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1 From the Departments of Ophthalmology, 3 Cell Biology, and 4 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City; and 2 Dean A. McGee Eye Institute, Oklahoma City.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins
containing two SH2 domains of the p85 regulatory subunit of
PI3KGST-p85 (N-SH2), GST-p85 (C-SH2), and respective SH2 mutants
(N-SH2, R358A, and C-SH2, R649A)were prepared and used to pull down
tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in bovine ROS. Protein identity was
established by Western blot analysis. PI3K activity was determined in
the pull-down mixtures and in immunoprecipitates by incubation with
phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PI-4,5-P2) and
[
32P]adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
RESULTS. The GST pull-down assays indicated the binding of a 97-kDa protein by
GST-p85 (N-SH2) in tyrosine-phosphorylated (PY)-ROS that was not
present in nonphosphorylated (N)-ROS. Binding was completely abolished
when the Arg 358 in the N-SH2 domain was mutated to Ala. Increased
binding of the p110
catalytic subunit to GST-p85 (N-SH2) fusion
protein was also observed in the presence of the 97-kDa phosphorylated
protein. Biochemical evidence indicated that the 97-kDa protein was the
ß-subunit of the insulin receptor ß-subunit (IRß).
Immunoprecipitates of PY-ROS and N-ROS with anti-PY antibodies, probed
with anti-IRß, indicated the presence of IRß only in PY-ROS.
Immunoprecipitates of PY-ROS and N-ROS with anti-IRß antibodies,
probed with anti-p85 and anti-p110
antibodies, indicated increased
amounts of both p85 and p110
in PY-ROS compared to N-ROS. Treatment
of ROS with insulin, followed by immunoprecipitation with either
anti-IRß or anti-PY, resulted in increased PI3K activity. Expression
and phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic tail of retina insulin receptor
showed direct involvement with the p85 subunit of PI3K in vitro.
CONCLUSIONS. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the ß-subunit of the insulin receptor is involved in the regulation of PI3K activity in ROS.
| Introduction |
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85-kDa regulatory subunit (p85) and a
110-kDa catalytic subunit
(p110), the latter of which is responsible for the phosphorylation of
phosphatidylinositol lipids at the D3 position and serine
phosphorylation of proteins.1
2
3
The p85 subunit contains
a Src homology 3 (SH3) domain capable of binding to proline-rich
sequences, a region of homology to the breakpoint cluster region (BCR)
gene product, a p110 binding domain, and two SH2 domains (N- and
C-terminal). PI3K activity increases in response to receptor activation
by the direct binding of the p85 SH2 domain to tyrosine-phosphorylated
sites on the receptor.4
5
PI3K activity can also be
regulated by activated receptor tyrosine kinase substrates, such as
insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1.6
Ruderman et
al.7
first demonstrated the activation of PI3K by insulin,
either by stimulating Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with insulin or
by transfecting the CHO cells with human insulin receptor. Van Horn et
al.8
showed a two-fold activation of PI3K by insulin
receptor and also demonstrated the activation of PI3K by tyrosyl
phosphopeptide derived from the insulin receptor C terminus in vitro.
Thus, there is ample evidence to suggest that the class I p85/p110
complex of PI3K is a common element of numerous signaling pathways
involving a large number of tyrosine kinases.9
10
11
Light stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins in rat
rod outer segments (ROS) in vivo,12
and bovine ROS contain
an endogenous tyrosine kinase(s) that can phosphorylate at least 10
proteins in vitro.13
14
The activity of cyclic
nucleotide-gated channels from salamander15
and
bovine16
ROS could be substantially altered after tyrosine
phosphorylation of the
-subunits of the channel protein.
Phospholipase C
1, the enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of
D-myo-phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate
(PI-4,5-P2) and known to be stimulated by
tyrosine phosphorylation,17
18
has been localized in
bovine ROS.19
We have reported that bovine retinal ROS
contain a class I p85/p110 enzyme complex20
that can be
activated in vitro by light and tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins in
these membranes.21
In the present study, we identified the
mechanism of regulation of PI3K activity in bovine photoreceptor cells
through tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor ß-subunit
(IRß).
| Experimental Procedures |
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catalytic subunit of PI3K, mouse monoclonal phosphotyrosine
(clone 4G10) antibody, and polyclonal IRß were obtained from Upstate
Biotechnology, Inc. (Lake Placid, NY); monoclonal anti-PY99, polyclonal
IRß and IRS-1 antibodies from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz,
CA); [
32P]adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from
New England Nuclear (Boston, MA); and
anti-glutathione-S-transferase (GST) antibody from Amersham
Pharmacia Biotechnology, Inc. (Piscataway, NJ). Echelon Research
Laboratories Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT) provided
PI-4,5-P2. NIH3T3 cells transfected with the
insulin receptor were obtained from Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. Cells
harboring elk tyrosine kinase (Epicurian Coli TKX1 competent
cells) were obtained from Stratagene (La Jolla, CA). All other reagents
were of analytical grade and were from Sigma (St. Louis, MO).
