Triggered Ca2+ influx is required for extended synaptotagmin 1-induced ER-plasma membrane tethering

The extended synaptotagmins (E-Syts) are ER proteins that act as Ca(2+)-regulated tethers between the ER and the plasma membrane (PM) and have a putative role in lipid transport between the two membranes. Ca(2+) regulation of their tethering function, as well as the interplay of their different domains in such function, remains poorly understood. By exposing semi-intact cells to buffers of variable Ca(2+) concentrations, we found that binding of E-Syt1 to the PI(4,5)P2-rich PM critically requires its C2C and C2E domains and that the EC50 of such binding is in the low micromolar Ca(2+) range. Accordingly, E-Syt1 accumulation at ER-PM contact sites occurred only upon experimental manipulations known to achieve these levels of Ca(2+) via its influx from the extracellular medium, such as store-operated Ca(2+) entry in fibroblasts and membrane depolarization in β-cells. We also show that in spite of their very different physiological functions, membrane tethering by E-Syt1 (ER to PM) and by synaptotagmin (secretory vesicles to PM) undergo a similar regulation by plasma membrane lipids and cytosolic Ca(2+).