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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 283, Issue 10, 6110-6117, March 7, 2008
p66shc Inhibits Pro-survival Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor/ERK Signaling during Severe Oxidative Stress in Mouse Renal Proximal Tubule Cells*
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| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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-collagen-related protein) adaptor proteins have been shown to bind to a variety of receptors, including growth factor receptors such as the EGFR, and to couple those receptors to activation of Ras (5). In mammals, three shc family genes have been identified (shcA, shcB, and shcC), among which the shcA gene is the most ubiquitous (5). The shcA gene encodes three different proteins through differential usage of transcription/translation initiation sites and splicing (6). The p66shc isoform of shcA is uniformly expressed in most cells except some hematopoietic cells and contains an extra N-terminal CH-like region with Ser36, which is absent in the p46/52 isoforms (5).
It has been demonstrated that the tyrosine-phosphorylated p46shcA and p52shcA isoforms couple the activated EGFR to Ras/ERK activation during growth factor stimulation (5) or oxidative stress (1). Stress conditions (UV light and H2O2) may also lead to Ser36 phosphorylation of the 66-kDa isoform (7), which functions as a dominant-negative regulator of p46/52shc and terminates Ras/ERK activation (8–10). Interestingly, p66shc–/– mice have an extended life span and show reduced sensitivity to oxidative stress (11). Thus, p66shc is involved in signal transduction pathways that regulate cellular responses to oxidative stress and life span, and its absence increases resistance to oxidant injury and increases survival (12). Stress-activated p66shc has also been implicated in non-mitochondrial events that facilitate cell death through negative regulation of the Ras/ERK pathway (13).
Activation of ERK is important for survival in the kidney in vivo and in renal epithelial cells in vitro during oxidative stress (14–17). During the in vivo model of oxidative stress (ischemia/ reperfusion (I/R) injury), excess amounts of reactive oxygen species and free radicals (18, 19), including H2O2, are formed and have been postulated to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of renal injury (19). During I/R injury, the EGFR is activated in the proximal tubules of the kidney, but ERK activation is absent, and the proximal tubules undergo necrotic death (20, 21). We made a similar observation in vitro: a high dose of H2O2 causes necrotic (oncotic) death of renal proximal tubule cells with concomitant activation of the EGFR but not ERK, and ectopic activation of endogenous ERK rescues the cells from injury (14, 15). On the other hand, during moderate stress (moderate dose of H2O2) in vitro, renal proximal tubule cells survive through activation of the EGFR and ERK (14, 15). These observations suggest that the activated EGFR could serve a pro-death function (22) in addition to its more widely accepted role of enhancing regeneration of the injured segments of the kidney (20, 23, 43, 44). These dual roles of the EGFR have been described previously, as reactive oxygen species-dependent activation of the EGFR leads to cell death in renal proximal tubule cells exposed to cisplatin (24), and functional inactivation of the EGFR in renal proximal tubular cells reduces tubular-interstitial lesions after renal injury (25). Because the expression of p66shc in the kidney has been demonstrated (26), we postulate here that activated p66shc inhibits the survival signaling pathway by disconnecting the activated EGFR from Ras/ERK activation depending on the extent of oxidative stress.
Accordingly, the aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that serine phosphorylation of p66shc during severe oxidative stress in renal proximal tubule cells inactivates ERK and leads to cell death. We sought means to manipulate either expression or Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc to restore ERK activation and survival.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Cell Lines and Animals—The immortalized mouse proximal tubule line TKPTS was used as described (14, 15). Oxidative stress was induced by treatment of semiconfluent cells with 0.5 or 1 mM H2O2 for various time points. For in vivo experiments, 129Sv mice were used, and I/R injury was induced as described (14, 15).
