Papers In Press, published online ahead of print December 10, 2007
J. Biol. Chem, 10.1074/jbc.M705513200
Submitted on July 5, 2007
Revised on November 26, 2007
Accepted on December 10, 2007
Activity of Bcr GTPase activating domain is regulated through direct protein-protein interaction with RhoGDI
Soo-Mi Kweon, Young Jin Cho, Parviz Minoo, John Groffen, and Nora Heisterkamp
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Ms#54, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Corresponding Author: heisterk{at}hsc.usc.edu
The cycling of Rac GTPases, alternating between an active GTP- and an inactive GDP-bound state, is controlled by G-nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) and G-nucleotide dissociation inhibitors (GDIs). Little is known how these controlling activities are coordinated. Studies using null mutant mice have demonstrated that Bcr and Abr are two physiologically important GAPs for Rac. Here, we report that in the presence of RhoGDIalpha, Bcr is unable to convert RacGTP to RacGDP because RhoGDI forms a direct protein complex with Bcr. Interestingly, RhoGDIalpha binds to the GAP domain in Bcr and Abr, a domain that also binds to RacGTP and catalyzes the conversion of bound GTP to GDP on Rac. The presence of activated Rac diminished the RhoGDIalpha-Bcr interaction. Moreover, a Bcr mutant that lacks the ability to promote hydrolysis of the RacGTP bound to its GAP domain did not bind to RhoGDIalpha in cell lysates, which indicates that binding of RhoGDIalpha and RacGTP to the Bcr GAP domain is mutually exclusive. Our results provide the first identification of a protein that regulates the Bcr GAP activity.