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Amino acid residues in the Ras-like GTPase Rab3A that specify sensitivity to factors that regulate the GTP/GDP cycling of Rab3A.

Two cellular factors have been described, Rab3A-GAP (GTPase-activating protein) and Rab3A-GRF (guanine nucleotide releasing factor) which, respectively, accelerate the intrinsic GTPase activity of, or the rate of dissociation of GDP from, the Ras-related GTP-binding protein, p25 Rab3A. Mutational analysis of p25 Rab3A was undertaken to define amino acid residues important for interaction with these factors. Mutations in residues 51-59, which correspond to the effector domain of p21 Ras, completely abolished sensitivity of p25 Rab3A to Rab3A-GRF and decreased the affinity of p25 Rab3A for Rab3A-GRF. Surprisingly, only one mutant in this region was Rab3A-GAP-insensitive, while the others retained partial, complete, or significantly increased GAP responsiveness. Mutations in the first G-domain had only modest effects on intrinsic GTPase activity and little effect on either Rab3A-GRF or Rab3A-GAP interactions. Truncation of 34 residues from the carboxyl terminus had no effect Rab3A-GAP sensitivity but facilitated Rab3A-GRF stimulation. Mutation T36N, analogous to the dominant inhibitory mutation T17N in Ras, which has been hypothesized to sequester an upstream activator of Ras, conferred a 10-fold higher affinity upon p25 Rab3A for Rab3A-GRF.

Animals↗

Association of phosphorylated insulin-like growth factor-I receptor with the SH2 domains of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase p85.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) stimulates the production of 3-inositides and markedly increases the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity that is immunoprecipitated by anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies, a portion of which is also associated with the IGF-I receptor. In this study, recombinant p85, the regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and fusion proteins containing various subdomains were used to investigate the association of p85 with the IGF-I receptor and to demonstrate that p85 is a direct in vitro substrate of the IGF-I receptor kinase. Solubilized IGF-I receptor was immobilized on antireceptor antibody-agarose beads. Following in vitro receptor phosphorylation and incubation with cell lysate, immobilized receptor became associated with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity and with protein bands with molecular masses of 85 and 110 kDa, which correspond to the known molecular masses of the subunits of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. These associations were inhibited by the addition of recombinant intact p85 or SH2-containing fusion proteins, but not by fusion proteins containing its SH3 domain or breakpoint cluster homology region. A fusion protein containing the SH2 domains of Ras GTPase-activating protein also inhibited the association of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity with immobilized IGF-I receptor, although less effectively than p85, whereas a similar construct containing the SH2 domain of pp60src was without effect. When immobilized phosphorylated IGF-I receptor was incubated with intact p85 or the SH2-containing fusion proteins, it became associated with and phosphorylated these proteins. These results demonstrate that at least in vitro, a tight association occurs between phosphorylated IGF-I receptor and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, that the region of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase that contains its SH2 domains is directly involved in this association, and that this region is a direct substrate for IGF-I receptor tyrosine kinase. Furthermore, these results suggest that Ras GTPase-activating protein can also interact with the IGF-I receptor and that different SH2 domain-containing proteins interact with the IGF-I receptor with widely differing affinities.

Animals↗

Characterization of a guanine nucleotide-releasing factor and a GTPase-activating protein that are specific for the ras-related protein p25rab3A.

The rab3A gene product is a 25-kilodalton guanine nucleotide-binding protein that is expressed at high levels in neural tissue and has about 30% homology to the ras gene product. Recombinant Rab3A protein and p25rab3A purified from bovine brain membranes have been used as substrates to look for factors that regulate its biochemical activity. A factor in rat brain cytosol exists that accelerates, by approximately 10-fold, the release and subsequent rebinding of guanine nucleotides to both native and recombinant p25rab3A. We have partially purified this activity, termed Rab3A-GRF, and a GTPase-activating protein (Rab3A-GAP) reported previously. The two activities copurified through a variety of procedures but were separated by Mono Q anion-exchange chromatography, indicating that the activities arise from distinct polypeptides. Both factors were thermolabile, sensitive to trypsin, and specific for Rab3A, exhibiting little or no activity toward c-Ha-Ras or Rab2 proteins. By gel filtration chromatography and sucrose density ultracentrifugation, both Rab3A-GRF and Rab3A-GAP have Stokes radii of 79 A and sedimentation coefficients of 8.9 S. We calculate a molecular mass of 295,000 daltons and a frictional ratio of 1.80 for each factor.

