SMAP2 regulates retrograde transport from recycling endosomes to the Golgi

Retrograde transport is where proteins and lipids are transported back from the plasma membrane (PM) and endosomes to the Golgi, and crucial for a diverse range of cellular functions. Recycling endosomes (REs) serve as a sorting station for the retrograde transport and we recently identified evection-2, an RE protein with a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, as an essential factor of this pathway. How evection-2 regulates retrograde transport from REs to the Golgi is not well understood. Here, we report that evection-2 binds to SMAP2, an Arf GTPase-activating protein. Endogenous SMAP2 localized mostly in REs and to a lesser extent, the trans-Golgi network (TGN). SMAP2 binds evection-2, and the RE localization of SMAP2 was abolished in cells depleted of evection-2. Knockdown of SMAP2, like that of evection-2, impaired the retrograde transport of cholera toxin B subunit (CTxB) from REs. These findings suggest that evection-2 recruits SMAP2 to REs, thereby regulating the retrograde transport of CTxB from REs to the Golgi.