Identification of the Cleavage Sites Leading to the Shed Forms of Human and Mouse Anti-aging and Cognition-enhancing Protein Klotho

Klotho is an age-extending, cognition-enhancing protein found to be down-regulated in aged mammals when age-related diseases start to appear. Low levels of Klotho occur in neurodegenerative diseases, kidney disease and many cancers. Many normal and pathologic processes involve the proteolytic shedding of membrane proteins. Transmembrane (TM) Klotho contains two homologous domains, KL1 and KL2 with homology to glycosidases. After shedding by ADAM 10 and 17, a shed Klotho isoform is released into serum and urine by the kidney, and into the CSF by the choroid plexus. We previously reported that human Klotho contains two major cleavage sites. However, the exact cleavage site responsible for the cleavage between the KL1 and KL2 domains remains unknown for the human Klotho, and both sites are unknown for mouse Klotho. In this study, we aimed to identify the cleavage sites leading to the shed forms of human and mouse Klotho. Mutations in the region close to the TM domain of mouse Klotho result in the reduced shedding of the 130 kD (KL1+KL2) and 70 kD (KL1) fragments, suggesting that the cleavage site lies within the mutated region. We further identified the cleavage sites responsible for the cleavage between KL1 and KL2 of human and mouse Klotho. Moreover, mutated Klotho proteins have similar subcellular localization patterns as wild type Klotho. Finally, in an FGF23 functional assay, all Klotho mutants with a nine amino acid deletion can also function as an FGFR1 co-receptor for FGF23 signaling, however, the signaling activity was greatly reduced. The study provides new and important information on Klotho shedding, and paves the way for studies aimed to distinguish between the distinct roles of the various isoforms of Klotho.