Actopaxin is phosphorylated during mitosis and is a substrate for cyclin B1/cdc2 kinase

2002 ◽  
Vol 363 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael CURTIS ◽  
Sotiris N. NIKOLOPOULOS ◽  
Christopher E. TURNER

Prior to cell division, normal adherent cells adopt a round morphology that is associated with a loss of actin stress fibres and disassembly of focal adhesions. In this study, we investigate the mitotic phosphorylation of the recently described paxillin and actin-binding focal-adhesion protein actopaxin [Nikolopoulos and Turner (2000) J. Cell Biol. 151, 1435–1448]. Actopaxin is comprised of an N-terminus containing six putative cdc2 phosphorylation sites and a C-terminus consisting of tandem calponin homology domains. Here we show that the N-terminus of actopaxin is phosphorylated by cyclin B1/cdc2 kinase in vitro and that this region of actopaxin precipitates cdc2 kinase activity from mitotic lysates. Actopaxin exhibits reduced electrophoretic mobility during mitosis that is dependent on phosphorylation within the first two consensus cdc2 phosphorylation sites. Finally, as cells progress from mitosis to G1 there is an adhesion-independent dephosphorylation of actopaxin, suggesting that actopaxin dephosphorylation precedes cell spreading and the reformation of focal adhesions. Taken together, these results suggest a role for cyclin B1/cdc2-dependent phosphorylation of actopaxin in regulating actin cytoskeleton reorganization during cell division.

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3860-3867
Author(s):  
T Izumi ◽  
J L Maller

The cdc2 kinase and B-type cyclins are known to be components of maturation- or M-phase-promoting factor (MPF). Phosphorylation of cyclin B has been reported previously and may regulate entry into and exit from mitosis and meiosis. To investigate the role of cyclin B phosphorylation, we replaced putative cdc2 kinase phosphorylation sites in Xenopus cyclins B1 and B2 by using oligonucleotide site-directed mutagenesis. We found that Ser-90 of cyclin B2 and Ser-94 or Ser-96 of cyclin B1 are the main phosphorylation sites both in functional Xenopus egg extracts and after phosphorylation with purified MPF in vitro. Microtubule-associated protein (MAP) kinase from Xenopus eggs phosphorylated cyclin B1 significantly at Ser-94 or Ser-96, whereas it was largely inactive against cyclin B2. The substitutions that ablated phosphorylation at these sites, however, resulted in no functional differences between mutant and wild-type cyclin, as judged by the kinetics of M-phase degradation, induction of mitosis in egg extracts, or induction of oocyte maturation. These results indicate that the phosphorylation of Xenopus B-type cyclins by cdc2 kinase or MAP kinase is not required for the hallmark functions of cyclin.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3860-3867 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Izumi ◽  
J L Maller

The cdc2 kinase and B-type cyclins are known to be components of maturation- or M-phase-promoting factor (MPF). Phosphorylation of cyclin B has been reported previously and may regulate entry into and exit from mitosis and meiosis. To investigate the role of cyclin B phosphorylation, we replaced putative cdc2 kinase phosphorylation sites in Xenopus cyclins B1 and B2 by using oligonucleotide site-directed mutagenesis. We found that Ser-90 of cyclin B2 and Ser-94 or Ser-96 of cyclin B1 are the main phosphorylation sites both in functional Xenopus egg extracts and after phosphorylation with purified MPF in vitro. Microtubule-associated protein (MAP) kinase from Xenopus eggs phosphorylated cyclin B1 significantly at Ser-94 or Ser-96, whereas it was largely inactive against cyclin B2. The substitutions that ablated phosphorylation at these sites, however, resulted in no functional differences between mutant and wild-type cyclin, as judged by the kinetics of M-phase degradation, induction of mitosis in egg extracts, or induction of oocyte maturation. These results indicate that the phosphorylation of Xenopus B-type cyclins by cdc2 kinase or MAP kinase is not required for the hallmark functions of cyclin.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 3192-3203 ◽  
Author(s):  
K M Pickham ◽  
A N Meyer ◽  
J Li ◽  
D J Donoghue

