Identification Of Tyrosine Residues Research Articles

Engineering Homogeneous Photoactive Antibody Fragments.

Genetically encoded site-specifically incorporated noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) have been used to modulate properties of several proteins. Here, we describe a procedure for engineering photoactive antibody fragments that bind to their target antigen only after irradiation with 365nm light. The procedure starts with identification of tyrosine residues in antibody fragments that are important for antibody-antigen binding and thus targets for replacement with photocaged tyrosine (pcY). This is followed by cloning of plasmids and expression of pcY-containing antibody fragments in E. coli. Finally, we describe a cost-effective and biologically-relevant method for measuring the binding affinity of photoactive antibody fragments to antigens expressed on the surface of live cancer cells.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Signaling to Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase

See related article, pages 715–722 There is substantial evidence supporting the idea that the process of angiogenesis requires the synthesis of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO). NO, characterized as a major endothelial-derived relaxing factor, exerts paracrine and autocrine roles in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis, vascular tone, and microvascular permeability. During the early steps of angiogenesis in which new blood vessels sprout from existing vascular beds, there is a persistence of vasodilation and increase in vascular permeability, suggesting that these hemodynamic changes in the existing vasculature are indispensable during an angiogenic process. A number of angiogenic factors can triggers the release of NO, synthesized by the endothelial isoform of NO synthase (eNOS). One such factor is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which as its name implies, is a critical mitogenic, chemoattractant, and survival factor for endothelial cells1 in addition to being characterized as a potent vascular permeability factor.2 Early studies have demonstrated that VEGF can readily stimulate NO production in cultured cells and isolated blood vessels and that NO is essential in mediating the VEGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and organization into tubes in 3D cultures.3,4 Subsequent in vivo studies have also demonstrated that eNOS knockout mice had significantly attenuated VEGF and ischemia induced angiogenesis and vascular permeability.5,6 These studies place eNOS derived NO as a key mediator of VEGF induced angiogenesis in postnatal mice. Since the discovery of VEGF, or VEGF-A, and subsequent members of the VEGF family (VEGF-B, -C, -D, -E, and placenta growth factor, PlGF), intense research has been performed to elucidate their modes of action. These growth factor ligands bind to 3 receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), namely VEGF receptor-1, -2, and -3 as well as to coreceptors such as heparan sulfate proteoglycans or neuropilins. Like many other RTKs, these receptors are able to form …

Identification of Tyrosine Residues on ELMO1 That Are Phosphorylated by the Src-Family Kinase Hck

The SH3 and SH2 domains of hematopoietic cell kinase (Hck) play important roles in substrate targeting. To identify new components of Hck signaling pathways, we identified proteins that bind to the SH3 domain of Hck (Scott et al. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 28238). One such protein was ELMO1, the mammalian orthologue of the Caenorhabditis elegans gene, ced-12. ELMO1 is an approximately 80-kD protein containing a PH domain and a C-terminal Pro-rich sequence. In C. elegans, ced-12 is required for the engulfment of dying cells and for cell migration. In mammalian fibroblasts, ELMO1 binds to Dock180, and functions upstream of Rac during phagocytosis and cell migration. We previously showed that ELMO1 binds directly to the Hck SH3 domain and is phosphorylated by Hck. In this study, we used mass spectrometry to identify the following sites of ELMO1 phosphorylation: Tyr 18, Tyr 216, Tyr 511, Tyr 395, and Tyr 720. Mutant forms of ELMO1 lacking these sites were defective in their ability to promote phagocytosis and migration in fibroblasts. Single tyrosine mutations showed that Tyr 511 is particularly important in mediating these biological effects. These mutants displayed comparable binding to Dock180 and Crk as wild-type ELMO1, but gave a lowered activation of Rac. The data suggest that Src family kinase mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of ELMO1 might represent an important regulatory mechanism that controls signaling through the ELMO1/Crk/Dock180 pathway.

Identification of Tyrosine Residues in Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2/FLK-1 Involved in Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase and Cell Proliferation

Activation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) plays a critical role in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. However, the mechanism by which VEGFR-2 activation elicits these cellular events is not fully understood. We recently constructed a chimeric receptor containing the extracellular domain of human CSF-1R/c-fms, fused with the entire transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of murine VEGFR-2 (Rahimi, N., Dayanir, V., and Lashkari, K. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 16986-16992). In this study we used VEGFR-2 chimera (herein named CKR) to elucidate the signal transduction relay of VEGFR-2 in porcine aortic endothelial (PAE) cells. Mutation of tyrosines 799 and 1173 individually on CKR resulted in partial loss of CKR's ability to stimulate cell growth. Double mutation of these sites caused total loss of CKR's ability to stimulate cell growth. Interestingly, mutation of these sites had no effect on the ability of CKR to stimulate cell migration. Further analysis revealed that tyrosines 799 and 1173 are docking sites for p85 of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). Pretreatment of cells with wortmannin, an inhibitor of PI3K, and rapamycin, a potent inhibitor of S6 kinase, abrogated CKR-mediated cell growth. However, expression of a dominant negative form of ras (N(17)ras) and inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway by PD98059 did not attenuate CKR-stimulated cell growth. Altogether, these results demonstrate that activation of VEGFR-2 results in activation of PI3K and that activation of PI3K/S6kinase pathway, but not Ras/MAPK, is responsible for VEGFR-2-mediated cell growth.