Protein Isolation, Western Blotting, Immunoprecipitation, and Ras Activation—Kidneys were removed and homogenized in radioimmune precipitation assay buffer as described (14, 15). Similarly, monolayers of TKPTS cells were lysed in radioimmune precipitation assay buffer. Protein content was determined using a Bio-Rad protein determination assay. 100 µg of proteins from cell or tissue lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE and transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane (Bio-Rad). The filters were hybridized with the appropriate primary antibodies followed by an horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody. The bands were visualized using the ECL method (Amersham Biosciences) and quantified by densitometry (UN-SCAN-IT, Silk Scientific, Inc., Orem, UT). For immunoprecipitation, 400 µg of total cell lysates were incubated with the appropriate primary antibody overnight at 4 °C using the Catch and Release Version 2.0 reversible immunoprecipitation system (Millipore). Immunoprecipitated proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE as described above. In immunoprecipitation studies, negative control IgGs (rat or sheep) were also used to determine cross-reactivity. We found that these control antibodies did not cross-react upon Western blotting (data not shown). Activated ras was determined using an activation kit (Millipore) following the instructions of the manufacturer.
Elk1-Luciferase Reporter Transactivation Assay—The pFR-Luc (reporter) and pAF2-Elk1 (fusion transactivator) plasmids were purchased from Stratagene (La Jolla, CA). Plasmids were transiently transfected into TKPTS cells using GenePORTER 2 reagent (Genlantis, Inc., San Diego, CA) together with a β-galactosidase plasmid (Invitrogen) in 6-well plates as described (27). Luciferase activity was determined using a luciferase assay kit (Promega, Madison, WI) as suggested by the manufacturer under control conditions and 6 h after treatment with either epidermal growth factor (EGF) or H2O2 (0.5 or 1.0 mM). This time point was chosen because cells show no obvious damage at this time. The relative luciferase activity was measured and normalized to the amount of activity detected for a cotransfected β-galactosidase plasmid.
Transient Transfection of shc Plasmids—The following plasmids were used: wild-type p66shc plasmid, p66shc small interfering RNA (siRNA)-expressing (pTERsi66shc) plasmid, the p66shc(S36A) mutant plasmid (in which Ser36 was mutated to Ala), and the p66shc(S36D) phosphomimetic mutant plasmid (in which Ser36 was mutated to Asp). These plasmids were transiently transfected into TKPTS cells using GenePORTER 2 reagent in 6-well plates. Treatment protocols are described in the legends of the appropriate figures.
Establishment of a p66shc Knockdown Cell Line—TKPTS cells were stably transfected in a T-25 culture flask with either 6 µg of pTERsi66shc plasmid or the appropriate vector using GenePORTER 2 reagent. After 48 h, the cells were split into 100-mm Petri dishes in the presence of 200 µg/ml Zeocin. 7–10 days later, the surviving colonies were picked up by Scienceware sterile cloning disks and serially propagated in 24-, 12-, and 6-well plates. The extent of p66shc knockdown was determined by Western blotting. For additional experiments, we used the control T18C and p66shc knockdown Tsi66-21 clones.
Statistical Analysis—Statistical differences between the treated and control groups were determined by Student's paired t test. Differences between means were considered significant if p < 0.05. All analyses were performed using the SigmaStat 3.5 software package.
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| RESULTS |
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Status of Shc Phosphorylation during Oxidative Stress in Vitro— The Shc adaptor proteins can be tyrosine-phosphorylated by various agents (11, 29, 45), whereas stress conditions such as H2O2 and UV irradiation can phosphorylate p66shc at Ser36 (11). The tyrosine- or serine-phosphorylated Shc isoforms play opposite roles in EGFR-mediated ERK activation (8, 30). TKPTS cells were treated with either 0.5 or 1 mM H2O2, and cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with an anti-Shc antibody. After SDS-PAGE and transfer, the blots were immunoblotted with an anti-phospho-Shc (Tyr239/Tyr240), anti-phospho-p66shc (Ser36), or anti-Shc antibody (Fig. 2). The p52shc and p66shc isoforms were tyrosine-phosphorylated by 0.5 and 1 mM H2O2. Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc was observed only after treatment with 1 mM H2O2. We also determined whether ERK or JNK plays a role in Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc as described by others (31, 32). Accordingly, TKPTS cells were pretreated with the MEK/ERK inhibitor U0126 or infected with a dominant-negative JNK adenovirus prior to treatment with 1 mM H2O2, and Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc was determined (Fig. 2B). Under this condition, both ERK and JNK are activated (phosphorylated) and can be inhibited by U0126 or dominant-negative JNK, respectively (14). Surprisingly, inhibition of both ERK and JNK also attenuated Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc, but not tyrosine phosphorylation of p66shc or p52shc. We next determined whether Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc is linked to ERK inhibition and cell death.
