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J Biol Chem, Vol. 273, Issue 47, 31061-31067, November 20, 1998
From the Using a yeast two-hybrid system, we identified
several proteins that interact with the PH domains in IRS-1 and IRS-2,
including Lon protease, myeloblast protein, and nucleolin. Although the roles of these molecules in insulin action are not yet known, each
protein contained an acidic motif that interacted with the PH domain of
IRS-2. However, only the acidic motif in nucleolin bound to IRS-1,
suggesting that the PH domain in IRS-1 and IRS-2 are not identical.
Moreover, synthetic peptides based on the acidic motif in Lon protease
and myeloblast protein inhibited the binding of nucleolin to the PH
domain of IRS-2 but not to the PH domain of IRS-1, confirming the
selectivity of these PH domains. The ability to bind acidic motifs may
be a specific function of the PH domain in IRS proteins, because the PH
domains in Early steps in cellular signaling by growth factors and cytokines
are mediated by molecular interactions that are coordinated by common
protein modules. In many cases the molecular basis of these
protein-protein interactions are known: Src homology 2 domains and
phosphotyrosine binding
(PTB)1 domains bind to
tyrosine phosphorylated motifs in activated receptors or in transiently
associated docking proteins; and Src homology 3 domains and WW domains
bind to proline-rich motifs in receptors, enzymes, and the cytoskeleton
(1). Pleckstrin homology (PH) domains are also frequent participants in
the signaling cascades. Most molecules that contain a PH domain
interact with membrane components, suggesting that PH domains mediate
membrane targeting. However, PH domains display a broad range of
binding specificity, which has hindered the identification of ligands
for the various PH domain isoforms.
PH domains consist of approximately 100 amino acids, but amino acid
sequence alignments reveal few overall identities. A single tryptophan
residue in the COOH-terminal Members of the insulin receptor substrate family (IRS proteins) contain
an NH2-terminal PH domain followed immediately by a PTB
domain. The PTB domain binds to the phosphorylated NPEY motif in the
juxtamembrane region of the activated insulin receptor (18). Although
the structures of the PH and PTB domains are very similar, the ligands
for the PH domains in IRS proteins are not yet defined (19). A direct
interaction between the insulin receptor and the PH domain of IRS-1 has
not been detected (20-22). Nevertheless, the PH domain is essential
for efficient tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 during insulin
stimulation, because deletion of the PH domain significantly reduces
insulin-stimulated IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation (18, 23). The PH
domain in the IRS proteins may have a common function that mediates
receptor coupling, because chimeric IRS-1 proteins bearing the PH
domains from IRS-2 or Gab-1 are phosphorylated normally by the insulin
receptor (24). By contrast, chimeric IRS-1 proteins constructed with PH
domains from Yeast Two-hybrid Screen and Preparation of GST Fusion Proteins--
pVP16 clones containing
the positive inserts identified by the yeast two-hybrid screen were
excised with NotI and inserted into the NotI
cloning sites of pGEX-4T-1 (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). GST fusion
proteins were expressed in E. coli strain BL-21 and purified
using glutathione-agarose (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech).
Generation of Antibodies--
Rabbit polyclonal antibodies
directed against IRS-1 or IRS-2 have been described previously (23).
Anti-lon protease antibodies were a gift of Michael Maurizi (National
Institutes of Health) (28). Anti-nucleolin antibodies were provided by
the laboratory of Dr. Nancy Maizels (Yale University) (29). Antibodies
against sequences encoded by yeast two-hybrid clones (myeloblast
protein, lon protease, and nucleolin) were generated by immunization of rabbits with GST fusion proteins of these partial cDNA clones (HRP,
Denver, PA).
Preparation of Chimeric IRS-1 Proteins--
The native PH domain
in IRS-1 was replaced with the PH domains of IRS-2, Gab1, Transient Expression of PH Domain Interacting Clones--
For
expression in mammalian cells, inserts from the library clones were
ligated into the expression vector pcDNAI (Invitrogen). The
laboratory of Nancy Maizels, Yale University, provided the full-length
nucleolin cDNA (29). Subconfluent cultures of CHO or CHO cells
overexpressing the insulin receptor (CHO/IR) were transfected
transiently using DEAE-dextran or calcium phosphate (Amersham Pharmacia
Biotech). 24 h post-transfection cells were serum starved for
16 h and then stimulated with 100 nM insulin for 10 min. Cells were then lysed and analyzed for tyrosine phosphorylation of
IRS proteins by immunoblotting. Expression of clones encoding potential
PH domain ligands was verified using either a sequence-specific antibody or anti-hemagglutinin because recombinant proteins bear this
tagged epitope.
