PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Guo-Lei Zhou

Publications and source records attributed to Guo-Lei Zhou.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Opposing roles for Akt1 and Akt2 in Rac/Pak signaling and cell migration.

The Akt/PKB isoforms have different roles in animals, with Akt2 primarily regulating metabolic signaling and Akt1 regulating growth and survival. Here we show distinct roles for Akt1 and Akt2 in mouse embryo fibroblast cell migration and regulation of the cytoskeleton. Akt1-deficient cells responded poorly to platelet-derived growth factor while Akt2-deficient cells had a dramatically enhanced response, resulting in a substantial increase in dorsal ruffling. Swapping domains between Akt1 and Akt2 demonstrated that the N-terminal region containing the pleckstrin homology domain and a linker region distinguishes the two isoforms, while the catalytic domains are interchangeable. Akt2 knock-out cells also migrated faster than wild-type cells, especially through extracellular matrix (ECM), while Akt1 knock-out cells migrated more slowly than wild-type cells. Consistently, Akt2 knock-out cells had elevated Pak1 and Rac activities, suggesting that Akt2 inhibits Rac and Pak1. Both Akt2 and Akt1 associated in complexes with Pak1, but only Akt2 inhibited Pak1 in kinase assays, suggesting an underlying molecular basis for the different cellular phenotypes. Together these data provide evidence for an unexpected functional link between Akt2 and Pak1 that opposes the actions of Akt1 on cell migration.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

cGMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates p21-activated kinase (Pak) 1, inhibiting Pak/Nck binding and stimulating Pak/vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein association.

Endothelial cells are normally non-motile and quiescent; however, endothelial cells will become permeable and invade and proliferate to form new blood vessels (angiogenesis) in response to wounding, cancer, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, or rheumatoid arthritis. p21-activated kinase (Pak), an effector for the Rho GTPases Rac and Cdc42, is required for angiogenesis and regulates endothelial cell permeability and motility. Although Pak is primarily activated by Rac and Cdc42, there are additional proteins that regulate Pak activity and localization, including three AGC protein kinase family members, Akt-1, PDK-1, and cAMP-dependent protein kinase. We describe phosphorylation and regulation of Pak localization by a fourth AGC kinase family member, cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). Using in vitro mapping, a phosphospecific antibody, co-transfection assays, and untransfected bovine aortic endothelial cells we determined that PKG phosphorylates Pak at serine 21. Phosphorylation was accompanied by changes in proteins associated with Pak. The adaptor protein Nck was released, whereas a novel complex with vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein was stimulated. Furthermore Ser-21 phosphorylation of Pak appears to be important for regulation of cell morphology. In both human umbilical vein endothelial cells and HeLa cells, activation of PKG in the presence of Pak stimulated tail retraction and cell polarization. However, in cells expressing S21A mutant Pak1, PKG activation or treatment with a peptide that blocks Nck/Pak binding caused aberrant cell morphology, blocked cell retraction, and mislocalized Pak, producing uropod (tail-like) structures. These data suggest that PKG regulates Pak and that the interaction plays a role in tail retraction.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2004

c-Abl phosphorylates Dok1 to promote filopodia during cell spreading.

Filopodia are dynamic F-actin structures that cells use to explore their environment. c-Abl tyrosine kinase promotes filopodia during cell spreading through an unknown mechanism that does not require Cdc42 activity. Using an unbiased approach, we identified Dok1 as a specific c-Abl substrate in spreading fibroblasts. When activated by cell adhesion, c-Abl phosphorylates Y361 of Dok1, promoting its association with the Src homology 2 domain (SH2)/SH3 adaptor protein Nck. Each signaling component was critical for filopodia formation during cell spreading, as evidenced by the finding that mouse fibroblasts lacking c-Abl, Dok1, or Nck had fewer filopodia than cells reexpressing the product of the disrupted gene. Dok1 and c-Abl stimulated filopodia in a mutually interdependent manner, indicating that they function in the same signaling pathway. Dok1 and c-Abl were both detected in filopodia of spreading cells, and therefore may act locally to modulate actin. Our data suggest a novel pathway by which c-Abl transduces signals to the actin cytoskeleton through phosphorylating Dok1 Y361 and recruiting Nck.

Actins↗
PubMed2003

Akt phosphorylation of serine 21 on Pak1 modulates Nck binding and cell migration.

The p21-activated protein kinases (Paks) regulate cellular proliferation, differentiation, transformation, and survival through multiple downstream signals. Paks are activated directly by the small GTPases Rac and Cdc42 and several protein kinases including Akt and PDK-1. We found that Akt phosphorylated and modestly activated Pak1 in vitro. The major site phosphorylated by Akt on Pak1 mapped to serine 21, a site originally shown to be weakly autophosphorylated on Pak1 when Cdc42 or Rac activates it. A peptide derived from the region surrounding serine 21 was a substrate for Akt but not Pak1 in vitro, and Akt stimulated serine 21 phosphorylation on the full-length Pak1 much better than Rac did. The adaptor protein Nck binds Pak near serine 21, and its association is regulated by phosphorylation of this site. We found that either treatment of Pak1 in vitro with Akt or coexpression of constitutively active Akt with Pak1 reduced Nck binding to Pak1. In HeLa cells, green fluorescent protein-tagged Pak1 was concentrated at focal adhesions and was released when Akt was cotransfected. A peptide containing the Nck binding site of Pak1 fused to a portion of human immunodeficiency virus Tat to allow it to enter cells was used to test the functional importance of Nck/Pak binding in Akt-stimulated cell migration. This Tat-Nck peptide reduced Akt-stimulated cell migration. Together, these data suggest that Akt modulates the association of Pak with Nck to regulate cell migration.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed1998

Identification of a CAP (adenylyl-cyclase-associated protein) homologous gene in Lentinus edodes and its functional complementation of yeast CAP mutants.

The adenylyl-cyclase-associated protein, CAP, was originally identified in yeasts as a protein that functions in both signal transduction and cytoskeletal organization. This paper reports the identification of a cDNA and genomic DNA that encodes a CAP homologue from the mushroom Lentinus edodes. The L. edodes cap gene contains eight introns and an ORF encoding a 518 amino acid protein. The L. edodes CAP is 35.5% and 40.9% identical at the amino acid level with Saccharomyces cerevisiae CAP and Schizosaccharomyces pombe CAP, respectively. The C-terminal domain shows greater homology (39-46% identity) with yeast CAPs than does the N-terminal domain (27-35% identity). Southern blotting and Northern blotting results suggest that L. edodes cap is a single-copy gene and uniformly expressed. Expression of the L. edodes CAP in both Schiz. pombe and Sacch. cerevisiae complemented defects associated with the loss of the C-terminal domain function of the endogenous CAP. By using a yeast two-hybrid assay, an interaction was demonstrated between the L. edodes CAP and Schiz. pombe actin. This result and the functional complementation test indicate that CAP from L. edodes has a conserved C-terminal domain function.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