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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 280, Issue 46, 38639-38647, November 18, 2005
Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Sam68 by Breast Tumor Kinase Regulates Intranuclear Localization and Cell Cycle Progression*
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| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Several reports have indicated that phosphorylation regulates key cellular roles of Sam68. Both tyrosine phosphorylation and SH3 binding severely hamper the RNA binding capability of Sam68 (13, 14). Sam68 was found to interact and colocalize with the splicing-associated factor YT512-B, to synergize with the human immunodeficiency virus Rev protein, enhancing export of unspliced viral RNA, and to increase protein expression from RNA containing the constitutive transport element of some retroviruses (3, 15-17). On the other hand, activation of the Ras-ERK pathway generates ERK-threonine-phosphorylated Sam68 that in turn enhances inclusion of exon v5 of the CD44 pre-RNA (18). Thus phosphorylation is an essential regulatory mechanism of the RNA-binding activity of Sam68.
Recently elevated phosphorylation of Sam68 and its correlation to increased acetylation was reported in breast cancer cell lines Hs578T, MDA-435, and MDA-468 (19), implying that tyrosine phosphorylation of Sam68 may be required for the invasiveness of these cancer cells. In fact, the involvement of Sam68 in tumor progression is supported by the finding that depletion of Sam68 is associated with neoplastic transformation (20). Consistent with this observation, it was demonstrated that overexpression of Sam68 blocks cell cycle progression (21). In contrast, overexpression of the RNA binding-defective splice variant (Sam68
KH), but not wild-type Sam68 was shown to suppress cell growth (22). Furthermore, the targeted disruption of Sam68 in DT20 cells was shown to cause growth retardation (23), which is inconsistent with earlier studies (20). Therefore, additional studies are required to define the role of Sam68 in cell cycle progression.
BRK is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase that belongs to the classified BRK family tyrosine kinases that include Frk, Srm, and Src42A (24). BRK contains an SH3, an SH2, a kinase domain, and a C-terminal regulatory tyrosine in a similar arrangement as Src family kinases, but lacks the myristoylation signal conserved within the Src family. We previously identified BRK as the first nuclear kinase that can phosphorylate Sam68 and negatively regulate its RNA-binding activity (3) and recently showed that both the Sam68-like proteins, SLM-1 and SLM-2, are also substrates of BRK (25). Other substrates of BRK comprise the adaptor proteins BKS (26) and paxillin (27). Furthermore, BRK has been shown to associate with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, GAP-associated p65 protein (28), erbB3/HER3 (29), and protein kinase B/Akt (29, 30). BRK is overexpressed in more than 65% of breast tumors (31). Small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing of BRK was shown to specifically suppress BRK expression, resulting in significant inhibition of the proliferation of the T-47D breast cancer cell line (32). Besides, BRK was shown to potentiate the mitogenic effects of EGF stimulation (29, 33). These studies indicate that BRK indeed has growth promoting activities and is able to stimulate cell cycle progression. Wild-type BRK is known to reside throughout the cell and the overexpression of Sam68 promotes its nuclear localization (25). The nuclear expression of BRK occurs in normal prostate epithelial cells as well as in 70% of benign prostate hyperplasia, but not in high grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (34).
