Tyrosine residues in bovine phospholipase C-gamma phosphorylated by the epidermal growth factor receptor in vitro.

We have identified the sites phosphorylated in vitro by epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor kinase in bovine brain phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma). They are tyrosine residues 472, 771, 783, and 1254. The rate of phosphorylation was fastest with the sites at 771 and 783, then at 1254, and slowest at 472. PLC-gamma isolated from cells treated with EGF is known to contain at least four tyrosine phosphate-containing peptides and two of them are identified to be residues 771 and 1254 in the accompanying paper (Wahl, M. I., Nishibe, S., Kim, J. W., Kim, H., Rhee, S. G., and Carpenter, G. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 3944-3948). The 3 residues 472, 771, and 783 are located closely to the regions of PLC-gamma which exhibit a high sequence similarity to the regulatory domain of the src family tyrosine kinases. Nevertheless, the tyrosine phosphorylation did not affect the catalytic activity of PLC-gamma in vitro. We propose, therefore, that the phosphorylation of PLC-gamma by EGF receptor kinase alters its interaction with putative inhibitory proteins and leads to its activation.     

Tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C-II in vitro by the epidermal growth factor receptor

In a number of cell lines, epidermal growth factor (EGF) rapidly stimulates the breakdown of inositol phospholipids. Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PLC), therefore, plays an important role in this biological response to EGF, but the mechanism by which EGF-receptor complexes modulate the activation of PLC is not understood. We have previously suggested that tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC or an unknown PLC-associated protein by the EGF receptor is involved in the activation process (Wahl, M. I., Daniel, T. O., and Carpenter, G. (1988) Science 241, 968-970) and have recently shown by immunoprecipitation that the addition of EGF to 32P-labeled cells increases tyrosine and serine phosphorylation of PLC-II (Wahl, M. I., Nishibe, S., Suh, P.-G., Rhee, S. G., and Carpenter, G. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 1568-1572). In this communication we demonstrate that PLC-II (Mr = 145,000) purified from bovine brain can be phosphorylated in vitro in an EGF-dependent manner by the tyrosine kinase activity of the purified EGF receptor. While PLC-II is an efficient phosphorylation substrate for the purified EGF receptor, PLC-I is a poor substrate and PLC-III is not phosphorylated to any detectable extent. Though all three PLC isozymes possess typical tyrosine phosphorylation sequences, the EGF receptor is surprisingly selective in vitro for the phosphorylation of PLC-II. High performance liquid chromatography comparison of tryptic phosphotyrosyl peptides from PLC-II phosphorylated in vivo and in vitro indicated a similar pattern of multiple tyrosine phosphorylation sites. These findings show that the EGF receptor can directly phosphorylate PLC-II in an efficient and selective manner.     

The identification and characterization of an epidermal growth factor-stimulated phosphorylation of a specific low molecular weight GTP-binding protein in a reconstituted phospholipid vesicle system

The abilities of different GTP-binding proteins to serve as phosphosubstrates for the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor/tyrosine kinase have been examined in reconstituted phospholipid vesicle systems. During the course of these studies we discovered that a low molecular mass, high affinity GTP-binding protein from bovine brain (designated as the 22-kDa protein) served as an excellent phosphosubstrate for the tyrosine-agarose-purified human placental EGF receptor. The EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of the purified 22-kDa protein occurs on tyrosine residues, with stoichiometries approaching 2 mol of 32Pi incorporated/mol of [35S]guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S)-binding sites. The EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of the brain 22-kDa protein requires its reconstitution into phospholipid vesicles. No phosphorylation of this GTP-binding protein is detected if it is simply mixed with the purified EGF receptor in detergent solution or if detergent is added back to lipid vesicles containing the EGF receptor and the 22-kDa protein. The EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of this GTP-binding protein is also markedly attenuated by guanine nucleotides, i.e. GTP, GTP gamma S, or GDP, suggesting that maximal phosphorylation occurs when the GTP-binding protein is in a guanine nucleotide-depleted state. Purified preparations of the 22-kDa phosphosubstrate do not cross-react with antibodies against the ras proteins. However, they do cross-react against two different peptide antibodies generated against specific sequences of the human platelet (and placental) GTP-binding protein originally designated Gp (Evans, T., Brown, M. L., Fraser, E. D., and Northrup, J. K. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 7052-7059) and more recently named G25K (Polakis, P. G., Synderman, R., and Evans, T. (1989) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 160, 25-32). When highly purified preparations of the human platelet Gp (G25K) protein are reconstituted with the purified EGF receptor into phospholipid vesicles, an EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of the platelet GTP-binding protein occurs with a stoichiometry approaching 2 mol of 32Pi incorporated/mol of [35S]GTP gamma S-binding sites. As is the case for the brain 22-kDa protein, the EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of the platelet GTP-binding protein is attenuated by guanine nucleotides. Overall, these results suggest that the brain 22-kDa phosphosubstrate for the EGF receptor is very similar, if not identical, to the Gp (G25K) protein. Although guanine nucleotide binding to the brain 22-kDa protein or to the platelet. GTP-binding protein inhibits phosphorylation, the phosphorylated GTP-binding proteins appear to bind [35S]GTP gamma S slightly better than their nonphosphorylated counterparts.     