The p34cdc2 protein kinase is a component of maturation-promoting factor, the master regulator of the cell cycle in all eukaryotes. The activity of p34cdc2 is itself tightly regulated by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Predicted regulatory phosphorylation sites of Xenopus p34cdc2 were mutated in vitro, and in vitro-transcribed RNAs were injected into Xenopus oocytes. The cdc2 single mutants Thr-14----Ala and Tyr-15----Phe did not induce germinal vesicle breakdown (BVBD) upon microinjection into oocytes. In contrast, the cdc2 double mutant Ala-14/Phe-15 did induce GVBD. Both the Ala-14 and Ala-14/Phe-15p34cdc2 mutants were shown to coimmunoprecipitate cyclin B1 and to phosphorylate histone H1 in immune complex kinase assays. Microinjection of antisense oligonucleotides to c-mosXe was used to demonstrate the role of mos protein synthesis in the induction of GVBD by the Ala-14/Phe-15 cdc2 mutant. Thr-161 was also mutated. p34cdc2 single mutants Ala-161 and Glu-161 and triple mutants Ala-14/Phe-15/Ala-161 and Ala-14/Phe-15/Glu-161 failed to induce GVBD in oocytes and showed a decreased binding to cyclin B1 in coimmunoprecipitations. Each of the cdc2 mutants was also assayed by coinjection with cyclin B1 or c-mosXe RNA into oocytes. Several of the cdc2 mutants were found to affect the kinetics of cyclin B1 and/or mos-induced GVBD upon coinjection, although none affected the rate of progesterone-induced maturation. We demonstrate here the significance of Thr-14, Tyr-15, and Thr-161 of p34cdc2 in Xenopus oocyte maturation. In addition, these results suggest a regulatory role for mosXe in induction of oocyte maturation by the cdc2 mutant Ala-14/Phe-15.


1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (12) ◽  
pp. 1751-1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Abrieu ◽  
T. Brassac ◽  
S. Galas ◽  
D. Fisher ◽  
J.C. Labbe ◽  
...  

We have investigated whether Plx1, a kinase recently shown to phosphorylate cdc25c in vitro, is required for activation of cdc25c at the G2/M-phase transition of the cell cycle in Xenopus. Using immunodepletion or the mere addition of an antibody against the C terminus of Plx1, which suppressed its activation (not its activity) at G2/M, we show that Plx1 activity is required for activation of cyclin B-cdc2 kinase in both interphase egg extracts receiving recombinant cyclin B, and cycling extracts that spontaneously oscillate between interphase and mitosis. Furthermore, a positive feedback loop allows cyclin B-cdc2 kinase to activate Plx1 at the G2/M-phase transition. In contrast, activation of cyclin A-cdc2 kinase does not require Plx1 activity, and cyclin A-cdc2 kinase fails to activate Plx1 and its consequence, cdc25c activation in cycling extracts.


mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Silber ◽  
Stefan Pan ◽  
Sina Schäkermann ◽  
Christian Mayer ◽  
Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Antibiotic acyldepsipeptides (ADEPs) deregulate ClpP, the proteolytic core of the bacterial Clp protease, thereby inhibiting its native functions and concomitantly activating it for uncontrolled proteolysis of nonnative substrates. Importantly, although ADEP-activated ClpP is assumed to target multiple polypeptide and protein substrates in the bacterial cell, not all proteins seem equally susceptible. In Bacillus subtilis, the cell division protein FtsZ emerged to be particularly sensitive to degradation by ADEP-activated ClpP at low inhibitory ADEP concentrations. In fact, FtsZ is the only bacterial protein that has been confirmed to be degraded in vitro as well as within bacterial cells so far. However, the molecular reason for this preferred degradation remained elusive. Here, we report the unexpected finding that ADEP-activated ClpP alone, in the absence of any Clp-ATPase, leads to an unfolding and subsequent degradation of the N-terminal domain of FtsZ, which can be prevented by the stabilization of the FtsZ fold via nucleotide binding. At elevated antibiotic concentrations, importantly, the C terminus of FtsZ is notably targeted for degradation in addition to the N terminus. Our results show that different target structures are more or less accessible to ClpP, depending on the ADEP level present. Moreover, our data assign a Clp-ATPase-independent protein unfolding capability to the ClpP core of the bacterial Clp protease and suggest that the protein fold of FtsZ may be more flexible than previously anticipated. IMPORTANCE Acyldepsipeptide (ADEP) antibiotics effectively kill multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens, including vancomycin-resistant enterococcus, penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The antibacterial activity of ADEP depends on a new mechanism of action, i.e., the deregulation of bacterial protease ClpP that leads to bacterial self-digestion. Our data allow new insights into the mode of ADEP action by providing a molecular explanation for the distinct bacterial phenotypes observed at low versus high ADEP concentrations. In addition, we show that ClpP alone, in the absence of any unfoldase or energy-consuming system, and only activated by the small molecule antibiotic ADEP, leads to the unfolding of the cell division protein FtsZ.


