Interactions of the NPXY microdomains of the LDL Receptor- Related Protein 1

The LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) mediates internalization of a large number of proteins and protein-lipid complexes and is widely implicated in Alzheimer's disease. The cytoplasmic domain of LRP1 (LRP1-CT) can be phosphorylated by activated protein-tyrosine kinases at two NPXY motifs in LRP1-CT; Tyr 4507 is readily phosphorylated and must be phosphorylated before phosphorylation of Tyr 4473 occurs. Pull-down experiments from brain lysate revealed numerous proteins binding to LRP1-CT, but the results were highly variable. To separate which proteins bind to each NPXY motif and their phosphorylation dependence, each NPXY motif microdomain was prepared in both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms and used to probe rodent brain extracts for binding proteins. Proteins that bound specifically to the microdomains were identified by LC-MS/MS, and confirmed by western blot. Recombinant proteins were then tested for binding to each NPXY motif. The NPXY4507 (membrane distal) was found to interact with a large number of proteins, many of which only bound the tyrosine-phosphorylated form. This microdomain also bound a significant number of other proteins in the unphosphorylated state. Many of the interactions were later confirmed to be direct with recombinant proteins. The NPXY4473 (membrane proximal