We have cloned a member of the STE20/SPS1 protein kinase family from a transformed rat pancreatic beta cell line. SPAK (STE20/SPS1-related, proline alanine-rich kinase) belongs to the SPS1 subfamily of STE20 kinases and is highly conserved between species. SPAK is expressed ubiquitously, although preferentially in brain and pancreas. Biochemical characterization of SPAK catalytic activity demonstrates that is a serine/threonine kinase that can phosphorylate itself and an exogenous substrate in vitro. SPAK is immunoprecipitated from transfected mammalian cells as a complex with another, as yet uncharacterized, serine/threonine kinase which is capable of phosphorylating catalytically-inactive SPAK and myelin basic protein in an in vitro kinase assay. SPAK speci®cally activates the p38 pathway in cotransfection assays. Like MST1 and MST2, SPAK contains a putative caspase cleavage site at the junction of the catalytic domain and the C-terminal region. Fulllength SPAK is expressed in the cytoplasm in transfected cells, while a mutant corresponding to caspase-cleaved SPAK is expressed predominantly in the nucleus. The similarity of SPAK to other SPS1 family members, its ability to activate the p38 pathway, in addition to its putative caspase cleavage site, provide evidence that SPAK may act as a novel mediator of stress-activated signals. Oncogene (2000) 19, 4290 ± 4297.
PTPL1 is an intracellular protein-tyrosine phosphatase that contains five PDZ domains. Here, we present the cloning of a novel 150-kDa protein, the four most C-terminal amino acid residues of which specifically interact with the fourth PDZ domain of PTPL1. The molecule contains a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) domain, a cysteine-rich, putative Zn 2؉ -and diacylglycerolbinding domain, and a region of sequence homology to the product of the Caenorhabditis elegans gene ZK669.1a. The GAP domain is active on Rho, Rac, and Cdc42 in vitro but with a clear preference for Rho; we refer to the molecule as PTPL1-associated RhoGAP 1, PARG1. Rho is inactivated by GAPs, and protein-tyrosine phosphorylation has been implicated in Rho signaling. Therefore, a complex between PTPL1 and PARG1 may function as a powerful negative regulator of Rho signaling, acting both on Rho itself and on tyrosine phosphorylated components in the Rho signal transduction pathway.
The homeodomain transcription factor Pdx1 is essential for pancreas development. To investigate the role of Pdx1 in the adult pancreas, we employed a mouse model in which transcription of Pdx1 could be reversibly repressed by administration of doxycycline. Repression of Pdx1 in adult mice impaired expression of insulin and glucagon, leading to diabetes within 14 days. Pdx1 repression was associated with increased cell proliferation predominantly in the exocrine pancreas and upregulation of genes implicated in pancreas regeneration. Following withdrawal of doxycycline and derepression of Pdx1, normoglycemia was restored within 28 days; during this period, Pdx1 ؉ /Ins؉ and Pdx ؉ /Ins ؊ cells were observed in association with the duct epithelia. These findings confirm that Pdx1 is required for -cell function in the adult pancreas and indicate that in the absence of Pdx1 expression, a regenerative program is initiated with the potential for Pdx1-dependent -cell neogenesis.
Signalling by the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) has been studied intensively, but for most cell types the analysis is complicated by the fact that EGFR not only homodimerizes but can also form heterodimers with other EGFR family members. Heterodimerization is a particular problem in the study of EGFR mutants, where the true phenotype of the mutants is confounded by the contribution of the heterodimer partner to signal transduction. We have made use of the murine hemopoietic cell line BaF/3, which does not express EGFR family members, to express wild-type (WT) EGFR, three kinase-defective EGFR mutants (V741G, Y740F, and K721R), or a C-terminally truncated EGFR (CT957) and have measured their responses to EGF. We found that under the appropriate conditions EGF can stimulate cell proliferation of BaF/3 cells expressing WT or CT957 EGFRs but not that of cells expressing the kinase-defective mutants. However, EGF promotes the survival of BaF/3 cells expressing either of the kinase-defective receptors (V741G and Y740F), indicating that these receptors can still transmit a survival signal. Analysis of the early signalling events by the WT, V741G, and Y740F mutant EGF receptors indicated that EGF stimulates comparable levels of Shc phosphorylation, Shc-GRB-2 association, and activation of Ras, B-Raf, and Erk-1. Blocking the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway with the specific inhibitor PD98059 abrogates completely the EGF-dependent survival of cells expressing the kinase-defective EGFR mutants but has no effect on the EGF-dependent proliferation mediated by WT and CT957 EGFRs. Similarly, the Src family kinase inhibitor PP1 abrogates EGFdependent survival without affecting proliferation. However blocking phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase or JAK-2 kinase with specific inhibitors does arrest growth factor-dependent cell proliferation. Thus, EGFR-mediated mitogenic signalling in BaF/3 cells requires an intact EGFR tyrosine kinase activity and appears to depend on the activation of both the JAK-2 and PI-3 kinase pathways. Activation of the Src family of kinases or of the Ras/MAPK pathway can, however, be initiated by a kinase-impaired EGFR and is linked to survival.The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) (also designated ErbB-1) is a member of the ErbB family of ligandactivated tyrosine kinase receptors, which play a central role in the proliferation, differentiation, and/or oncogenesis of epithelial cells, neural cells, and fibroblasts (82). A plethora of biological responses are triggered by the interaction of EGF, or one of its homologues (29), with the extracellular domain of the EGFR. Upon ligand binding, the kinase domains are activated by homo-and/or heterodimerization of EGFR family members (31, 67). The activated receptor kinase then autophosphorylates C-terminal tyrosines and transphosphorylates intracellular substrates (reviewed in reference 11). The C-terminal phosphotyrosine residues can bind to particular cytoplasmic proteins which have been proposed as a means of a...
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