Differential in vitro phosphorylation of clathrin light chains by the epidermal growth factor receptor-associated protein tyrosine kinase and a pp60c-src-related spleen tyrosine kinase.

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor-associated protein tyrosine kinase activity has been suggested to play important roles in the EGF-enhanced, clathrin-coated pit-mediated receptor internalization (W. S. Chen, C. S. Lazar, M. Peonie, R. Y. Tsien, G. N. Gill, and M. G. Rosenfeld, 1987, Nature 328, 820-823) but the kinase substrate important for this process has not been identified. This study demonstrates that the EGF receptor, partially purified from A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells, catalyzes the phosphorylation of one of the two clathrin light chains, clathrin light chain a (LCa). The phosphorylation activity is stimulated by EGF and immunoprecipitated by an EGF receptor monoclonal antibody. The phosphorylation occurs exclusively on tyrosine residues. Amino acid composition of the major tryptic phosphopeptide of the EGF receptor-phosphorylated LCa corresponds closely to that of residues 1 to 97 of LCa. A stoichiometry of 0.2 mol phosphate/mol LCa was attained after 60 min at 30 degrees C and a Km value of 1.7 microM was determined for the reaction. LCa of either neuronal or non-neuronal origin could serve as a substrate. In addition to the EGF receptor tyrosine kinase, a particulate src-related protein tyrosine kinase purified from bovine spleen (C. M. E. Litwin, H.-C. Cheng, and J. H. Wang, 1991, J. Biol. Chem. 226, 2557-2566) was shown in this study to also phosphorylate the light chains. However, in contrast to the EGF receptor phosphorylation, both clathrin light chains a and b were phosphorylated by the spleen kinase, suggesting that the two tyrosine kinases have differential site specificities. Given the specificity of LCa phosphorylation by the EGF receptor, we propose that LCa phosphorylation on a tyrosine residue(s) may be important in EGF-induced receptor internalization.     

Autophosphorylation and protein kinase C phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor. Effect on tyrosine kinase activity and ligand binding affinity

The effect of autophosphorylation and protein kinase C-catalyzed phosphorylation on the tyrosine-protein kinase activity and ligand binding affinity of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor has been studied. Kinetic parameters for the phosphorylation by the receptor kinase of synthetic peptide substrates having sequences related to the 3 in vitro receptor autophosphorylation sites (tyrosine residues 1173 (P1), 1148 (P2), and 1068 (P3)) were measured. The Km of peptide P1 (residues 1164-1176) was significantly lower than that for peptides P2 (residues 1141-1151) or P3 (residues 1059-1072). The tyrosine residue 1173 was also the most rapidly autophosphorylated in purified receptor preparations, consistent with previous observations for the receptor in intact cells (Downward, J., Parker, P., and Waterfield, M. D. (1984) Nature 311, 483-485). Variation in the extent of receptor autophosphorylation from 0.1 to 2.8 mol of phosphate/mol of receptor did not influence kinase activity or EGF binding affinity either for purified receptor or receptor in membrane preparations. Phosphorylation of the EGF receptor by protein kinase C was shown to cause a 3-fold decrease in the affinity of purified EGF receptor for EGF and to reduce the receptor kinase activity. In membrane preparations, phosphorylation of the EGF receptor by protein kinase C resulted in conversion of high affinity EGF binding sites to a low affinity state. This suggests that activation of protein kinase C by certain growth promoting agents and tumor promoters is directly responsible for modulation of the affinity of the EGF receptor for its ligand EGF. The regulation of the EGF receptor function by protein kinase C is discussed.     

