Proteomics of MUC1-containing lipid rafts from plasma membranes and exosomes of human breast carcinoma cells MCF-7

Apically expressed human MUC1 is known to become endocytosed and either to re-enter the secretory pathway for recycling to the plasma membrane or to be exported by the cells via the formation of multi-vesicular bodies and the release of exosomes. By using recombinant fusion-tagged MUC1 as a bait protein we followed an anti-myc affinity-based approach for isolating subpopulations of lipid rafts from the plasma membranes and exosomes of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. MUC1(+) lipid rafts were not only found to contain genuine raft proteins (flotillin-1, prohibitin, G protein, annexin A2), but also raft-associated proteins linking these to the cytoskeleton (ezrin/villin-2, profilin II, HSP27, gamma-actin, beta-actin) or proteins in complexes with raft proteins, including the bait protein (HSP60, HSP70). Major overlaps were revealed for the subproteomes of plasma membranous and exosomal lipid raft preparations, indicating that MUC1 is sorted into subpopulations of rafts for its trafficking via flotillin-dependent pathways and export via exosomes.