Preparation of ROS
Fresh bovine eyes were obtained from a local abattoir and
dissected on ice, and retinas were obtained within 2 hours. ROS were
prepared from fresh retinas on a continuous sucrose gradient
(25%50%), as previously described.19
Protein
determination was performed with bicinchoninic acid (BCA) reagents
(Pierce, Rockford, IL), according to the manufacturers instructions.
Preparation of Tyrosine-Phosphorylated ROS
ROS prepared as described have an endogenous tyrosine kinase
activity.13
14
Tyrosine-phosphorylated (PY)-ROS were
prepared by incubating ROS for 15 minutes at 37°C in a
phosphorylation buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.4], 100 mM NaCl, 2 mM
MgCl2, 1.5 mM ATP, and 0.2 mM
Na3VO3). Nonphosphorylated
(N)-ROS were prepared by incubating ROS in a similar buffer without
ATP, MgCl2, and NaVO3.
After incubation, PY-ROS and N-ROS were solubilized at 4°C for 30
minutes in a solubilization buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.4], 150 mM
NaCl, 1% Triton X-100, and 10% glycerol).
Immunoprecipitation
PY-ROS and N-ROS were solubilized in a lysis buffer containing
1% Triton X-100, 137 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 10% glycerol,
1 mM EGTA, 1 mM MgCl2, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl
fluoride (PMSF), 0.2 mM
Na3VO4, 10 µg/ml
leupeptin, and 1 µg/ml aprotinin. Insoluble material was removed by
centrifugation at 17,000g for 20 minutes, and the
solubilized ROS were precleared by incubation with 40 µl protein
A-Sepharose for 1 hour at 4°C with mixing. The supernatant was
incubated with anti-p85 (1:300), anti-p110
(4 µg), anti-PY (4
µg), or anti-IRß (4 µg) antibodies overnight at 4°C and
subsequently with 40 µl protein A-Sepharose for 2 hours at 4°C.
Immune complexes were washed twice with modified solubilization buffer
(the 1% Triton X-100 was reduced to 0.1% and glycerol was removed)
and once with phosphorylation buffer without ATP. Immune complexes were
washed twice with modified solubilization buffer (the 1% Triton X-100
was reduced to 0.1% and glycerol was removed) and once with
phosphorylation buffer without ATP. Precipitates were assayed for PI3K
activity or subjected to immunoblot analysis.
SDS-PAGE and Western Blot Analysis
Protein were resolved by 10% SDS-PAGE and transferred onto
nitrocellulose membranes, and the blots were washed two times for 10
minutes with TTBS (20 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.4], 100 mM NaCl, and 0.1%
Tween-20) and blocked with 10% bovine serum albumin in TTBS overnight
at 4°C. Blots were then incubated with anti-p85 (1:4000),
anti-p110
(1 µg/ml), anti-IRß (1:1000), anti-PY (1 µg/ml), or
anti-GST (1:5000) antibodies for 2 hours at room temperature. After
primary antibody incubations, immunoblots were incubated with
horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-linked secondary antibodies (anti-rabbit,
anti-mouse, or anti-goat IgG) and developed by enhanced
chemiluminescence (ECL), according to the manufacturers instructions.
Quantitative analysis of bands of respective Western blot analysis was
performed using NIH Image software, ver. 1.62 (provided in the public
domain by the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, and
available at http://rsb.info.nih.gov/nih-image/download.html).