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We also used the Tsi66-21 cell line, which was derived from TKPTS cells by stably transfecting the p66shc siRNA plasmid, or its control vector-expressing counterpart (T18C). Fig. 3B shows significant knockdown of p66shc expression in Tsi66-21 cells. Treatment of this p66shc knockdown cell line with a high dose of H2O2 significantly increased phosphorylation of ERK, whereas the same treatment of the control cell line failed to demonstrate increased ERK phosphorylation (Fig. 3C). In addition, tyrosine phosphorylation of the p52shc isoform was longer lasting in the p66shc knockdown cell line than in the control cell line after treatment with H2O2 (data not shown). These results support the notion that Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc indeed attenuates ERK activation during severe oxidative stress.
Involvement of p66shc and Ser36 Phosphorylation in Cell Death during Severe Oxidative Stress—Previously, we showed that in the absence of ERK activation, TKPTS cells undergo necrotic death during severe oxidative stress but that ectopic activation of endogenous ERK rescues cells from that death (14). Thus, isoform-specific knockdown of endogenous p66shc or expression of its mutant (S36A) that restores ERK activation (Fig. 3) should ameliorate cell death under severe oxidative stress. Transient transfection of TKPTS cells by a p66shc siRNA-expressing vector (34) significantly increased (by 2.5-fold) the number of surviving cells 24 h after treatment with 1 mM H2O2 as determined by trypan blue staining (Fig. 4A). In addition, transient transfection of the S36A mutant, but not the phosphomimetic mutant (S36D), also increased survival (by 2-fold). Similarly, survival of Tsi66-21 cells was significantly higher 6 or 24 h after treatment with a high dose of H2O2 (Fig. 4B) compared with that of its control counterpart. These results prove that through Ser36 phosphorylation, p66shc is necessary for ERK inactivation (Fig. 3) and the consequent cell death during severe oxidative stress.
p66shc Disrupts the EGFR-p52shc-Grb2-SOS1 Complex during Severe Oxidative Stress—In the next step, we wanted to determine how p66shc uncouples the activated EGFR from ERK activation during severe oxidative stress. Accordingly, TKPTS cells were treated with EGF or H2O2 (0.5 or 1 mM) for different time points. Cell lysates were obtained, and protein complexes were immunoprecipitated with an anti-EGFR antibody, followed by immunoblotting with an anti-Shc, anti-Grb2, anti-SOS1, or anti-EGFR antibody. As shown in Fig. 5A, 30 min after treatment, the activated EGFR bound p46/52shc, Grb2, and SOS1 adaptor proteins regardless of the type of treatment. 60 min after treatment with 1 mM H2O2, however, binding of the p66shc isoform to the EGFR was also increased, with a concomitant decrease in SOS1 binding (Fig. 5B). By contrast, both EGF and 0.5 mM H2O2 retained the EGFR-p46/52shc-Grb2-SOS1 complex formation without evidence of p66shc binding. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation of proteins with an anti-Grb2 antibody from these 1 mM H2O2-treated cells showed that Grb2 increasingly bound p66shc, but not p52shc, and consequently less SOS1 (Fig. 6A). Also, we demonstrated that transient overexpression of wild-type or mutant (S36A or S36D) p66shc increased Grb2 binding to p66shc in 1 mM H2O2-treated cells (Fig. 6B). However, SOS1 bound to Grb2 only in the presence of the S36A mutant (Fig. 6B). These results demonstrate that Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc is important for disruption of the Grb2-SOS1 complex. Further evidence for p66shc-mediated inhibition of effective complex formation is shown in the experiments summarized in Fig. 6C, where the p66shc knockdown cell line Tsi66-21 showed diminished p66shc but increased SOS1 binding to the EGFR compared with the control cell line (T18C) after treatment with a high dose of H2O2.
