Association of phosphatidylinositol kinase activity with polyoma middle-T competent for transformation

Polyoma middle-T antigen is required for viral transformation of cultured cells and for tumorigenesis in animals. Like many other transforming gene products, middle-T is bound to the membrane and has an associated tyrosine kinase activity in vitro. This activity seems to result from the interaction of middle-T with pp60c-src, the cellular homologue of the transforming gene product of the Rous sarcoma virus, pp60v-src (refs 3-5). Both pp60v-src (ref. 6) and another retrovirus transforming gene product, pp68v-ros (ref. 7) were shown recently to have an associated phosphatidylinositol (PI) kinase activity in vitro and to increase PI turnover in vivo. These results suggest that viral transformation may be directly connected to a complex network of second messengers generated from PI turnover. Here, we assayed for PI kinase activity in immunoprecipitates made with middle-T- or pp60c-src-specific antisera of cells infected with polyoma virus. A PI kinase activity was detected in those immunoprecipitates which contained middle-T. Studies of mutants of middle-T defective in transformation indicate a close correlation between PI kinase activity and transformation.     

Autophosphorylation sites on the epidermal growth factor receptor

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor is a tyrosine-specific protein kinase with autophosphorylating activity. A 300 amino acid-long region of the receptor's cytoplasmic domain matches (35-90% homology) sequences of transforming proteins from the src family and includes a putative nucleotide binding site. Several of the src transforming proteins have tyrosine kinase activity, but v-erb-B, which appears to be a truncated EGF receptor, is virtually identical to the receptor over this region and yet lacks detectable kinase activity. To locate possible acceptor sites in the v-erb-B protein, we have mapped these sites in the human EGF receptor. We report here that three tyrosine sites near the C-terminus are phosphorylated in vitro. In intact cells, we find that EGF stimulates phosphorylation of several sites, the tyrosine 14 residues from the C-terminus being modified the most extensively. The equivalent site is absent in the v-erb-B protein of avian erythroblastosis virus (AEV) and may influence tyrosine kinase activity.     

Homology between phosphotyrosine acceptor site of human c-abl and viral oncogene products

The human homologues of several independent viral oncogenes, each of which encodes tyrosine-specific protein kinases, have been identified. Of these, three (v-src, v-yes and v-fes/fps) are known to exhibit considerable sequence homology, particularly in the regions of their phosphorylation acceptor sites. In the present study, sequences encoding the tyrosine phosphorylation acceptor sites of the Abelson murine leukaemia virus oncogene, v-abl, and its human cellular homologue, c-abl, have been identified and their nucleic acid sequences determined. Our results establish extensive homology between this region of c-abl and acceptor domains of the v-src, v-yes and v-fes/fps family of viral oncogenes, as well as more distant relatedness to the catalytic chain of the mammalian cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. These findings suggest that, of the homologues of retroviral oncogenes with tyrosine protein kinase activity examined to date, all were probably derived from a common progenitor and may represent members of a diverse family of cellular protein kinases.     

Direct evidence that oncogenic tyrosine kinases and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase have homologous ATP-binding sites

p60src, the transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), is a protein kinase that has a strict specificity for tyrosine. The phosphorylation of cellular proteins by p60src (ref. 4) results in transformation. Recently, Barker and Dayhoff discovered that residues 259-485 of p60src have 22% sequence identity with residues 33-258 of the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, an enzyme that has a specificity for serine. Because it was necessary to introduce eight gaps to align the two proteins, the question remained as to whether this apparent homology reflected a common evolutionary origin. We demonstrate here that the ATP analogue p-fluorosulphonylbenzoyl 5'-adenosine (FSBA) inactivates the tyrosine protein kinase activity of p60src by reacting with lysine 295. When aligned for maximum sequence identity, lysine 295 of p60src and the lysine in the catalytic subunit which also reacts specifically with FSBA are superimposed precisely. This functional homology is strong evidence that the protein kinases, irrespective of amino acid substrate specificity, comprise a single divergent gene family.     