PI3K Assay
Enzyme assays were performed essentially as previously
described.22
Briefly, assays were performed directly on
immunoprecipitates in 50 µl of the reaction mixture containing 0.2
mg/ml PI-4,5-P2, 50 µM ATP, 0.2 µCi
[
32P]ATP, 5 mM MgCl2,
and 10 mM HEPES buffer (pH 7.5). The reactions were performed for 15
minutes at room temperature and stopped by the addition of 100 µl of
1 N HCl followed by 200 µl chloroform-methanol (1:1, vol/vol). Lipids
were extracted and resolved on oxalate-coated thin-layer chromatography
(TLC) plates (silica gel 60) with a solvent system of 2-propanol/2 M
acetic acid (65:35, vol/vol). The plates were coated in 1% (wt/vol)
potassium oxalate in 50% methanol (vol/vol) and then baked in an oven
at 100°C for 1 hour before use. TLC plates were exposed to x-ray film
overnight at -70°C, and radioactive lipids were scraped and
quantified by liquid scintillation counting.
GST-p85 Proteins and Pull-Down Experiments
GST-p85 fusion proteins were generated by PCR amplification of
the indicated p85 regions and cloned into a vector (pGEX2T; Amersham
Pharmacia Biotech). The amino acids of bovine p85
present in each
fusion protein are N-SH2 (314-446) and C-SH2 (614-724), based on the
sequence published by Otsu et al.23
The sequence of each
clone was verified by DNA sequencing. All inductions yielded proteins
of the expected size, as judged by Coomassie blue staining. Pull-down
experiments were performed as described,6
using 5 µg
GST-fusion proteins that had been adsorbed onto GST-Sepharose 4B
matrix. PY-ROS and N-ROS were incubated with GST/GST-p85 fusion
proteins with continuous mixing at 4°C for 1.5 hours. The Sepharose
beads were washed three times in 500 µl HNTG buffer (20 mM HEPES [pH
7.5], 150 mM NaCl, 0.1% Triton X-100, and 10% glycerol) and
centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 30 to 60 seconds at 4°C. GST-p85 fusion
proteins and bound proteins were eluted by boiling in 2x SDS sample
buffer 5 minutes before 10% SDS-PAGE. After SDS-PAGE, the gels were
not stained, but instead were used in a Western blot analysis to
visualize the specific protein present. For PI3K activity, the
HNTGwashed GST-Sepharose beads were used directly. Blots were
stripped and reprobed with anti-GST antibodies to ensure that
comparable amounts of GST-p85 fusion proteins were present in each
experiment.
Site-Directed Mutagenesis
Site directed mutagenesis was performed by using a quick-change
site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene Inc.). The reaction mixture
contained SDM buffer (200 mM Tris-HCl [pH 8.8], 100 mM KCl, 100 mM
NH4SO4, 20 mM
MgSO4, 1% Triton X-100, 1 mg/ml
nuclease-free bovine serum albumin), 1 mM deoxynucleotide mix (dATP,
dCTP, dTTP, and dGTP), 50 ng GST-pGEX vector containing either p85
(N-SH2) or p85 (C-SH2) fusion proteins, and 125 ng sense and antisense
primers with mutations, in a total volume of 50 µl, followed by the
addition of 2.5 U pfu DNA polymerase using a programmable thermal
controller (PTC 100; MJ Research, Inc., Watertown, MA). The mutant
primers were: R358A (sense: ACC TTT TTG GTA GCA GAC GCA TCT ACT AAA;
antisense: TTT AGT AGA TGC GTC TGC TAC CAA AAA GGT) and R649A (sense:
ACT TTT CTT GTC GCG GAA AGC AGT AAA CAG; antisense: CTG TTT ACT GCT TTC
CGC GAC AAG AAA AGT). The extension parameters of SDM were as follows:
after denaturation at 95°C for 30 seconds, 16 cycles at 95°C for 30
seconds, 55°C for 1 minute, and at 68°C for 12 minutes (2 min/kb of
plasmid length). After temperature cycling, the reaction was placed on
ice for 2 minutes, after which 10 U DpnI restriction enzyme
was added, mixed, and incubated at 37°C for 60 minutes.
Transformation was performed using 1 µl of the DpnI
treated reaction to Epicurean XL-blue supercompetent cells, and the
reaction was placed on plates coated with Luria-Bertani (LB)
agar-ampicillin (100 µl/ml). The cDNAs of all mutants were sequenced
after PCR. The only mutations observed were those intentionally
introduced to create each desired mutation. The clones were induced
with isopropyl ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG; 1 mM),
and the expressed fusion proteins were purified through GST-Sepharose
4B matrix.