Immunoprecipitation and Western Blot Analysis--
For GST
pull-down experiments and immunoprecipitations, cells were lysed in 1%
Triton X-100, 50 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 137 mM NaCl, 10% glycerol, 1 mM MgCl2, 1 mM
CaCl2, 10 mM Na3VO4,
and protease inhibitors as described previously (23). For experiments
testing insulin action, cells were starved either overnight (CHO cells) or 4 h (32D cells) and then stimulated with 100 nM
insulin for 10 min. The preparation of IRS proteins containing
heterologous PH domains has been described previously (24). One ml of
cleared cell lysates (0.5 mg of protein) was incubated for 2 h
with either antiserum or 25 µl (packed volume) of glutathione-agarose
containing approximately 0.5 µg of GST fusion protein. Immune
complexes were collected with protein A-Sepharose. After washing,
complexes were subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
(10%) and transferred to nitrocellulose for Western analysis.
Immunoblots were developed by ECL (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech).
Peptide Competition Experiments--
Peptides derived from the
amino acid sequence of the clone encoding nucleolin were synthesized by
the Harvard Microchemistry Facility. Cell lysates and GST fusion
proteins were prepared as described above. Various concentrations of
peptides were incubated with one ml of cell lysates for one h prior to
the addition of 25 µl of Sepharose containing 0.5 µg of nucleolin
GST fusion protein. After a two-hour incubation with this affinity
resin, the Sepharose pellet was washed and eluted in SDS-polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis sample buffer. Bound complexes were then analyzed
by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting.
Isolation and Characterization of PH Domain Ligands (PH
Ligands)--
We used the yeast two-hybrid system to identify proteins
that bind to the PH domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in a 10.5-day mouse embryo cDNA library. Bait constructs were prepared with each PH domain, and the initial screen revealed 47 cDNA clones. The binding specificity of each clone was analyzed in yeast using the PH or PTB
domains of IRS-1 or IRS-2 and different control constructs, including
the intracellular domain of the insulin or the IGF-1 receptor,
PKC
Many of the initial clones represented duplicates of the same cDNA,
and restriction mapping classified the 47 cDNA clones into four
unique groups. DNA sequence analysis revealed that these sets of
cDNA molecules encoded partial murine isoforms of nucleolin, Lon
protease, or myeloblast protein (Fig. 1).
A fourth set of clones encoded a repetitive open reading frame that
contained a Glu-Arg polymer; however, this clone was not studied
further. In a yeast Binding Selectivity of the PH Ligands in Vitro--
The
selectivity of the PH ligands was verified in vitro by
measuring their binding to recombinant IRS-1 or IRS-2 in transfected 32D cells. GST fusion proteins expressing PHLnuc,
PHLlon, or PHLMB were prepared and attached to
glutathione-Sepharose. Crude cell extracts containing IRS-1 or IRS-2
were incubated with each GST fusion protein. GST alone did not bind to
IRS-1 or IRS-2. Consistent with the yeast screen, the GST fusion
proteins containing PHLlon or PHLMB associated
with IRS-2 but not with IRS-1 (Fig. 1). As expected, IRS2 PH Domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2 Mediate Nucleolin Binding in
Vivo--
Based on the binding of PHLnuc with IRS-1 and
IRS-2, the interaction of nucleolin with IRS-1 and IRS-2 was
investigated in CHOIR cell extracts. Lysates from
CHOIR cells expressing IRS-1 or IRS-2 or a mutant of IRS-1
lacking the PH domain (IRS1 The PH Domain Binds Acidic Motifs in the PH Ligands--
Alignment
of PHLnuc, PHLlon, and PHLMP did
not reveal a common motif. However, each protein contained a stretch of
acidic residues. Moreover, a fourth set of cDNA clones isolated by
the yeast two-hybrid screen encoded an open reading frame containing a
repetitive sequence of Glu residues, suggesting that acidic motifs in
proteins may bind to the PH domain (Fig. 1). To test this possibility,
PHLnuc was truncated to partially or completely remove its
acidic motif, and the interaction of the wild-type or mutant
PHLnuc with IRS-1 was evaluated in yeast (Fig.
3). As previously observed, PHLnuc interacted strongly with the PH domain of IRS-1 in
yeast color assay. Deletion of the first 28 NH2-terminal
residues partially reduced this association, whereas deletion of the
next 23 residues, including the remaining acidic amino acids,
completely abolished the interaction of PHLnuc with the PH
domain (Fig. 3). Deletion of the last 50 COOH-terminal amino acid
residues of PHLnuc had no effect on the interaction with
the IRS-1 PH domain.