Animals↗

The SH2- and SH3-containing Nck protein transforms mammalian fibroblasts in the absence of elevated phosphotyrosine levels.

We have established the human nck sequence as a new oncogene. Nck encodes one SH2 and three SH3 domains, the Src homology motifs found in nonreceptor tyrosine kinases, Ras GTPase-activating protein, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and phospholipase C-gamma. Overexpression of human nck in 3Y1 rat fibroblasts results in transformation as judged by alteration of cell morphology, colony formation in soft agar, and tumor formation in nude BALB/c mice. However, overexpression of nck does not induce detectable elevation of the phosphotyrosine content of specific proteins, as is observed for v-crk, another SH2/SH3-containing oncogene. Despite this fact, we demonstrate that Nck retains the ability to bind tyrosine phosphorylated proteins in vitro, using a fusion protein of Nck with glutathione-S-transferase (GST). Moreover, when incubated with lysates prepared from v-src-transformed 3Y1 cells or the nck-overexpressing cell lines, GST-Nck binds to both p60v-src and serine/threonine kinases, respectively. Although phosphotyrosine levels are not elevated in the nck-expressing fibroblasts, vanadate treatment of these cells results in a phosphotyrosine pattern that is altered from the parental 3Y1 pattern, suggestive of a perturbation of indigenous tyrosine kinase pathways. These results suggest the possibility that human nck induces transformation in 3Y1 fibroblasts by virtue of its altered affinity or specificity for the normal substrates of its rat homolog and that Nck may play a role in linking tyrosine and serine/threonine kinase pathways within the cell.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

The purification of a Rap1 GTPase-activating protein from bovine brain cytosol.

Two GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) have been detected in extracts from bovine brain: GAP-1, which is specific for the activation of ras GTPases, and GAP-3, which is specific for the activation of the rap1 GTPases. We present a strategy for the purification to homogeneity of a cytosolic form of GAP-3 from bovine brain. The 100,000 x g supernatant from homogenized brains was chromatographed sequentially on DEAE Fast Flow, green H-E4BD Sepharose, Bio-Gel A1.5, hydroxyapatite, and phenyl-Sepharose prior to high resolution separation on Mono Q HR 5/5, phenyl-Superose HR 5/5, Mono Q PC 1.6/5, and Superose 12 PC 3.2/30. This procedure resulted in an approximately 18,000-fold purification, yielding 50 micrograms of GAP-3 from 1.6 kg of tissue. Purified cytosolic GAP-3 migrated as a single band of apparent Mr 55,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. However, on gel filtration cytosolic GAP-3 chromatographed as a dimer with an apparent Mr 92,000. Purified GAP-3 does not activate ras or rho GTPases and possesses no intrinsic GTPase activity. Amino acid sequence data indicated a proline-rich N terminus. The amino acid sequences of peptides generated by Staphylococcus aureus V8 digestion of reduced and pyridine-ethylated GAP-3 showed no similarity to the predicted primary structure of GAP-1 or any other proteins in the nucleic acid or protein data bases. By comparison with the data of Rubinfeld et al. (Rubinfeld, B., Munemitsu, S., Clark, R., Conroy, L., Watt, K., Crosier, W.J., McCormick, F., and Polakis, P. (1991) Cell 65, 1033-1042), it appears that the membrane-associated (Mr 85,000-95,000) and cytosolic forms of GAP-3 are derived from equivalent, or closely related, genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Role of rap1B and p21ras GTPase-activating protein in the regulation of phospholipase C-gamma 1 in human platelets.

Thrombin activates phospholipase C in human platelets, but the specific isoenzymes activated and the signal pathway used are unknown. Using specific antibodies, we found that phospholipase C-gamma 1 and the p21ras GTPase-activating protein, rasGAP, are present in human platelets. Furthermore, phospholipase C-gamma 1 was detectable, based on enzyme activity and Western blot analysis, in immunoprecipitates of rasGAP, suggesting that these two proteins form tight complexes. The pool of phospholipase C-gamma 1 associated with rasGAP was phosphorylated but not through tyrosine phosphorylation. Although thrombin stimulation had no effect on the level of phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma 1 and only slightly increased the tyrosine phosphorylation of rasGAP, the agonist induced the association of rasGAP with rap1B, as indicated by the appearance of rap1B on a Western blot of rasGAP immunoprecipitates. Our results suggest the formation of a signaling complex involving rasGAP, phospholipase C-gamma 1, and rap1B that might be important in the cascade leading to platelet activation.