Tyrosine Kinase Assay
A synthetic peptide corresponding in sequence to residues 6-20
of p34cdc2, cdc2 (KVEKIGEGTYGVVKK), was
used as a substrate for Src tyrosine kinase.24
The
phosphorylation reaction was performed essentially as described by
Cheng et al.24
in a total volume of 25 µl of 50 mM
Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.0), 50 mM MgCl2, 5 mM
MnCl2, 50 mM
Na3VO4, 7 µg/ml
p-nitrophenyl phosphate, and protein kinase Src. The
reaction was initiated by adding 2.5 µl
[
32P]ATP (2186 counts per minute per
picomole) to reach a final concentration of 146 µM, and the reaction
was terminated by adding 10 µl 50% (vol/vol) acetic acid.
Twenty-five microliters of assay mixture was spotted onto
phosphocellulose filter paper discs (1.5 x 1.5 cm), which
were immersed in a solution containing 0.75% phosphoric acid
(vol/vol), as described.24
The filter paper discs
containing the bound phosphorylated peptide were washed three times
with phosphoric acid and rinsed in acetone. Radioactivity was
quantified in 7.5 ml of a liquid scintillation cocktail and counted
(Ready Safe Liquid Scintillation Cocktail and Liquid Scintillation
Counter; Beckman, Fullerton, CA).
Cloning of CTIR and Generation of Phosphorylated CTIR
The carboxyl terminal tail of the cytoplasmic tail of insulin
receptor (CTIR) was amplified from rat retina cDNA that was reverse
transcribed from rat retina total RNA, using rat liver25
insulin receptorspecific primers (sense 5'-GGA TCC TCT CAC TGT CAG
AGA GAA GAG GCT; antisense 3'-GAA TTC TTA GGA AGG GTT CGA CCT
CGG CGA). All PCR products were sequenced, and the insert was subcloned
into the bacterial expression plasmid pGEX-2TK. The PGEX-2TK plasmid
was transformed to TKX1-competent cells (Stratagene) that harbor a
plasmid-encoded, inducible tyrosine kinase gene, elk
tyrosine kinase,26
under the control of the trp promoter.
The bacterial cells were grown at 37°C to an optical density at 600
nm (OD600) of approximately 1 and were incubated
for 2 hours with 0.1 mM IPTG to induce expression of the GST fusion
proteins. The cells were then centrifuged at 2000g, and the
pellet was resuspended in TK-induction medium (M9 medium containing
indoleacrylic acid) for 2 hours, according to the manufacturers
instructions. The cells were collected and frozen at -80°C until
used. Frozen cell pellets were sonicated in ice-cold PASE lysis buffer
(50 mM HEPES, [pH 7.5], 50 mM NaCl, 10% glycerol, 1% Triton X-100,
1 mM EDTA, 1 mM EGTA, 10 µg/ml aprotinin, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, and 1
mM PMSF) and clarified by centrifugation. The supernatants were
incubated with GST-Sepharose 4B matrix for 30 minutes at 4°C. The
beads were then washed several times with ice-cold PBS, and the pellets
were resuspended in PASE lysis buffer and used for in vitro binding
after examining the phosphorylation on the insulin receptor kinase
tail, using phosphotyrosine antibodies. In vitro binding assays were
performed by using the nonphosphorylated and phosphorylated CTIR domain
by incubating the beads with solubilized N-ROS for 90 minutes followed
by GST pull-down assays. The GST beads were used for Western blot
analysis with the anti-p85
regulatory subunit of PI3K and measured
the PI3K activity, using PI-45-P2 as substrate.
| Results |
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IPs from PY-ROS also had higher PI3K activity
(
1.5-fold) than those from N-ROS (Figs. 1B
1D)
. The strongest
effect was found in anti-PY IPs, where PY-ROS had approximately 10
times the PI3K activity as N-ROS (Figs. 1C
1D)
. The relative amount of
p85 in the IPs was determined by densitometric scans of Western blot
probed with an anti-p85 antibody, and the density values are shown
below the top panels. Anti-p85 and anti-p110 IPs from PY-ROS and N-ROS
contained a similar amount of p85, whereas the amount of p85 in anti-PY
IPs was approximately 10 times higher in PY-ROS.
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IPs from PY-ROS and N-ROS probed with anti-PY (data not
shown). These results indicate that a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein
in bovine ROS could be binding to the SH2 domain(s) of the p85
regulatory subunit, and this protein may be involved in the activation
of PI3K activity. This speculation is consistent with our results
showing that the anti-PY IP pulled down the p85 in response to ROS
phosphorylation.
