Protection against mitochondrial and metal toxicity depends on functional lipid binding sites in ATP13A2

The late endo-/lysosomal P-type ATPase ATP13A2 (PARK9) is implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Kufor-Rakeb syndrome, early-onset atypical Parkinsonism. ATP13A2 interacts at the N-terminus with the signaling lipids phosphatidic acid (PA) and phosphatidylinositol (3,5) bisphosphate (PI(3,5)P2), which modulate ATP13A2 activity under cellular stress conditions. Here, we analyzed stable human SHSY5Y cell lines overexpressing wild-type (WT) or ATP13A2 mutants in which three N-terminal lipid binding sites (LBS1–3) were mutated. We explored the regulatory role of LBS1–3 in the cellular protection by ATP13A2 against mitochondrial stress induced by rotenone and found that the LBS2-3 mutants displayed an abrogated protective effect. Moreover, in contrast to WT, the LBS2 and LBS3 mutants responded poorly to pharmacological inhibition of, respectively, PI(3,5)P2 and PA formation. We further demonstrate that PA and PI(3,5)P2 are also required for the ATP13A2-mediated protection against the toxic metals Mn2