Phospholipase C-gamma is a substrate for the PDGF and EGF receptor protein-tyrosine kinases in vivo and in vitro

Phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) was rapidly phosphorylated on tyrosines and serines following PDGF and EGF treatment of quiescent 3T3 mouse fibroblasts and A431 human epidermoid cells, respectively, PDGF treatment increased PLC-gamma phosphorylation within 30 sec. This lasted for up to 1 hr, and occurred at high stoichiometry. Continuous receptor occupancy was required to maintain this phosphorylation. Three major sites of tyrosine phosphorylation were detected in PLC-gamma, two of which were phosphorylated in EGF-treated A431 cells. Under certain conditions PDGF receptor coimmunoprecipitated with PLC-gamma, suggesting that PDGF receptor can phosphorylate PLC-gamma directly. Indeed, purified PDGF or EGF receptor phosphorylated purified PLC-gamma on tyrosines identical to those phosphorylated in vivo. Tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma was not induced by bombesin, TPA, or insulin. Stimulation of PLC-gamma tyrosine phosphorylation and the reported ability of PDGF and EGF to induce phosphatidylinositol turnover in different cells were strongly correlated. We propose that tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma by PDGF and EGF receptors leads to its activation, and a consequent increase in phosphatidylinositol turnover.     

A site of tyrosine phosphorylation in the C terminus of the epidermal growth factor receptor is required to activate phospholipase C.

Cells expressing mutant epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors have been used to study mechanisms through which EGF increases phospholipase C (PLC) activity. C-terminal truncation mutant EGF receptors are markedly impaired in their ability to increase inositol phosphate formation compared with wild-type EGF receptors. Mutation of the single tyrosine self-phosphorylation site at residue 992 to phenylalanine in an EGF receptor truncated at residue 1000 abolished the ability of EGF to increase inositol phosphate formation. C-terminal deletion mutant receptors that are impaired in their ability to increase inositol phosphate formation effectively phosphorylate PLC-gamma at the same tyrosine residues as do wild-type EGF receptors. EGF enhances PLC-gamma association with wild-type EGF receptors but not with mutant receptors lacking sites of tyrosine phosphorylation. These results indicate that formation of a complex between self-phosphorylated EGF receptors and PLC-gamma is necessary for enzyme activation in vivo. We propose that both binding of PLC-gamma to activated EGF receptors and tyrosine phosphorylation of the enzyme are necessary to elicit biological responses. Kinase-active EGF receptors lacking sites of tyrosine phosphorylation are unable to signal increased inositol phosphate formation and increases in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration.     

Differences in the sites of phosphorylation of the insulin receptor in vivo and in vitro

Phosphorylation of the insulin receptor was studied in intact well differentiated hepatoma cells (Fao) and in a solubilized and partially purified receptor preparation obtained from these cells by affinity chromatography on wheat germ agglutinin agarose. Tryptic peptides containing the phosphorylation sites of the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor were analyzed by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Phosphoamino acid content of these peptides was determined by acid hydrolysis and high voltage electrophoresis. Separation of the phosphopeptides from unstimulated Fao cells revealed one major and two minor phosphoserine-containing peptides and a single minor phosphothreonine-containing peptide. Insulin (10(-7) M) increased the phosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor 3- to 4-fold in the intact Fao cell. After insulin stimulation, two phosphotyrosine-containing peptides were identified. Tyrosine phosphorylation reached a steady state within 20 s after the addition of insulin and remained nearly constant for 1 h. Under our experimental conditions, no significant change in the amount of [32P]phosphoserine or [32P]phosphothreonine associated with the beta-subunit was found during the initial response of cells to insulin. When the insulin receptor was extracted from the Fao cells and incubated in vitro with [gamma-32P]ATP and Mn2+, very little phosphorylation occurred in the absence of insulin. In this preparation, insulin rapidly stimulated autophosphorylation of the receptor on tyrosine residues only and high performance liquid chromatography analysis of the beta-subunit digested with trypsin revealed one minor and two major phosphopeptides. The elution position of the minor peptide corresponded to that of the major phosphotyrosine-containing peptide obtained from the beta-subunit of the insulin-stimulated receptor labeled in vivo. In contrast, the elution position of one of the major phosphopeptides that occurred during in vitro phosphorylation corresponded to the minor phosphotyrosine-containing peptide phosphorylated in vivo. The other major in vitro phosphotyrosine-containing peptide was not detected in vivo. Our results indicate that: tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor occurs rapidly following insulin binding to intact cells; the level of tyrosine phosphorylation remains constant for up to 1 h; the specificity of the receptor kinase or accessibility of the phosphorylation sites are different in vivo and in vitro.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Substrate specificities of tyrosine-specific protein kinases toward cytoskeletal proteins in vitro

