Phosphorylated claudin-16 interacts with Trpv5 and regulates transcellular calcium transport in the kidney

Familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis (FHHNC) was previously considered to be a paracellular channelopathy caused by mutations in the claudin-16 and claudin-19 genes. Here, we provide evidence that a missense FHHNC mutation c.908C>G (p.T303R) in the claudin-16 gene interferes with the phosphorylation in the claudin-16 protein. The claudin-16 protein carrying phosphorylation at residue T303 is localized in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT) but not in the thick ascending limb (TAL) of the mouse kidney. The phosphomimetic claudin-16 protein carrying the T303E mutation but not the wildtype claudin-16 or the T303R mutant protein increases the Trpv5 channel conductance and membrane abundance in human kidney cells. Phosphorylated claudin-16 and Trpv5 are colocalized in the luminal membrane of the mouse DCT tubule; phosphomimetic claudin-16 and Trpv5 interact in the yeast and mammalian cell membranes. Knockdown of claudin-16 gene expression in transgenic mouse kidney delocalizes Trpv5 from the luminal membrane in the DCT. Unlike wildtype claudin-16, phosphomimetic claudin-16 is delocalized from the tight junction but relocated to the apical membrane in renal epithelial cells because of diminished binding affinity to ZO-1. High-Ca²⁺ diet reduces the phosphorylation of claudin-16 protein at T303 in the DCT of mouse kidney via the PTH signaling cascade. Knockout of the PTH receptor, PTH1R, from the mouse kidney abrogates the claudin-16 phosphorylation at T303. Together, these results suggest a pathogenic mechanism for FHHNC involving transcellular Ca²⁺ pathway in the DCT and identify a molecular component in renal Ca²⁺ homeostasis under direct regulation of PTH.