To verify that the PH domain of IRS-1 binds to the acidic motif in
nucleolin, wild-type nucleolin containing a hemagglutinin tag at the
COOH terminus was expressed in CHOIR cells (29). Cell
lysates were immunoprecipitated with an antibody against the
hemagglutinin tag, and the presence of IRS-1 was demonstrated by
immunoblotting (Fig. 3). A mutant nucleolin lacking nucleotides 687-887, which encode the acidic motif, was also expressed in CHOIR cells. However, this truncated nucleolin protein did
not co-immunoprecipitate IRS-1 (Fig. 3). These results suggest that the
PH domain of IRS-1 binds to the acidic motif between residues 239-280
in nucleolin.
Nucleolin Interaction Is Specific for the PH Domain in IRS
Proteins--
Our previous results suggest that PH domains in
homologous IRS proteins, including IRS-1, IRS-2, and Gab-1 have similar
functions, because each PH domain couples IRS proteins to the insulin
receptor (24). Chimeric IRS-1 proteins containing an homologous PH
domain from IRS-2 or Gab-1 were phosphorylated by the insulin receptor, whereas chimeric proteins containing a heterologous PH domain from
spectrin, Peptides Containing Acidic Motifs Disrupt the Interaction between
the PH Domain of IRS Proteins and PHLnuc--
Short
peptides based on the acid motifs in nucleolin, Lon protease, or
myeloblast proteins were tested for their ability to disrupt the
interaction between PHLnuc and recombinant IRS-1 or IRS-2.
Lysates of CHOIR cells expressing IRS-1 or IRS-2 were
incubated for 30 min with immobilized PHLnuc and various
concentrations of Nuc1 (238KVAEEEDDEEEDEDD252)
or Nuc2 (238KVAEEEDDEE247) (Fig.
5). At concentrations of 10 and 100 nM, Nuc1 and Nuc2 blocked association of IRS-1 and IRS-2
with PHLnuc, whereas a control peptide containing Asp PH Ligands Disrupt Tyrosine Phosphorylation of IRS-1--
Previous
experiments show that the PH domain provides important coupling between
IRS-1 and the activated insulin receptor, although the mechanism of
this coupling is unknown (18). To test whether the interaction of the
PH domain with acidic motifs is involved in this interaction, the
PHLnuc, PHLlon, or PHLMB
were expressed in 32D cells to determine whether they inhibited insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation. cDNAs encoding
the PH ligands were subcloned into the pCDNAI and transfected into 32D
cells expressing IRS-1 or IRS-2. Consistent with our in
vitro experiments, expression of PHLnuc inhibited
insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2;
however, PHLlon and PHLMB only inhibited IRS-2
tyrosine phosphorylation (Fig. 6,
A and B, and data not shown). Direct blotting of
these cells lysates demonstrated that samples in this experiment
contain equal amounts of the IRS protein (lower panel, Fig.
6B). Quantitation of the anti-phosphotyrosine blots by
densitometric analysis suggests that nucleolin overexpression in
32D/IR/IRS1 cells reduced the insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of
IRS-1 by 80%; in 32D/IR/IRS2 cells transfected with either
PHLMB or PHLnuc, tyrosine phosphorylation of
IRS-2 was decreased by approximately 50%. These results imply the
possibility that these PH ligands inhibit the active site of the PH
domain that mediates coupling to the activated insulin receptor.
We analyzed the effect of overexpressing full-length nucleolin on
tyrosine phosphorylation in CHOIR and
CHOIR/IRS-1 cells. Cells were stimulated with insulin, and
lysates were immunoblotted to assess tyrosine phosphorylation of
endogenous or recombinant IRS-1. Overexpression of nucleolin
significantly reduced tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 in both cell
lines (Fig. 7A). However, the
inhibitory effect of nucleolin was more pronounced on the endogenous
IRS-1 in CHOIR cells. When the acidic motifs of nucleolin
were deleted (amino acids 239-290), nucleolin failed to produce an
inhibitory effect on IRS-1 phosphorylation, suggesting that this region
was required to inhibit the interaction between IRS-1 and the insulin
receptor (Fig. 7B).
To exclude the possibility that overexpression of nucleolin generally
disrupts phosphorylation events, insulin-stimulated tyrosine
phosphorylation of the insulin receptor and Shc were also analyzed in
CHOIR cells in the absence (Fig. 7C, lanes
a and b) and presence of overexpressed nucleolin (Fig.
7C, lanes c and d).