Biochemistry ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1272-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norma J. Greenfield ◽  
Lucy Kotlyanskaya ◽  
Sarah E. Hitchcock-DeGregori
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 167 (5) ◽  
pp. 473-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung-Gun Kim ◽  
Yu-Jen Chen ◽  
Liliana Falzon ◽  
Jean Baum ◽  
Masayori Inouye

Abstract Nascent polypeptides are synthesized on ribosomes starting at the N-terminus and simultaneously begin to fold during translation. We constructed N-terminal fragments of prosubtilisin E containing an intramolecular chaperone (IMC) at N-terminus to mimic cotranslational folding intermediates of prosubtilisin. The IMC-fragments of prosubtilisin exhibited progressive enhancement of their secondary structures and thermostabilities with increasing polypeptide length. However, even the largest IMC-fragment with 72 residues truncated from the C-terminus behaved as a molten globule, indicating the requirement of the C-terminal region to have a stable tertiary structure. Furthermore, truncation of the IMC in the IMC-fragments resulted in aggregation, suggesting that the IMC plays a crucial role to prevent misfolding and aggregation of cotranslational folding intermediates during translation of prosubtilisin polypeptide.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Usami ◽  
Yukihiro Kobayashi ◽  
Takahiro Kameda ◽  
Akari Miyazaki ◽  
Kazuyuki Matsuda ◽  
...  

MCs (mast cells) adversely affect atherosclerosis by promoting the progression of lesions and plaque destabilization. MC chymase cleaves apoA-I (apolipoprotein A-I), the main protein component of HDL (high-density lipoprotein). We previously showed that C-terminally truncated apoA-I (cleaved at the carboxyl side of Phe225) is present in normal human serum using a newly developed specific mAb (monoclonal antibody). In the present study, we aimed to identify chymase-induced cleavage sites in both lipid-free and lipid-bound (HDL3) forms of apoA-I. Lipid-free apoA-I was preferentially digested by chymase, at the C-terminus rather than the N-terminus. Phe229 and Tyr192 residues were the main cleavage sites. Interestingly, the Phe225 residue was a minor cleavage site. In contrast, the same concentration of chymase failed to digest apoA-I in HDL3; however, a 100-fold higher concentration of chymase modestly digested apoA-I in HDL3 at only the N-terminus, especially at Phe33. CPA (carboxypeptidase A) is another MC protease, co-localized with chymase in severe atherosclerotic lesions. CPA, in vitro, further cleaved C-terminal Phe225 and Phe229 residues newly exposed by chymase, but did not cleave Tyr192. These results indicate that several forms of C-terminally and N-terminally truncated apoA-I could exist in the circulation. They may be useful as new biomarkers to assess the risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease).


2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 185-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Legardinier ◽  
Jean-Claude Poirier ◽  
Danièle Klett ◽  
Yves Combarnous ◽  
Claire Cahoreau

