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INTRODUCTION |
Protein-tyrosine kinases
(PTKs)1 and protein-tyrosine
phosphatases (PTPs) regulate the level of tyrosine phosphorylation of target proteins in cells, thereby regulating many important eukaryotic cell-signaling pathways. PTPs catalyze the hydrolysis of phosphoryl groups on Tyr residues in proteins. Each member of the PTP family contains one or two conserved PTP domains of approximately 240 amino
acids including the signature motif
(I/V)HCXAGXXR(S/T)G (1). These PTP domains are
not only conserved in sequence but also in structure (2-8). The PTP
family can be subdivided based on structural differences into
receptor-like (RPTP) and cytosolic proteins (9). RPTPs, with CD45 as
the founding member (10), consist of an extracellular domain, a single
membrane spanning domain, and a cytoplasmic domain. Most RPTPs contain
two tandemly repeated PTP domains in their cytoplasmic domain.
Interestingly, for all RPTPs with two PTP domains, the majority of the
catalytic activity resides within the membrane proximal PTP domain
(D1), whereas the membrane distal domain, D2, displays little or no catalytic activity. Inactivation of RPTP
-D1 or CD45-D1 is sufficient to abolish their biological activities, indicating that PTP activity in
D1, but not D2, is essential for the function of RPTPs (11, 12). D2s
are conserved in sequence and in structure (6,
13),2 but all D2s lack
residues essential for catalysis, suggesting an important role for D2s
in processes other than catalysis (6, 14, 15).
To elucidate the function of PTPs in vivo, it is essential
to know their natural substrates. To identify substrates of PTPs, "substrate trapping" mutants have been designed. For instance, mutation of the catalytic site Cys to Ala in YopH, a
Yersinia PTP, resulted in a mutant that bound substrates but
was no longer able to dephosphorylate them, making this an excellent
tool for identifying potential substrates (16). Since then, other
mutants have been found to bind substrates. For instance, mutation of the highly conserved Asp residue from the "WpD" loop that functions as a general acid to facilitate cleavage of the scissile P-O bond in
the substrate generated an efficient substrate-trapping mutant. In
fact, for PTP-PEST and PTP1B, these Asp mutants were shown to be even
more efficient substrate-trapping mutants than the catalytic site Cys
mutants (17, 18). By now, substrate-trapping mutants of many
non-receptor PTPs have successfully been used to identify substrates
(17-25).
RPTP
is a transmembrane PTP with a short heavily glycosylated
extracellular domain and two cytoplasmic PTP domains. Several potential
physiological substrates of RPTP
have been identified. Expression of
RPTP
was shown to interfere with insulin receptor (IR) signaling
(26). Other reports have shown that RPTP
interferes with
insulin-induced prolactin gene expression and GLUT4 translocation to
the membrane (27, 28). Whether direct dephosphorylation of the IR by
RPTP
mediates the effects on the IR-signaling pathway remains to be
determined definitively. RPTP
associates with the Kv1.2 potassium
channel in response to activation of the m1 muscarinic acetylcholine
receptor, a G protein-coupled receptor. m1 muscarinic acetylcholine
receptor activation regulates a tyrosine kinase that phosphorylates the
Kv1.2 potassium channel, thereby suppressing the current generated by
this channel. RPTP
recruitment to the Kv1.2 channel reverses the
tyrosine kinase-induced phosphorylation and suppression of Kv1.2,
suggesting that the Kv1.2 potassium channel may be a direct substrate
of RPTP
in cells (29).
The PTK Src is the most clearly defined target of RPTP
(11, 30).
RPTP
dephosphorylates and activates Src in vitro and in vivo (11, 30-32). Murine Src is phosphorylated on
Tyr529. The crystal structure of Src and Src family members
demonstrated that the SH2 domain of Src binds to phosphorylated
Tyr529, thereby blocking the catalytic site of the kinase
(Ref. 33 and references therein). Recently, a phosphotyrosine
displacement mechanism was proposed to underlie RPTP
-mediated
dephosphorylation of Src Tyr(P)529 (34). The C-terminal
RPTP
Tyr(P)789 binds the Src SH2 domain, thereby
displacing intramolecular Src SH2-Tyr(P)529 binding and
allowing dephosphorylation and thus activation of Src. This model is
consistent with the finding that RPTP
associates with Src family
members independently of RPTP
activity (35, 36). RPTP
knock-out
mice show an increase in Src Tyr529 phosphorylation and a
decrease in Src activity, providing strong support for the finding that
Src is an in vivo substrate of RPTP
(31, 32). Similarly,
targeted disruption of RPTP
showed a decrease in activity of the Src
family member Fyn (31, 32).
We set out to identify physiological substrates of RPTP
, using
substrate-trapping mutants. Here, we report that a substrate-trapping mutant of RPTP
specifically bound to tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas from pervanadate-treated and fibronectin-stimulated
cells. The interaction with RPTP
depended on the tyrosine
phosphorylation state of p130cas. Furthermore, RPTP
dephosphorylated p130cas in vitro and in
vivo. Analysis of the subcellular localization of p130cas
and RPTP
by (immuno)fluorescence demonstrated that some, but not
all, p130cas co-localized with RPTP
at the plasma membrane.
Our results demonstrate that tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas is
a substrate of RPTP
.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Cells and Transfections--
NIH3T3 cells were cultured in
Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% bovine calf
serum (Life Technologies, Inc.). HepG2 cells were cultured in
Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with 10% fetal calf serum.
