PTP1B, a non-transmembrane protein tyrosine phosphatase that has long been studied as a negative regulator of insulin and leptin signaling, has recently received renewed attention as an unexpected positive factor in tumorigenesis. In this review, we highlight how views of this enzyme have evolved from regarding it as a simple metabolic off-switch to a more complex view of PTP1B as an enzyme that can play both negative and positive roles diverse signaling pathways. These dual characteristics make PTP1B a particularly attractive therapeutic target for diabetes, obesity, and perhaps breast cancer. PTP1B: signaling paradigm and paradoxImagine a pill that could keep you thin, free of diabetes, and protected from breast cancer. This hypothetical medicine would need to have the seemingly magical property of stimulating pathways that signal weight loss and lower blood sugar while simultaneously blocking those that induce cell proliferation and cell survival. In the enzyme protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a target for such a hypothetical drug exists. This review is not about how to make such a drug (although many are trying); instead it discusses the unusual combination of properties that render PTP1B such an attractive drug target for a variety of common and serious diseases.PTP1B was the first enzyme of its class to be purified to homogeneity [1,2] and, with its close cousin TC-PTP, the first to be intentionally cloned [3][4][5]. Many of the seminal concepts regarding PTP regulation, structure, and function were first discovered in the context of PTP1B. As such, PTP1B can be viewed as a touchstone in phosphatase research, the reference enzyme to which other PTPs are most often compared, much as Src serves as a paradigm for cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinases. Despite its emblematic role as the prototypical PTP, PTP1B has a number of unique properties that clearly distinguish it from other enzymes in its class, and important new discoveries regarding PTP1B continue to be made with surprising regularity (Table 1).

Protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) 1B plays a major role in inhibiting signaling from the insulin and leptin receptors. Recently, PTP1B was found to have an unexpected positive role in ErbB2 signaling in a mouse model of breast cancer, but the mechanism underlying this effect has been unclear. Using human breast epithelial cells grown in a three-dimensional matrix, we found that PTP1B, but not the closely related enzyme T-cell PTP, is required for ErbB2 transformation in vitro. Activation of ErbB2, but not ErbB1, increases PTP1B expression, and increased expression of PTP1B activates Src and induces a Src-dependent transformed phenotype. These findings identify a molecular mechanism by which PTP1B links an important oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase to signaling pathways that promote aberrant cell division and survival in human breast epithelial cells. [Cancer Res 2009;69(11):4582-8]

Receptor guanylyl cyclases are multidomain proteins, and ligand binding to the extracellular domain increases the levels of intracellular cGMP. The intracellular domain of these receptors is composed of a kinase homology domain (KHD), a linker of ϳ70 amino acids, followed by the C-terminal guanylyl cyclase domain. Mechanisms by which these receptors are allosterically regulated by ligand binding to the extracellular domain and ATP binding to the KHD are not completely understood. Here we examine the role of the linker region in receptor guanylyl cyclases by a series of point mutations in receptor guanylyl cyclase C. The linker region is predicted to adopt a coiled coil structure and aid in dimerization, but we find that the effects of mutations neither follow a pattern predicted for a coiled coil peptide nor abrogate dimerization. Importantly, this region is critical for repressing the guanylyl cyclase activity of the receptor in the absence of ligand and permitting ligand-mediated activation of the cyclase domain. Mutant receptors with high basal guanylyl cyclase activity show no further activation in the presence of non-ionic detergents, suggesting that hydrophobic interactions in the basal and inactive conformation of the guanylyl cyclase domain are disrupted by mutation. Equivalent mutations in the linker region of guanylyl cyclase A also elevated the basal activity and abolished ligand-and detergent-mediated activation. We, therefore, have defined a key regulatory role for the linker region of receptor guanylyl cyclases which serves as a transducer of information from the extracellular domain via the KHD to the catalytic domain.In transmembrane receptors a series of conformational changes are required to transmit the information of ligand binding (an extracellular signal) to the interior of the cell, resulting in either altered interaction with signaling intermediates or in the regulation of a catalytic activity present in the receptor. In these multidomain receptors, where the ligand binding and effector domains are present in the same polypeptide chain, the relay of conformational changes is under the exquisite control of post-translational modifications or precise structural alterations.Receptor guanylyl cyclases (GCs) 4 have an N-terminal extracellular ligand binding domain, a single transmembrane domain, and a C-terminal intracellular domain (1). Binding of ligands to the extracellular domain elicits a conformational change that increases the guanylyl cyclase activity of the receptor, resulting in increased cGMP production. The intracellular domain of receptor GCs contains a region that shares considerable sequence similarity to protein kinases and is referred to as the kinase homology domain (KHD). Binding of ATP to the KHD induces a conformational change that regulates cGMP production by the guanylyl cyclase domain (2). Thus, receptor GCs exemplify the intricate interactions between domains in transducing the signal from an extracellular ligand to the interior of the cell.The amino acid sequences of ...

Background:Receptor guanylyl cyclase C regulates ion secretion and cytostasis in intestinal epithelial cells. Results: Ligand-mediated activation of guanylyl cyclase C and subsequent elevation of cGMP increase levels of p21 via PKGII and p38 MAPK. Conclusion: Guanylyl cyclase C can induce intestinal epithelial cell cytostasis and senescence via p21. Significance: Intestinal neoplasia is controlled by cGMP and p21.

The role of the kinase homology domain (KHD) in receptor guanylyl cyclases is to regulate the activity of the catalytic guanylyl cyclase domain. The KHD lacks many of the amino acids required for phosphotransfer activity and, therefore, is not expected to possess kinase activity. Guanylyl cyclase activity of the receptor guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C) is modulated by ATP, and computational modeling showed that the KHD can adopt a structure similar to protein kinases, suggesting that the KHD is the site for ATP interaction. A monoclonal antibody, GCC:4D7, raised to the KHD of GC-C, fails to react with GC-C in the presence of ATP and ATP analogues that regulate GC-C catalytic activity, indicating that a conformational change occurs in the KHD on ATP binding. Mapping of the epitope of the antibody through the use of recombinant protein constructs and phage display showed that the epitope for GC-C:4D7 lies immediately C-terminal to a critical lysine residue (Lys516 in GC-C), required for ATP interaction in protein kinases. By employing a novel approach utilizing ATP-agarose affinity chromatography, we demonstrate that the intracellular domain of GC-C and the KHD bind ATP. Mutation of Lys516 to Ala abolishes ATP binding. Thus, this report is the first to show direct ATP binding to the pseudokinase domain of receptor guanylyl cyclase C, as well as to identify dramatic conformational changes that occur in this domain on ATP binding, akin to those seen in catalytically active protein kinases.