We have previously shown that both BRK and Sam68 reside in Sam68 nuclear bodies (SNBs), a novel nuclear structure that we discovered in 1999 (35). The C terminus of Sam68 is clustered with 16 tyrosine residues, all potential tyrosine phosphorylation sites. This region also harbors an unconventional nuclear localization signal (NLS) comprising the last 24 amino acids (420RPSLKAPPARPVKGAYREHPYGRY443) of the protein with tyrosine residues at positions 435, 440, and 443 (36). Mapping the phosphorylated tyrosines in the C-terminal of Sam68 is challenging, as the tyrosine residues are often located in clusters. Besides, traditional tryptic mapping is hampered by the scarcity of lysine and arginine residues in the C terminus. We have overcome this problem by generating Sam68 phospho-specific antibodies. We demonstrate that BRK phosphorylates Sam68 on all three tyrosines in the NLS. We show that tyrosine 440 dictates the localization of Sam68, as mutating it to phenylalanine completely blocks nuclear localization. Our data also identify Sam68 as a downstream substrate of BRK in breast cancer cells in response to EGF treatment. We also show that Sam68 inhibits cell cycle progression, whereas BRK has a stimulatory effect on cell growth. Co-infection of Sam68 and BRK in astrocytes prevents cell cycle progression as fewer cells were able to transverse the S phase of the cell cycle compared with mock-infected cells. We propose that phosphorylation of Sam68 may be a repressor of BRK-induced cell cycle progression.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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-actin and anti-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) were from Sigma. Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)ELISA plates (Costar, Cambridge, MA) were coated with the indicated quantity of peptide in 50 µl of 50 mM carbonate buffer, incubated at 37 °C for 30 min, and blocked with blocking buffer (1% bovine serum albumin, 5% sucrose in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)). Primary antibodies were diluted at 1:1000 in dilution buffer (1% bovine serum albumin, 0.5% ovalbumin, 10 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl) and added to the corresponding well followed by incubation at 37 °C for 30 min. The plate was washed extensively with PBS containing 0.1% Tween. Goat anti-rabbit antibodies covalently coupled to horseradish peroxidase (Cappel Laboratories, Durham, NC) were incubated at 1:1000 in dilution buffer at 37 °C for 15 min. The plate was washed and developed using BM Blue POD substrate (Roche Diagnostics) and quantitated using spectrophotometry at 405 nm.
Expression ConstructsGreen fluorescent protein (GFP)-Sam68 was constructed previously by subcloning the EcoRI fragment of myc-Sam68 into pEGFP-C1 (35). GFP-Sam68 mutants were generated by PCR using the forward primer 5'-TCCTGCTGGAGTTCGTGACC-3' and the following reverse primers: GGTGAATTCCTTTTATGCTCCCTTCACTGGCCTAGC (for
423-443); GGTGAATTCCTTTTAATAACGTCCATATGGGTGCTC (for 435Y-F); GGTGAATTCCTTTTAATAACGTCCAAATGGGTGCTC (for 440Y-F), and GGTGAATTCCTTTTAAAAACGTCCATATGGGTGCTC (for 443Y-F). The EcoRI site is underlined. Wild-type BRK and BRK-YF constructs in the vector pRcCMV (33) were generously provided by Dr. Mark Crompton (School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, United Kingdom). To introduce the myc epitope at the N termini, the constructs were digested with SmaI and XbaI to remove the BRK inserts. BRK inserts were then cloned into pcDNA3myc digested with EcoRI (blunt ended with Klenow large fragment) and XbaI. The resulting constructs were sequenced for verification. Myc-tagged BRK adenoviruses and Sam68 adenoviruses were constructed by first PCR amplification of the cDNAs encoding myc-tagged BRK YF (described above) and myc-tagged Sam68 described previously (35) using T7 primer and a reverse primer containing a BamHI overhang (5'-GGAAGATCTACCATGGTGTCTTGGGACA-3'). After digestion with BamHI, the fragment was cloned into the BglII site of pADTR5-K7-GFPq (37). These plasmids express myc-BRK and myc-Sam68 under the regulation of a tetracycline-inducible promoter and a second cassette that constitutively expresses GFP. The latter cassette serves as a marker for transduction. Wild-type c-Src was a gift from Stéphane A. Laporte (McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada) and has been previously described (38). Recombinant adenoviruses were generated, purified, and titered as described previously (39).
Cell CultureThe following cell lines were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection: HeLa (CCL-2), MDA-231 (HTB-26), MDA-468 (HTB-132), and BT20 (HTB-19). The cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Invitrogen) supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 units/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin (all from ICN, Costa Mesa, CA), and 10% bovine calf serum (Hyclone, Logan, UT). Cells were maintained at 37 °C in 5% CO2.
