A putative role for intramolecular regulatory mechanisms in the adaptor function of amphiphysin in endocytosis

Amphiphysin 1 is a brain-specific protein enriched at the synapse and a major binding partner of several components of the clathrin-mediated endocytic machinery (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93 (1996) 331). It interacts with clathrin-coat proteins, dynamin, and membranes (Nat Cell Biol 1 (1999) 33; JBC). A role of amphiphysin in synaptic vesicle recycling is supported by both acute and chronic perturbation studies (Science 276 (1997) 259; Neuron 33 (2002) 789). Here we show that amphiphysin directly stimulates clathrin recruitment onto liposomes in an in vitro assay. Amphiphysin-dependent clathrin-coat recruitment is enhanced by the interaction of amphiphysin with dynamin. We also show that the amphiphysin SH3 domain binds full-length amphiphysin, likely via an internal poly-proline region, and that clathrin recruitment onto liposomes by amphiphysin is enhanced in the presence of the isolated amphiphysin SH3 domain. Expression of a mutant amphiphysin harboring two amino acid substitutions in the SH3 domain, and therefore unable to bind proline-containing motifs, induces an accumulation of large intracellular aggregates including amphiphysin, clathrin, AP-2, and other endocytic proteins, as well as a concomitant block of transferrin endocytosis. Thus, putative intramolecular interactions between the amphiphysin COOH-terminal SH3 domain and its internal poly-proline region may regulate clathrin recruitment onto membranes.