SK-N-MC neuroepithelioma and FaO cells were cultured in a 1:1 mixture
of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium and Ham's F12 (DF) medium
supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. P19 EC, COS-7, and F9 cells
were cultured in DF supplemented with 7.5% fetal calf serum.
Pervanadate treatment of the cells was done for 30 min by addition of 1 mM orthovanadate and 1 mM
H2O2, generating pervanadate, directly into the
medium of nearly confluent cells. Fibronectin stimulation was done
essentially as described (37). Serum-starved NIH3T3 cells were removed
from the dish gently using EDTA, allowed to recover in medium
supplemented with 0.5% bovine calf serum for 30 min, and replated onto
dishes that had been coated with fibronectin (10 µg/ml, overnight,
4 °C). The cells were harvested after 30 min. Transient and stable
transfection of SK-N-MC and P19 EC cells was done using calcium
phosphate precipitation, exactly as described (11).
Plasmids and Site-directed Mutagenesis--
A cytomegalovirus
promoter-driven expression vector for activated murine Src, SrcY529F,
an expression vector for GST-p130cas, and an expression vector
for human EGFR have been described (38-40). SV40-driven expression
vectors for expression of RPTP
or mutants have also been described
(39). A hemagglutinin epitope tag was cloned to the N-terminal side of
Asn20 in RPTP
(41). Site-directed mutagenesis was done
on pSG-RPTP
or on pSG-HA-RPTP
. Mutations were verified by
sequencing. The oligonucleotides that were used for site-directed
mutagenesis were as follows: RPTP
-D401A,
5'-AGCTGGCCAGCCTTTGGGGTG; RPTP
-C433S, 5'-ACCTGCACTGGAGTGGACCAC;
RPTP
-R438K, 5'-GCAGGTGTAGGGAAAACTGGCACCTTTG; RPTP
-C723S,
5'-CCCGGCACTGGAGTGGTGCACAGT; and RPTP
-R729K,
5'-GGGGCAGGAAAGACAGGAACC.
The RPTP
-YFP fusion protein was generated by introduction of a
BglII site at position 516 in RPTP
by site-directed
mutagenesis. Subsequently, a polymerase chain reaction-generated
BglII fragment encoding yellow fluorescent protein (the kind
gift of Roger Y. Tsien) was inserted in RPTP
at position 516, thus
replacing RPTP
-D2. Expression vectors for bacterial expression of
RPTP
glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins were made
as described (42), using pGEX-KG (43). The expression vectors for
GST-RPTP
-D1 contained residues 167-503, GST-RPTP
-D2 contained
residues 504-793, and full-length bacterial RPTP
contained residues
167-793 (numbering according to Sap et al. (44)). The
expression vector for bacterial expression of zebrafish PTP1B-C213S
containing residues 1-282, corresponding to residues 1-284 in human
PTP1B, was made as described by van der Sar et al. (45).
Recombinant Enzymes--
The glutathione
S-transferase fusion proteins were purified essentially as
described (43). The fusion proteins were not cleaved off the beads but
were eluted with 10 mM reduced glutathione in 50 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 10% glycerol, 10 units/ml aprotinin, and 1 µM PMSF. The fusion proteins were dialyzed against TBS
(50 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl) and rebound
to glutathione-agarose beads. This elution and rebinding to
glutathione-agarose beads greatly reduced contamination with bacterial proteins.
GST Pull-down Experiments, Immunoprecipitation, and
Immunoblotting--
For GST pull-down experiments, cell lysates were
made as described (18). Briefly, NIH3T3 cells were lysed in lysis
buffer A (20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1% Triton X-100, 10% glycerol, 5 mM
iodoacetic acid, 10 units/ml aprotinin, 1 µM PMSF), and
all other cells were lysed in lysis buffer B (20 mM Tris,
pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 1% Triton X-100, 10% glycerol, 5 mM iodoacetic acid, 1 mM orthovanadate, 10 units/ml aprotinin, 1 µM PMSF), incubated at 4 °C for
30 min, and 10 mM dithiothreitol added to inactivate any
unreacted iodoacetic acid. The lysates were incubated with GST fusion
proteins coupled to glutathione-agarose beads overnight at 4 °C. The
beads were washed four times with RIPA buffer (20 mM Tris,
pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM
Na2HPO4, 5 mM EDTA, 1% Nonidet
P-40, 1% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, 10% glycerol, 10 unist/ml
aprotinin, 1 µM PMSF), resuspended in Laemmli sample
buffer, and boiled for 5 min, and the samples were loaded onto
SDS-polyacrylamide gels.
For immunoprecipitations, nearly confluent cells were lysed in CLB (50 mM HEPES, pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM
MgCl2, 1 mM EGTA, 10% glycerol, 1% Triton
X-100, 10 units/ml aprotinin, 1 µM PMSF, 200 µM sodium orthovanadate). Immunoprecipitation of
HA-RPTP
was done by incubation with anti-hemagglutinin epitope tag
antibody (mAb 12CA5) and protein A-Sepharose (Amersham Pharmacia
Biotech). The EGFR was immunoprecipitated using mAb 108.1 (46).