Recombinant equine LH/chorionic gonadotropin (eLH/CG) was expressed in the baculovirus–Sf9 insect cell system either as a single-chain with the C-terminus of the β-subunit fused to the N-terminus of the α-subunit or as non-covalently linked heterodimers with or without a polyhistidine tag at various locations. All these non-covalently linked eLH/CG variants were secreted as stable heterodimers in the medium of infected Sf9 cells. To assess the influence of the presence and the position of polyhistidine tag on LH bioactivity, we expressed four non-covalently linked tagged heterodimeric eLH/CG variants that were secreted in threefold higher quantities than the single chain. Among them, only two exhibited full in vitro LH bioactivity, relative to untagged heterodimers, namely the one His-tagged at the N-terminus of α-subunit and the other at the C-terminus of the β-subunit both of which are amenable to nickel-affinity purification. Furthermore, single-chain eLH/CG was found to be N- and O-glycosylated but nevertheless less active in in vitro LH bioassays than natural eCG and heterodimeric recombinant eLH/CG. The thermal stability of natural and recombinant hormones was assessed by the initial rates of dissociation from 20 to 90 °C. Heterodimeric eLH/CG from Sf9 cells was found to be as stable as pituitary eLH and serum eCG (T1/2, 74–77 °C). Although Sf9 cells only elaborated short immature-type carbohydrate side chains on glycoproteins, recombinant eLH/CG produced in these cells exhibited stabilities similar to that of pituitary eLH. In conclusion, recombinant heterodimeric eLH/CG exhibits the same thermal stability as natural pituitary LH and its advantages over the single-chain eLH/CG include higher secretion, higher in vitro bioactivity, and reduced potential risk of immunogenicity.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 1396-1396
Author(s):  
Kerstin M Kampa-Schittenhelm ◽  
Charles D Lopez ◽  
Marcus M Schittenhelm

Abstract Abstract 1396 Acute myeloid leukemias (AML) are difficult to treat, and risk-stratification for successful chemotherapy remains a major challenge. Inactivation of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway is a frequent event in many cancers that promotes tumorigenesis and resistance to chemotherapy. However, p53 mutations are rare in AML, and thus the p53-pathway must be inactivated by other mechanisms. ASPP2 is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor that belongs to a family of p53-binding proteins that enhance apoptosis in part by stimulation of p53-transactivation of selected pro-apoptotic target genes. High ASPP2 expression levels in the absence of p53 mutations thereby argue for proper apoptosis induction capacity and thereby for better response rates. Indeed, low ASPP2 expression levels are correlated with aggressive courses of different tumors. As we have previously shown by qPCR (Kampa-Schittenhelm et al., ASH 2010) and confirm now by intracellular immunostaining in a larger patient cohort, ASPP2 expression levels vary widely in acute leukemias. In vitro silencing of ASPP2 transcription leads to abrogation of induction of apoptosis after application of chemotherapy, arguing for inferior in vivo response rates to therapy of patients lacking ASPP2 expression. Of note, the highest expression levels we have seen was in a patient with good prognosis core binding factor leukemia lacking an autoactivating KIT mutation. The p53 core domain must interact with the ASPP2 C-terminus to fully stimulate apoptotic function. To further investigate how regulation of the p53-ASPP2 interaction may play a role in apoptosis induction in AML, we identified several highly conserved and highly predicted tyrosine phosphorylation sites at the ASPP2 C-terminus. To study whether these sites modulate the p53-ASPP2 interaction and apoptotic function, we developed phospho-specific antibodies against the three highest-scoring phosphorylation sites and confirmed. tyrosine phosphorylation at Y1029, Y1046 and Y1114 in ex vivo blasts from AML patients. Intriguingly, based on the crystal structure of the p53-ASPP2 complex, phosphorylation of all three tyrosines is predicted to disrupt p53-ASPP2 binding. Tantalizingly, we found that these phosphorylation expression patterns changed after in vitro treatment of native blasts with chemotherapy: blasts treated with daunorubicin revealed an early change of tyrosine phosphorylation patterns. Using these new phospho-specific antibodies, we are continuing to analyze changes in phosphorylation patterns in primary AML blasts (with and without ex vivo chemotherapy) and are performing univariate and multivariate analysis to correlate with available clinical data. Preliminary data suggests that altered ASPP2 tyrosine phosphorylation in AML may play an important role in modulating response to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in the absence of inactivating p53 mutations. Ongoing work is prospectively analyzing pY-ASPP2 in patients with acute leukemia during induction chemotherapy. These results aim to evaluate ASPP2 expression as an early-on prediction marker of therapy response in acute leukemia. Further, we aim to provide new and clinically relevant insight into p53 pathway inactivation in acute leukemia – which suggests a novel potential target for therapy to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy in these patients. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


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