Protein Expression and ImmunoprecipitationThe day before transfection, HeLa cells were plated on glass coverslips at a density of 105 cells per 22-mm2 coverslip (Fisher Scientific). The cells were transfected with Lipofectamine Plus (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's protocol. For immunoprecipitations, cell lysates were incubated on ice with the primary antibody for 1 h. Then 30 µl of 50% protein A-Sepharose slurry was added and incubated at 4 °C for 30 min with constant end-over-end mixing. The beads were washed twice with lysis buffer and once with PBS. Protein samples were analyzed on SDS-polyacrylamide gels and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Immunoblotting was performed using the anti-Sam68 antibodies, anti-phospho-Sam68 antibodies, anti-BRK, and anti-myc (9E10) antibodies. Immunoreactive proteins were visualized using either goat anti-mouse or goat anti-rabbit antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (ICN Pharmaceuticals) and the chemiluminescence (ECL) detection kit (DuPont).
Dephosphorylation of BRK-phosphorylated GFP-Sam68 by Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B)Immunoprecipitated phosphorylated GFP-Sam68 on beads was washed twice with lysis buffer and once with PBS, drained, and incubated with 20 µl of PTP1B buffer (10 mM HEPES, 0.1 mM EGTA, 0.1 mM EDTA, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 0.5 mg/ml bovine serum albumin, pH 7.5) and 1 µg/ml of recombinant PTP1B (R&D Systems) at 37 °C for 30 min. The reaction was quenched by the addition of Laemmli sample buffer and subjected to SDS-gel electrophoresis.
Immunofluorescence on Cultured Cells and Tissue ArrayHeLa cells were cultured directly on glass coverslips in a 6-well dish. Transfection of HeLa cells for immunofluorescence was achieved using Lipofectamine Plus (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's protocol using 2 µg of DNA. The cells were fixed with 1% paraformaldehyde in 1x PBS, pH 7.4, for 5 min and permeabilized with 0.5% Triton X-100 in PBS for 5 min at room temperature. If the cells were to be visualized only for GFP, then the coverslips were mounted onto glass slides with glycerol containing 3 mg/ml 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole to stain the nuclei. If the cells required antibody staining, the permeabilized cells were first blocked with 10% calf serum (Hyclone) in PBS for 30 min, then incubated with the primary antibodies (1:200) for 1 h in PBS at room temperature. The cells were washed with 0.1% Triton X-100 in PBS and incubated with the appropriate secondary antibodies (1:200) in PBS for 30 min. Goat anti-rabbit coupled to Alexa 488 (Molecular Probes) and goat anti-mouse coupled to Alexa 488 (Molecular Probes) were used as secondary antibodies. The cells were washed again, mounted onto glass slides, and visualized with a confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss, Thornwood, NY). LandMarkTM High Density Breast Tissue MicroArray on slides (catalog number 3190) was purchased from Ambion Inc. (Austin, TX). The tissue were permeabilized as described above and stained with the appropriate antibodies.
RNA Interference and EGF StimulationBRK siRNAs purchased from Dharmacon Research (Lafayette, CO) comprised a 19-base duplex RNA nucleotide sequences with two 3' deoxythymidine residues (BRK siRNA, 5'-GGUGAUUUCUCGAGACAACTT-3' and control, 5'-GGACACCAUCAAGUGUUCGTT-3'). Transfections were performed using Lipofectamine Plus (Invitrogen) twice at 24-h intervals as described (32). The cells were then stimulated at various time intervals with EGF at 100 ng/ml.
Cell Cycle Analysis of AstrocytesPrimary cultures of astrocytes were generated from newborn rat brains as described by McCarthy and de Vellis (40). Proliferating astrocytes were infected for 24 h with adenoviruses at a multiplicity of infection of 50 of the indicated adenovirus (AdGFP control, AdSam68, AdBRK) co-expressing the transgene and GFP from two different promoters as described previously (37, 41). Astrocytes were either left untreated or pulsed for 14 h with 10 mM BrdUrd (Sigma). The BrdUrd-labeled cells were collected, fixed in 70% ethanol for 20 min, pelleted, denatured with 1 N HCl for 30 min at room temperature, and neutralized with NaBO4 (0.1 M). The cells were pelleted by centrifugation, resuspended in PBS/bovine serum albumin/Tween 20, and incubated for 1 h with a monoclonal antibody to BrdUrd (Chemicon). This was followed by incubation with a Cy5-labeled secondary antibody to mouse (1:500, Molecular Probes), resuspended in PBS containing 10 µg/ml propidium iodide, and analysis by flow cytometry. The cells were analyzed using a FACScalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences). For BrdUrd labeling on astrocytes cultured on coverslips, infected astrocytes were pulsed for 8 h with 10 mM BrdUrd (Sigma) and fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline and visualized by immunofluorescence using an Alexa 546-conjugated antibody (Molecular Probes, Inc.).
