f K-Ras must localize to the plasma membrane and be arrayed in nanoclusters for biological activity. We show here that K-Ras is a substrate for cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases (PKGs). In intact cells, activated PKG2 selectively colocalizes with K-Ras on the plasma membrane and phosphorylates K-Ras at Ser181 in the C-terminal polybasic domain. K-Ras phosphorylation by PKG2 is triggered by activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and requires endothelial nitric oxide synthase and soluble guanylyl cyclase. Phosphorylated K-Ras reorganizes into distinct nanoclusters that retune the signal output. Phosphorylation acutely enhances K-Ras plasma membrane affinity, but phosphorylated K-Ras is progressively lost from the plasma membrane via endocytic recycling. Concordantly, chronic pharmacological activation of AMPK ¡ PKG2 signaling with mitochondrial inhibitors, nitric oxide, or sildenafil inhibits proliferation of K-Ras-positive non-small cell lung cancer cells. The study shows that K-Ras is a target of a metabolic stress-signaling pathway that can be leveraged to inhibit oncogenic K-Ras function.
Ras proteins are small GTPases that regulate important cellular signaling cascades to control cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation (1). The three Ras isoforms, H-, N-, and K-Ras4B (here, K-Ras), are ubiquitously expressed in mammalian cells. Ras proteins must be localized to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane (PM) by a C-terminal membrane anchor for biological activity. In the case of K-Ras, the anchor comprises a posttranslationally attached C-terminal cysteine farnesyl-methyl ester operating in concert with a polybasic motif of 6 lysine residues (2, 3). Electrostatic interactions between the K-Ras C-terminal polybasic domain and the negatively charged inner leaflet of the PM provide membrane affinity (2, 4-9). Maintenance of K-Ras on the PM also requires the chaperone protein PDE␦ (10). Cytosolic PDE␦ binds K-Ras released from the PM as a result of endocytosis and unloads K-Ras in the perinuclear region in response to Arl2/3 binding, whence K-Ras translocates to the recycling endosome (RE) for redelivery to the PM by vesicular transport (11). Ras proteins on the PM are spatially organized into nanodomains, called nanoclusters, that are required for high-fidelity signal transduction by the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway (12-14). Ras GTP nanoclusters contain ϳ6 to 7 Ras proteins, are Ͻ20 nm in diameter, and are exclusive platforms for Raf recruitment and MEK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation. Perturbation of the spatiotemporal dynamics of Ras nanoclustering disrupts cellular signaling (15, 16).We have used a high-content cell-based screen (HCS) to identify multiple chemical compounds that mislocalize K-Ras from the PM and abrogate K-Ras signal transmission (17,18). One group of compounds disrupts the cellular phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) distribution or PtdSer levels with a consequent reduction in the PtdSer content of the inner leaflet of the PM (18-21)....