Anti-phosphotyrosine immunoblots revealed that only IRS-1
phosphorylation was reduced by overexpression of nucleolin, whereas the
insulin receptor and Shc were not inhibited (Fig. 7C,
left panels). Based on densitometric analysis of these
immunoblots, tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 was reduced more than
60% in the presence of overexpressed nucleolin, whereas the tyrosine
phosphorylation of the insulin receptor and Shc were enhanced by
approximately 10%. Re-probing of these blots with appropriate
antibodies indicated that the samples contained equal levels of IRS-1,
IR, or Shc (Fig. 7C, lanes e-h). These results
are consistent with the hypothesis that the PH domain-mediated association between IRS-1 and overexpressed nucleolin disrupts the
interactions required for productive coupling of the IRS proteins to
the activated insulin receptor.
Although multiple mechanisms exist to couple IRS proteins to
activated receptors, several observations suggest that the PH domain is
essential for insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 (18,
23, 33). However, the cellular elements that interact with the PH
domains in IRS proteins are unknown. Because the insulin receptor does
not interact directly with the PH domain, other membrane-associated
elements may act as the interface between IRS proteins and activated
receptors (20-22). By analogy with other PH domains, membrane
phospholipids have been proposed as ligands for the PH domains in IRS
proteins, but no published reports support this hypothesis. Our yeast
two-hybrid screen identified nucleolin, Lon protease, and myeloblast
protein as potential ligands for the IRS-2 PH domain. Although these
proteins are unrelated, each contains an acidic motif that interacts
with the PH domain of IRS-2. The acidic motif in nucleolin has the
highest affinity for this PH domain, and unlike the other potential
ligands, it binds equally well to the PH domain in IRS-1. This defines
a novel and selective interaction that may be functionally important.
Based on information available from solved PH domain structures,
certain PH domains may bind to a short peptide sequence that is not
incorporated into larger folded domains of interacting proteins
(3-10). Although such ligands could be variable in sequence, consistent with the PH domain divergence, the positive charge clustered
in the putative binding pocket in solved PH domain structures suggests
an interaction with a negatively charged ligand such as the acidic
motifs contained in nucleolin or the myeloblast protein identified in
our screen (3-8). Because the PH domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2 are only
60% identical, certain binding specificity might be expected, which
may explain the selective binding observed in our experiments. The
acidic motif in nucleolin that binds to the PH domain of IRS-1 and
IRS-2 includes a stretch of 31 aspartic acid and glutamic acid
residues. Shorter peptides based on this motif, including KVAEEEDDEE,
also bind, suggesting that the recognition motif is somewhat shorter.
The acidic motifs in lon protease (EEQDPED) and myeloblast
protein (DQEEEEEE) include an asparagine residue, which may provide the
apparent specificity for the IRS-2 PH domain. However, further work
using a series of peptides will be necessary to fully define the
selectivity of the IRS-1 and IRS-2 PH domain and extend the analysis to
the PH domain of the other IRS proteins.
The different recognition of nucleolin, Lon protease, and myeloblast
protein by the PH domain of IRS-2 and IRS-1 reveals a potential
mechanism for differential recruitment or regulation of the IRS
proteins. This provisional hypothesis is supported by the finding that
overexpression of nucleolin inhibits insulin-stimulated tyrosine
phosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2, whereas only IRS-2 is inhibited by
lon protease or myeloblast protein. Recent work suggests that IRS-1 and
IRS-2 mediate distinct signals during insulin stimulation. Without
IRS-1, mice are small and insulin-resistant, but they do not develop
diabetes unless additional insulin resistance is imposed by a second
molecular or physiological defect (34). By contrast, disruption of
IRS-2 causes progressive development of insulin resistance leading to
diabetes owing to inadequate Ligands for the PH domain of the IRS proteins could mediate several
biological effects required for normal signaling. Membrane proteins
with acidic motifs may be juxtaposed with the insulin receptor to
recruit IRS proteins into a signaling complex. These proteins may be
associated with activated membrane receptors to provide an efficient
mechanism to recruit the substrate for tyrosine phosphorylation.
Alternatively, cytoplasmic proteins with acidic motifs may disrupt the
interaction between IRS proteins and membrane elements, thus
facilitating the relocation of IRS proteins to other sites in the cell.
Finally, other enzymes with acidic motifs, including phosphatases or
serine kinases, may be recruited to the IRS protein complex through
binding to the PH domain. Many kinases contain acid motifs that may
cause them to interact with the IRS protein complex.
With the exception of nucleolin, which also interacts with the PH
domain of both IRS-1 and IRS-2, there is as of yet no evidence that the
proteins identified in our yeast two-hybrid screen are physiologically
relevant for insulin signaling or contribute to the normal function of
the IRS proteins. Nucleolin, a ubiquitously expressed nucleolar
protein, has many cellular activities including transcription of
b-cell-specific complexes and processing of ribosomal RNA (29, 37).