Blood Platelets↗

Agonist-induced association of the p21ras GTPase-activating protein with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

The signal transduction properties of the 21-kDa GTP-binding proteins, encoded by the ras genes, are only partly known. In a recent report, we demonstrated that the signaling pathway of p21ras, like that of several growth factors, is closely associated with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PtdIns 3-kinase) activity. We showed that insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin increased the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity in immunoprecipitates obtained with anti-phosphotyrosine and anti-ras antibodies in Ha-ras-transformed epithelial cells. Several findings in this previous study suggested that an additional protein was likely to be associated with the PtdIns 3-kinase. The suggestion that p21ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP) acts not only as a regulator of p21ras activity but also as a direct downstream target in the signaling pathway of p21ras led us to investigate the possible association of PtdIns 3-kinase with GAP. The stimulation of Ha-ras-transformed epithelial cells with IGF-1 caused an increased association of PtdIns 3-kinase activity with GAP, as seen by immunoprecipitation with anti-p21ras and anti-GAP antibodies. The 85-kDa regulatory subunit of PtdIns 3-kinase was present in immunoprecipitates obtained with antibodies against GAP and p21ras of IGF-1 stimulated cells. These data suggest that GAP acts as a downstream target for p21ras via its association with PtdIns 3-kinase.

Animals↗

GTPase-activating protein SH2-SH3 domains induce gene expression in a Ras-dependent fashion.

The p21ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP) is thought to function as both a negative regulator and a downstream target of p21ras. Here, we have investigated the role of GAP by using a transient expression assay with a fos luciferase reporter plasmid. We used GAP deletion mutants that lack the domain involved in interaction with p21ras and encode essentially only the SH2-SH3 domains. When these GAP deletion mutants were expressed, we observed a marked induction of fos promoter activity similar to induction by activated p21ras. Expression of a full-length GAP construct had no effect on the activity of the fos promoter. Activation of the fos promoter by these GAP SH2-SH3 regions was inhibited by cotransfection of a dominant inhibitory mutant of p21ras, Ras(Asn-17). Thus, the induction of gene expression by GAP SH2-SH3 domains is dependent on p21ras activity. Moreover, induction of fos promoter activity by GAP SH2-SH3 domains is increased severalfold after cotransfection of an activated mutant of p21ras, Ras(Leu-61), or insulin stimulation of A14 cells, both leading to an increase in the levels of GTP-bound p21ras. The combined effect of Ras(Leu-61) and the GAP deletion mutants was not inhibited by Ras(Asn-17), indicating that GAP SH2-SH3 domains do not function to activate endogenous p21ras but cooperate with another signal coming from active p21ras. These data suggest that GAP SH2-SH3 domains serve to induce gene expression by p21ras but that additional signals coming from p21ras are required for them to function.

3T3 Cells↗

Implication of GAP in Ras-dependent transactivation of a polyoma enhancer sequence.

Controversy exists as to whether the interaction of a guanosine triphosphatase activating protein (GAP) with Ras proteins functions both to initiate and to terminate Ras-dependent signaling events or only to terminate them. GAP-C, a carboxyl-terminal fragment of GAP that is sufficient to stimulate GTPase activity, inhibited the stimulation of transcription produced by some oncoproteins (v-Src, polyoma middle T, wild-type Ras, and oncogenic Ras) but not that produced by v-Mos. Wild-type GAP did not affect transcription induced by oncogenic Ras but reversed the inhibitory effect of GAP-C on transcription induced by oncogenic Ras. These results indicate that GAP is a negative regulator of wild-type Ras and elicits a downstream signal by interacting with Ras-GTP (guanosine triphosphate).

3T3 Cells↗

Evidence that Ha-Ras mediates two distinguishable intracellular signals activated by v-Src.

v-Src activates promoters under the control of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) response elements (TREs) and serum response elements (SREs) via two distinguishable intracellular signaling mechanisms. The induction of TRE- and SRE-mediated gene expression by v-Src could be distinguished by a differential sensitivity to depleting cells of protein kinase C (PKC) and to a dominant negative Raf-1 mutant. Thus, PKC depletion and the dominant negative Raf-1 mutant were able to distinguish two intracellular signaling mechanisms activated by v-Src. Both of these v-Src-induced intracellular signals were sensitive to a dominant negative mutant of Ha-Ras. These data suggest that Ha-Ras functions to coordinately regulate multiple intracellular signaling mechanisms activated by v-Src.