GST-p130cas was precipitated by incubation with
glutathione-agarose beads for 3 h at 4 °C. The beads were
washed four times with RIPA buffer (20 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM Na2HPO4,
5 mM EDTA, 1% Nonidet P-40, 1% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1%
SDS, 10% glycerol, 10 units/ml aprotinin, 1 µM PMSF),
resuspended in Laemmli sample buffer, and boiled for 5 min, and the
samples were loaded onto SDS-polyacrylamide gels.
For immunoblotting analysis the material on the polyacrylamide gels was
transferred to Immobilon (Millipore, Bedford, MA) by semi-dry blotting
for 2 h at 0.8 mA/cm2 gel in transfer buffer (50 mM Tris, 40 mM glycine, 0.0375% SDS, 20%
methanol). Following transfer, the blots were incubated in blocking
buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 0.05%
Tween 20, 5% bovine serum albumin) for 1 h at 22 °C and in
blocking buffer containing anti-Tyr(P) antibody PY20 (Transduction
Laboratories, Lexington, KY) for 1.5 h at 22 °C. For
immunoblotting with anti-p130cas (Transduction Laboratories,
Lexington, KY), with 12CA5, or affinity-purified anti-RPTP
antiserum
5478, blocking buffer contained 5% non-fat milk instead of bovine
serum albumin. The filters were washed four times in TBS-T (50 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20)
and incubated for 1 h at 22 °C with horseradish
peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse antibody or horseradish
peroxidase-conjugated protein A (Transduction Laboratories, Lexington,
KY) in TBS-T. The filters were washed four times in TBS-T and enhanced
chemiluminescence (ECL) detection was performed. Before reprobing with
different primary antibodies, the blots were stripped by incubation in
stripping buffer (62.5 mM Tris, pH 6.8, 2% SDS, 100 mM
-mercaptoethanol) for 45 min at 70 °C.
In Vitro Dephosphorylation Assay--
For in vitro
dephosphorylation assays, SK-N-MC cells were transiently transfected
with GST-p130cas together with SrcY529F. GST-p130cas
was precipitated from these cells with glutathione-agarose beads; the
beads were washed 3 times in RIPA buffer (20 mM Tris, pH
8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM
Na2HPO4, 5 mM EDTA, 1% Nonidet
P-40, 1% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, 10% glycerol, 10 units/ml
aprotinin, 1 µM PMSF) and two times in succinate buffer
(50 mM succinate, pH 6.0, 50 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM dithiothreitol). The beads were incubated with full-length GST-RPTP
in succinate buffer for
different times at 30 °C, resuspended in Laemmli sample buffer, and
boiled for 5 min, and the samples were loaded onto
SDS-polyacrylamide gels.
Indirect Immunofluorescence--
For immunofluorescence
labeling, cells were seeded on glass coverslips, and at the appropriate
time the cells were fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde in PBS. After
washing with PBS the cells were permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100
in PBS for 45 s. After washing the coverslips were blocked in 5%
bovine serum albumin in PBS for 1 h. Incubation of the coverslips
with anti-neurofilament or anti-p130cas antibodies and
CY3-conjugated secondary antibodies was done exactly as described
previously (38).
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RESULTS |
RPTP
-D1-C433S Specifically Bound p130cas--
In this
study we set out to identify substrates of RPTP
. Specific substrates
of several non-receptor PTPs have been identified successfully in the
past using substrate-trapping mutants (17-19, 24, 25, 47). We used a
similar substrate trapping approach to identify physiological
substrates of RPTP
. P19 EC cells were treated with pervanadate,
which induced a strong increase in Tyr(P) content of many proteins
(Fig. 1A, left two lanes).
Bacterially expressed GST fusion proteins containing either the
N-terminal or the C-terminal catalytic domain of RPTP
(D1 or D2,
respectively) or mutants thereof were purified and incubated with
lysates from pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells. Proteins from the lysate
that associated with the fusion proteins were then analyzed by
immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P) mAb (PY20) (Fig. 1). A major
Tyr(P)-containing protein of approximately 130 kDa (p130) bound
specifically to GST-RPTP
-D1 with the catalytic site Cys mutated to
Ser (D1-C433S). p130 is the most prominent phosphotyrosyl protein in
the lysate from pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells. Nevertheless, it is
clear that RPTP
-C433S bound preferentially to p130 (Fig.
1A, and not shown overexposures of the blot in Fig.
1A). No tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were detected to
bind to wild type GST-RPTP
-D1 or GST alone (Fig. 1A).

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Fig. 1.
Interaction of
RPTP -D1-C433S with p130cas. P19
EC cells (A and B) or NIH3T3 cells (C
and D) were treated with 1 mM orthovanadate and
1 mM H2O2 for 30 min. The cells
were lysed, and the lysate was incubated with equal amounts (10 µg)
of GST, GST-RPTP -D1, D1-D401A, D1-C433S, D1-R438K, D2-wild type,
D2-C723S, or D2-R729K. The associated proteins together with an aliquot
of the lysate of pervanadate-treated (Lysate + VO4) or untreated (Lysate) cells were
analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P) (PY20)
(top panel) and anti-p130cas (bottom
panel) antibodies. Aliquots of the lysates from
pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells (B) and NIH3T3 cells
(D) following incubation with the different fusion proteins
and removal of the GST-agarose beads were run on SDS-PAGE gels. For
comparison, lysates of pervanadate-treated
(+VO4) or untreated ( ) cells that were not
incubated with GST fusion proteins were included. The gels were
blotted, and the blots were analyzed by immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P)
antibodies (PY20) (top panel) and anti-p130cas
antibodies (bottom panel). The molecular sizes (in kDa) of
marker proteins are indicated on the left.
