UC San Diego

Muscles must maintain cell compartmentalization when remodeled during development and use. How spatially restricted adhesions are regulated with muscle remodeling is largely unexplored. We show that the myotubularin (mtm) phosphoinositide phosphatase is required for integrin-mediated myofiber attachments in Drosophila melanogaster, and that mtm-depleted myofibers exhibit hallmarks of human XLMTM myopathy. Depletion of mtm leads to increased integrin turnover at the sarcolemma and an accumulation of integrin with PI(3)P on endosomal-related membrane inclusions, indicating a role for Mtm phosphatase activity in endocytic trafficking. The depletion of Class II, but not Class III, PI3-kinase rescued mtm-dependent defects, identifying an important pathway that regulates integrin recycling. Importantly, similar integrin localization defects found in human XLMTM myofibers signify conserved MTM1 function in muscle membrane trafficking. Our results indicate that regulation of distinct phosphoinositide pools plays a central role in maintaining cell compartmentalization and attachments during muscle remodeling, and they suggest involvement of Class II PI3-kinase in MTM-related disease.