Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

Brain Slice Biotinylation: An Ex Vivo Approach to Measure Region-specific Plasma Membrane Protein Trafficking in Adult Neurons
Published on: April 3, 2014
COMMD1 regulates the delta epithelial sodium channel (δENaC) through trafficking and ubiquitination
Tina Chang1, Ying Ke, Kevin Ly
1Department of Physiology, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
Abstract:
The delta subunit of the epithelial sodium channel (δENaC) is a member of the ENaC/degenerin family of ion channels. δENaC is distinct from the related α-, β- and γENaC subunits, known for their role in sodium homeostasis and blood pressure control, as δENaC is expressed in brain neurons and activated by external protons. COMMD1 (copper metabolism Murr1 domain 1) was previously found to associate with and downregulate δENaC activity. Here, we show that COMMD1 interacts with δENaC through its COMM domain. Co-expression of δENaC with COMMD1 significantly reduced δENaC surface expression, and led to an increase in δENaC ubiquitination. Immunocytochemical and confocal microscopy studies show that COMMD1 promoted localization of δENaC to the early/recycling endosomal pool where the two proteins were localized together. These results suggest that COMMD1 downregulates δENaC activity by reducing δENaC surface expression through promoting internalization of surface δENaC to an intracellular recycling pool, possibly via enhanced ubiquitination.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Calmodulin-dependent Signaling
The Ca2+-CaM complex does not have enzymatic activity by itself. Instead, the complex binds downstream target proteins, including membrane proteins or enzymes,...
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
Regulation of Sodium and Potassium
Sodium Regulation
Sodium ions make up approximately 90% of extracellular cations, with a normal blood plasma concentration of 136–148 mEq/L. A decrease in blood volume and pressure triggers the release of renin from granular cells in the juxtaglomerular complex (JGC), primarily in...
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential.
Directionality of Nuclear Transport

