The C1 and C2 domains target human type 6 adenylyl cyclase to lipid rafts and caveolae.

Previous data has shown that adenylyl cyclase type 6 (AC6) is expressed principally in lipid rafts or caveolae of cardiac myocytes and other cell types while certain other isoforms of AC are excluded from these microdomains. The mechanism by which AC6 is localized to lipid rafts or caveolae is unknown. In this study, we show AC6 is localized in lipid rafts of COS-7 cells (expressing caveolin-1) and in HEK-293 cells or cardiac fibroblasts isolated from caveolin-1 knock-out mice (both of which lack prototypical caveolins). To determine the region of AC6 that confers raft localization, we independently expressed each of the major intracellular domains, the N-terminus, C1 and C2 domains, and examined their localization with various approaches. The N-terminus did not associate with lipid rafts or caveolae of either COS-7 or HEK-293 cells nor did it immunoprecipitate with caveolin-1 when expressed in COS-7 cells. By contrast, the C1 and C2 domains each associated with lipid rafts to varying degrees and were present in caveolin-1 immunoprecipitates. There were no differences in the pattern of localization of either the C1 or C2 domains between COS-7 and HEK-293 cells. Further dissection of the C1 domain into four individual proteins indicated that the N-terminal half of this domain is responsible for its raft localization. To probe for a role of a putative palmitoylation motif in the C-terminal portion of the C2 domain, we expressed various truncated forms of AC6 lacking most or all of the C-terminal 41 amino acids. These truncated AC6 proteins were not altered in terms of their localization in lipid rafts or their catalytic activity, implying that this C-terminal region is not required for lipid raft targeting of AC6. We conclude that while the C1 domain may be most important, both the C1 and C2 domains of AC6 play a role in targeting AC6 to lipid rafts.