Muted protein is involved in the targeting of CD63 to large dense-core vesicles of chromaffin cells.

Large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs) are characterized as a class of lysosome-related organelles (LROs), which undergo regulated release and play important roles in development, metabolism and homeostasis. The Muted protein is a subunit of the biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex-1 (BLOC-1), which functions in the biogenesis of lysosomes and LROs. CD63 is a membrane component of lysosomes and LROs. Whether and how CD63 is sorted into LDCVs is largely unknown. In this study, we aim to identify the localization of CD63 in chromaffin cells by colocalization, living cell imaging and cell fractionation. We found that a proportion of CD63-YFP colocalized with NPY-dsRed labeled LDCVs. By sucrose density gradient fractionation, a proportion of CD63 was found to be highly enriched in LDCVs fractions. The Muted mutant mouse is a model of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS). We also found that the level of CD63 was significantly decreased in Muted-deficient adrenal glands, suggesting that the Muted protein is important for the steady-state level of CD63. Our results suggest that CD63 is a membrane component of LDCVs and the stability of CD63 is dependent on the Muted protein, which provides a clue to the pathogenesis of LRO defects in HPS.