3T3 Cells↗

Activation of the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor leads to the rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of GTPase-activating protein and activation of cellular p21ras.

We have previously reported that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) induced tyrosine phosphorylation of GTPase-activating protein (GAP) in intact quiescent fibroblasts under conditions in which insulin and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) were ineffective (Molloy et al., 1988). In the present study, we have provided evidence that colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) is capable of inducing tyrosine phosphorylation of GAP and its associated cellular proteins, p62 and p190, in NIH3T3 cells overexpressing the human CSF-1 receptor (CSF-1R). However, the extent of GAP tyrosine phosphorylation induced by CSF-1 was approximately 10% of that induced by PDGF-BB in the NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Despite this significant difference, both PDGF-BB and CSF-1 increased the activation of p21ras, the extent of which correlated well with the mitogenic response induced by each growth factor in these cells. Taken together, our findings provide evidence for a possible role of tyrosine phosphorylation of GAP and GAP-associated phosphoproteins in regulating transduction of CSF-1-induced mitogenic signals through p21ras activation.

3T3 Cells↗

Phosphorylation sites in the PDGF receptor with different specificities for binding GAP and PI3 kinase in vivo.

Tyrosine residues have been identified in the human platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor beta-subunit whose phosphorylation is stimulated by PDGF. These sites are also in vitro autophosphorylation sites. There are a total of three phosphorylation sites in the kinase insert region, tyrosines 740, 751 and 771. Mutagenesis studies show that Tyr740 and 751 are involved in the PDGF-stimulated binding of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3 kinase, and Tyr771 is required for efficient binding of GAP, the GTPase activator of Ras. The requirement for Tyr751 is only detected at low PDGF receptor levels, suggesting that it increases the affinity of binding of PI3 kinase but is not absolutely required. Small deletions in the kinase insert only 10 residues from Tyr740 and Tyr771 do not significantly reduce binding of PI3 kinase or GAP, indicating that distant sequences are probably unimportant for recognition. The data suggest that the receptor signals to different pathways via different phosphorylated tyrosines, and that certain proteins, such as PI3 kinase, can recognize two phosphorylated tyrosines in a single receptor.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Stimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase by oncogenic Ras p21 in Xenopus oocytes. Requirement for Ras p21-GTPase-activating protein interaction.

p21ras plays an important role in the control of cell proliferation. The molecular mechanisms implicated are unknown. We report that the injection of oncogenic Lys12 Ras into Xenopus laevis oocytes promoted the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) after a lag of about 90 min. MAP kinase activity was 10-fold higher 4 h after injection of oncogenic Lys12 Ras than after injection of nononcogenic Gly12 Ras. The stimulated MAP kinase activity remained at a plateau for at least 18 h. Maximal stimulation was obtained with 5 ng of Lys12 Ras, which is similar to the amount that elicits germinal vesicle breakdown. DEAE-Sephacel chromatography of extracts from Lys12 Ras-injected oocytes showed one peak of MAP kinase. MAP kinase activation by Lys12 Ras was associated with tyrosine phosphorylation of MAP kinase (p42). As previously shown, the S6-kinase II (likely pp90rsk), which is activated in vitro by MAP kinase, was also activated by oncogenic Lys12 Ras. Lys12 Ras with an additional mutation (Glu38) in the effector region that binds GTPase-activating protein (GAP) did not promote MAP kinase or S6 kinase activations. Thus, GAP may be involved downstream to Ras in these activation processes. Our results indicate that the Ras-GAP complex promotes MAP kinase activation in oocytes. This supports the idea that Ras-GAP controls MAP kinase, a kinase implicated in the action of various stimuli.

Animals↗

Activation of Ras by insulin in 3T3 L1 cells does not involve GTPase-activating protein phosphorylation.

