Ciliary Entry of the Hedgehog Transcriptional Activator Gli2 Is Mediated by the Nuclear Import Machinery but Differs from Nuclear Transport in Being Imp-α/β1-Independent

Gli2 is the primary transcriptional activator of Hedgehog signalling in mammals. Upon stimulation of the pathway, Gli2 moves into the cilium before reaching the nucleus. However, the mechanisms underlying its entry into the cilium are not completely understood. Since several similarities have been reported between nuclear and ciliary import, we investigated if the nuclear import machinery participates in Gli2 ciliary entry. Here we show that while two conserved classical nuclear localization signals mediate Gli2 nuclear localization via importin (Imp)-α/β1, these sequences are not required for Gli2 ciliary import. However, blocking Imp-mediated transport through overexpression of GTP-locked Ran reduced the percentage of Gli2 positive cilia, an effect that was not explained by increased CRM1-dependent export of Gli2 from the cilium. We explored the participation of Imp-β2 in Gli2 ciliary traffic and observed that this transporter is involved in moving Gli2 into the cilium, as has been described for other ciliary proteins. In addition, our data indicate that Imp-β2 might also collaborate in Gli2 nuclear entry. How does Imp-β2 determine the final destination of a protein that can localize to two distinct subcellular compartments remains an open question. Therefore, our data shows that the nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling machinery plays a critical role mediating the subcellular distribution of Gli2 and the activation of the pathway, but distinct importins likely play a differential role mediating its ciliary and nuclear translocation.