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Substrate-trapping mutants of PTP1B and PTP-PEST in which the general
base/general acid Asp was mutated to Ala were shown to be even more
efficient substrate-trapping mutants than the catalytic site Cys
mutants (17, 18). RPTP
-D1 with the corresponding Asp to Ala
mutation, GST-D1-D401A, did not bind any Tyr(P)-containing proteins
from the lysate (Fig. 1A). This suggests that there are differences in substrate binding between the Asp mutants in PTP1B or
PTP-PEST and RPTP
-D1. It has been shown for PTP1B that mutation of
the invariant Arg in the signature motif, Arg221 in PTP1B,
almost completely abolished catalytic activity (17). Similarly,
GST-RPTP
-D1 with the corresponding mutation, D1-R438K, had no
detectable PTP activity in in vitro PTP assays toward any of
the substrates tested (data not shown). No tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were detected to bind to GST-D1-R438K (Fig. 1A).
Since p130 bound specifically to GST-D1-C433S and not to D1-D401A or D1-R438K, we conclude that p130 is not merely a RPTP
-binding protein
but a bona fide substrate.
Similar to the experiments with RPTP
-D1, substrate trapping
experiments were performed with RPTP
-D2 and mutants thereof. No
Tyr(P)-containing proteins bound to wild type D2 nor to GST-D2-C723S nor to any other D2 mutant (Fig. 1A). Taken together,
substrate-trapping mutants of RPTP
-D2 did not bind Tyr(P)-containing proteins.
The apparent molecular weight of the protein that bound to
RPTP
-D1-C433S prompted us to test whether this protein was
p130cas. The blot depicted in Fig. 1A was stripped
and reprobed with anti-p130cas antibody (Fig. 1A, bottom
panel). The substrate-trapping mutant GST-D1-RPTP
-C433S bound
to a single protein detected by the anti-p130cas antibody. This
protein co-migrated exactly with p130cas in lysates from
pervanadate-treated cells. p130cas in lysates from untreated
cells migrated faster in the gel than p130cas in lysates from
pervanadate-treated cells (Fig. 1A, 1st two lanes, bottom
panel), consistent with reports that phosphorylation of p130cas induced a mobility shift in SDS-PAGE gels (48).
p130cas did not bind to wild type RPTP
-D1, D1-D401A,
D1-R438K, or GST alone, demonstrating that p130cas binding is
specific for the D1-C433S substrate-trapping mutant. p130cas
did not bind to GST-D2 or any of its mutants either. In conclusion, p130 from pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells that bound to GST-D1-C433S is p130cas, and p130cas bound specifically to the
substrate-trapping mutant RPTP
-D1-C433S.
Aliquots of the remaining P19 EC cell lysates were analyzed by
immunoblotting using anti-Tyr(P) antibody PY20 following the pull-down
procedure, using the different GST fusion proteins (Fig. 1B). Incubation of the lysate with GST-RPTP
-D1-WT reduced
the Tyr(P) content of all the Tyr(P)-containing proteins in the lysate, as detected with anti-Tyr(P) antibody, PY20. Importantly,
phosphorylation of the highly phosphorylated p130 was greatly reduced.
Incubation with GST or the other GST fusion proteins had no effect on
the Tyr(P) levels of the proteins in the lysate, except for p130 in lysate incubated with GST-D1-C433S that showed a significant reduction. Stripping the blot and reprobing it with anti-p130cas
antibodies showed that the highly phosphorylated 130-kDa protein was
p130cas (Fig. 1B, bottom panel). The amount of
p130cas in the lysate was reduced after pull down with
GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S, which was consistent with the removal of
p130cas from the lysate by the pull-down procedure. Incubation
of the lysate from pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells with
GST-RPTP
-D1-WT induced a shift down of all p130cas (Fig.
1B, bottom panel), suggesting that none of the slower
migrating tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas remained, and thus
that p130cas tyrosine dephosphorylation was complete.
p130cas did not shift down to the same level as p130cas
from untreated cells, which is probably due to residual
serine/threonine phosphorylation. In conclusion, GST-RPTP
-D1-WT
preferentially dephosphorylated p130cas, suggesting that
dephosphorylation of p130cas by RPTP
is specific.
Similar results were obtained using NIH3T3 cells instead of P19 EC
cells. GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S specifically bound to a 130-kDa protein
that was identified as p130cas (Fig. 1C). In
addition, GST-RPTP
-D1-WT preferentially dephosphorylated p130cas from pervanadate-treated NIH3T3 cell lysates (Fig.
1D). In addition to p130cas, GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S
bound three other phosphotyrosyl proteins from NIH3T3 cells, a doublet
of approximately 110 kDa and a protein of 85 kDa. The 110-kDa proteins
did not bind to any of the other GST fusion proteins, suggesting that
the 110-kDa protein is a bona fide substrate for RPTP
too. The 85-kDa protein, however, bound to GST-RPTP
-D1-D401A and
-R438K with similar efficiencies as to -C433S, suggesting that the
85-kDa protein bound to RPTP
-D1, independently of the catalytic
site. In conclusion, tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas from P19
EC cells and NIH3T3 cells specifically bound to RPTP
-D1-C433S.
