Amphiphysin 1 binds the cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) 5 regulatory subunit p35 and is phosphorylated by cdk5 and cdc2.

Amphiphysin 1 is a phosphoprotein expressed at high levels in neurons, where it participates in synaptic vesicle endocytosis and neurite outgrowth. It is a substrate for cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) 5, a member of the cyclin-dependent protein kinase family, which has been functionally linked to neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth via its action on the actin cytoskeleton. The yeast homologue of amphiphysin, Rvs167, functions in endocytosis and actin dynamics, is phosphorylated by the cdk5 homologue Pho85, and binds the Pho85 regulatory subunit Pcl2. We show here that amphiphysin 1 interacts with the cdk5-activating subunit p35 and that this interaction is mediated by the conserved NH2-terminal region of amphiphysin. Amphiphysin 1 colocalizes with p35 in the growth cones of neurons and at actin-rich peripheral lamellipodia in transfected fibroblasts. Amphiphysin is phosphorylated by cdk5 in a region including serines 272, 276, and 285. Amphiphysin 1 is also phosphorylated by the cdc2/cyclin B kinase complex in the same region and undergoes mitotic phosphorylation in dividing cells. These data indicate that phosphorylation by members of the cyclin-dependent kinase family is a conserved property of amphiphysin and suggest that this phosphorylation may play an important physiological role both in mitosis and in differentiated cells.