Mobility of the von Hippel–Lindau tumour suppressor protein is regulated by kinesin-2

Abstract

The von Hippel–Lindau tumour suppressor protein (pVHL) participates in many cellular processes including oxygen sensing, microtubule stability and primary cilia regulation. Recently, we identified ATP-dependent motor complex kinesin-2 to endogenously bind the full-length variant of VHL (pVHL30) in primary kidney cells, and mediate its association to microtubules. Here we show that pVHL also endogenously binds the neuronal kinesin-2 complex, which slightly differs from renal kinesin-2. To investigate the role of kinesin-2 in pVHL mobility, we performed fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments in neuroblastoma cells. We observe that pVHL30 is a highly mobile cytoplasmic protein, which becomes an immobile centrosomal protein after ATP-depletion in living cells. This response to ATP-depletion is independent of GSK3β-dependent phosphorylation of pVHL30. Furthermore, VHL variant alleles with reduced binding to kinesin-2 fail to respond to ATP-depletion. Accordingly, interfering with pVHL30-KIF3A interaction by either overexpressing a dominant negative construct or by reducing endogenous cellular levels of KIF3A by RNAi abolishes pVHL's response to ATP-depletion. From these data we suggest that mobility of a subcellular pool of pVHL is regulated by the ATP-dependent kinesin-2 motor. Kinesin-2 driven mobility of cytoplasmic pVHL might enable pVHL to function as a tumour suppressor.