Interaction of RPTP
-D1-C433S with p130cas from Different
Cell Types--
To determine whether p130cas binding to
RPTP
-D1-C433S was cell type-specific, we incubated
GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S with cell lysates from a range of different cells
treated with pervanadate (Fig. 2).
GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S bound to p130cas from all cell types we
tested. Furthermore, as seen for NIH3T3 cells, GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S
bound three additional proteins of 85 and 110 kDa from F9, FaO, and
HepG2 cells. GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S bound an additional phosphotyrosyl
protein from HepG2 cell lysate of about 70 kDa and one from FaO cell
lysate of about 80 kDa that were not seen in the other cells. Long
exposures demonstrated that little or no Tyr(P)-containing proteins
were detected to bind to GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S from cells that were not
treated with pervanadate (Fig. 2 and data not shown). Both
GST-RPTP
-D1-WT and GST alone failed to bind to any
tyrosine-phosphorylated protein from the different cell lysates (data
not shown). In conclusion, RPTP
-D1-C433S associated with
tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas from all cell types tested.

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Fig. 2.
RPTP -D1-C433S
substrate trapping in lysates from various cell types. SK-N-MC,
COS-7, NIH3T3, P19 EC, HepG2, FaO, and F9 cells were treated with 1 mM orthovanadate and 1 mM
H2O2 for 30 min or were left untreated. The
cells were lysed, and the lysate was incubated with equal amounts of
GST-RPTP -D1-C433S. The associated proteins were analyzed by SDS-PAGE
and immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P) (top panel) or
anti-p130cas (bottom panel) antibodies. The
molecular sizes (in kDa) of marker proteins are indicated on the
left.
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Specific Interaction of RPTP
-D1 with p130cas--
Next,
we compared the specificities of RPTP
-D1 and PTP1B. GST fusion
proteins of RPTP
-D1 and of wild type PTP1B and PTP1B-C213S were
incubated with lysate from pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells. GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S bound predominantly one protein from P19 EC cell
lysate (Fig. 3). As reported before (17)
the pattern of the Tyr(P)-containing proteins bound by the PTP1B
substrate-trapping mutant strongly resembled that of the input lysate,
indicating that the PTP1B substrate-trapping mutant bound most
phosphotyrosyl proteins from the lysate with similar efficiencies. No
tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were detected to bind to the wild type
fusion proteins of RPTP
-D1 and PTP1B. In conclusion, the PTP1B
substrate-trapping mutant showed little or no substrate specificity,
whereas RPTP
-D1-C433S bound predominantly to one protein from
P19 EC cells.

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Fig. 3.
RPTP , but not PTP1B,
interacts almost exclusively with p130cas. P19 EC cells
were treated with 1 mM orthovanadate and 1 mM
H2O2 for 30 min. The cells were lysed, and the
lysate was incubated with equal amounts of GST-RPTP -D1, D1-C433S,
GST-PTP1B, or PTP1B-C213S. The associated proteins were analyzed by
SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P) antibodies. The molecular
sizes (in kDa) of marker proteins are indicated on the
left.
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Binding of p130cas from Fibronectin-stimulated Cells to
GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S--
Pervanadate treatment of cells induced
massive tyrosine phosphorylation of many proteins, including
p130cas. In order to investigate whether GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S
recognized p130cas under physiological conditions, we
stimulated NIH3T3 fibroblasts by plating them on fibronectin (FN), a
well known stimulus for p130cas tyrosine phosphorylation
(49-51). Hardly any p130cas tyrosine phosphorylation was
detected in cells that were detached from the substratum for 30 min,
and replating of the cells on FN rapidly led to recovery of
p130cas phosphorylation (Fig. 4),
consistent with previous reports (37). GST-RPTP
-D1-C433S pull-down
experiments showed that tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas from
FN-stimulated cells, but not unphosphorylated p130cas from
detached cells, was recognized by RPTP
-D1-C433S (Fig. 4). Long
exposures are depicted in Fig. 4, as compared with Figs. 1 and 2,
leading to detection of p130cas from control cells as well.
Pull down of p130cas from pervanadate-treated cells was much
more efficient, due to much higher levels of p130cas tyrosine
phosphorylation. These results demonstrate that not only pervanadate-
but also fibronectin-stimulated tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas
bound to RPTP
-D1-C433S, suggesting that p130cas is a
physiological substrate of RPTP
.

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Fig. 4.
RPTP -D1-C433S
substrate trapping of fibronectin-stimulated p130cas.
Serum-starved NIH3T3 cells were left untreated (On), taken
off the dish with EDTA (Off), or replated on
fibronectin-coated (FN) dishes for 30 min as described under
"Materials and Methods." As a positive control, NIH3T3 cells were
stimulated for 30 min with 1 mM orthovanadate and 1 mM H2O2. The cells were lysed, and
pull downs were performed with GST-RPTP -D1-C433S. Putative
substrates were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting, using
anti-Tyr(P) mAb PY20 (top panel). To establish that
tyrosine-phosphorylated p130 in the top panel was
p130cas, proteins were eluted from the glutathione-agarose
beads following the pull down and immunoprecipitated (IP)
using anti-Tyr(P) mAb PY20. These immunoprecipitates were analyzed by
SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting, using anti-p130cas antibodies
(second panel). Total cell lysates were analyzed in parallel
to monitor Tyr(P) (3rd panel) and p130cas levels
(bottom panel). Exposure times were 30 min for the
anti-Tyr(P) blots, except for the vanadate lanes (30 s), 2 min for the
p130cas blot of the pull downs, except for the vanadate lane
(30 s), and 30 s for the p130cas blot of the cell lysates.