Tyrosine phosphorylation of the fission yeast cdc2+ protein kinase regulates entry into mitosis

The cdc2+ protein kinase (pp34) is found to be phosphorylated on tyrosine as well as serine and threonine residues in exponentially growing Schizosaccharomyces pombe. At mitosis, the level of pp34 phosphorylation on both threonine and tyrosine residues decreases. The single detectable site of tyrosine phosphorylation in pp34 has been mapped to Tyr 15, a residue within the presumptive ATP-binding domain. Substitution of this tyrosine by phenylalanine advances cells prematurely into mitosis, establishing that tyrosine phosphorylation/dephosphorylation directly regulates pp34 function.     

Point mutation in FGF receptor eliminates phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis without affecting mitogenesis.

Stimulation of growth factor receptors with tyrosine kinase activity is followed by rapid receptor dimerization, tyrosine autophosphorylation and phosphorylation of signalling molecules such as phospholipase C gamma (PLC gamma) and the ras GTPase-activating protein. PLC gamma and GTPase-activating protein bind to specific tyrosine-phosphorylated regions in growth factor receptors through their src-homologous SH2 domains. Growth factor-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC gamma is essential for stimulation of phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis in vitro and in vivo. We have shown that a short phosphorylated peptide containing tyrosine at position 766 from a conserved region of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor is a binding site for the SH2 domain of PLC gamma (ref. 8). Here we show that an FGF receptor point mutant in which Tyr 766 is replaced by a phenylalanine residue (Y766F) is unable to associate with and tyrosine-phosphorylate PLC gamma or to stimulate hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol. Nevertheless, the Y766F FGF receptor mutant can be autophosphorylated, and can phosphorylate several cellular proteins and stimulate DNA synthesis. Our data show that phosphorylation of the conserved Tyr 766 of the FGF receptor is essential for phosphorylation of PLC gamma and for hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol, but that elimination of this hydrolysis does not affect FGF-induced mitogenesis.     

Association of the Shc and Grb2/Sem5 SH2-containing proteins is implicated in activation of the Ras pathway by tyrosine kinases.

The mammalian shc gene encodes two overlapping, widely expressed proteins of 46 and 52K, with a carboxy-terminal SH2 domain that binds activated growth factor receptors, and a more amino-terminal glycine/proline-rich region. These shc gene products (Shc) are transforming when overexpressed in fibroblasts. Shc proteins become phosphorylated on tyrosine in cells stimulated with a variety of growth factors, and in cells transformed by v-src (ref. 2), suggesting that they are tyrosine kinase targets that control a mitogenic signalling pathway. Here we report that tyrosine-phosphorylated Shc proteins form a specific complex with a non-phosphorylated 23K polypeptide encoded by the grb2/sem-5 gene. The grb2/sem-5 gene product itself contains an SH2 domain, which mediates binding to Shc, and is implicated in activation of the Ras guanine nucleotide-binding protein by tyrosine kinases in both Caenorhabditis elegans and mammalian cells. Consistent with a role in signalling through Ras, shc overexpression induced Ras-dependent neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. These results suggest that Shc tyrosine phosphorylation can couple tyrosine kinases to Grb2/Sem-5, through formation of a Shc-Grb2/Sem-5 complex, and thereby regulate the mammalian Ras signalling pathway.     

Transforming potential of the c-fms proto-oncogene (CSF-1 receptor)

The c-fms proto-oncogene encodes a transmembrane glycoprotein that is probably identical to the receptor for the macrophage colony stimulating factor, CSF-1. Forty C-terminal amino acids of the normal receptor are replaced by 11 unrelated residues in the feline v-fms oncogene product, deleting a C-terminal tyrosine residue (Tyr969) whose phosphorylation might negatively regulate the receptor kinase activity. We show that the human c-fms gene stimulates growth of mouse NIH 3T3 cells in agar in response to human recombinant CSF-1, indicating that receptor transduction is sufficient to induce a CSF-1 responsive phenotype. Although cells transfected with c-fms genes containing either Tyr969 or Phe969 were not transformed, cotransfection of these genes with CSF-1 complementary DNA induced transformation, with c-fms(Phe969) showing significantly more activity than c-fms(Tyr969). In the absence of CSF-1, chimaeric v-fms/c-fms genes encoding the wild-type c-fms C terminus were poorly transforming, whereas chimaeras bearing Phe969 were as transforming as v-fms. Thus, the Phe969 mutation, although not in itself sufficient to induce transformation, activates the oncogenic potential of c-fms in association with an endogenous ligand or in conjunction with mutations elsewhere in the c-fms gene that confer ligand-independent signals for growth.     