This protein is a substrate of casein kinase 2 (38), cyclin-D kinase
(39), and PKC Identification of potential ligands for the PH domains of IRS proteins
will now facilitate studies aimed at defining the function of this
structural module in IRS-mediated signaling. Although the physiological
relevance of the interactions between IRS proteins and these PH ligands
requires further study, the presence of a negatively charged motif
provides a tool for designing structural studies of the IRS PH domain.
It will be of interest to determine precisely using mutational analysis
the amino acid residues in the IRS PH domain that mediate recognition
of the negatively charged motif.
We thank Dr. Michael Maurizi (National
Institutes of Health) for antibodies to human lon protease. We are also
grateful to the laboratory of Dr. Nancy Maizels (Yale University) for
the nucleolin cDNA and antibodies generated against this protein.
*
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health
Grant DK43808.The costs of publication of this
article were defrayed in part by the
payment of page charges. The article
must therefore be hereby marked
"advertisement" in
accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section
1734 solely to indicate this fact.
§
Supported in part by a Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International fellowship.
**
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Howard Hughes Medical
Inst., Joslin Diabetes Center, 1 Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02215. Tel.:
617-732-2578; Fax: 617-732-2593; E-mail:
Whitemor{at}joslab.harvard.edu.
The abbreviations used are:
PTB, phosphotyrosine
binding; PH, pleckstrin homology; PLC
IRS Pleckstrin Homology Domains Bind to Acidic Motifs in
Proteins*
§,
,
,
,
**
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Joslin
Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, the ¶ Department of Biological Sciences and Karmanos Cancer
Institute, Wayne State School of Medicine, Detroit Michigan
48202, and the
First Department of Medicine, Toyama Medical and
Pharmacology University, Toyama 930-01, Japan
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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Discussion
References
ARK, phospholipase C
, or spectrin did not bind
nucleolin. In 32D cells, nucleolin bound to both IRS-1 and IRS-2, and
expression of the acidic motif of nucleolin inhibited
insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2. These
results suggest that the binding of acidic motifs to the PH domain of
IRS-1 and IRS-2 disrupts coupling to the activated insulin receptor.
Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the PH domain in
the IRS proteins may ordinarily bind acidic peptide motifs in membrane
proteins or other acidic membrane elements that couple IRS proteins to
activated membrane receptors.
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Discussion
References
-helix is the only residue conserved in
all PH domains (2). Secondary structure is the best predictor of the PH
domain. X-ray crystallographic and NMR analysis of several PH domains
reveal a common structure with two orthogonal
-sheets assembled from
seven
-strands closed at one end with a COOH-terminal
-helix
(3-8). PH domains contain a positively charged binding pocket, and
several reports suggest that these regions bind phospholipids,
including the PH domain in PLC
that binds to phosphatidylinositol
diphosphate and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (9, 10). Because inositol
1,4,5-trisphosphate is a product of PLC catalysis, inositol
1,4,5-trisphosphate may dissociate PLC
from membranes containing its
substrate phosphatidylinositol diphosphate (10). Recent studies reveal
that the lipid product of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase binds to the PH
domains of Btk, SOS, Tiam-I, and PKB (11, 12). In the latter case, the
interaction of PKB with phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate or
phosphatidylinositol 3,4,-diphosphate, mediates the translocation of
PKB to membranes, which places its regulation under the influence of
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (13-15). Although the interaction of PH
domains with phosphatidylinositol diphosphate and phosphatidylinositol
triphosphate provides a common theme to understand their function, not
all PH domains bind to these phospholipids (16). Some PH domains bind
protein ligands, as illustrated by the association of the
ark PH
domain with 
-subunits of heterotrimeric G-proteins (17).
ARK, PLC
, or spectrin fail to couple to the insulin
receptor, suggesting that these heterologous PH domains are incapable
of mediating the correct protein coupling. Therefore, to identify potential protein ligands for the PH domains in the IRS proteins, we
used the PH domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2 as baits in a yeast two-hybrid
screen. Our analysis has revealed that acidic motifs in proteins define
provisionally the ligand specificity for the PH domain in IRS proteins.
![]()
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Discussion
References
-Galactosidase Assay--
PH
domains of IRS-1 (amino acids 13-114) and IRS-2 (amino acids 31-143)
were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and cloned into the yeast
two-hybrid plasmid pGBT9 (25). Similarly, the PTB domains of IRS-1
(amino acids 131-331) and IRS-2 (amino acids 161-376) were prepared
in the pGBT9 plasmid. These bait-containing plasmids were then used to
screen a 9.5-10.5 day post-conception mouse embryo library prepared in
plasmid pVP16 (26, 27). Positive library clones were isolated from His
prototroph and
-galactosidase (
-gal) yeast assays (27). Plasmids
were transfected into Escherichia coli, sequenced, and then
re-introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain L40. The
specificity of these interactions was then assessed by mating with the
AMR70 strain carrying various test baits. These bait-prey interactions
were revealed by the
-gal color assay (26). Construction of bait
control plasmids has been described previously (27).