| RESULTS |
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-435pY), 440 (
-440pY), or 443 (
-443pY) (Fig. 1A). The peptides were coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin and used to immunize rabbits to generate polyclonal antibodies. The serum was applied to a column containing the non-phosphorylated peptide coupled to beads and the flow-through subsequently affinity purified with the phosphorylated immunogenic peptide. By ELISA we determined that all 3 antibodies recognized the corresponding phosphorylated immunogenic peptide and not the unphosphorylated backbone peptide (supplemental Fig. S1). These findings demonstrate that we have successfully generated Sam68 phospho-NLS specific antibodies. BRK-phosphorylated Sam68 Is Recognized by New Anti-phospho-Sam68 AntibodiesSam68 is the first substrate identified for BRK (3). To determine whether tyrosines 435, 440, and 443 within the Sam68 NLS were phosphorylated by BRK, HeLa cells were transfected with Sam68 fused to the GFP to distinguish it in size from endogenous Sam68. An expression vector encoding GFP-Sam68 was transfected with or without constitutively active myc epitope-tagged BRKY447F (BRK YF) (Fig. 1B). Cell lysates from the vector control (lane 1), BRK YF alone (lane 2), GFP-Sam68 alone (lane 3), or GFP-Sam68 plus BRK YF (lane 4) were separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with 4G10, 435pY, 440pY, 443pY, anti-GFP, anti-myc, and anti-actin antibodies. All phospho-specific antibodies including anti-phosphotyrosine 4G10 antibody, anti-435pY, -440pY, and -443pY antibodies recognized GFP-Sam68 when cotransfected with BRK YF (Fig. 1B, lane 4). When GFP-Sam68 was transfected without BRK YF, GFP-Sam68 was recognized weakly by 4G10, 435pY, 440pY, and 443pY (lane 3). These finding suggest that transfected GFP-Sam68 is phosphorylated endogenously at Tyr435, Tyr440, and Tyr440 in HeLa cells and this background phosphorylation has been observed previously with overexpressed myc-Sam68 in HeLa cells (7). To further delineate the pattern of phosphorylation of the three N-terminal tyrosines by BRK we used an immunoprecipitation/immunoblotting strategy with the various Sam68 phospho-specific antibodies (Fig. 1C). We observed that Sam68 is simultaneously phosphorylated on Tyr435/Tyr440 (Fig. 1C, lanes 4 and 10), Tyr440/Tyr443 (Fig. 1C, lanes 6 and 12), and Tyr435/Tyr43 (data not shown) and that this phosphorylation was increased with BRK. These data suggest that BRK fully phosphorylates Sam68 tyrosine 435, 440, and 443 within the cell.
To confirm that tyrosine residues are phosphorylated in GFP-Sam68, we subjected immunoprecipitates to dephosphorylation assays with recombinant PTP1B followed by immunoblotting with anti-Sam68 antibodies (Fig. 1D). In the presence of the PTPase, the phosphotyrosine content of phospho-GFP Sam68 was significantly reduced for each of the phospho-Sam68 antibodies (compare, lanes 2 and 4). These results demonstrate that tyrosines 435, 440, and 443 are indeed phosphorylated by BRK and confirm that we have generated phospho-Sam68 antibodies.
