Characterisation of the Cullin-3 mutation that causes a severe form of familial hypertension and hyperkalaemia

Schumacher, F.-R. et al. (2015) Characterisation of the Cullin-3 mutation that causes a severe form of familial hypertension and hyperkalaemia. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 7(10), pp. 1285-1306. (doi: 10.15252/emmm.201505444) (PMID:26286618) (PMCID:PMC4604684)

Abstract

Deletion of exon 9 from Cullin‐3 (CUL3, residues 403–459: CUL3Δ403–459) causes pseudohypoaldosteronism type IIE (PHA2E), a severe form of familial hyperkalaemia and hypertension (FHHt). CUL3 binds the RING protein RBX1 and various substrate adaptors to form Cullin‐RING‐ubiquitin‐ligase complexes. Bound to KLHL3, CUL3‐RBX1 ubiquitylates WNK kinases, promoting their ubiquitin‐mediated proteasomal degradation. Since WNK kinases activate Na/Cl co‐transporters to promote salt retention, CUL3 regulates blood pressure. Mutations in both KLHL3 and WNK kinases cause PHA2 by disrupting Cullin‐RING‐ligase formation. We report here that the PHA2E mutant, CUL3Δ403–459, is severely compromised in its ability to ubiquitylate WNKs, possibly due to altered structural flexibility. Instead, CUL3Δ403–459 auto‐ubiquitylates and loses interaction with two important Cullin regulators: the COP9‐signalosome and CAND1. A novel knock‐in mouse model of CUL3WT/Δ403–459 closely recapitulates the human PHA2E phenotype. These mice also show changes in the arterial pulse waveform, suggesting a vascular contribution to their hypertension not reported in previous FHHt models. These findings may explain the severity of the FHHt phenotype caused by CUL3 mutations compared to those reported in KLHL3 or WNK kinases.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation (a PhD studentship to KS and PG 13 89 30577), Medical Research Council, and an ERC Starting Investigator Grant (to TK).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kurz, Dr Thimo
• Authors: Schumacher, F.-R., Siew, K., Zhang, J., Johnson, C., Wood, N., Cleary, S. E., Al Maskari, R. S., Ferryman, J. T., Hardege, I., Yasmin, , Figg, N. L., Enchev, R., Knebel, A., O'Shaughnessy, K. M., and Kurz, T.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Molecular Biosciences
• Journal Name: EMBO Molecular Medicine
• Publisher: EMBO Press
• ISSN: 1757-4676
• ISSN (Online): 1757-4684
• Published Online: 18 August 2015
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 The Authors
• First Published: First published in EMBO Molecular Medicine 7(10): 1285-1306
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License