Identification of tyrosine residues in constitutively activated fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 involved in mitogenesis, Stat activation, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) mutations are frequently involved in human developmental disorders and cancer. Activation of FGFR3, through mutation or ligand stimulation, results in autophosphorylation of multiple tyrosine residues within the intracellular domain. To assess the importance of the six conserved tyrosine residues within the intracellular domain of FGFR3 for signaling, derivatives were constructed containing an N-terminal myristylation signal for plasma membrane localization and a point mutation (K650E) that confers constitutive kinase activation. A derivative containing all conserved tyrosine residues stimulates cellular transformation and activation of several FGFR3 signaling pathways. Substitution of all nonactivation loop tyrosine residues with phenylalanine rendered this FGFR3 construct inactive, despite the presence of the activating K650E mutation. Addition of a single tyrosine residue, Y724, restored its ability to stimulate cellular transformation, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation, and phosphorylation of Shp2, MAPK, Stat1, and Stat3. These results demonstrate a critical role for Y724 in the activation of multiple signaling pathways by constitutively activated mutants of FGFR3.

Identification of Tyrosine Residues in the Intracellular Domain of the Growth Hormone Receptor Required for Transcriptional Signaling and Stat5 Activation

The binding of growth hormone (GH) to its receptor results in its dimerization followed by activation of Jak2 kinase and tyrosine phosphorylation of the GH receptor itself, as well as Jak2 and the transcription factors Stat1, -3, and -5. In order to study the role of GH receptor tyrosine phosphorylation in intracellular signaling, we constructed GH receptors in which combinations of tyrosines were mutated to phenylalanines. We identified three tyrosine residues at positions 534, 566, and 627 that were required for activation of GH-stimulated transcription of the serine protease inhibitor (Spi) 2.1 promoter. Any of these three tyrosines is able to independently mediate GH-induced transcription, indicating redundancy in this part of the GH receptor. Tyrosine phosphorylation was not required for GH stimulation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activity or for GH-stimulated Ca2+ channel activation since these pathways were normal in cells expressing a GH receptor in which all eight intracellular tyrosines were mutated to phenylalanines. Activation of Stat5 by GH was, however, abolished in cells expressing the GH receptor lacking intracellular tyrosines. This study demonstrates that specific tyrosines in the GH receptor are required for transcriptional signaling possibly by their role in the activation of transcription factor Stat5.

Identification of tyrosine residues within the intracellular domain of the erythropoietin receptor crucial for STAT5 activation.

FDCP-1 cells are hematopoietic progenitor cells which require interleukin-3 for survival and proliferation. FDCP-1 cells stably transfected with the murine erythropoietin receptor cDNA survive and proliferate in the presence of erythropoietin. Erythropoietin induces the activation of the short forms (80 kDa) of STAT5 in the cells. Erythropoietin-induced activation of STAT5 was strongly reduced in cells expressing mutated variants of the erythropoietin receptors in which tyrosine residues in their intracellular domain have been eliminated. We determined that the erythropoietin receptor tyrosine residues 343 and 401 are independently necessary for STAT5 activation. The amino acid sequences surrounding these two tyrosine residues are very similar. Peptides comprising either phosphorylated Tyr343 or phosphorylated Tyr401, but not their unphosphorylated counterparts, inhibited the STAT5 activation. We propose that these two tyrosine residues of the erythropoietin receptor constitute docking sites for the STAT5 SH2 domain. The growth stimulus mediated by erythropoietin was decreased in cells expressing erythropoietin receptors lacking both Tyr343 and Tyr401. This suggests that STAT5 activation could be involved in the growth control of FDCP-1 cells.

Identification of tyrosine residues that are susceptible to lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination on the surface of Escherichia coli 50s ribosomal subunits or 70s ribosomes.

Further to our studies on the Escherichia coli 30S ribosomal subunit, the detailed surface topography of both 50S subunits and 70S ribosomes has been investigated by using iodination catalyzed by immobilized lactoperoxidase as the surface probe. In the 50S subunit, only proteins L2, L5, L10, and L11 were iodinated to a significant and reproducible extent. The targets of iodination were identified, after isolation of the individual iodinated proteins, and were as follows: in protein L2 (271 amino acids), tyrosine-102 and -160; in protein L5 (178 amino acids), tyrosine-142; in protein L10 (165 amino acids), tyrosine-132; in protein L11 (142 amino acids), tyrosine-7 and -61. In the 70S ribosome, only protein L5 was still iodinated to a significant extent from the 50S subunit, whereas in the 30S subunit the same spectrum of iodinated proteins was observed as that from iodinated isolated 30S subunits, with the exception that S21 was no longer present.

Identification of tyrosine residues that are susceptible to lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination on the surface of Escherichia coli 30S ribosomal subunit.

The detailed surface topography of the Escherichia coli 30S ribosomal subunit has been investigated, with iodination catalyzed by immobilized lactoperoxidase as the surface probe. Under mild conditions, only proteins S3, S7, S9, S18, and S21 were iodinated to a significant and reproducible extent. These proteins were isolated from the iodinated subunits, and in each case, the individual tyrosine residues that had reacted were identified by standard protein sequencing techniques. The targets of iodination that could be positively established were as follows: in protein S3 (232 amino acids), the tyrosines at positions 167 and 192; in S7 (153 amino acids), tyrosines 84 and 152; in S9 (128 amino acids), tyrosine 89; in S18 (74 amino acids), tyrosine 3 (tentative); in S21 (70 amino acids), tyrosines 37 and 70. The results represent part of a broader program to investigate ribosomal topography at the amino acid-nucleotide level.