Phospho-Sam68 Antibodies Are Site-specificTo demonstrate site specificity of the phospho-Sam68 antibodies, we generated a C-terminal-truncated Sam68 protein that deletes the C-terminal 9 amino acids from the GFP-Sam68 fusion protein (
432-443). In addition, each tyrosine within the NLS was separately replaced with a phenylalanine and expressed as GFP fusion proteins. Expression vectors encoding the mutant GFP-Sam68 fusion proteins were cotransfected with the plasmid expressing BRK YF in HeLa cells. The cell lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with the indicated phospho-specific antibodies (Fig. 1E). Deletion of the C-terminal 9 amino acids completely abolished the recognition of all 3 Sam68 phospho-specific antibodies (Fig. 1E, lane 2). The GFP-Sam68 Y435F, Y440F, and Y443F proteins were not recognized by their respective antibodies (Fig. 1E, lanes 3-5). The fact that, for example,
-440pY recognized wild-type GFP-Sam68 (lane 1) as well as the Y435F (lane 3) and Y443F (lane 5) mutants demonstrates that the absence of phosphorylation at Tyr435 and Tyr443 does not influence the recognition of Tyr440 by the anti-440pY antibody. These results further show that the phospho-Sam68 antibodies are site-specific.
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3 to
40 SNBs that we termed the multiple SNBs phenotype (or mSNBs) (Fig. 2A, middle panel). Each nuclear focus was indeed recognized with the anti-440pY antibodies demonstrating the phosphorylation of Sam68 in mSNBs. As demonstrated recently, activated BRK YF has a predominantly nuclear localization (25), however, cotransfection with GFP-Sam68 caused its redistribution within mSNBs (Fig. 2B).
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432-443 was therefore examined in HeLa cells in the presence or absence of BRK (Fig. 3A). Sam68
432-443 was expressed in the cytoplasm and also in the perinuclear compartment, as expected with the removal of the NLS (Fig. 3A). Substitution of Y440F caused the mutant GFP-Sam68 Y440F to localize within the cytoplasm, whereas the substitution of Sam68 Y435F and Y443F had no effect on the nuclear localization of Sam68 (Fig. 3A). These data identify Tyr440, and neither Tyr435 nor Tyr443, as critical residues for the nuclear localization of Sam68. BRK, however, appears to alter the cytoplasmic pattern of GFP-Sam68 Y440F and Sam68
432-443 causing the appearance of multiply cytoplasmic foci (Fig. 3A, right panel). Moreover, the expression of BRK YF caused the relocalization of Y435F and Y443F GFP-Sam68 to multiple SNBs, further demonstrating that GFP-Sam68 harboring amino acid substitutions of Tyr435 and Tyr443 behave like wild-type GFP-Sam68. To rule out the possibility that tyrosine-phosphorylated Sam68 form foci, we co-expressed GFP-Sam68 with active c-Src and we did not observe a redistribution of SNBs, suggesting that BRK has a unique ability to redistribute Sam68 (Fig. 3B).
Sam68 Is Phosphorylated in Breast Cancer Cell LinesThus far we have performed experiments with active BRK YF and overexpression. We wished to reproduce our findings with cell lines and tumor tissues endogenously expressing BRK and Sam68. Phosphorylation of endogenous Sam68 in breast cancer cell lines Hs578T, MDA-435, and MDA-468 has been recently reported (19). As the highest level of Sam68 phosphorylation was observed in MDA-468, we therefore surveyed this cell line and breast tumor cell line BT20, as well as the invasive breast tumor cell line MDA-231, for Sam68 phosphorylation using the
-440 antibodies. MDA-231 and BT20 have been previously reported to express moderate and high levels of BRK expression, respectively (31). Cell extracts were prepared, separated by SDS-PAGE, and the phosphorylation of Sam68 Tyr440 was visualized by immunoblotting. Comparable phosphorylation of Sam68 was detected in breast cancer cells MDA-231, MDA-468, and BT-20 but not in HeLa cells derived from human epithelial cervical carcinoma (Fig. 4A, top panel). Each cell lysate contained equivalent levels of Sam68, as detected with anti-Sam68 antibodies. Anti-BRK antibodies confirmed the presence of BRK in the breast tumor cell lines and weakly expressed in HeLa cells (Fig. 4A, middle panel). To determine whether all tyrosines in the NLS of Sam68 are phosphorylated, cell lysates from MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells were immunoprecipitated with control IgG or with the anti-Sam68 antibody. The immunoprecipitated proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with anti-435pY, anti-440pY, and anti-443pY antibodies. Immunoprecipitated Sam68 was easily detected by all phosphoantibodies (Fig. 4B). These data concur with the overexpression experiments in HeLa cells that Sam68 is indeed tyrosine phosphorylated by BRK on tyrosines 435, 440, and 443.
