Abstract
Recombinant TWIK2 channels produce weak basal background K+ currents. Current amplitudes depend on the animal species the channels have been isolated from and on the heterologous system used for their re-expression. Here we show that this variability is due to a unique cellular trafficking. We identified three different sequence signals responsible for the preferential expression of TWIK2 in the Lamp1-positive lysosomal compartment. Sequential inactivation of tyrosine-based (Y308ASIP) and di-leucine-like (E266LILL and D282EDDQVDIL) trafficking motifs progressively abolishes the targeting of TWIK2 to lysosomes, and promotes its functional relocation at the plasma membrane. In addition, TWIK2 contains two N-glycosylation sites (N79AS and N85AS) on its luminal side, and glycosylation is necessary for expression in lysosomes. As shown by electrophysiology and electron microscopy, TWIK2 produces functional background K+ currents in the endolysosomes, and its expression affects the number and mean size of the lysosomes. These results show that TWIK2 is expressed in lysosomes, further expanding the registry of ion channels expressed in these organelles.