Protein phosphatase 2A–mediated flotillin-1 dephosphorylation up-regulates endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis regulation

Endothelial cells have key functions in endothelial barrier integrity and in responses to angiogenic signals that promote cell proliferation, cell migration, cytoskeletal reorganization, and formation of new blood vessels. These functions highly depend on protein–protein interactions in cell–cell junction and cell attachment complexes and on interactions with cytoskeletal proteins. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) dephosphorylates several target proteins involved in cytoskeletal dynamics and cell adhesion. Our goal was to find new interacting and substrate proteins of the PP2A-B55α holoenzyme in bovine pulmonary endothelial cells. Using LC-MS/MS analysis, we identified flotillin-1 as a protein that binds recombinant GSH S -transferase–tagged PP2A-B55α. Immunoprecipitation experiments, proximity ligation assays, and immunofluorescent staining confirmed the interaction between these two endogenous proteins in endothelial cells. Originally, flotillins were described as regulatory proteins for axon regeneration, but they appear to function in many cellular processes, such as membrane receptor signaling, endocytosis, and cell adhesion. Ser 315 is a known PKC-targeted site in flotillin-1. Utilizing phosphomutants of flotillin-1 and the NanoBiT luciferase assay, we show here that phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of Ser 315 in flotillin-1 significantly affects its interaction with PP2A-B55α and that PP2A-B55α dephosphorylates phospho-Ser 315 . Spreading, attachment, migration, and in vitro tube formation rates of S315A variant–overexpressing cells were faster than those of nontransfected or S315D-transfected cells. These results indicate that the PP2A–flotillin-1 interaction identified here affects major physiological activities of pulmonary endothelial cells.