The Actin Cytoskeleton and Caveolae Regulate MERTK Cleavage by ADAM17

Cell surface receptors are regulated via a variety of mechanisms including proteolytic inactivation by metalloproteases. Cells often co-express both the receptor and its cognate protease simultaneously on the cell surface, often with the proteases in an active state. Despite this, receptor cleavage is generally not constitutive, and rather must be induced. How a receptor and its inactivating protease can both be present in their active form on the cell surface with no cleavage of the target receptor is unclear. Using the efferocytic receptor MERTK and its inactivating protease ADAM17 as a model, along with super-resolution microscopy approaches, we demonstrate that MERTK and ADAM17 are localized to distinct sub-regions of the plasma membrane. These microdomains are distinct subcellular structures, with MERTK contained within actin-based corrals and ADAM17 contained within caveolae. Induction of MERTK cleavage by PMA results in the reorganization of the membrane-proximal actin cytoskeleton that enables MERTK to diffuse into ADAM17-containing microdomains. Only after localizing to ADAM17-containing microdomains is MERTK cleaved. These results demonstrate that the spatial organization of the plasma membrane is dynamically regulated, with reorganization of membrane microdomains playing a role in the regulation of ADAM17 activity.