Purification and characterization of a rat liver protein-tyrosine phosphatase with sequence similarity to src-homology region 2

Shigeru Tsuiki: a pioneer in the research fields of complex carbohydrates and protein phosphatases

Dr Tsuiki made three major contributions during his illustrious career as a biochemist. First, he developed the procedure for mucin isolation from bovine submaxillary glands. His work became the basis for mucin biochemistry. Second, he identified four distinct molecular species of mammalian sialidase. Subsequent studies based on his work led to the discovery that sialidase plays a unique role as an intracellular signalling factor involved in the regulation of a variety of cellular functions. Finally, he established the molecular basis for the diversity of mammalian protein phosphatases through protein purification and molecular cloning. His work prompted the functional studies of protein phosphatases.

Clathrin light chain b is capable of affecting potently a major protein phosphatase from microtubules (MT-PP1)

Clathrin light chain (CL) b purified from bovine brain postmicrotubule supernatant and identified by mass spectrometry potently inhibited a catalytic activity of a major protein phosphatase (PP) that was copurified with microtubules and recognized by antiPP1 antibodies. CLb similarly affected the catalytic subunit and holoenzyme of the PP, little inhibiting the activity of PP2A. Although the CLb from clathrin-coated vesicles was several hundredfold weaker than our purified CLb, the CLb in the postmicrotubule supernatant, independent of whether it was sedimentable or soluble, was as active as the purified CLb. Thus CLb may be a potent regulator of the PP.

Shp-2 mediates v-Src-induced morphological changes and activation of the anti-apoptotic protein kinase Akt

The protein-tyrosine phosphatase Shp-2 is a positive modulator of the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and a putative substrate of the transforming non-receptor tyrosine kinase v-Src. To characterize the role of Shp-2 in cellular transformation and signaling by v-Src, we expressed v-Src in normal and Shp-2-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts. Expression of Shp-2 was found to be necessary for morphological transformation by v-Src: Shp-2+/+ cells became rounded or spindly upon v-Src expression, whereas Shp-2-deficient cells remained relatively flat. v-Src-induced reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and the formation of podosomes were compromised in Shp-2-deficient cells. Shp-2 deficiency also reduced v-Src-induced activation of the anti-apoptotic protein kinase Akt. The reduced activation of Akt in Shp-2-deficient cells correlated with a reduction in the association of the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3-kinase with the adapter protein Cbl. Activation of PI3-kinase by v-Src may be mediated by the association of the adapter protein Cbl with the p85 subunit. Since activation of Akt is dependent on PI3-kinase, this suggests that the effect of Shp-2 on Akt activation may be mediated, at least in part, by its effects on the interaction between PI3-kinase and Cbl. The defect in activation of the Akt survival pathway also correlated with enhanced sensitivity of Shp-2-deficient cells to an apoptosis-inducing agent. These results implicate Shp-2 in v-Src-induced cytoskeletal reorganization and activation of the Akt cell survival pathway.

Activation of protein-tyrosine phosphatase SH-PTP2 by a tyrosine-based activation motif of a novel brain molecule

BIT (a brain immunoglobulin-like molecule with tyrosine-based activation motifs) is a brain-specific membrane protein which has two cytoplasmic TAMs (tyrosine-based activation motifs). Using the Far Western blotting technique, we detected association of a 70-kDa protein with the tyrosine-phosphorylated TAMs of BIT. A mouse brain cDNA library in lambdagt11 was screened for this association, and two positive clones encoding tyrosine phosphatase SH-PTP2 were isolated. SH-PTP2 has two SH2 domains and is believed to function as a positive mediator in receptor tyrosine kinase signaling. SH-PTP2 and BIT were coimmunoprecipitated from phosphorylated rat brain lysate, and BIT was a major tyrosine-phosphorylated protein associated with SH-PTP2 in this lysate. This interaction was also observed in Jurkat T cells transfected with BIT cDNA depending on tyrosine phosphorylation of BIT. Bisphosphotyrosyl peptides corresponding to BIT-TAMs stimulated SH-PTP2 activity 33-35-fold in vitro, indicating that two SH2 domains of SH-PTP2 simultaneously interact with two phosphotyrosines of BIT-TAM. Our findings suggest that the tyrosine phosphorylation of BIT results in stimulation of the signal transduction pathway promoted by SH-PTP2 and that BIT is probably a major receptor molecule in the brain located just upstream of SH-PTP2.

Comparison of the specificity of bacterially expressed cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine phosphatases SHP and SH-PTP2 towards synthetic phosphopeptide substrates

SHP and SH-PTP2 are related cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine phosphatases having two tandem amino-terminal src homology 2 domains linked to a single catalytic domain. There is growing evidence that these two molecules may exhibit opposing effects within specific signaling pathways. However, the relative contributions of the src homology 2 domains or the catalytic domains to these opposing effects are not well known. To evaluate the potential contribution of the catalytic domains, we compared the substrate specificity of the two phosphatases. As seen previously, the catalytic activities of bacterially expressed SHP and SH-PTP2 were regulated by the presence of the linked src homology 2 domains. In addition, we characterized a cryptic thrombin cleavage site within the carboxy-terminus of SHP that led to a striking increase in the activity of the catalytic domain. Employing a panel of phosphopeptide substrates whose sequences were modeled after intracellular phosphorylation sites, both SHP and SH-PTP2 demonstrated a similar specificity pattern. Similar to SH-PTP2, SHP failed to elicit detectable phosphate release from several phosphopeptide substrates, while displaying catalytic efficiencies that ranged over approximately 40-1.6 x 10(3) M-1 s-1 towards other substrates. In contrast, the PTP-1B phosphatase dephosphorylated all of the phosphopeptide substrates tested with approximately equal ease. The overall similarity demonstrated by the catalytic domains of SHP and SH-PTP2 suggested that differences in the in vivo behavior of these two molecules might not stem from differences in the substrate specificity of the catalytic domains, suggesting instead that the specificity of the src homology 2 domains is more important in this regard.