ARK,
PLC
, or spectrin as described previously (24). cDNAs for the PH
domains of rat PLC
(Asp863-Thr972), human
-spectrin (Pro1061-Lys1274) and bovine
ARK (Pro469-Gly688) were graciously
provided by Dr. Robert Lefkowitz (Duke University) (30). These PH
domains were excised from pGEX-2T, adapted by polymerase chain reaction
with initiation codons, SacI restriction sites, and cloned
in-frame into the pCMVhis expression vector containing the
cDNA for IRS1
PH (18). The PH domains of IRS-2
(Val23-Leu130) and Gab-1
(Lys13-Gly116) were generated by polymerase
chain reaction and ligated into the vector containing the cDNA for
IRS1
PH (18). All constructs were then excised from the
pCMVhis vector with SnabI and SalI
and ligated into the pBABE expression vector. Constructs were then
stably transfected into 32D cells. Lysates were prepared for GST
pull-down experiments.
![]()
RESULTS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Discussion
References
, or GAL4 (Table I).
All 47 clones interacted with the PH domain of IRS-2, whereas only 4 clones interacted with the PH domain of IRS-1. None of the clones
interacted with the other test baits.
Characterization of PH ligands
-gal assay was used to evaluate the specificity of the
interactions between the four groups of cDNA clones and the PH
domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2. Additionally, the clones were introduced
into yeast strains carrying the control baits which included the PTB
domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2, the entire intracellular domain of the
-subunit of the insulin receptor, the catalytic domain of the IGF-I
receptor, and the bait plasmid pGBT. Positive interacting colonies were
scored positive based on the development of blue color according to a
standard assay as described under "Experimental Procedures."
Colonies that displayed blue color within 15 min were scored +++, and
those that were positive after 30 min were assigned ++. The absence of
color demonstrates the lack of an interaction and was determined after
a 24-h incubation. The scoring presented here was compiled from at
least two independent
-gal assays.
-gal assay, the nucleolin fragment bound to the
PH domain of IRS-1 and IRS-2, whereas the cloned fragments of lon protease or myeloblast protein bound only to the PH domain of IRS-2
(Table I). Because the cloned fragments of nucleolin, Lon protease, and myeloblast protein bind to the PH domains of
IRS-1 or IRS-2, they are PH ligands (PHL): PHLnuc,
PHLlon, and PHLMB, respectively. Nucleolin is a
ubiquitously expressed nucleolar protein that becomes phosphorylated in
response to insulin and may have a role in RNA export in cells (31). In
bacteria Lon proteases function to degrade abnormal
proteins; however, the function of these enzymes in mammalian cells is
unknown (32). The human myeloblast protein was cloned from human KG-1
cells, but no information regarding its function is currently
available.

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Fig. 1.
Characterization of IRS PH ligand
clones. A yeast two-hybrid cDNA library (10.5-day mouse
embryo) was screened with bait plasmids containing the PH domain of
either IRS-1 or IRS-2. Positive clones were purified and sequenced
using primers based on the library plasmid pVP16. BLAST searches of
data bases revealed that three of the four cDNA clones encode a
known protein. GST fusion proteins were prepared from each of the
clones, and pull-down experiments were performed using lysates of 32D
cells overexpressing IRS proteins, including IRS proteins in which the
PH domain was deleted,
PH. Lysates from unstimulated and
insulin-stimulated (100 nM) cells were prepared as
described. GST alone was used as a control in all pull-down
experiments. A, clone 4 encodes a COOH-terminal (amino acids
1065-1185) region of the mouse homologue of the human myeloblast
protein KIAA0211 (GenBankTM accession number D86966).
B, clone 8 encodes a fragment of the mouse homologue of the
human lon protease (EMBL accession number 74215). C, clone
23 encodes mouse nucleolin (EMBL accession number X07699). Regions
encoded by the yeast cDNA clones are indicated with boxed
inserts. The acidic peptide motifs in each PH ligand are
underlined. The GST pull-downs are representative of
triplicate experiments. IB, immunoblot.
