Mutations that disrupt Ca²⁺-binding activity endow Doc2β with novel functional properties during synaptic transmission

The C2A and C2B domains of Doc2 have markedly distinct Ca2+-sensing and lipid-binding properties. When expressed in wild-type neurons, a Ca2+-ligand mutant form of Doc2, that lacks apparent Ca2+-binding activity and is constitutively bound to the plasma membrane, results in an anomalous enhancement of evoked and spontaneous synaptic transmission.
Double C2-domain protein (Doc2) is a Ca2+-binding protein implicated in asynchronous and spontaneous neurotransmitter release. Here we demonstrate that each of its C2 domains senses Ca2+; moreover, the tethered tandem C2 domains display properties distinct from the isolated domains. We confirm that overexpression of a mutant form of Doc2β, in which two acidic Ca2+ ligands in the C2A domain and two in the C2B domain have been neutralized, results in markedly enhanced asynchronous release in synaptotagmin 1–knockout neurons. Unlike wild-type (wt) Doc2β, which translocates to the plasma membrane in response to increases in [Ca2+]i, the quadruple Ca2+-ligand mutant does not bind Ca2+ but is constitutively associated with the plasma membrane; this effect is due to substitution of Ca2+ ligands in the C2A domain. When overexpressed in wt neurons, Doc2β affects only asynchronous release; in contrast, Doc2β Ca2+-ligand mutants that constitutively localize to the plasma membrane enhance both the fast and slow components of synaptic transmission by increasing the readily releasable vesicle pool size; these mutants also increase the frequency of spontaneous release events. Thus, mutations in the C2A domain of Doc2β that were intended to disrupt Ca2+ binding result in an anomalous enhancement of constitutive membrane-binding activity and endow Doc2β with novel functional properties.