Note the shift in p130cas in vanadate-treated cells. Highly
tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas is poorly recognized by the
anti-p130cas antibody (bottom panel) (cf.
Fig. 5).
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|
p130cas Is a Substrate of RPTP
in Vitro--
We tested
the capacity of RPTP
to dephosphorylate p130cas in
vitro. As a source of tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas, we
used transiently transfected SK-N-MC cells co-expressing GST-p130cas and SrcY529F. Tyrosine-phosphorylated
GST-p130cas was purified from these cells, pooled, aliquoted,
and incubated with a limited amount of purified bacterially expressed
RPTP
for different periods. The Tyr(P) content of p130cas
was analyzed by immunoblotting with an anti-Tyr(P) mAb (PY20). Incubation of p130cas with bacterially expressed RPTP
resulted in complete dephosphorylation of p130cas, which was
accompanied by a shift down of p130cas, due to
dephosphorylation (Fig. 5).
p130cas did not shift down to prestimulation levels, which was
presumably due to residual serine/threonine phosphorylation. Incubation
of p130cas without RPTP
had no effect on the phosphorylation
state of p130cas (Fig. 5). In conclusion, RPTP
completely
dephosphorylated p130cas in vitro.

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Fig. 5.
p130cas dephosphorylation by
RPTP in vitro. SK-N-MC cells
were transiently transfected with GST-p130cas together with
SrcY529F. The cells were lysed, and GST-p130cas was purified,
aliquoted, and incubated with purified bacterially expressed PTP
encoding the complete cytoplasmic domain of RPTP
(bPTP ) for 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 min, or with GST ( ) for
30 min at 30 °C. The samples were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and
immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P) antibodies (PY20) (top
panel) or anti-p130cas antibodies (bottom
panel). Note that tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas is
poorly recognized by the anti-p130cas antibody (cf.
lane 1 and 6).
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|
p130cas and RPTP
Co-localized at the Membrane--
For
RPTP
to dephosphorylate p130cas in vivo, both
proteins must co-localize subcellularly. To examine subcellular
localization of RPTP
and p130cas, SK-N-MC cells, plated on
glass coverslips, were transiently transfected with RPTP
in which D2
was replaced by yellow fluorescent protein (YFP). p130cas was
visualized by indirect immunofluorescence using anti-p130cas
antibodies. Confocal microscopy demonstrated that p130cas
localized to the cytoplasm and to the plasma membrane (Fig.
6). RPTP
-YFP localized predominantly
to the plasma membrane. The combined image of RPTP
-YFP and
p130cas demonstrated that p130cas and RPTP
co-localized at the membrane. These results show that RPTP
co-localized with a subpopulation of p130cas, suggesting that
RPTP
is in the right subcellular location to dephosphorylate
p130cas.

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Fig. 6.
Subcellular co-localization of
p130cas and RPTP . SK-N-MC cells
were plated on glass coverslips and transiently transfected with
RPTP -YFP. The cells were labeled with anti-p130cas
antibodies and CY3-coupled anti-mouse secondary antibodies. Confocal
microscopy was used to determine the subcellular localization of
RPTP -YFP (green labeling in A),
p130cas (red labeling in B), and sites of
co-localization of RPTP and p130cas (yellow
labeling in C). Bar, 10 µm.
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|
p130cas Is a Substrate of RPTP
in Vivo--
Finally, we
investigated whether p130cas was an in vivo
substrate of RPTP
. SK-N-MC cells were transiently transfected with
GST-p130cas together with expression vector, wild type
HA-RPTP
, or HA-RPTP
-C433S. The cells were co-transfected with
active Src (SrcY529F), strongly increasing tyrosine phosphorylation of
GST-p130cas (Fig. 7A).
Co-expression of wild type RPTP
in these cells significantly reduced
tyrosine phosphorylation of p130cas, which was accompanied by a
shift in migration (Fig. 7A). Basal level p130cas
tyrosine phosphorylation in cells that were not co-transfected with
active Src was not affected significantly by co-expression of RPTP
.
Analysis of the Tyr(P) content of proteins in the lysates of cells
co-transfected with SrcY529F and RPTP
indicated that not all
proteins were dephosphorylated upon co-transfection of RPTP
(Fig.
7A, bottom panel), suggesting that RPTP
did not merely dephosphorylate all tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins. As a control, we
investigated whether RPTP
dephosphorylated tyrosine-phosphorylated EGFR. The EGFR was co-transfected with control vector, HA-RPTP
, or
HA-RPTP
-C433S, and the cells were stimulated with EGF or left untreated. Co-transfection of RPTP
did not reduce EGF-induced EGFR
tyrosine phosphorylation (Fig. 7B, cf.
wt and CS lanes). Overexpression of the EGFR at
high levels led to ligand-independent basal level tyrosine
phosphorylation of the EGFR, which was not reduced by co-transfection
of RPTP
either. The apparent increase in EGFR tyrosine
phosphorylation upon co-transfection of (mutant) HA-RPTP
was due to
differences in expression levels (Fig. 7B, cf.
top and middle panels). Taken together, RPTP
co-expression in SrcY529F-expressing cells led to a reduction in
p130cas tyrosine phosphorylation, strongly suggesting that
RPTP
dephosphorylated p130cas in vivo. Moreover,
RPTP
co-expression did not reduce EGFR tyrosine phosphorylation,
suggesting that RPTP
displays substrate specificity in living
cells.

