(A) In heterozygous animals, AQP2 localizes and responds to dDAVP normally. Immunohistochemistry was carried out on kidney sections from an Aqp2F204V/+ mouse, after injection with dDAVP. Kidney sections were sequentially immunostained for AQP2 (red) and the basolateral marker AQP3 (green).
(B) Mutant and wild-type AQP2 physically interact. MDCK cells stably expressing wild-type AQP2 were transiently transfected with GFP tagged wild-type AQP2, AQP2-F204V, or GFP alone. Solubilized membranes were immunoprecipitated with a GFP antibody. Total membranes and immunoprecipitates (GFP-IP) were Western blotted using an antibody against AQP2 (arrow) or AQP2-GFP fusions (arrowhead).
(C) Wild-type AQP2 rescues the localization defect of mutant AQP2. GFP fusions of either wild-type AQP2 (WT-GFP, top photomicrographs) or F204V AQP2 (F204V-GFP, bottom photomicrographs) were expressed in polarized MDCK stable cell lines expressing vector alone (vector, left photomicrographs) or AQP2-WT (right photomicrographs). Cells were stimulated with forskolin, processed for immunocytochemistry, and used to generate z-sectional images.
(D) Mutant AQP2 is present at the cell surface in cells coexpressing wild-type AQP2 (AQP2-WT). GFP fused to AQP2-F204V was expressed in MDCK cells expressing wild-type AQP2 or vector alone. Cells were stimulated with forskolin, and cell surface biotinylated proteins were precipitated then analyzed for the presence of wild-type AQP2 (arrow) and AQP2-F204V (arrowhead) by Western blot.