Dissociation of emerin from barrier-to-autointegration factor is regulated through mitotic phosphorylation of emerin in a xenopus egg cell-free system

Emerin is the gene product of STA whose mutations cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. It is an inner nuclear membrane protein and phosphorylated in a cell cycle-dependent manner. However, the means of phosphorylation of emerin are poorly understood. We investigated the regulation mechanism for the binding of emerin to chromatin, focusing on its cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation in a Xenopus egg cell-free system. It was shown that emerin dissociates from chromatin depending on mitotic phosphorylation of the former, and this plays a critical role in the dissociation of emerin from barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF). Then, we analyzed the mitotic phosphorylation sites of emerin. Emerin was strongly phosphorylated in an M-phase Xenopus egg cell-free system, and five phosphorylated sites, Ser49, Ser66, Thr67, Ser120, and Ser175, were identified on analysis of chymotryptic and tryptic emerin peptides using a phosphopeptide-concentrating system coupled with a Titansphere column, which specifically binds phosphopeptides, and tandem mass spectrometry sequencing. An in vitro binding assay involving an emerin S175A point mutant protein suggested that phosphorylation at Ser175 regulates the dissociation of emerin from BAF.     

The binding of lamin B receptor to chromatin is regulated by phosphorylation in the RS region.

Binding of lamin B receptor (LBR) to chromatin was studied by means of an in vitro assay system involving recombinant fragments of human LBR and Xenopus sperm chromatin. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-fused proteins including LBR fragments containing the N-terminal region (residues 1-53) and arginine-serine repeat-containing region (residues 54-89) bound to chromatin. The binding of GST-fusion proteins incorporating the N-terminal and arginine-serine repeat-containing regions to chromatin was suppressed by mild trypsinization of the chromatin and by pretreatment with a DNA solution. A new cell-free system for analyzing the cell cycle-dependent binding of a protein to chromatin was developed from recombinant proteins, a Xenopus egg cytosol fraction and sperm chromatin. The system was applied to analyse the binding of LBR to chromatin. It was shown that the binding of LBR fragments to chromatin was stimulated by phosphorylation in the arginine-serine repeat-containing region by a protein kinase(s) in a synthetic phase egg cytosol. However, the binding of LBR fragments was suppressed by phosphorylation at different residues in the same region by a kinase(s) in a mitotic phase cytosol. These results suggested that the cell cycle-dependent binding of LBR to chromatin is regulated by phosphorylation in the arginine-serine repeat-containing region by multiple kinases.     

Cell Cycle Regulated Phosphorylation of the Telomere-Associated Protein TIN2

The protein TIN2 is a member of telomere-binding protein complex that serves to cap and protect mammalian chromosome ends. As a number of proteins in this complex are phosphorylated in a cell cycle-dependent manner, we investigated whether TIN2 is modified by phosphorylation as well. We performed phospho-proteomic analysis of human TIN2, and identified two phosphorylated residues, serines 295 and 330. We demonstrated that both these sites were phosphorylated during mitosis in human cells, as detected by Phos-tag reagent and phosphorylation-specific antibodies. Phosphorylation of serines 295 and 330 appeared to be mediated, at least in part, by the mitotic kinase RSK2. Specifically, phosphorylation of TIN2 at both these residues was increased upon expression of RSK2 and reduced by an inhibitor of the RSK family of kinases. Moreover, RSK2 phosphorylated TIN2 in vitro. The identification of these specifically timed post-translational events during the cell cycle suggests a potential mitotic regulation of TIN2 by phosphorylation.     

Retinoblastoma cancer suppressor gene product is a substrate of the cell cycle regulator cdc2 kinase.

The retinoblastoma gene product (RB) is a nuclear protein which has been shown to function as a tumor suppressor. It is phosphorylated from S to M phase of the cell cycle and dephosphorylated in G1. This suggests that the function of RB is regulated by its phosphorylation in the cell cycle. Ten phosphotryptic peptides are found in human RB proteins. The pattern of RB phosphorylation does not change from S to M phases of the cell cycle. Hypophosphorylated RB prepared from insect cells infected with an RB-recombinant baculovirus is used as a substrate for in vitro phosphorylation reactions. Of several protein kinases tested, only cdc2 kinase phosphorylates RB efficiently and all 10 peptides can be phosphorylated by cdc2 in vitro. Removal of cdc2 from mitotic cell extracts by immunoprecipitation causes a concomitant depletion of RB kinase activity. These results indicate that cdc2 or a kinase with similar substrate specificity is involved in the cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of the RB protein.     

Cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of human DNA polymerase alpha

The expression of DNA polymerase alpha, a principal chromosome replication enzyme, is constitutive during the cell cycle. We show in this report that DNA polymerase alpha catalytic polypeptide p180 is phosphorylated throughout the cell cycle and is hyperphosphorylated in G2/M phase. The p70 subunit is phosphorylated only in G2/M phase. This cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation is due to cell cycle-dependent kinase(s) and not to phosphatase(s). In vitro evidence indicates the involvement of p34cdc2 kinase in the mitotic phosphorylation of DNA polymerase alpha. Tryptic phosphopeptide maps demonstrate that peptides phosphorylated in vitro are identical to those phosphorylated in vivo. DNA polymerase alpha from mitotic cells is found to have lower affinity for single-stranded DNA than does polymerase alpha from G1/S phase cells. These results imply that the mitotic phosphorylation of polymerase alpha may affect its physical interaction with other replicative proteins and/or with DNA at the replication fork.     

Cell cycle-regulated phosphorylation of the Xenopus polo-like kinase Plx1

Polo-like kinases (Plks) control multiple important events during M phase progression, but little is known about their activation during the cell cycle. The activities of both mammalian Plk1 and Xenopus Plx1 peak during M phase, and this activation has been attributed to phosphorylation. However, no phosphorylation sites have previously been identified in any member of the Plk family. Here we have combined tryptic phosphopeptide mapping with mass spectrometry to identify four major phosphorylation sites in Xenopus Plx1. All four sites appear to be phosphorylated in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Phosphorylations at two sites (Ser-260 and Ser-326) most likely represent autophosphorylation events, whereas two other sites (Thr-201 and Ser-340) are targeted by upstream kinases. Several recombinant kinases were tested for their ability to phosphorylate Plx1 in vitro. Whereas xPlkk1 phosphorylated primarily Thr-10, Thr-201 was readily phosphorylated by protein kinase A, and Cdk1/cyclin B was identified as a likely kinase acting on Ser-340. Phosphorylation of Ser-340 was shown to be responsible for the retarded electrophoretic mobility of Plx1 during M phase, and phosphorylation of Thr-201 was identified as a major activating event.     

The lamin B receptor of the inner nuclear membrane undergoes mitosis-specific phosphorylation and is a substrate for p34cdc2-type protein kinase.

The lamin B receptor (LBR) is an integral protein of the inner nuclear membrane that interacts with lamin B in vitro. If contains a 204-amino acid nucleoplasmic amino-terminal domain and a hydrophobic carboxyl-terminal domain with eight putative transmembrane segments. We found cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of LBR using phosphoamino acid analysis and phosphopeptide mapping of in vivo 32P-labeled LBR immunoprecipitated from chicken cells in interphase and arrested in mitosis. LBR was phosphorylated only on serine residues in interphase and on serine and threonine residues in mitosis. Some serine residues phosphorylated in interphase were not phosphorylated in mitosis. To identify a threonine residue specifically phosphorylated in mitosis and the responsible protein kinase, wild-type and mutant LBR nucleoplasmic domain fusion proteins were phosphorylated in vitro by p34cdc2-type protein kinase. Comparisons of phosphopeptide maps to those of in vivo 32P-labeled mitotic LBR showed that Thr188 is likely to be phosphorylated by this enzyme during mitosis. These phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events may be responsible for some of the changes in the interaction between the nuclear lamina and the inner nuclear membrane that occur during mitosis.     

Cell cycle tyrosine phosphorylation of p34cdc2 and a microtubule-associated protein kinase homolog in Xenopus oocytes and eggs.