We have previously reported that fodrin (beta subunit), tubulin (alpha subunit) and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs; MAP2 and tau) are good substrates for the purified insulin receptor kinase (Kadowaki, T., Nishida, E., Kasuga, M., Akiyama, T., Takaku, F., Ishikawa, M., Sakai, H., Kathuria, S., and Fujita-Yamaguchi, Y. (1985) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 127, 493-500 and Kadowaki, T., Fujita-Yamaguchi, Y., Nishida, E., Takaku, F., Akiyama, T., Kathuria, S., Akanuma, Y., and Kasuga, M. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 4016-4020). In this study, to investigate the substrate specificities of tyrosine kinases, we have examined the actions of the purified epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor kinase and Rous sarcoma virus src kinase on purified microfilament- and microtubule-related proteins. Among microfilament-related proteins examined, the purified EGF receptor kinase phosphorylated the beta subunit, but not the alpha subunit, of fodrin on tyrosine residues with a Km below the micromolar range. The fodrin phosphorylation by the EGF receptor kinase was markedly inhibited by F-actin. In contrast, the purified src kinase preferentially phosphorylated the alpha subunit of fodrin on tyrosine residues. Fodrin phosphorylation by the src kinase was not inhibited by F-actin. Among microtubule proteins examined, MAP2 was the best substrate for the EGF receptor kinase. By contrast, src kinase favored phosphorylation of tubulin as compared to MAP2. The peptide mapping of MAP2 phosphorylated by the EGF receptor kinase and by the insulin receptor kinase produced very similar patterns of phosphopeptides, while that of MAP2 phosphorylated by the src kinase gave a distinctly different pattern. When the phosphorylation of the tubulin subunits was examined, the EGF receptor kinase preferred beta subunit to alpha subunit, but the src kinase phosphorylated both alpha and beta subunits to a similar extent. These results, together with our previous results, indicate that the substrate specificities of the EGF receptor kinase and the insulin receptor kinase are very similar, but not identical, while that of the src kinase is distinctly different from that of these growth factor receptor kinases.     

The SH2/SH3 domain-containing protein Nck is recognized by certain anti-phospholipase C-gamma 1 monoclonal antibodies, and its phosphorylation on tyrosine is stimulated by platelet-derived growth factor and epidermal growth factor treatment.

In the course of our investigation of phospholipase C (PLC)-gamma 1 phosphorylation by using a set of anti-PLC-gamma 1 monoclonal antibodies (P.-G. Suh, S. H. Ryu, W. C. Choi, K.-Y. Lee, and S. G. Rhee, J. Biol. Chem. 263:14497-14504, 1988), we found that some of these antibodies directly recognize a 47-kDa protein. We show here that this 47-kDa protein is identical to the SH2/SH3-containing protein Nck (J. M. Lehmann, G. Riethmuller, and J. P. Johnson, Nucleic Acids Res. 18:1048, 1990). Nck was found to be constitutively phosphorylated on serine in resting NIH 3T3 cells. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) treatment led to increased Nck phosphorylation on both tyrosine and serine. Nck was also found to be phosphorylated on tyrosine in epidermal growth factor (EGF)-treated A431 cells and in v-Src-transformed NIH 3T3 cells. Multiple sites of serine phosphorylation were detected in Nck from resting cells, and no novel sites were found upon PDGF or EGF treatment. A single major tyrosine phosphorylation site was found in Nck in both PDGF- and EGF-treated cells and in v-Src-transformed cells. This same tyrosine was phosphorylated in vitro by purified PDGF and EGF receptors and also by pp60c-src. We compared the phosphorylation of Nck and PLC-gamma 1 in several cell lines transformed by oncogenes with different modes of transformation. Although PLC-gamma 1 and Nck have significant amino acid identity, particularly in their SH3 regions, and both associate with growth factor receptors in a ligand-dependent manner, they were not always phosphorylated on tyrosine in a coincident manner.     