PH, a mutant of IRS-2 that lacks the PH domain, did
not associate with PHLlon or PHLMB, which is
consistent with the conclusion that the PH domain mediated the binding
(Fig. 1). By contrast, PHLnuc associated with both IRS-1
and IRS-2 in the 32D cell extracts (Fig. 1C). Insulin
stimulation of 32D cells failed to change the association of the PH
ligands with IRS-1 or IRS-2, suggesting that these interactions in this
cellular context were not regulated by insulin.
PH) were incubated with
antibodies against nucleolin. Both IRS-1 and IRS-2 were
co-immunoprecipitated with nucleolin antibodies from these cell
lysates, whereas immunoprecipitations performed with preimmune serum
did not contain nucleolin or IRS proteins (Fig.
2). Moreover, IRS1
PH did
not interact with nucleolin, demonstrating that in vivo the interaction between nucleolin and IRS proteins also occurred through the PH domain.

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Fig. 2.
Nucleolin co-immunoprecipitates with IRS-1
and IRS-2. Lysates of CHO cells overexpressing the insulin
receptor and either IRS-1, IRS-1 without the PH domain
(IRS1
PH), or IRS-2 were immunoprecipitated
(IP) with anti-nucleolin antiserum (
Nuc), or
preimmune serum (Cntr). Immune complexes were probed with
antibodies against IRS-1 and IRS-2. Subsequently, blots were re-probed
with anti-nucleolin antibodies. Western blots are representative of
duplicate experiments.

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Fig. 3.
Identification of the PH domain binding motif
in nucleolin. A, the indicated deletions of the nucleolin
clone were constructed using polymerase chain reaction. Fragments were
subcloned into the yeast plasmid pVP16 and tested for interaction with
the IRS-1 PH domain in a
-gal assay as described under
"Experimental Procedures." The acidic domain (amino acids 241-271)
is indicated by the shaded box. The quantitation of these
interactions was based on two independent
-gal assays. B,
residues 239-290 were deleted from the full-length nucleolin cDNA.
Both wild-type nucleolin (WT Nuc) and the mutated cDNA
lacking the PH ligand domain (Mut Nuc) were transiently
transfected into CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells. Lysates were immunoprecipitated
with preimmune serum (Cntr, control) or anti-nucleolin
antibodies, and immune complexes were subsequently probed with
anti-IRS-1 antibodies.
ARK, or PLC
were not phosphorylated (24). To examine
whether the PH ligands isolated from our yeast two-hybrid screen
specifically interact with PH domains from IRS proteins, we
investigated the binding of these chimeric IRS1 proteins to PHLnuc. These proteins were expressed in 32D cells as
described previously and used in GST pull-down experiments. Consistent
with their functional specificity, chimeric IRS-1 containing the PH
domain from IRS-2 or Gab-1 associated with PHLnuc; however,
binding to the Gab-1 PH domain was significantly weaker. Interestingly,
the IRS-1 chimeras containing heterologous PH domains from spectrin,
ARK, or PLC
did not associate with PHLnuc (Fig.
4). These results suggest that the acidic
motif in nucleolin interacts specifically with the PH domains of IRS
proteins.

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Fig. 4.
Nucleolin does not bind heterologous PH
domains. Chimeric IRS-1 proteins were prepared by replacing the
IRS-1 PH domain with the PH domain from IRS-2, Gab1,
ARK, spectrin
(Spec), or PLC
. Constructs were then expressed stably in
32D cells. For these GST pull-down experiments, lysates were prepared
from cell lines expressing comparable amounts of these recombinant
proteins and incubated with GST-nucleolin. Western blotting for IRS-1
revealed association with nucleolin. IP, immunoprecipitate;
GTS Cntr, GST alone.
Asn and Glu
Gln mutations was not inhibitory (Fig. 5A).
Based on these experiments, binding affinity of nucleolin-based
peptides for IRS-1 and IRS-2 PH domains was less than 10 nM. In similar competition experiments, peptides derived
from Lon protease and myeloblast protein were used to inhibit the
binding of PHLnuc to IRS-2 or IRS-1. Both peptides
inhibited the interaction between PHLnuc and IRS-2,
although with less affinity; however, these peptides weakly inhibited
the interaction with IRS-1 (Fig. 5, B and C). Thus, the PH domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2 may distinguish differences between acidic motifs.

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Fig. 5.