Identification of the major SHPTP2-binding protein that is tyrosine-phosphorylated in response to insulin

Immunoprecipitation of the cytosolic Src homology 2 domain-containing protein-tyrosine phosphatase, SHPTP2, from insulin-stimulated 3T3L1 adipocytes or Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing the human insulin receptor resulted in the coimmunoprecipitation of a diffuse tyrosine-phosphorylated band in the 115-kDa protein region on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Although platelet-derived growth factor induced the tyrosine phosphorylation of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor and SHPTP2, there was no significant increase in the coimmunoprecipitation of tyrosine-phosphorylated pp115 with SHPTP2. SHPTP2 was also associated with tyrosine-phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate-1, but this only accounted for < 2% of the total immunoreactive SHPTP2 protein. Similarly, only a small fraction of the total amount of tyrosine-phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate-1 (< 4%) was associated with SHPTP2. Expression and immunoprecipitation of a Myc epitope-tagged wild-type SHPTP2 (Myc-WT-SHPTP2) and a catalytically inactive point mutant of SHPTP2 (Myc-C/S-SHPTP2) also demonstrated an insulin-dependent association of SHPTP2 with tyrosine-phosphorylated pp115. Furthermore, expression of the catalytically inactive SHPTP2 mutant resulted in a marked enhancement in the amount of coimmunoprecipitated tyrosine-phosphorylated pp115 compared with the expression of wild-type SHPTP2. These data indicate that the insulin-stimulated tyrosine-phosphorylated 115-kDa protein is the predominant in vivo SHPTP2-binding protein and that pp115 may function as a physiological substrate for the SHPTP2 protein-tyrosine phosphatase.

Protein-tyrosine-phosphatase SHPTP2 is a required positive effector for insulin downstream signaling

SHPTP2 is a ubiquitously expressed tyrosine-specific protein phosphatase that contains two amino-terminal Src homology 2 (SH2) domains responsible for its association with tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins. In this study, expression of dominant interfering mutants of SHPTP2 was found to inhibit insulin stimulation of c-fos reporter gene expression and activation of the 42-kDa (Erk2) and 44-kDa (Erk1) mitogen-activated protein kinases. Cotransfection of dominant interfering SHPTP2 mutants with v-Ras or Grb2 indicated that SHPTP2 regulated insulin signaling either upstream of or in parallel to Ras function. Furthermore, phosphotyrosine blotting and immunoprecipitation identified the 125-kDa focal adhesion kinase (pp125FAK) as a substrate for insulin-dependent tyrosine dephosphorylation. These data demonstrate that SHPTP2 functions as a positive regulator of insulin action and that insulin signaling results in the dephosphorylation of tyrosine-phosphorylated pp125FAK.

Src homology 2 domains of protein tyrosine phosphatase are associated in vitro with both the insulin receptor and insulin receptor substrate-1 via different phosphotyrosine motifs

To clarify the role of protein tyrosine phosphatase containing Src homology 2 (SH2) regions on insulin signaling, we investigated the interactions among the insulin receptor, a pair of SH2 domains of SH-PTP2 coupled to glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1)-GST fusion protein (amino-portion, IRS-IN; carboxyl portion, IRS-1C). GST-SH2 protein of SH-PTP2 bound to the wild type insulin receptor, but not to that with a carboxyl-terminal mutation (Y/F2). Furthermore, even though Y/F2 receptors were used, the SH2 protein was also co-immunoprecipitated with IRS-IC, but not with IRS-IN. These results indicate that SH2 domains of SH-PTP2 can directly associate with the Y1322TXM motif on the carboxyl terminus of insulin receptors and also may bind to the carboxyl portion of IRS-1, possibly via the Y1172IDL motif in vitro.

A widely expressed human protein-tyrosine phosphatase containing src homology 2 domains

A cDNA encoding a nontransmembrane protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTP; EC 3.1.3.48), termed PTP2C, was isolated from a human umbilical cord cDNA library. The enzyme contains a single phosphatase domain and two adjacent copies of the src homology 2 (SH2) domain at its amino terminus. A variant of PTP2C (PTP2Ci) which has four extra amino acid residues within the catalytic domain has been identified also. PTP2C is widely expressed in human tissues and is particularly abundant in heart, brain, and skeletal muscle. The catalytic domain of PTP2C was expressed as a recombinant enzyme in Escherichia coli and purified to near homogeneity by two chromatographic steps. The recombinant enzyme was totally specific toward phosphotyrosine residues. The structural similarity between PTP2C and the previously described PTP1C suggests the existence of a subfamily of SH2-containing PTPs; these may play an important role in signal transduction through interaction of their SH2 domains with phosphotyrosine-containing proteins.