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30 min stimulation compared with
15 min for EGF receptor (pp180) phosphorylation. These data indicate the phosphorylation of Sam68 is enhanced in EGF signaling in MDA-231 cells. We further showed that Sam68 phosphorylated on Tyr440 relocalized to perinuclear structures in response to EGF treatment (Fig. 5B). To determine whether or not BRK played a role in EGF-induced phosphorylation of Sam68, we depleted BRK from MDA-231 cells by treating cells with BRK or control siRNA (Fig. 6A). We achieved
60% knockdown of BRK expression in MDA-231 using the BRK-specific siRNA. Treatment of these cells with EGF diminished the EGF-induced phosphorylation of Sam68 by
50% (Fig. 6B). These data demonstrate that Sam68 is a physiological substrate of the EGF receptor signaling pathway that requires BRK in the MDA-231 breast cancer cell line.
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10%) compared with the control AdGFP (
30%) (Fig. 7B). In contrast, the infection of astrocytes with AdBRK increased the number of cells incorporating BrdUrd from
30% with AdGFP to
60%. However, co-infection of AdSam68 and AdBRK also resulted in a reduction of BrdUrd incorporation from
60 to
25% (Fig. 7B). To further define what stage of the cell cycle accounts for the observed defects, we carried out flow cytometry analysis using propidium iodide and BrdUrd labeling (Fig. 7C). In control infected cultures,
19.4% of the cells were in S phase, as compared with
25.2% for cells infected with AdBRK and
13.4% in the case of AdSam68 (Fig. 7C). However, co-infection with AdSam68 and AdBRK resulted in few cells in S phase of the cell cycle, as only 9.3% of cells were observed in the S phase. These findings demonstrate that the Sam68 cell cycle inhibition overcomes the BRK-induced cell cycle progression. | DISCUSSION |
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The NLS of Sam68 contains an RXHPY(Q/G)R motif located at its distal end. This motif, originally identified and mapped in QKI-5, is also conserved in other QKI homologs as well as mammalian Sam68, SLM-1, SLM-2, and non-STAR protein Drosophila HNF-4 homologs, all of which are nuclear (43). The RXHPY(Q/G)R motif carries a conserved tyrosine (Tyr440 in Sam68). Indeed tyrosine 440 was critical for the nuclear localization of Sam68 as substituting this tyrosine with phenylalanine blocked nuclear entry Tyr440 (Fig. 3). Consistent with tyrosine phosphorylation altering the localization of Sam68 we noted that the induction of phosphorylation Tyr440 in response to EGF treatment led to relocalization of Sam68. The localization of Sam68 is known to be regulated by virus infection (44, 45) and arginine methylation (46), but this is the first report showing that tyrosine phosphorylation regulates its cellular localization.
We first reported the localization of Sam68 within dynamic nuclear structures that we called SNBs (35). These SNBs were observed in immortalized and transformed cells, and the prevalence of SNBs correlated with the tumorigenicity of some cancer cell lines (35). SNBs are preferentially positioned in proximity to the nucleoli and seemed to be the site of RNA metabolism as they were also found to contain heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (47), scaffold attachment factor-B (SAF-B)/HAP (48), and splicing factor YT521 (15). Also, we previously identified BRK in SNBs in the HT29 colon adenocarcinoma cell line (3). In its unphosphorylated state, endogenous and transfected Sam68 show a general diffuse nuclear localization and usually three distinct SNBs (35). Upon BRK phosphorylation, Sam68 relocalizes to multiple SNBs (Fig. 2). The BRK-induced effect was specific to SNBs, as the localization of Cajal bodies and PML bodies were unaltered with BRK overexpression (data not shown). Interestingly, SNBs were barely found in Src 3T3 cells (35), a cell type that contains tyrosine-phosphorylated Sam68 (1, 2), suggesting that the relocalizing effect is BRK-specific.
