Ligand-induced down-regulation of two growth factor receptors, EGF receptor (ErbB-1) and ErbB-3, correlates with differential ability to recruit c-Cbl, whose invertebrate orthologs are negative regulators of ErbB. We report that ligand-induced degradation of internalized ErbB-1, but not ErbB-3, is mediated by transient mobilization of a minor fraction of c-Cbl into ErbB-1-containing endosomes. This recruitment depends on the receptor's tyrosine kinase activity and an intact carboxy-terminal region. The alternative fate is recycling of internalized ErbBs to the cell surface. Cbl-mediated receptor sorting involves covalent attachment of ubiquitin molecules, and subsequent lysosomal and proteasomal degradation. The oncogenic viral form of Cbl inhibits down-regulation by shunting endocytosed receptors to the recycling pathway. These results reveal an endosomal sorting machinery capable of controlling the fate, and, hence, signaling potency, of growth factor receptors.

Adhesion of human primary skin fibroblasts and ECV304 endothelial cells to immobilized matrix proteins, β1 or αv integrin antibodies stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor. This tyrosine phosphorylation is transiently induced, reaching maximal levels 30 min after adhesion, and it occurs in the absence of receptor ligands. Similar results were observed with EGF receptor-transfected NIH-3T3 cells. Use of a kinasenegative EGF receptor mutant demonstrates that the integrin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation is due to activation of the receptor's intrinsic kinase activity. Integrin-mediated EGF receptor activation leads to Erk-1/MAP kinase induction, as shown by treatment with the specific inhibitor tyrphostin AG1478 and by expression of a dominant-negative EGF receptor mutant. EGF receptor and Erk-1/MAP kinase activation by integrins does not lead per se to cell proliferation, but is important for entry into S phase in response to EGF or serum. EGF receptor activation is also required for extracellular matrix-mediated cell survival. Adhesion-dependent MAP kinase activation and survival are regulated through EGF receptor activation in cells expressing this molecule above a threshold level (5⍥10 3 receptors per cell). These results demonstrate that integrin-dependent EGF receptor activation is a novel signaling mechanism involved in cell survival and proliferation in response to extracellular matrix.

Integrin-mediated cell adhesion cooperates with growth factor receptors in the control of cell proliferation, cell survival, and cell migration. One mechanism to explain these synergistic effects is the ability of integrins to induce phosphorylation of growth factor receptors, for instance the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor. Here we define some aspects of the molecular mechanisms regulating integrin-dependent EGF receptor phosphorylation. We show that in the early phases of cell adhesion integrins associate with EGF receptors on the cell membrane in a macromolecular complex including the adaptor protein p130Cas and the c-Src kinase, the latter being required for adhesion-dependent assembly of the macromolecular complex. We also show that the integrin cytoplasmic tail, c-Src kinase, and the p130Cas adaptor protein are required for phosphorylation of EGF receptor in response to integrin-mediated adhesion. We show that integrins induce phosphorylation of EGF receptor on tyrosine residues 845, 1068, 1086, and 1173, but not on residue 1148, a major site of phosphorylation in response to EGF. In addition we find that integrin-mediated adhesion increases the amount of EGF receptor expressed on the cell surface. Therefore these data indicate that integrin-mediated adhesion induces assembly of a macromolecular complex containing c-Src and p130Cas and leads to phosphorylation of specific EGF receptor tyrosine residues.

We have used differential display to identify genes whose expression is altered in type 2 diabetes thus contributing to its pathogenesis. One mRNA is overexpressed in fibroblasts from type 2 diabetics compared with non-diabetic individuals, as well as in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues, two major sites of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. The levels of the protein encoded by this mRNA are also elevated in type 2 diabetic tissues; thus, we named it PED for phosphoprotein enriched in diabetes. PED cloning shows that it encodes a 15 kDa phosphoprotein identical to the protein kinase C (PKC) substrate PEA-15. The PED gene maps on human chromosome 1q21-22. Transfection of PED/PEA-15 in differentiating L6 skeletal muscle cells increases the content of Glut1 transporters on the plasma membrane and inhibits insulin-stimulated glucose transport and cell-surface recruitment of Glut4, the major insulin-sensitive glucose transporter. These effects of PED overexpression are reversed by blocking PKC activity. Overexpression of the PED/ PEA-15 gene may contribute to insulin resistance in glucose uptake in type 2 diabetes.

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor gene EGFR has been placed in a retrovirus vector to examine the growth properties of cells that experimentally overproduce a full-length EGF receptor. NIH 3T3 cells transfected with the viral DNA or infected with the corresponding rescued retrovirus developed a fully transformed phenotype in vitro that required both functional EGFR expression and the presence of EGF in the growth medium. Cells expressing 4 x 10(5) EGF receptors formed tumors in nude mice, while control cells did not. Therefore, the EGFR retrovirus, which had a titer on NIH 3T3 cells that was greater than 10(7) focus-forming units per milliliter, can efficiently transfer and express this gene, and increased numbers of EGF receptors can contribute to the transformed phenotype.