A signal for endoplasmic reticulum retention located at the carboxyl terminus of the plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase isoform 4CI.

The plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase isoform 4b (PMCA4CI) with truncations in the cytoplasmically exposed COOH-terminal tail was expressed in COS and HeLa cells and in Sf9 cells using the baculovirus system. The truncated protein terminating with the acidic sequence Glu1067-Arg1087 was retained within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), whereas mutants lacking this sequence or having it at a distance from the COOH terminus were delivered to the plasma membrane. Although the truncated protein retained in the endoplasmic reticulum was still able to form a Ca(2+)-dependent phosphoenzyme, it underwent partial degradation. Substitution of glutamic and aspartic residue(s) in the acidic region promoted rescue of the protein to the plasma membrane. The results suggest that the sequence Glu1067-Arg1087 encodes a masked signal for ER retention and for the degradation of the protein. However, its presence at the COOH terminus was not sufficient to induce ER-retention and degradation; when the sequence was attached to the full-length PMCA protein, normal plasma delivery was observed. Evidently, ER retention and degradation required the presence of the sequence in its specific location within the PMCA structure. The degradation of the protein retained in the endoplasmic reticulum occurred through the proteolytic attack at cytoplasmically exposed residues (amino acid sequence 720-750) by a cytoplasmic PEST sequence-related protease different from calpain.