Human CHMP6, a myristoylated ESCRT-III protein, interacts directly with an ESCRT-II component EAP20 and regulates endosomal cargo sorting.

CHMP6 (charged multivesicular body protein 6) is a human orthologue of yeast Vps (vacuolar protein sorting) 20, a component of ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport)-III. Various CHMP6 orthologues in organisms ranging from yeast to humans contain the N-myristoylation consensus sequence at each N-terminus. Metabolic labelling of HEK-293 (human embryonic kidney) cells showed the incorporation of [3H]myristate into CHMP6 fused C-terminally to GFP (green fluorescent protein) (CHMP6-GFP). Interactions of CHMP6 with another ESCRT-III component CHMP4b/Shax [Snf7 (sucrose non-fermenting 7) homologue associated with Alix] 1, one of three paralogues of human Vps32/Snf7, and with EAP20 (ELL-associated protein 20), a human counterpart of yeast Vps25 and component of ESCRT-II, were observed by co-immunoprecipitation of epitope-tagged proteins expressed in HEK-293 cells. The in vitro pull-down assays using their recombinant proteins purified from Escherichia coli demonstrated direct physical interactions which were mediated by the N-terminal basic half of CHMP6. Overexpressed CHMP6-GFP in HeLa cells exhibited a punctate distribution throughout the cytoplasm especially in the perinuclear area, as revealed by fluorescence microscopic analysis. Accumulation of LBPA (lysobisphosphatidic acid), a major phospholipid in internal vesicles of an MVB (multivesicular body), was observed in the CHMP6-GFP-localizing area. FLAG-tagged EAP20 distributed diffusely, but exhibited a punctate distribution on co-expression with CHMP6-GFP. Overexpression of CHMP6-GFP caused reduction of transferrin receptors on the plasma membrane surface, but caused their accumulation in the cytoplasm. Ubiquitinated proteins and endocytosed EGF continuously accumulated in CHMP6-GFP-expressing cells. These results suggest that CHMP6 acts as an acceptor for ESCRT-II on endosomal membranes and regulates cargo sorting.