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Fig. 7.
Dephosphorylation of p130cas but not
EGFR by RPTP in vivo.
A, SK-N-MC cells were transiently transfected with
GST-p130cas together with expression vector pSG-5 ( ),
pSG-HA-RPTP (wt), or pSG-HA-RPTP -C433S
(CS). The cells were co-transfected with the expression
vector pSG-5 ( ) or SrcY529F. The cells were lysed, and
GST-p130cas was precipitated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and
immunoblotting with anti-Tyr(P) mAb (PY20) or anti-p130cas
antibodies. The left part of the anti-p130cas blot
(2nd panel from the top) was exposed for 10 s, and the right part was exposed for 2 min, since tyrosine
phosphorylation reduced detection of p130cas tremendously
(cf. Fig. 5). HA-RPTP protein expression levels were
monitored by immunoprecipitation with 12CA5 mAb and immunoblotting with
12CA5 mAb (3rd panel). Tyr(P) levels in the lysates were
determined by immunoblotting, using anti-Tyr(P) mAb, PY20. A part of
the gel (between 66 and 97 kDa) is shown in the bottom
panel, and Tyr(P)-containing bands that are not affected by
RPTP are indicated with black arrowheads, whereas
proteins that are less phosphorylated upon co-transfection of RPTP ,
like p130cas, are indicated with open arrowheads.
B, SK-N-MC cells were transiently transfected with an
expression vector for the human EGFR, together with expression vector
pSG-5 ( ), pSG-HA-RPTP (wt), or pSG-HA-RPTP -C433S
(CS). The cells were stimulated with EGF (10 ng/ml) for 5 min, or left untreated. The EGFR was immunoprecipitated and analyzed by
anti-Tyr(P) and anti-EGFR immunoblotting (top two panels).
SK-N-MC cells do not express endogenous EGFR (middle panel).
The expression of co-transfected (mutant) RPTP was monitored by
immunoblotting, using an anti-RPTP antibody.
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|
 |
DISCUSSION |
In order to understand the function of PTPs, it is essential to
know the identity of their substrates. We have used a substrate trapping procedure to identify substrates of RPTP
, a transmembrane PTP with a short extracellular domain. RPTP
-D1-C433S bound
specifically to tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins from
pervanadate-treated cells. One of these proteins was identified as
p130cas, and RPTP
-D1-C433S bound tyrosine-phosphorylated
p130cas from fibronectin-stimulated cells as well, suggesting
that p130cas is a physiological substrate of RPTP
.
RPTP
-D1 preferentially dephosphorylated p130cas from
pervanadate-treated P19 EC and NIH3T3 cell lysates (Fig. 1,
B and D). This preference was surprising, since
previously we demonstrated that RPTP
displayed only modest
selectivity toward peptide substrates in vitro (42). In
living cells, p130cas, but not EGFR tyrosine phosphorylation,
was reduced upon co-transfection of RPTP
(Fig. 7). These results
suggest that RPTP
displays substrate specificity in
vivo.
Substrate trapping experiments with PTP-PEST and PTP1B demonstrated
that a substrate-trapping mutant, in which the Asp residue that
functions as general base in catalysis was mutated to Ala, displayed
much higher affinity for Tyr(P)-containing proteins than catalytic site
Cys to Ser mutants (18). RPTP
-D1 with the similar Asp to Ala
mutation (RPTP
-D401A) did not bind any Tyr(P)-containing protein
from pervanadate-treated P19 EC cells or NIH3T3 cells (Fig. 1),
demonstrating that the WpD motif Asp mutants are not always the best
substrate-trapping mutants.
p130cas is not the only substrate of RPTP
, since several
other tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins from different cell lines bound to RPTP
-D1-C433S. For instance, RPTP
-D1-C433S bound, next to p130cas, three other proteins, a doublet of 110 kDa and a
protein of 85 kDa from NIH3T3 cells. The p85 protein bound to
RPTP
-D401A and RPTP
-D1-R438K as well, suggesting that binding to
p85 was independent of the catalytic site. p85 was not detected to bind to wild type RPTP
-D1, which may be due to dephosphorylation of p85
by RPTP
-D1. Perhaps p85 is not only a binding protein but also a
substrate of RPTP
. Identification of p85 will facilitate rigorous
testing of the interaction between p85 and RPTP
. The p110 protein
specifically bound to RPTP
-D1-C433S and not to any of the other GST
fusion proteins, indicating that p110 is an additional RPTP
substrate. The apparent molecular weight of p110 and p85 suggested that
these proteins might be phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. However,
antibodies directed at the p110 subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase did not recognize the 110-kDa substrate of RPTP
(data not
shown), suggesting phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase is not a substrate of
RPTP
. Currently, we are trying to identify p110 and p85 by protein
purification and microsequencing.
