A cDNA clone encoding a novel, widely expressed protein (called growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 or GRB2) containing one src homology 2 (SH2) domain and two SH3 domains was isolated. Immunoblotting experiments indicate that GRB2 associates with tyrosine-phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) and platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs) via its SH2 domain. Interestingly, GRB2 exhibits striking structural and functional homology to the C. elegans protein sem-5. It has been shown that sem-5 and two other genes called let-23 (EGFR like) and let-60 (ras like) lie along the same signal transduction pathway controlling C. elegans vulval induction. To examine whether GRB2 is also a component of ras signaling in mammalian cells, microinjection studies were performed. While injection of GRB2 or H-ras proteins alone into quiescent rat fibroblasts did not have mitogenic effect, microinjection of GRB2 together with H-ras protein stimulated DNA synthesis. These results suggest that GRB2/sem-5 plays a crucial role in a highly conserved mechanism for growth factor control of ras signaling.

IRS‐1 undergoes rapid tyrosine phosphorylation during insulin stimulation and forms a stable complex containing the 85 kDa subunit (p85) of the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) 3′‐kinase, but p85 is not tyrosyl phosphorylated. IRS‐1 contains nine tyrosine phosphorylation sites in YXXM (Tyr‐Xxx‐Xxx‐Met) motifs. Formation of the IRS‐1‐PtdIns 3′‐kinase complex in vitro is inhibited by synthetic peptides containing phosphorylated YXXM motifs, suggesting that the binding of PtdIns 3′‐kinase to IRS‐1 is mediated through the SH2 (src homology‐2) domains of p85. Furthermore, overexpression of IRS‐1 potentiates the activation of PtdIns 3‐kinase in insulin‐stimulated cells, and tyrosyl phosphorylated IRS‐1 or peptides containing phosphorylated YXXM motifs activate PtdIns 3′‐kinase in vitro. We conclude that the binding of tyrosyl phosphorylated IRS‐1 to the SH2 domains of p85 is the critical step that activates PtdIns 3′‐kinase during insulin stimulation.

The tight junction is an intracellular junctional structure that mediates adhesion between epithelial cells and is required for epithelial cell function. Tight junctions control paracellular permeability across epithelial cell sheets and also serve as a barrier to intramembrane diffusion of components between a cell's apical and basolateral membrane domains. Recent genetic and biochemical studies in invertebrates and vertebrates indicate that tight junction proteins play an important role in the establishment and maintenance of apico-basal polarity. Proteins involved in epithelial cell polarization form evolutionarily conserved multiprotein complexes at the tight junction, and these protein complexes regulate the architecture of epithelia throughout the polarization process. Accumulating information regarding the regulation of these polarity proteins will lead to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms whereby cell polarity is established.