Kindlin-2 interacts with a highly conserved surface of ILK to regulate focal adhesion localization and cell spreading

ABSTRACT The integrin-associated adaptor proteins integrin-linked kinase (ILK) and kindlin-2 play central roles in integrin signaling and control of cell morphology. A direct ILK–kindlin-2 interaction is conserved across species and involves the F2PH subdomain of kindlin-2 and the pseudokinase domain (pKD) of ILK. However, complete understanding of the ILK–kindlin-2 interaction and its role in integrin-mediated signaling has been impeded by difficulties identifying the binding site for kindlin-2 on ILK. We used conservation-guided mapping to dissect the interaction between ILK and kindlin-2 and identified a previously unknown binding site for kindlin-2 on the C-lobe of the pKD of ILK. Mutations at this site inhibit binding to kindlin-2 while maintaining structural integrity of the pKD. Importantly, kindlin-binding-defective ILK mutants exhibit impaired focal adhesion localization and fail to fully rescue the spreading defects seen in ILK knockdown cells. Furthermore, kindlin-2 mutants with impaired ILK binding are also unable to fully support cell spreading. Thus, the interaction between ILK and kindlin-2 is critical for cell spreading and focal adhesion localization, representing a key signaling axis downstream of integrins. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.