We have examined the time course of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in the meiotic cell cycles of Xenopus laevis oocytes and the mitotic cell cycles of Xenopus eggs. We have identified two proteins that undergo marked changes in tyrosine phosphorylation during these processes: a 42-kDa protein related to mitogen-activated protein kinase or microtubule-associated protein-2 kinase (MAP kinase) and a 34-kDa protein identical or related to p34cdc2. p42 undergoes an abrupt increase in its tyrosine phosphorylation at the onset of meiosis 1 and remains tyrosine phosphorylated until 30 min after fertilization, at which point it is dephosphorylated. p42 also becomes tyrosine phosphorylated after microinjection of oocytes with partially purified M-phase-promoting factor, even in the presence of cycloheximide. These findings suggest that MAP kinase, previously implicated in the early responses of somatic cells to mitogens, is also activated at the onset of meiotic M phase and that MAP kinase can become tyrosine phosphorylated downstream from M-phase-promoting factor activation. We have also found that p34 goes through a cycle of tyrosine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation prior to meiosis 1 and mitosis 1 but is not detectable as a phosphotyrosyl protein during the 2nd through 12th mitotic cell cycles. It may be that the delay between assembly and activation of the cyclin-p34cdc2 complex that p34cdc2 tyrosine phosphorylation provides is not needed in cell cycles that lack G2 phases. Finally, an unidentified protein or group of proteins migrating at 100 to 116 kDa increase in tyrosine phosphorylation throughout maturation, are dephosphorylated or degraded within 10 min of fertilization, and appear to cycle between low-molecular-weight forms and high-molecular-weight forms during early embryogenesis.     

Phosphorylation sites in human erythrocyte band 3 protein

The human red cell anion-exchanger, band 3 protein, is one of the main phosphorylated proteins of the erythrocyte membrane. Previous studies from this laboratory have shown that ATP-depletion of the red blood cell decreased the anion-exchange rate, suggesting that band 3 protein phosphorylation could be involved in the regulation of anion transport function (Bursaux et al. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 777, 253-260). Phosphorylation occurs mainly on the cytoplasmic domain of the protein and the major site of phosphorylation was assigned to tyrosine-8 (Dekowski et al. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 2750-2753). This site being very far from the integral, anion-exchanger domain, the aim of the present study was to determine whether phosphorylation sites exist in the integral domain. The phosphorylation reaction was carried out on isolated membranes in the presence of [gamma-32P]ATP and phosphorylated band 3 protein was then isolated. Both the cytoplasmic and the membrane spanning domains were purified. The predominant phosphorylation sites were found on the cytoplasmic domain. RP-HPLC analyses of the tryptic peptides of whole band 3 protein, and of the isolated cytoplasmic and membrane-spanning domains allowed for the precise localization of the phosphorylated residues. 80% of the label was found in the N-terminal tryptic peptide (T-1), (residues 1-56). In this region, all the residues susceptible to phosphorylation were labeled but in varying proportion. Under our conditions, the most active membrane kinase was a tyrosine kinase, activated preferentially by Mn2+ but also by Mg2+. Tyrosine-8 was the main phosphate acceptor residue (50-70%) of the protein, tyrosine-21 and tyrosine-46 residues were also phosphorylated but to a much lesser extent. The main targets of membrane casein kinase, preferentially activated by Mg2+, were serine-29, serine-50, and threonine(s)-39, -42, -44, -48, -49, -54 residue(s) located in the T-1 peptide. A tyrosine phosphatase activity was copurified with whole band 3 protein which dephosphorylates specifically P-Tyr-8, indicating a highly exchangeable phosphate. The membrane-spanning fragment was only faintly labeled.     

CAK, the p34cdc2 activating kinase, contains a protein identical or closely related to p40MO15.

The mitotic inducer p34cdc2 requires association with a cyclin and phosphorylation on Thr161 for its activity as a protein kinase. CAK, the p34cdc2 activating kinase, was previously identified as an enzyme necessary for this activating phosphorylation. We confirm here that CAK is a protein kinase and describe its purification over 13,000-fold from Xenopus egg extracts. We further show that CAK contains a protein identical or closely related to the previously identified Xenopus MO15 gene: p40MO15 copurifies with CAK, and an antiserum to p40MO15 specifically depletes cAK activity. CAK appears to be the only protein in Xenopus egg extracts that can activate complexes of either p34cdc2 or the closely related protein kinase, p33cdk2, with either cyclin A or cyclin B. The sequence similarity between p40MO15 and p34cdc2, and the approximately 200 kDa size of CAK, suggest that p40MO15 may itself be regulated by subunit association and by protein phosphorylations.     