Acidic peptides derived from nucleolin
inhibit the association of IRS proteins with nucleolin. A,
two peptides derived from the PH-binding region of nucleolin were
tested in competition experiments. Nuc1 (KVAEEEDDEEEDEDD), Nuc2
(KVAEEEDDEE), or a control peptide (KVAQQQNNQQQNQNN) at concentrations
of 1, 10, and 100 nM were pre-incubated with nucleolin-GST
for 30 min at 4 °C. Lysates from CHO cells overexpressing IRS-1 were
then added and rotated with the affinity resin for 2 h. The
Sepharose pellet was then washed, and bound complexes were analyzed for
the presence of IRS-1 by immunoblotting. No peptide was added to the
incubation in lane a, the IRS-1 positive control
(Cntr) for nucleolin interaction. In lane l,
IRS-1 lysates were incubated with GST alone to control for nonspecific
binding. B, C, and D, acidic peptides
derived from the other yeast clones, myeloblast protein (MB)
and lon protease (Lon), were incubated with GST-nucleolin as
described above. Lysates from either CHO/IRS-1 or CHO/IRS-2 cells were
then added to the Sepharose beads and incubated for 2 h. The
affinity resin was washed and then analyzed by Western blotting for
IRS-1 (B) or IRS-2 (C). Blots were then
quantitated by densitometric analysis. Graphs of these results are
presented as the percentage of IRS controls, which were incubated with
nucleolin-GST in the absence of peptides. This densitometric analysis
was also used to approximate the IC50 for these peptides as
presented in D. The Western blot and quantitation of the
peptide competition are representative of three independent
experiments.

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Fig. 6.
Overexpression of PHL proteins reduces
tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS proteins in 32D/IR cells. The
cDNAs isolated from the yeast two-hybrid screen were subcloned into
the pCDNAI vector and transfected transiently into 32D cells
expressing either IRS-1 (lanes a and b) or IRS-2
(lanes c-h). Cells were then stimulated with 100 nM insulin, and lysates were separated by 10%
SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analyzed for tyrosine
phosphorylation of IRS by anti-phosphotyrosine immunoblotting. The
upper panel presents an anti-phosphotyrosine blot of
unstimulated cell lysates. Lanes a, c,
e, and g are control cells which were not
transfected with vector alone. Insulin-stimulated tyrosine
phosphorylation of IRS-1 or IRS-2 is revealed in the lower
panel. These immunoblots are representative of results obtained in
two separate transfection experiments. Mb, myeloblast
protein;
PY, anti-phosphotyrosine; Ins,
insulin.

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Fig. 7.
Overexpressed nucleolin exerts a dominant
negative effect on IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation but does not alter
the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor nor Shc. A,
CHO/IR (lanes a-d) and CHO/IR/IRS-1 (lanes e-h)
cells were transfected with full-length nucleolin containing a
hemagglutinin tag (lanes a, b, e, and
f) or a plasmid control (lanes c, d,
g, and h). Cells were stimulated with 100 nM insulin for 10 min and lysed as described under
"Experimental Procedures." Lysates were immunoprecipitated
(IP) with either anti-IRS-1 antibodies or an
anti-hemagglutinin tag antibody. Immune complexes were then blotted and
probed with anti-phosphotyrosine (
PY) antibodies,
anti-IRS-1, or anti-nucleolin. B, CHO/IR cells were
transfected with vector alone (lanes a and b),
wild-type nucleolin (lanes c and d), or nucleolin
lacking the PH domain binding region located in the NH2
terminus. Cells were stimulated with insulin, lysed, and
immunoprecipitated with anti-IRS antibodies. Blots were probed with
anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. C, lysates of
insulin-stimulated CHO/IR cells transfected with vector (lanes
a and b) or wild-type nucleolin (lanes c and
d) were immunoprecipitated for IRS-1, the insulin receptor
and Shc. Immune complexes were then probed with anti-PY (left
panels). To demonstrate comparable expression of the relevant
proteins, these blots were subsequently stripped and re-probed with
anti-IRS-1, anti-insulin receptor, or anti-Shc antibodies (right
panels). These blots are representative of results obtained from
two independent transfection experiments. IB,
immunoblot.
![]()
DISCUSSION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Discussion
References
-cell compensation (35). The distinct
biological properties of IRS-1 and IRS-2 may arise partially from the
unique specificity of the PH domain revealed by our experiments.
However, other unique properties may also be involved, including the
presence of different phosphorylation motifs or the KRLB domain in
IRS-2 (36). Future experiments based on the hypothetical role of acidic
motifs will address these questions.
(40). Interestingly, for the present study, insulin
stimulates the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of nucleolin
in 3T3-442A cells (31). Therefore, the interaction of this protein
with the PH domains of IRS-1 and IRS-2 may reveal a novel mechanism to
build the IRS signal transduction complex and may provide a means for
IRS proteins to regulate such cellular events as RNA efflux.
![]()
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
![]()
FOOTNOTES
, phospholipase C
;
-gal,
-galactosidase; GST, glutathione S-transferase; CHO, Chinese hamster ovary.
![]()
REFERENCES
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Procedures
Results
Discussion
References
Copyright © 1998 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
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