The tumor suppressor activities of Sam68 have been previously reported (20). Taylor et al. (21) used an inducible expression system to show that overexpression of Sam68 induces a G1 cell cycle arrest, an effect that was independent of the RNA binding properties of Sam68. Furthermore, random homozygous knock-out of Sam68 in NIH3T3 cells has been associated with neoplastic transformation of mouse fibroblasts and tumorigenesis (20). We confirmed by adenoviral delivery into primary rat astrocytes that Sam68 and BRK have opposing effects on cell cycle progression (Fig. 7). Sam68 inhibited cell cycle progression, whereas BRK promoted cell proliferation of primary rat astrocytes. The intracellular localization of BRK is nuclear in normal prostate epithelial cells and benign prostate hyperplasia, and cytoplasmic in high grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (34). Our data support the hypothesis that Sam68 may function as a tumor suppressor, a characteristic shared by other STAR proteins such as SLM-2 (49), GLD-1 (50), and Quaking (51).
The ability of BRK to induce cell proliferation is not surprising. BRK is overexpressed in
60% of breast carcinomas, but not in normal mammary tissue (24). Knockdown of BRK in the breast carcinoma cell line T47D resulted in significant suppression of cell proliferation (32). Moreover, BRK has been shown to associate with and sensitize EGF to proliferative responses and also to potentiate anchorage-independent growth of mammary epithelial cells (33). This BRK-dependent mitogenic sensitization may be achieved through its enhancement of erbB3 phosphorylation and subsequent activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway (29). These reports show that BRK confers a proliferative advantage on cells. In the present study, we show elevated expression of phosphorylated Sam68 in MDA-231, MDA-468, and BT20 breast cancer cell lines (Figs. 4, 5, 6). These cell lines have been shown to overexpress the EGF receptor (52). Moreover, we show for the first time that Sam68 is tyrosine phosphorylated downstream of the EGF receptor with slower kinetics than the EGF receptor implying that there is an intermediate protein. Because BRK siRNA treatment attenuated the Sam68 phosphorylation of Tyr440, this implies that BRK is the tyrosine kinase that mediates this phosphorylation. Therefore, the tyrosine phosphorylation of Sam68 in breast cancer cell lines may be part of a mechanism of inactivating its anti-proliferative functions, by altering its RNA binding properties and stimulating its adaptor functions (3, 7).
In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Sam68 is phosphorylated by BRK on tyrosine residues in the NLS in breast cancer cell lines and primary tumors. We also show that tyrosine 440 is a key modulator of Sam68 localization by BRK and EGF treatment. Our study also identifies phospho-Sam68 in BRK-positive breast cancer cell lines and tissues and reveals that Sam68 attenuates the ability of BRK to stimulate cell proliferation. These findings suggest that overexpression of Sam68 or blocking Sam68 Tyr440 phosphorylation may be valuable therapeutic targets for suppression of BRK-induced tumor progression.
| FOOTNOTES |
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The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Figs. S1 and S2. ![]()
1 Supported by a post-doctoral fellowship from the National Cancer Institute of Canada. ![]()
2 Present address: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Gene Therapeutics Research Institute, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. ![]()
3 Supported by National Institutes of Health Grant DK4452. ![]()
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed: 3755 Côte Ste.-Catherine Rd., Montréal, Québec H3T 1E2, Canada. Tel.: 514-340-8260; Fax: 514-340-8295; E-mail: stephane.richard{at}mcgill.ca.
5 The abbreviations used are: BRK, breast tumor kinase; SH, Src homology domain; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; EGF, epidermal growth factor; siRNA, small interfering RNA; SNB, Sam68 nuclear bodies; NLS, nuclear localization signal; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; GFP, green fluorescent protein; BrdUrd, bromodeoxyuridine; PTP1B, protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B; IDC, infiltrating ductal carcinomas; mSNB, multiple Sam68 nuclear bodies. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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M. Kasprzycka, M. Majewski, Z.-J. Wang, A. Ptasznik, M. Wysocka, Q. Zhang, M. Marzec, P. Gimotty, M. R. Crompton, and M. A. Wasik Expression and Oncogenic Role of Brk (PTK6/Sik) Protein Tyrosine Kinase in Lymphocytes Am. J. Pathol., May 1, 2006; 168(5): 1631 - 1641. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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