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I/R Injury in the Kidney Increases Phosphorylation of Shc Proteins and Their Binding to the EGFR—First, protein lysates from kidneys of 129Sv mice that underwent I/R injury were immunoprecipitated with an anti-Shc antibody, followed by immunoblotting with an anti-phospho-p66shc (Ser36), anti-phospho-Shc (Tyr239/Tyr240), or anti-Shc antibody. As shown in Fig. 8A, Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc was significantly increased 30 min and 24 h after reperfusion. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the p52shc isoform that preceded p66shc Ser36 phosphorylation also occurred in the kidney. Probing with an anti-EGFR antibody showed that Shc proteins increasingly bound to the EGFR in the reperfusion phase. Immunoprecipitation of proteins with an anti-EGFR antibody, followed by immunoblotting with an anti-Shc or anti-phospho-p66shc (Ser36) antibody, revealed that the EGFR increasingly bound Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc during reperfusion (Fig. 8, A and B). In addition, there was a decline in the initial SOS1 binding to the EGFR complex 30 min after reperfusion that coincided with the increased binding of Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc to the EGFR (Fig. 8, A and B). Whether EGFR-bound and Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc is localized to the proximal tubules that undergo necrotic death during I/R injury needs further studies. It is important to note that the EGFR is expressed mostly in renal proximal tubules (35). These observations are very similar to those shown in vitro after severe oxidative stress (Fig. 5B), suggesting a similar mechanism that inhibits the pro-survival ERK activation in vivo.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Here, we have demonstrated that phosphorylation of ShcA proteins by H2O2 depends on the dose of the oxidant in renal proximal tubule cells in vitro: a moderate dose of H2O2 tyrosine-phosphorylates ShcA proteins (Fig. 2), similar to EGF treatment (data not shown). On the other hand, a high dose of H2O2 phosphorylates p66shcA at Ser36, in addition to tyrosine phosphorylation of p52shcA and p66shcA (Fig. 2A). This Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc is MEK/ERK- and JNK-dependent (Fig. 2B), as shown previously (31, 32). Whether Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc is a dose-dependent or all-or-none event will require further studies at the single-cell level rather than in a mixture of cells.
These results also suggest that the observed inhibition of the Ras/MEK/ERK pathway under severe oxidative stress (Fig. 1), the consequent death of these cells (14, 15), and the Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc (Fig. 2A) are probably related and that the observed early ERK activation (Fig. 1), together with activation of JNK (14), serves as a negative feedback mechanism to shut down the ERK-dependent survival pathway during severe oxidative stress.
Indeed, siRNA-mediated knockdown of the p66shc isoform restored ERK function both in a transient reporter transactivation assay (Fig. 3A) and in a p66shc knockdown TKPTS cell line after treatment with a high dose of H2O2 (Fig. 3C). Similarly, knockdown of p66shc increased resistance to high dose H2O2-induced cell death (Fig. 4). Our results also show that substitution of Ser36 with Ala blunted high dose H2O2-induced inhibition of ERK function (Fig. 3A) and cell death (Fig. 4), whereas the phosphomimetic S36D mutant did not.
