Impact of Ca²⁺-Induced PI(4,5)P₂ Clusters on PH-YFP Organization and Protein-Protein Interactions

Despite its low abundance, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P₂) is a key modulator of membrane-associated signaling events in eukaryotic cells. Temporal and spatial regulation of PI(4,5)P₂ concentration can achieve localized increases in the levels of this lipid, which are crucial for the activation or recruitment of peripheral proteins to the plasma membrane. The recent observation of the dramatic impact of physiological divalent cation concentrations on PI(4,5)P₂ clustering, suggests that protein anchoring to the plasma membrane through PI(4,5)P₂ is likely not defined solely by a simple (monomeric PI(4,5)P₂)/(protein bound PI(4,5)P₂) equilibrium, but instead depends on complex protein interactions with PI(4,5)P₂ clusters. The insertion of PI(4,5)P₂-binding proteins within these clusters can putatively modulate protein-protein interactions in the membrane, but the relevance of such effects is largely unknown. In this work, we characterized the impact of Ca²⁺ on the organization and protein-protein interactions of PI(4,5)P₂-binding proteins. We show that, in giant unilamellar vesicles presenting PI(4,5)P₂, the membrane diffusion properties of pleckstrin homology (PH) domains tagged with a yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) are affected by the presence of Ca²⁺, suggesting direct interactions between the protein and PI(4,5)P₂ clusters. Importantly, PH-YFP is found to dimerize in the membrane in the absence of Ca²⁺. This oligomerization is inhibited in the presence of physiological concentrations of the divalent cation. These results confirm that cation-dependent PI(4,5)P₂ clustering promotes interactions between PI(4,5)P₂-binding proteins and has the potential to dramatically influence the organization and downstream interactions of PI(4,5)P₂-binding proteins in the plasma membrane.