Distinct Rab binding specificity of Rim1, Rim2, rabphilin, and Noc2. Identification of a critical determinant of Rab3A/Rab27A recognition by Rim2.

Rabphilin, Rim, and Noc2 have generally been believed to be the Rab3 isoform (Rab3A/B/C/D)-specific effectors that regulate secretory vesicle exocytosis in neurons and in some endocrine cells. The results of recent genetic analysis of rabphilin knock-out animals, however, strongly refute this notion, because there are no obvious genetic interactions between Rab3 and rabphilin in nematoda (Staunton, J., Ganetzky, B., and Nonet, M. L. (2001) J. Neurosci. 21, 9255-9264), suggesting that Rab3 is not a major ligand of rabphilin in vivo. In this study, I tested the interaction of rabphilin, Rim1, Rim2, and Noc2 with 42 different Rab proteins by cotransfection assay and found differences in rabphilin, Rim1, Rim2, and Noc2 binding to several Rab proteins that belong to the Rab functional group III (Rab3A/B/C/D, Rab26, Rab27A/B, and Rab37) and/or VIII (Rab8A and Rab10). Rim1 interacts with Rab3A/B/C/D, Rab10, Rab26, and Rab37; Rim2 interacts with Rab3A/B/C/D and Rab8A; and rabphilin and Noc2 interact with Rab3A/B/C/D, Rab8A, and Rab27A/B. By contrast, the synaptotagmin-like protein homology domain of Slp homologue lacking C2 domains-a (Slac2-a)/melanophilin specifically recognizes Rab27A/B but not other Rabs. I also found that alternative splicing events in the first alpha-helical region (alpha(1)) of the Rab binding domain of Rim1 alter the Rab binding specificity of Rim1. Site-directed mutagenesis and chimeric analyses of Rim2 and Slac2-a indicate that the acidic cluster (Glu-50, Glu-51, and Glu-52) in the alpha(1) region of the Rab binding domain of Rim2, which is not conserved in the synaptotagmin-like pro tein homology domain of Slac2-a, is a critical determinant of Rab3A recognition. Based on these results, I propose that Rim, rabphilin, and Noc2 function differently in concert with functional group III and/or VIII Rab proteins, including Rab3 isoforms.