Association of the polyomavirus middle-T antigen with c-yes protein

Expression of the middle-T antigen of polyomavirus is sufficient to induce transformation of fibroblasts in culture and tumour formation in whole animals. Middle-T can form a complex with the cellular src gene product (p60c-src) and can be phosphorylated by p60c-src in vitro. Studies using middle-T mutants have suggested that the association of middle-T with p60c-src may be necessary but not sufficient for transformation. Therefore, we addressed the possibility that middle-T could interact with other tyrosine protein kinases structurally related to p60c-src. Using antibody raised against a fusion protein between beta-galactosidase and amino-terminal sequences of p90gag-yes from Y73 virus (anti-yes antibody), we have found that middle-T can associate with and be phosphorylated by the c-yes proto-oncogene product, a protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) 62,000 (62K). This raises the possibility that the middle-T-p62c-yes complex contributes to transformation by polyomavirus.     

Association of p60c-src with polyoma virus middle-T antigen abrogating mitosis-specific activation.

Polyoma middle-T antigen is required for tumorigenesis in animals and for viral transformation of a variety of cells in culture (reviewed in ref. 1). Middle-T associates with and thereby activates p60c-src, a cellular tyrosine kinase homologous to the oncogene product of Rous sarcoma virus. Activation of p60c-src by middle-T is accompanied both by dephosphorylation of tyrosine 527, a site which negatively regulates src kinase src kinase activity (reviewed in refs 4-6) and by autophosphorylation on tyrosine 416 (refs 7-10). Phosphoprotein p60c-src is subject to cell cycle-specific regulation. It is most active during mitosis and repressed in interphase. Here we report that mitotic p60c-src is dephosphorylated at tyrosine 527. We also show that in cells expressing middle-T, src kinase activity is high both in mitosis and during interphase. An oncogenic mutant src protein, p60c-src(527F), where tyrosine 527 is substituted by phenylalanine, is also highly active in all phases of the cell cycle.     

Phosphorylation of GAP and GAP-associated proteins by transforming and mitogenic tyrosine kinases.

The critical pathways through which protein-tyrosine kinases induce cellular proliferation and malignant transformation are not well defined. As microinjection of antibodies against p21ras can block the biological effects of both normal and oncogenic tyrosine kinases, it is likely that they require functional p21ras to transmit their mitogenic signals. No biochemical link has been established, however, between tyrosine kinases and p21ras. We have identified a non-catalytic domain of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases, SH2, that regulates the activity and specificity of the kinase domain. The presence of two adjacent SH2 domains in the p21ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP) indicates that GAP might interact directly with tyrosine kinases. Here we show that GAP, and two co-precipitating proteins of relative molecular masses 62,000 and 190,000 (p62 and p190) are phosphorylated on tyrosine in cells that have been transformed by cytoplasmic and receptor-like tyrosine kinases. The phosphorylation of these polypeptides correlates with transformation in cells expressing inducible forms of the v-src or v-fps encoded tyrosine kinases. Furthermore, GAP, p62 and p190 are also rapidly phosphorylated on tyrosine in fibroblasts stimulated with epidermal growth factor. Our results suggest a mechanism by which tyrosine kinases might modify p21ras function, and implicate GAP and its associated proteins as targets of both oncoproteins and normal growth factor receptors with tyrosine kinase activity. These data support the idea that SH2 sequences direct the interactions of cytoplasmic proteins involved in signal transduction.     

Adenovirus early region 1A enables viral and cellular transforming genes to transform primary cells in culture

The polyoma virus middle-T and the T24 Harvey ras1 genes are individually unable to transform primary baby rat kidney cells. Adenovirus early region 1A provides functions required by these genes to transform primary cells following DNA-mediated gene transfer. These results suggest that separate establishment and transforming functions are required for oncogenic transformation of primary cells in culture.     

