PKC induces internalization and retention of the EAAC1 glutamate transporter in recycling endosomes of MDCK cells

Here we show that stimulation of protein kinase C (PKC) by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) treatment induces a time-dependent decrease in glutamate transport activity due to relocalization of the excitatory amino acid carrier 1 (EAAC1) glutamate transporter from the apical surface of polarized epithelial Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells to intracellular compartments. The PKC-induced internalization of EAAC1 is negatively regulated by the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A and by the expression of a dominant-negative mutant of the endocytic protein dynamin 1, a well-known target of the phosphatase activity of calcineurin. Using (32)P-metabolic labeling experiments, we found unchanged levels of phosphorylated EAAC1, indicating that EAAC1 relocalization does not depend on PKC and calcineurin modification of the transporter, while we found that a target of these modifications was the serine(778) residue of dynamin, a calcineurin substrate that in its dephosphorylated form activates the endocytic functions of dynamin. These data suggest that PMA stimulates endogenous dynamin and that this activation is required to mediate internalization of EAAC1 in MDCK cells. By immunofluorescence experiments with endosomal markers we demonstrated that internalized EAAC1 accumulates in endosomes also containing the basolateral betaine-GABA transporter BGT1 and activated PKC alpha. The sustained activation of PKC was required to maintain the transporters in the endosomal compartment, while a posttreatment with a PKC-specific inhibitor induced the recycling of the transporters to their appropriate surfaces. Taken together, our data indicate that PKC activity regulates EAAC1 surface density in MDCK cells by inducing its internalization and retention in PKC alpha-labeled recycling endosomes common to apical and basolateral proteins.