Erythropoietin induces glycosylphosphatidylinositol hydrolysis. Possible involvement of phospholipase c-gamma(2)

We showed that erythropoietin induced rapid glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) hydrolysis and tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C (PLC)-gamma(2) in FDC-P1 cells transfected with the wild-type erythropoietin-receptor. Erythropoietin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma(2) was time- and dose-dependent. By using FDC-P1 cells transfected with an erythropoietin receptor devoid of tyrosine residues, we showed that both effects required the tyrosine residues of intracellular domain on the erythropoietin receptor. Erythropoietin-activated PLC-gamma(2) hydrolyzed purified [(3)H]GPI indicating that GPI hydrolysis and PLC-gamma(2) activation under erythropoietin stimulation were correlated. Results obtained on FDC-P1 cells transfected with erythropoietin receptor mutated on tyrosine residues suggest that tyrosines 343, 401, 464, and/or 479 are involved in erythropoietin-induced GPI hydrolysis and tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma(2), whereas tyrosines 429 and/or 431 seem to be involved in an inhibition of both effects. Thus, our results suggest that erythropoietin regulates GPI hydrolysis via tyrosine phosphorylation of its receptor and PLC-gamma(2) activation.     

Ganglioside-mediated modulation of cell growth. Specific effects of GM3 and lyso-GM3 in tyrosine phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor

Epidermal growth factor- (EGF) dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of the EGF receptor was inhibited by the exogenous addition of GM3 to a membrane preparation and to purified EGF receptor adsorbed to antireceptor-antibody-Sepharose (Bremer, E. G., Schlessinger, J., and Hakomori, S. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 2434-2440). A specific functional correlation between GM3 and EGF receptor function has been further assessed in this study, employing two variant clones of A431 cells showing completely different growth responses to EGF. The A1S clone showed EGF cell growth stimulation and contained GM3 whereas the A5I clone, whose growth was completely inhibited by EGF addition, lacked detectable GM3. Both the endogenous and EGF-dependent receptor tyrosine-kinase activities were low in the A1S clone and were only minimally inhibited by the exogenous addition of GM3. In contrast the EGF receptor kinase activity in A5I cells was much higher and was more strongly inhibited by GM3 than it was in A1S cells. The EGF receptor fraction prepared from A1S cells, eluted from an anti-EGF receptor antibody-Sepharose column, contained GM3, in contrast to the fraction prepared from A5I cells, which lacked detectable GM3. The receptor kinase activity in vitro was greatly influenced by detergent and ATP concentration. GM3 affected the receptor kinase in a biphasic manner, i.e. GM3 was inhibitory at a low concentration of detergent under a physiological concentration of ATP and stimulatory at a high concentration of detergent. In contrast lyso-GM3 displayed a monophasic inhibitory effect under a wide range of detergent concentrations. Lyso-CDH (lactosylsphingosine) had no detectable effect on the receptor kinase activity. The presence of a small quantity of lyso-GM3 in A431 cells was detected after DEAE-Sepharose chromatography followed by high performance liquid chromatography in a n-propanolyl alcohol-ammonia system. It is possible that de-N-fatty acylation of gangliosides could be an effective means to modulate EGF receptor function in membranes.     