Identification of a 32K plasma membrane protein that binds to the myristylated amino-terminal sequence of p60v-src

The transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus, p60v-src, is a myristylated membrane-bound phosphoprotein. Interaction of p60v-src with the plasma membrane is essential for transforming activity, and is mediated by association with a membrane-bound Src receptor protein. Evidence for the existence of an Src receptor is based on the ability of a myristylated peptide containing the N-terminal Src sequence to inhibit binding of p60v-src to plasma membranes in vitro: binding of p60v-src to a plasma membrane receptor is therefore mediated by N-terminal Src sequences. Here we report that a myristyl-Src peptide, but not the corresponding non-myristylated peptide, can be specifically crosslinked to a plasma membrane protein of relative molecular mass 32,000 (Mr32K). The 32K protein represents an Src-binding protein in the plasma membrane that is likely to be a component of the myristyl-Src receptor, and which could be involved in cellular transformation.     

Altered tyrosine 527 phosphorylation and mitotic activation of p60c-src.

The tyrosine kinasee activity of p60c-src, the protein product of the c-src gene, increases during mitosis; this may be important in initiating at least some of the cellular changes that occur during this phase of the cell cycle. Although there is evidence that p60c-src is phosphorylated at several sites during mitosis, phosphorylation in vitro does not increase its kinase activity. We now report that the kinase activity of a p60c-src mutant with residue tyrosine 527 changed to phenylanine does not change during the cell cycle, suggesting that changes in the phosphorylation state of this residue may be responsible for the activation of p60c-src at mitosis. Although changes in phosphorylation at Tyr 527 cannot be detected with the wild-type protein we find that phosphorylation at Tyr 527 of a mutant with reduced kinase activity decreases threefold during mitosis. On the basis of these results we suggest that activation of p60c-src at mitosis results from decreased phosphorylation on Tyr 527, and that p60c-src may be or may activate the kinase that phosphorylates Tyr 527.     

Regulation of focal adhesion-associated protein tyrosine kinase by both cellular adhesion and oncogenic transformation.

Increasing evidence indicates that the integrin family of cell adhesion receptors can transduce biochemical signals from the extracellular matrix to the cell interior to modulate cell growth and differentiation. We have shown that integrin/ligand interactions can trigger tyrosine phosphorylation of a protein of M(r) 120,000 (pp120), so it is possible that signal transduction by integrins might involve activation of intracellular protein tyrosine kinases as an early event in cell binding to the extracellular matrix. Here we report that pp120 is identical to the focal adhesion-associated protein tyrosine kinase pp125FAK (refs 3, 4). We show that tyrosine phosphorylation of this protein is modulated both by cell adhesion and transformation by pp60v-src, and that these changes in phosphorylation are correlated with increased pp125FAK tyrosine kinase activity. A model is proposed to relate these findings to the molecular basis of anchorage-independent growth of transformed cells.     

Nucleotide sequence and formation of the transforming gene of a mouse sarcoma virus

The complete nucleotide sequence of the transforming gene of a mouse sarcoma virus has been determined. It codes for a protein of 374 amino acids. The nucleotide sequence of the junctions between a murine leukaemia virus and cellular sequences leading to the formation of the viral transforming gene have also been elucidated. The viral transforming sequence and its cellular homologue share an uninterrupted stretch of 1,159 nucleotides, with few base substitutions. The predicted amino acid sequence of the mouse sarcoma virus transforming gene was found to share considerable homology with the proposed amino acid sequence of the avian sarcoma virus oncogene (src) product.     

Non-radioisotopic method for thein vitro measurement of EGF receptor tyrosine kinase

A non-radioisotopic method was developed for the assay of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). A peptide with twenty amino acid residues around Tyr 1173, the major phosphorylation site of EGFR, was cloned as a GST fusion protein and used as substrate. Anti-phosphoty-rosine monoclonal antibody PY99 was used for the determination of the extent of phosphorylation. Both the specificity and the sensitivity were substantially higher than that of the existing method. Km value of the fusion protein is much lower (10 μmol/L) than that of the synthetic peptide (110 μmol/L). The method can be applied to the measurement of the tyrosine kinase activity of c-erb B2 (Neu/HER2).     

Platelet-derived growth factor is structurally related to the putative transforming protein p28sis of simian sarcoma virus

A partial amino acid sequence of human platelet-derived growth factor, the major mitogen in serum for cells of mesenchymal origin, has been determined. A region of 104 contiguous amino acids shows virtual identity with the predicted sequence of p28sis, the putative transforming protein of simian sarcoma virus (SSV). This similarity suggests a mechanism for transformation by SSV and other agents, involving expression of growth factors.