Phostensin enables lymphocyte integrin activation and population of peripheral lymphoid organs

Rap1 GTPase drives assembly of the Mig-10/RIAM/Lamellipodin (MRL protein)–integrin–talin (MIT) complex that enables integrin-dependent lymphocyte functions. Here we used tandem affinity tag–based proteomics to isolate and analyze the MIT complex and reveal that Phostensin (Ptsn), a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 1, is a component of the complex. Ptsn mediates dephosphorylation of Rap1, thereby preserving the activity and membrane localization of Rap1 to stabilize the MIT complex. CRISPR/Cas9-induced deletion of PPP1R18, which encodes Ptsn, markedly suppresses integrin activation in Jurkat human T cells. We generated apparently healthy Ppp1r18(−/−) mice that manifest lymphocytosis and reduced population of peripheral lymphoid tissues ascribable, in part, to defective activation of integrins α(L)β(2) and α(4)β(7). Ppp1r18(−/−) T cells exhibit reduced capacity to induce colitis in a murine adoptive transfer model. Thus, Ptsn enables lymphocyte integrin-mediated functions by dephosphorylating Rap1 to stabilize the MIT complex. As a consequence, loss of Ptsn ameliorates T cell–mediated colitis.