Transformation of rat fibroblasts by phospholipase C-gamma1 overexpression is accompanied by tyrosine dephosphorylation of paxillin

We previously have shown that the overexpression of phospholipase C-gamma1 (PLC-gamma1) in rat 3Y1 fibroblasts results in malignant transformation (Chang, J.-S., Noh, D.Y., Park, I.A., Kim, M;.J., Song, H., Ryu, S.H. and Suh, P.-G. (1997) Cancer Res. 57, 5465-5468). The transformed cells, which initially are in an elongated and flat form after seeding in plastic dishes, become rounded during continued culture. We found that tyrosine dephosphorylation of paxillin accompanies this morphological change of the transformed cells and that PLC-gamma1 co-immunoprecipitates together with paxillin and vice versa, but not after the cells have become round. Transformed cells growing on fibronectin-pre-coated dishes regain their flat morphology and this is accompanied by paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation analysis showed that paxillin forms a heteromeric complex with PLC-gamma1 in cells grown on fibronectin. These results suggest that a complex formation between paxillin and PLC-gamma1 may play a role in cell-substrate adhesion.     

Insulin-dependent phosphorylation of GTP-binding proteins in phospholipid vesicles

The involvement of GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) in insulin action has been investigated in an in vitro system. Insulin receptors that have been purified by wheat germ lectin chromatography and either tyrosine-agarose chromatography, sucrose density centrifugation, or insulin-Sepharose chromatography have been co-inserted into phospholipid vesicles with different purified G proteins. The results of these studies indicate that a specific insulin-promoted phosphorylation of two G proteins, Go and Gi, can occur in these phospholipid vesicles. Bovine retinal transducin is a poor substitute for Go and Gi, being only weakly phosphorylated by the insulin receptor, and bovine brain Gs is not a substrate. The phosphorylation of Gi and Go occurs primarily on the alpha-subunits. Under optimal conditions, about one alpha o- or alpha i-subunit is phosphorylated on a tyrosine residue for every two beta-subunits of the insulin receptor, suggesting a 1:1 interaction between these G proteins and the heterotetrameric (alpha 2 beta 2) insulin receptor molecular. The inactive (GDP-bound) form of the alpha-subunits appears to be the preferred substrate, with the phosphorylation being significantly reduced in alpha o and alpha i upon the binding of guanosine 5'-O-thiotriphosphate (GTP gamma S) and completely eliminated in the pure alpha-GTP gamma S complex of transducin. The Gi and Go proteins also cause an enhancement of the insulin-stimulated receptor autophosphorylation. This enhancement is a reflection of an increased incorporation of the insulin receptor into lipid vesicles which is induced by these G proteins. Taken together these results provide evidence for the interactions of G proteins with the insulin receptor in a lipid milieu.     

Tyrosine kinase activity is essential for the association of phospholipase C-gamma with the epidermal growth factor receptor.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) treatment of NIH 3T3 cells transfected with wild-type EGF receptor induced tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma). The EGF receptor and PLC-gamma were found to be physically associated such that antibodies directed against PLC-gamma or the EGF receptor coimmunoprecipitated both proteins. The association between PLC-gamma and wild-type EGF receptor was dependent on the concentration of EGF, but EGF did not enhance the association between PLC-gamma and a kinase-negative mutant of the EGF receptor. Oligomerization of the EGF receptor was not sufficient to induce association of the EGF receptor with PLC-gamma, since the kinase-negative mutant receptor underwent normal dimerization in response to EGF yet did not associate with PLC-gamma. The form of PLC-gamma associated with the EGF receptor appeared to be primarily the non-tyrosine-phosphorylated form. It is concluded that the kinase activity of the EGF receptor is essential for association of PLC-gamma with the EGF receptor, possibly by stimulating receptor autophosphorylation.     

Modification of synthetic peptides related to lactate dehydrogenase (231-242) by protein carboxyl methyltransferase and tyrosine protein kinase: effects of introducing an isopeptide bond between aspartic acid-235 and serine-236

