Click here to close Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly. We suggest using a current version of Chrome, FireFox, or Safari.
XB-ART-43472
J Biol Chem 2011 Aug 26;28634:30171-80. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.222893.
Show Gene links Show Anatomy links

WNK2 kinase is a novel regulator of essential neuronal cation-chloride cotransporters.

Rinehart J , Vázquez N , Kahle KT , Hodson CA , Ring AM , Gulcicek EE , Louvi A , Bobadilla NA , Gamba G , Lifton RP .


???displayArticle.abstract???
NKCC1 and KCC2, related cation-chloride cotransporters (CCC), regulate cell volume and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic neurotranmission by modulating the intracellular concentration of chloride [Cl(-)]. These CCCs are oppositely regulated by serine-threonine phosphorylation, which activates NKCC1 but inhibits KCC2. The kinase(s) that performs this function in the nervous system are not known with certainty. WNK1 and WNK4, members of the WNK (with no lysine [K]) kinase family, either directly or via the downstream SPAK/OSR1 Ste20-type kinases, regulate the furosemide-sensitive NKCC2 and the thiazide-sensitive NCC, kidney-specific CCCs. What role the novel WNK2 kinase plays in this regulatory cascade, if any, is unknown. Here, we show that WNK2, unlike other WNKs, is not expressed in kidney; rather, it is a neuron-enriched kinase primarily expressed in neocortical pyramidal cells, thalamic relay cells, and cerebellar granule and Purkinje cells in both the developing and adult brain. Bumetanide-sensitive and Cl(-)-dependent (86)Rb(+) uptake assays in Xenopus laevis oocytes revealed that WNK2 promotes Cl(-) accumulation by reciprocally activating NKCC1 and inhibiting KCC2 in a kinase-dependent manner, effectively bypassing normal tonicity requirements for cotransporter regulation. TiO(2) enrichment and tandem mass spectrometry studies demonstrate WNK2 forms a protein complex in the mammalian brain with SPAK, a known phosphoregulator of NKCC1. In this complex, SPAK is phosphorylated at Ser-383, a consensus WNK recognition site. These findings suggest a role for WNK2 in the regulation of CCCs in the mammalian brain, with implications for both cell volume regulation and/or GABAergic signaling.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 21733846
???displayArticle.pmcLink??? PMC3191056
???displayArticle.link??? J Biol Chem
???displayArticle.grants??? [+]

Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: calb1 camp cdk2 cdkn1a dmpk grap2 mapk14 npat nsg1 osr1 oxsr1 pak1 pc.1 rho rho.2 slc12a1 slc12a2 slc12a3 slc12a5 stk24 stk39 vsig1 wnk1 wnk2 wnk3 wnk4


???attribute.lit??? ???displayArticles.show???
References [+] :
Arroyo, Nedd4-2 modulates renal Na+-Cl- cotransporter via the aldosterone-SGK1-Nedd4-2 pathway. 2011, Pubmed, Xenbase