Furthermore, we sought to determine the mechanism by which Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc uncouples the activated EGFR from ras/MEK/ERK activation (Fig. 1) during severe oxidative stress. The activated EGFR recruits adaptor proteins such as Shc, Grb2, and SOS1 to activate ras (5). In this process, the tyrosine-phosphorylated p46/52shc isoforms play an important role, whereas p66shc could antagonize this process (30). It has been reported that p66shc and p52shc compete for the available Grb2 (8). Accordingly, we determined the assembly of the EGFR-Shc-Grb2-SOS1 complex by immunoprecipitation after treatment with 0.5 or 1 mM H2O2 and compared it with a fully executed assembled unit using EGF treatment. At an early time point, all agents induced the assembly of the EGFR-p46/52shc-Grb2-SOS1 complex (Fig. 5A), with its resultant activation of ras/MEK/ERK (Fig. 1). Interestingly, at a later time point, 1 mM H2O2 treatment increased binding of p66shc to the EGFR, with a concomitant decrease in SOS1 binding (Fig. 5B). Not surprisingly, 1 mM H2O2 treatment decreased ras/MEK/ERK activation under this condition (Fig. 1). On the other hand, EGF and 0.5 mM H2O2 treatment sustained the EGFR-p46/52shc-Grb2-SOS1 complex (Fig. 5B) at this time point and the consequent activation of ras/MEK/ERK (Fig. 1). Further co-immunoprecipitation studies revealed that Grb2 increasingly bound to p66shc but bound less to SOS1 (Fig. 6A). Overexpression of wild-type p66shc and its phosphomimetic mutant (S36D) increased binding of Grb2 to p66shc but decreased binding to SOS1 (Fig. 6B) after treatment with a high dose of H2O2. In contrast, in the presence of the S36A mutant, SOS1 binding to Grb2 was restored during severe oxidative stress (Fig. 6B); this observation further supports the role of the Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc in inhibition of ERK activation (Fig. 3) and cell death (Fig. 4). Khanday et al. (38) demonstrated that the N-terminal (CH2) domain of p66shc competes with the C-terminal region of SOS1 for the SH3 (Src homology 3) domain of Grb2, resulting in dissociation of the Grb2-SOS1 complex upon activation of p66shc during oxidative stress. This mechanism also implies reduced ras activation, as the Grb2-SOS1 complex formation is impaired. Okada et al. (8) showed that serine/threonine-phosphorylated p66shc is associated with Grb2 and competes for Grb2 binding with p52shc, resulting in inhibition of EGFR function. Migliaccio et al. (30) demonstrated that the p66shc-Grb2 complex does not activate ERK. Furthermore, the CH2 domain of p66shc contains Ser36, the phosphorylation of which might affect p66shc-Grb2 binding and the consequent dissociation of the Grb2-SOS1 complex, as our results suggest (Fig. 6B). We hypothesize that during severe oxidative stress, EGFR-bound p66shc binds at least part of the available Grb2 and decreases the available Grb2-SOS1 complex, which would connect the activated EGFR to Ras/ERK activation.
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Taken together, our data are consistent with the notion that severe oxidative stress (1 mM H2O2) disrupts the EGFR-p46/52shc-Grb2-SOS1 complex through binding the available Grb2 to activated p66shc, as observed by others (8), resulting in the subsequent disruption of EGFR signaling to ERK. This process requires Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc, as inhibition of Ser36 phosphorylation by the S36A mutant, but not the phosphomimetic S36D mutant, restored ERK function (Fig. 3) and increased survival (Fig. 4).
Notably, we found that the EGFR increasingly bound Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc in addition to tyrosine-phosphorylated p46/52shc in the mouse kidney after I/R injury (Fig. 8), similar to the results found in proximal tubule cells in vitro (Fig. 5B). Parallel with the increased p66shc binding, association of SOS1 with the EGFR was diminished in vivo (Fig. 8B), as observed under severe oxidative stress in vitro (Fig. 5B). Several studies have demonstrated increased expression and activation of the EGFR after I/R injury in the kidney (20, 21), but its role has not been defined. The EGFR, which is present in the proximal tubules (39), is activated by I/R but fails to activate ERK under such conditions. Ser36-phosphorylated p66shc and its association with the activated EGFR would seem to be a reasonable explanation for the failure of ERK to be activated in I/R injury. Further studies using p66shc–/– mice (11) will clarify this phenomenon. This mechanism may also offer a means to ameliorate oxidative stress-induced cell injury by either inhibiting Ser36 phosphorylation of p66shc or knocking down p66shc expression in vivo.
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The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains a supplemental figure. ![]()
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Pediatrics, Div. of Pediatric Nephrology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39126. E-mail: iarany{at}ped.umsmed.edu.
2 The abbreviations used are: MEK, mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; I/R, ischemia/reperfusion; EGF, epidermal growth factor; siRNA, small interfering RNA; JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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