP] activity, number 3), which is involved in regulation of the subcellular localization of paxillin. PAG3 bound to all paxillin isoforms and was induced during monocyte maturation, at which time paxillin expression is also increased and integrins are activated. PAG3 was diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm in premature monocytes but became localized at cell periphery in mature monocytes, a fraction of which then colocalized with paxillin. PAG3, on the other hand, did not accumulate at focal adhesion plaques, suggesting that PAG3 is not an integrin assembly protein. PAG3 was identical to KIAA0400/Papalpha, which was previously identified as a Pyk2-binding protein bearing a GAP activity toward several ARFs in vitro. Mammalian ARFs fall into three classes, and we showed that all classes could affect subcellular localization of paxillin. We also examined possible interaction of PAG3 with ARFs and showed evidence that at least one of them, ARF6, seems to be an intracellular substrate for GAP activity of PAG3. Moreover, overexpression of PAG3, but not its GAP-inactive mutant, inhibited paxillin recruitment to focal contacts and hampered cell migratory activities, whereas cell adhesion activities were almost unaffected. Therefore, our results demonstrate that paxillin recruitment to focal adhesions is not mediated by simple cytoplasmic diffusion; rather, PAG3 appears to be involved in this process, possibly through its GAP activity toward ARF proteins. Our result thus delineates a new aspect of regulation of cell migratory activities.