The Direct and Functional Interaction of Tubulin With Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 2

Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 2 (TRPM2) is a widely expressed, non-selective cationic channel with implicated roles in cell death, chemokine production and oxidative stress. This study characterizes a novel interactor of TRPM2. Using fusion proteins comprised of the TRPM2 C-terminus we established that tubulin interacted directly with the predicted C-terminal coiled-coil domain of the channel. In vitro studies revealed increased interaction between tubulin and TRPM2 during LPS-induced macrophage activation and taxol-induced microtubule stabilization. We propose that the stabilization of microtubules in activated macrophages enhances the interaction of tubulin with TRPM2 resulting in the gating and/or localization of the channel resulting in a contribution to increased intracellular calcium and downstream production