Phosphorylation of phosphoinositides by the class II phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) PI3K-C2α is essential for many processes, including neuroexocytosis and formation of clathrin-coated vesicles. A defining feature of the class II PI3Ks is a C-terminal module composed of phox-homology (PX) and C2 membrane interacting domains; however, the mechanisms that control their specific cellular localization remain poorly understood. Here we report the crystal structure of the C2 domain of PI3K-C2α in complex with the phosphoinositide head-group mimic inositol hexaphosphate, revealing two distinct pockets for membrane binding. The C2 domain preferentially binds to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate, and low-resolution structures of the combined PX-C2 module by small-angle X-ray scattering reveal a compact conformation in which cooperative lipid binding by each domain binding can occur. Finally, we demonstrate an unexpected role for calcium in perturbing the membrane interactions of the PX-C2 module, which we speculate may be important for regulating the activity of PI3K-C2α.
Keywords: C2 domain; PI3-kinase; PX domain; phosphoinositides; protein-lipid interactions.
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