Insulin-induced differentiation of 3T3 L1 cells to adipocytes can be mimicked by the expression of transfected ras oncogenes but not of the tyrosine-kinase oncogenes src and trk. Expression of two different transfected, dominant inhibitory ras mutants resulted in significant inhibition of insulin-induced differentiation, suggesting that endogenous Ras proteins are mediators of insulin signaling in these cells. Exposure of untransfected 3T3 L1 cells to insulin resulted in significant formation of the active Ras.GTP complex, at levels comparable with those resulting from exposure to platelet-derived growth factor. However, whereas exposure of the same cells to platelet-derived growth factor resulted in significant tyrosine phosphorylation of the p21ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP), insulin-treated cells did not show any detectable levels of de novo GAP tyrosine phosphorylation. Interestingly, insulin caused tyrosine phosphorylation of the p62 polypeptide coprecipitated with GAP by anti-GAP antibodies. Insulin-induced activation of cytosolic MAP kinase activity in untransfected 3T3 L1 cells was also mimicked by Ras expression (in the absence of insulin) in the same cells transfected with an inducible ras construct. These results confirm that Ras proteins participate in insulin signaling pathways in these mammalian cells and indicate that activation of cytosolic MAP kinases is an early event occurring downstream from Ras activation. However, tyrosine phosphorylation of GAP appears not to be a significant upstream regulatory event in the activation of Ras by insulin.

3T3 Cells↗

Presence of SH2 domains of phospholipase C gamma 1 enhances substrate phosphorylation by increasing the affinity toward the epidermal growth factor receptor.

src homology region 2 and 3 (SH2 and SH3) domains are conserved noncatalytic regions originally described in cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases and subsequently identified in phospholipase C gamma 1 (PLC gamma 1), GTPase-activating protein of ras, and other signaling proteins. Although numerous studies indicate that SH2 domains promote protein-protein interactions by specific binding to tyrosine phosphorylated proteins, the function of SH3 domains is not known. The SH2 domain of PLC gamma 1 binds to certain tyrosine-phosphorylated growth factor receptors, and following phosphorylation on Tyr783 the enzymatic activity of PLC gamma 1 is enhanced, leading to phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis. To determine the functional role of the SH2 domain(s) on substrate phosphorylation in quantitative terms, we have expressed in Escherichia coli PLC gamma 1 constructs encoding the region containing Tyr783 and Tyr771, their two flanking SH2 domains and the SH3 domain, and five different deletion mutants of this region. These six proteins were purified and subjected to quantitative phosphorylation by the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Analysis of the kinetics of substrate phosphorylation revealed similar Vmax for the phosphorylation of the various mutant proteins. However, the affinity was enhanced for substrates containing SH2 domains: from S0.5 (average apparent Km) of 110 microM to S0.5 of 20 microM with the addition of a single SH2 domain and S0.5 of 3-4 microM for mutants containing two SH2 domains. The presence of the SH3 domain did not influence the apparent Km of substrate phosphorylation. These results demonstrate that the presence of the SH2 domain in PLC gamma 1 lowers the apparent Km (increases the affinity) of substrate phosphorylation by the EGFR, thereby facilitating PLC gamma 1 phosphorylation and activation.

Binding Sites↗

The SH2 and SH3 domain-containing Nck protein is oncogenic and a common target for phosphorylation by different surface receptors.

Signalling proteins such as phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) or GTPase-activating protein (GAP) of ras contain conserved regions of approximately 100 amino acids termed src homology 2 (SH2) domains. SH2 domains were shown to be responsible for mediating association between signalling proteins and tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins, including growth factor receptors. Nck is an ubiquitously expressed protein consisting exclusively of one SH2 and three SH3 domains. Here we show that epidermal growth factor or platelet-derived growth factor stimulation of intact human or murine cells leads to phosphorylation of Nck protein on tyrosine, serine, and threonine residues. Similar stimulation of Nck phosphorylation was detected upon activation of rat basophilic leukemia RBL-2H3 cells by cross-linking of the high-affinity immunoglobulin E receptors (Fc epsilon RI). Ligand-activated, tyrosine-autophosphorylated platelet-derived growth factor or epidermal growth factor receptors were coimmunoprecipitated with anti-Nck antibodies, and the association with either receptor molecule was mediated by the SH2 domain of Nck. Addition of phorbol ester was also able to stimulate Nck phosphorylation on serine residues. However, growth factor-induced serine/threonine phosphorylation of Nck was not mediated by protein kinase C. Interestingly, approximately fivefold overexpression of Nck in NIH 3T3 cells resulted in formation of oncogenic foci. These results show that Nck is an oncogenic protein and a common target for the action of different surface receptors. Nck probably functions as an adaptor protein which links surface receptors with tyrosine kinase activity to downstream signalling pathways involved in the control of cell proliferation.

3T3 Cells↗