The possibility that isoaspartyl residues contribute to the substrate specificity of eucaryotic protein carboxyl methyltransferases and/or tyrosine protein kinases has been investigated with two synthetic oligopeptides, Lys-Gln-Val-Val-Asp/isoAsp-Ser-Ala-Tyr-Glu-Val-Ile-Lys, which correspond to amino acids 231-242 of lactate dehydrogenase. One version of the peptide contains the normal amino acid sequence of the chicken muscle M4 isozyme. The other version contains an isoaspartyl residue in position 235 in place of the normal aspartyl residue; i.e., Asp-235 is linked to Ser-236 via its side-chain beta-carboxyl group, rather than via the usual alpha-carboxyl linkage. The normal peptide corresponds to the sequence around Tyr-238 that is phosphorylated in Rous sarcoma virus infected chick embryo fibroblasts [Cooper, J. A., Esch, F. S., Taylor, S. S., & Hunter, T. (1984) J. Biol Chem. 259, 7835]. Using protein carboxyl methyltransferase purified from bovine brain, we found that the normal peptide did not serve as a methyl-accepting substrate but that the isopeptide served as an excellent substrate, exhibiting a stoichiometry of one methyl group per peptide and Km of 0.54 microM. With tyrosine protein kinase partially purified from normal rat spleen both peptides were found to serve as phosphate acceptors at Tyr-238, exhibiting Km values of 4.7 and 8.9 mM for the normal and isopeptide versions, respectively. These results support the idea that protein carboxyl methyltransferase selectively methylates the alpha-carboxyl group of atypical isoaspartyl residues. In contrast, the presence of isoaspartate had a modest negative effect on substrate activity for a tyrosine protein kinase from rat spleen.     

The tyrosine phosphorylated carboxyterminus of the EGF receptor is a binding site for GAP and PLC-gamma.

Phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) and GTPase activating protein (GAP) are substrates of EGF, PDGF and other growth factor receptors. Since either PLC-gamma or GAP also bind to the activated receptors it was suggested that their SH2 domains are mediating this association. We attempted to delineate the specific region of the EGF receptor that is responsible for the binding, utilizing EGF receptor mutants, PLC-gamma, and a bacterially expressed TRP E fusion protein containing the SH2 domains of GAP. As previously shown, tyrosine autophosphorylation of the wild-type receptor wsa crucial in mediating the association and in agreement, a kinase negative EGF receptor could bind PLC-gamma or TRP E GAP SH2, but only when cross tyrosine phosphorylated by an active EGF receptor kinase. The importance of autophosphorylation for association was confirmed by demonstrating that a carboxy-terminal deletion of the EGFR missing four autophosphorylation sites bound these proteins poorly. To study the role of EGF receptor autophosphorylation further, a 203 amino acid EGF receptor fragment was generated with cyanogen bromide that contained all known tyrosine autophosphorylation sites. This fragment bound both TRP E GAP SH2 and PLC-gamma but only when tyrosine phosphorylated. This data localizes a major binding site for SH2 domain containing proteins to the carboxy-terminus of the EGF receptor and points to the importance of tyrosine phosphorylation in mediating this association.     

IgE-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma 1 in rat basophilic leukemia cells.

Stimulation of rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells with oligomeric IgE elicited a rapid and transient phosphorylation of phospholipase C (PLC)-gamma 1 on tyrosine residues. Prior incubation of RBL-2H3 cells with a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor, herbimycin A, prevented the tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1 as well as the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate induced by oligomeric IgE. However, 5'-(N-ethyl)carboxamidoadenosine, which is known to activate PLC through a G protein, did not elicit tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1. These results, together with previous findings showing that tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1 enhances its catalytic activity, indicate that phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1 by a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase is the mechanism by which IgE receptor aggregation triggers PLC activation.     

Identification of tyrosines 154 and 307 in the extracellular domain and 653 and 766 in the intracellular domain as phosphorylation sites in the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (flg).

Four tyrosine residues have been identified as phosphorylation sites in the tyrosine kinase isoform of the heparin-binding fibroblast growth factor receptor flg (FGF-R1). Baculoviral-insect cell-derived recombinant FGF-R1 was phosphorylated and fragmented with trypsin while immobilized on heparin-agarose beads. Phosphotyrosine peptides were purified by chromatography on immobilized anti-phosphotyrosine antibody and analyzed by Edman degradation and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Tyrosine residue 653, which is in a homologous spatial position to major autophosphorylation sites in the catalytic domain of the src and insulin receptor kinases, is the major intracellular FGF-R1 phosphorylation site. Residue 766 in the COOH-terminus outside the kinase domain is a secondary site. Tyrosine residues 154 and 307, which are in the extracellular domain of transmembrane receptor isoforms and are in an unusual sequence context for tyrosine phosphorylation, were also phosphorylated.