Other substrates previously described for RPTP
include the related
PTKs Src and Fyn. RPTP
activates Src in vitro and
in vivo by dephosphorylating the inhibiting
Tyr(P)529 (11, 30-32). Rat embryo fibroblasts, P19 EC
cells, and A431 cells overexpressing RPTP
showed an increase in Src
activity (11, 30, 36). In RPTP
/
cells Src and Fyn
activity is reduced (31), providing strong support that these PTKs are
substrates of RPTP
. By using the substrate trapping experiments, we
did not pull down proteins with apparent molecular weights that
correspond to Src and Fyn. This may be due to poor binding of
RPTP
-D1-C433S to Src and Fyn. Moreover, failure to detect Src and
Fyn in RPTP
-D1-C433S pull downs may be due to poor recognition of
the C-terminal regulatory Tyr(P) in Src and Fyn by the anti-Tyr(P)
antibody, PY20.
For all RPTPs with two PTP domains, the majority of the catalytic
activity resides within D1, whereas D2 displays little or no catalytic
activity. D2s are thought to have a more regulatory role. The existence
of naturally occurring inactive PTP domains, such as D2s, has led to
the suggestion that RPTP-D2s function as Tyr(P)-binding modules (52).
Here we demonstrate that GST-RPTP
-D2 did not bind any
Tyr(P)-containing proteins from pervanadate-treated cells (Fig. 1).
GST-RPTP
-D2 with the catalytic site Cys mutated to Ser (C723S) or
another inactive D2 mutant (R729K) did not bind Tyr(P)-containing
proteins either. RPTP
-D2 lacks the highly conserved Tyr in the KNRY
motif (14) that interacts with the main chain atoms and the aromatic
ring of the substrate Tyr(P) (53). Introduction of this conserved Tyr
in RPTP
-D2 (V555Y) did not restore Tyr(P) binding (data not shown).
We conclude that it is unlikely that RPTP
-D2 by itself is a
Tyr(P)-binding module. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that
RPTP
-D2 cooperates with RPTP
-D1 in binding to substrates.
Other PTPs, like PTP1B, PTP-PEST, and LAR, have been found to
dephosphorylate p130cas as well (18, 54, 55). Both PTP1B and
PTP-PEST have been found to associate with and dephosphorylate
p130cas (18, 54, 56, 57). Interaction of these PTPs with
p130cas is mediated by a proline-rich region in PTP1B or
PTP-PEST and the SH3 domain of p130cas (54, 56, 58). The
p130cas SH3 domain-PTP-PEST interaction is not required for the
interaction of PTP-PEST with p130cas, since substrate-trapping
mutants of the PTP-PEST catalytic domain bound to p130cas in
the absence of the proline-rich region (18). RPTP
contains a
proline-rich region (PPLP, residues 210-213), but this region is not
sufficient for p130cas binding, since p130cas did not
bind to wild type RPTP
nor the inactive mutants D401A and R438K that
all contained the proline-rich region (Fig. 1).
p130cas is part of focal adhesion complexes. Turnover of focal
adhesion complexes is essential for cell movement and outgrowth of cell
extensions. Interfering with PTP1B, PTP-PEST, or RPTP
resulted in
altered cell motility (18, 32, 58-61), suggesting that these PTPs are
somehow involved in regulating signaling of focal adhesion complexes.
Regulation of p130cas tyrosine phosphorylation by these PTPs
may be the mechanism that underlies involvement of these PTPs in cell motility.
Here, we demonstrate that tyrosine-phosphorylated p130cas is a
substrate of RPTP
. Activated SrcY529F-induced tyrosine
phosphorylation of p130cas is clearly reduced in cells that
express active RPTP
(Fig. 7). Src is negatively regulated by
phosphorylation in its C terminus (Tyr529) and positively
regulated by phosphorylation of Tyr416. RPTP
dephosphorylates both Tyr(P)529 and Tyr(P)416
in Src (11). We used an excess of SrcY529F in our experiments, and
therefore the effects of RPTP
on SrcY529F activity via
dephosphorylation of Tyr(P)416 are negligible, which is
illustrated by the fact that co-expression of RPTP
did not affect
tyrosine phosphorylation of all proteins in the lysate (Fig. 7A,
bottom panel). Therefore, the effect of RPTP
on p130cas
tyrosine phosphorylation is due to dephosphorylation of
p130cas, not to reduced activity of SrcY529F.
The interaction between RPTP
and p130cas may be complex. Src
and Fyn are substrates of RPTP
, and these PTKs are activated by dephosphorylation of the C-terminal regulatory Tyr(P). Active Src and
Fyn in turn phosphorylate p130cas (48, 62). Therefore, RPTP
may have a dual effect on p130cas tyrosine phosphorylation.
RPTP
may dephosphorylate p130cas directly, and RPTP
may
induce enhanced phosphorylation of p130cas via activation of
Src and Fyn. Overexpression of RPTP
in the absence of activated
SrcY529F did not affect p130cas tyrosine phosphorylation
significantly (Fig. 6), which may be due to the dual effect of
RPTP
.
In conclusion, we provide evidence that RPTP
dephosphorylatyed
p130cas in vitro and in vivo. p130cas
contains many putative tyrosine phosphorylation sites. It remains to be
determined whether all of these sites are substrates for RPTP
or for
any other PTP. Different PTPs may dephosphorylate different Tyr(P)
sites in p130cas. We are currently investigating this
interesting possibility.