Climbing the Greatwall to mitosis

Greatwall kinase is a conserved regulator of mitotic entry, and new work in Xenopus egg extracts (Yu et al., 2006) shows that Greatwall is required for the positive feedback loop that removes inhibitory tyrosine phosphate from the central mitotic regulatory kinase Cdc2.     

Members of the NAP/SET family of proteins interact specifically with B- type cyclins

Cyclin-dependent kinase complexes that contain the same catalytic subunit are able to induce different events at different times during the cell cycle, but the mechanisms by which they do so remain largely unknown. To address this problem, we have used affinity chromatography to identify proteins that bind specifically to mitotic cyclins, with the goal of finding proteins that interact with mitotic cyclins to carry out the events of mitosis. This approach has led to the identification of a 60-kD protein called NAP1 that interacts specifically with members of the cyclin B family. This interaction has been highly conserved during evolution: NAP1 in the Xenopus embryo interacts with cyclins B1 and B2, but not with cyclin A, and the S. cerevisiae homolog of NAP1 interacts with Clb2 but not with Clb3. Genetic experiments in budding yeast indicate that NAP1 plays an important role in the function of Clb2, while biochemical experiments demonstrate that purified NAP1 can be phosphorylated by cyclin B/p34cdc2 kinase complexes, but not by cyclin A/p34cdc2 kinase complexes. These results suggest that NAP1 is a protein involved in the specific functions of cyclin B/p34cdc2 kinase complexes. In addition to NAP1, we found a 43-kD protein in Xenopus that is homologous to NAP1 and also interacts specifically with B-type cyclins. This protein is the Xenopus homolog of the human SET protein, which was previously identified as part of a putative oncogenic fusion protein (Von Lindern et al., 1992).     

Phosphorylation of Targeting Protein for Xenopus Kinesin-like Protein 2 (TPX2) at Threonine 72 in Spindle Assembly

The human ortholog of the targeting protein for Xenopus kinesin-like protein 2 (TPX2) is a cytoskeletal protein that plays a major role in spindle assembly and is required for mitosis. During spindle morphogenesis, TPX2 cooperates with Aurora A kinase and Eg5 kinesin to regulate microtubule organization. TPX2 displays over 40 putative phosphorylation sites identified from various high-throughput proteomic screenings. In this study, we characterize the phosphorylation of threonine 72 (Thr⁷²) in human TPX2, a residue highly conserved across species. We find that Cdk1/2 phosphorylate TPX2 in vitro and in vivo. Using homemade antibodies specific for TPX2 phosphorylated at Thr⁷², we show that this phosphorylation is cell cycle-dependent and peaks at M phase. Endogenous TPX2 phosphorylated at Thr⁷² does not associate with the mitotic spindle. Furthermore, ectopic GFP-TPX2 T72A preferentially concentrates on the spindle, whereas GFP-TPX2 WT distributes to both spindle and cytosol. The T72A mutant also increases the proportion of cells with multipolar spindles phenotype. This effect is associated with increased Aurora A activity and abnormally elongated spindles, indicative of higher Eg5 activity. In summary, we propose that phosphorylation of Thr⁷² regulates TPX2 localization and impacts spindle assembly via Aurora A and Eg5.     

Direct regulation of Treslin by cyclin-dependent kinase is essential for the onset of DNA replication

Treslin, a TopBP1-interacting protein, is necessary for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication in vertebrates. Association between Treslin and TopBP1 requires cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) activity in Xenopus laevis egg extracts. We investigated the mechanism and functional importance of Cdk for this interaction using both X. laevis egg extracts and human cells. We found that Treslin also associated with TopBP1 in a Cdk-regulated manner in human cells and that Treslin was phosphorylated within a conserved Cdk consensus target sequence (on S976 in X. laevis and S1000 in humans). Recombinant human Cdk2-cyclin E also phosphorylated this residue of Treslin in vitro very effectively. Moreover, a mutant of Treslin that cannot undergo phosphorylation on this site showed significantly diminished binding to TopBP1. Finally, human cells harboring this mutant were severely deficient in DNA replication. Collectively, these results indicate that Cdk-mediated phosphorylation of Treslin during S phase is necessary for both its effective association with TopBP1 and its ability to promote DNA replication in human cells.     

