Protein domains implicated in intracellular transport and sorting of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase

The roles of various domains of intestinal lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (pro-LPH) on its folding, dimerization, and polarized sorting are investigated in deletion mutants of the ectodomain fused or not fused with the membrane-anchoring and cytoplasmic domains (MACT). Deletion of 236 amino acids immediately upstream of MACT has no effect on the folding, dimerization, transport competence, or polarized sorting of the mutant LPH1646MACT. By contrast, LPH1646, an anchorless counterpart of LPH1646MACT, is not transported beyond the ER and persists as a mannose-rich monomer during its entire life cycle. The further deletion of 87 amino acids generates a correctly folded but transport-incompetent monomeric LPH1559MACT mutant. The results strongly suggest that dimerization and transport of pro-LPH implicate a stretch of 87 amino acids in the ectodomain between LPH1646MACT and LPH1559MACT. In addition, dimerization of pro-LPH requires at least two further criteria: (i) a correctly folded ectodomain of pro-LPH and (ii) the presence of the transmembrane region. Neither of these requirements alone is sufficient for dimerization. Finally, the sorting of pro-LPH appears to be mediated by signals located between the cleavage site of pro-LPH and the LPH1646MACT mutant.