EFhd2 brain interactome reveals its association with different cellular and molecular processes

Abstract

EFhd2 is a conserved calcium-binding protein that is highly expressed in the central nervous system. We have shown that EFhd2 interacts with tau protein, a key pathological hallmark in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. However, EFhd2’s physiological and pathological functions in the brain are still poorly understood. To gain insights into its physiological function, we identified proteins that co-immunoprecipitated with EFhd2 from mouse forebrain and hindbrain, using tandem mass spectrometry (MS). In addition, quantitative mass spectrometry was used to detect protein abundance changes due to the deletion of the Efhd2 gene in mouse forebrain and hindbrain regions. Our data show that mouse EFhd2 is associated with cytoskeleton components, vesicle trafficking modulators, cellular stress response-regulating proteins, and metabolic proteins. Moreover, proteins associated with the cytoskeleton, vesicular transport, calcium signaling, stress response, and metabolic pathways showed differential abundance in Efhd2(−/−) mice. This study presents, for the first time, an EFhd2 brain interactome that it is associated with different cellular and molecular processes. These findings will help prioritize further studies to investigate the mechanisms by which EFhd2 modulates these processes in physiological and pathological conditions of the nervous system. (Figure presented.).