Identification of phosphorylation sites for adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphate dependent protein kinase on the voltage-sensitive sodium channel from Electrophorus electricus

The voltage-sensitive sodium channel from the electroplax of Electrophorus electricus is selectively phosphorylated by the catalytic subunit of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase A) but not by protein kinase C. Under identical limiting conditions, the protein was phosphorylated 20% as rapidly as the synthetic model substrate kemptamide. A maximum of 1.7 +/- 0.6 equiv of phosphate is incorporated per mole. Phosphoamino acid analysis revealed labeled phosphoserine and phosphothreonine at a constant ratio of 3.3:1. Seven distinct phosphopeptides were identified among tryptic fragments prepared from radiolabeled, affinity-purified protein and resolved by HPLC. The three most rapidly labeled fragments were further purified and sequenced. Four phosphorylated amino acids were identified deriving from three consensus phosphorylation sites. These were serine 6, serine 7, and threonine 17 from the amino terminus and a residue within 47 amino acids of the carboxyl terminus, apparently serine 1776. The alpha-subunits of brain sodium channels, like the electroplax protein, are readily phosphorylated by protein kinase A. However, these are also phosphorylated by protein kinase C and exhibit a markedly different pattern of incorporation. Each of three brain alpha-subunits displays an approximately 200 amino acid segment between homologous repeat domains I and II, which is missing from the electroplax and skeletal muscle proteins [Noda et al. (1986) Nature (London) 320, 188; Kayano et al. (1988) FEBS Lett. 228, 1878; Trimmer et al. (1989) Neuron 3, 33]. Most of the phosphorylation of the brain proteins occurs on a cluster of consensus phosphorylation sites located in this segment. This contrasts with the pattern of highly active sites on the amino and carboxyl termini of the electroplax protein. The detection of seven labeled tryptic phosphopeptides compared to the maximal labeling stoichiometry of approximately 2 suggests that many of the acceptor sites on the protein may be blocked by endogenous phosphorylation.     

Cell cycle regulation of pEg3, a new Xenopus protein kinase of the KIN1/PAR-1/MARK family.

We report the characterization of pEg3, a Xenopus protein kinase related to members of the KIN1/PAR-1/MARK family. The founding members of this newly emerging kinase family were shown to be involved in the establishment of cell polarity and both microtubule dynamic and cytoskeleton organization. Sequence analyses suggest that pEg3 and related protein kinases in human, mouse, and Caenorhabditis elegans might constitute a distinct group in this family. pEg3 is encoded by a maternal mRNA, polyadenylated in unfertilized eggs and specifically deadenylated in embryos. In addition to an increase in expression, we have shown that pEg3 is phosphorylated during oocyte maturation. Phosphorylation of pEg3 is cell cycle dependent during Xenopus early embryogenesis and in synchronized cultured XL2 cells. In embryos, the kinase activity of pEg3 is correlated to its phosphorylation state and is maximum during mitosis. Using Xenopus egg extracts we demonstrated that phosphorylation occurs at least in the noncatalytic domain of the kinase, suggesting that this domain might be important for pEg3 function.     

Balance between activities of Rho kinase and type 1 protein phosphatase modulates turnover of phosphorylation and dynamics of desmin/vimentin filaments

To analyze the cell cycle-dependent desmin phosphorylation by Rho kinase, we developed antibodies specifically recognizing the kinase-dependent phosphorylation of desmin at Thr-16, Thr-75, and Thr-76. With these antibodies, phosphorylation of desmin was observed specifically at the cleavage furrow in late mitotic Saos-2 cells. We then found that treatment of the interphase cells with calyculin A revealed phosphorylation at all the three sites of desmin. We also found that an antibody, which specifically recognizes vimentin phosphorylated at Ser-71 by Rho kinase, became immunoreactive after calyculin A treatment. This calyculin A-induced interphase phosphorylation of vimentin at Ser-71 was blocked by Rho kinase inhibitor or by expression of the dominant-negative Rho kinase. Taken together, our results indicate that Rho kinase is activated not only in mitotic cells but also interphase ones, and phosphorylates intermediate filament proteins, although the apparent phosphorylation level is diminished to an undetectable level due to the constitutive action of type 1 protein phosphatase. The balance between intermediate filament protein phosphorylation by Rho kinase and dephosphorylation by type 1 protein phosphatase may affect the continuous exchange of intermediate filament subunits between a soluble pool and polymerized intermediate filaments.