Identification of the 97-kDa Protein from GST-p85 Pull-Down
Experiments
PY-ROS and N-ROS were incubated with GST and respective p85
wild-type and mutated fusion proteins in a GST pull-down assay. After
incubation, the fusion proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE and
transferred to nitrocellulose, and the resultant Western blots were
probed with anti-PY antibody. We identified a 97-kDa immunoreactive
band only in the GST-p85 (N-SH2) domain on Western blot analysis (Fig. 2A)
. No binding was observed in GST-p85 (N-SH2, R358A) mutant fusion
protein (lane 4), demonstrating the specificity of the
phosphorylation-dependent binding. When the blot was stripped and
reprobed with anti-p110
antibody (Fig. 2B)
, an increased amount of
p110
immunoreactivity was observed in the GST-p85 (N-SH2) domain.
PI3K activity was also higher in the GST-p85 (N-SH2) fusion protein
samples (data not shown). These results suggest that the increased PI3K
activity in anti-PY IPs is due to the increased amount of p110
bound
to the 97-kDa tyrosine-phosphorylated protein.
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The other approach we used to identify IRß was to elute the material from the GST-binding experiment described earlier with phenyl phosphate and electrophorese it on a 10% SDS-PAGE 0.7-mm-thick gel and stain with Coomassie blue. Once the band was visualized on the gel, it was cut with a clean razor blade and placed onto another 10% SDS-PAGE 1.0-mm-thick gel, to facilitate the placement of the 0.75-mm-thick slice of the first gel. The gel was run at 100 V and transferred to nitrocellulose, and the resultant Western blot was probed with the anti-IRß antibody. The results show an immunoreactive band of IRß (Fig. 4) , further confirming the identity of the 97-kDa protein as IRß.
|
. The presence
of IRß was also examined in PY-ROS and N-ROS immunoprecipitated with
an anti-PY antibody. The results indicate no difference in the amount
of IRß in either PY-ROS or N-ROS (Fig. 5A)
, when immunoprecipitated with the anti-IRß antibody, which was the
expected result. IPs of PY-ROS and N-ROS, using the anti-PY antibody,
probed with anti-IRß antibody, indicated the presence of IRß only
in PY-ROS (Fig. 5B)
, suggesting that tyrosine-phosphorylated IRß can
be pulled down by the anti-PY antibody. When Western blots of
anti-IRß IPs were probed with anti-p85 or anti-P110
antibodies,
there were increased amounts of each (Figs. 5C
5D)
in PY-ROS compared
with N-ROS. IPs of PY-ROS and N-ROS with anti-IRß probed with anti-PY
antibody showed tyrosine phosphorylation of IRß only in PY-ROS (Fig. 5E)
. The weaker signal with anti-PY compared with anti-p110 and -p85
antibodies in the PY-ROS could be due to differences in the relative
strength of the antibodies. As can be seen from the blot, there was no
apparent immunoreactivity with the anti-PY antibody in N-ROS, although
we saw anti-p110 and -p85 immunoreactivity in N-ROS. It is known that
basal phosphorylation is associated with the insulin receptor. Thus,
the anti-PY antibodies may not detect the low signal, which could be
detected by the anti-p110 and -p85 antibodies. These results suggest
that tyrosine phosphorylation of IRß is essential for interaction
with the p85110
complex of PI3K through the N-SH2 domain of p85.
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| Discussion |
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IPs was 1.5 to 2 times greater in PY-ROS than in N-ROS (Fig. 1)
, in agreement with our previous work.21
The increase of
PI3K activity in anti-p85 and anti-p110
IPs from PY-ROS could be due
to a greater amount of enzyme in the IP, activation of the enzyme by
phosphorylation, or activation by some other mechanism. To investigate
these possibilities, anti-p85 and anti-p110
IPs from PY-ROS and
N-ROS were subjected to Western blot analysis, with anti-p85 or
anti-p110
antibodies as probes. The amount of p85 and p110
in the
IPs was not different between PY-ROS and N-ROS. Blots probed with
anti-PY antibody showed that neither p85 nor p110
was
phosphorylated, suggesting that the twofold increase in enzyme activity
is probably due to the influence of some tyrosine-phosphorylated
protein in the IPs. Because the phosphorylation conditions used in this study are designed to promote tyrosine phosphorylation, anti-PY IPs from PY-ROS and N-ROS were obtained and assayed for PI3K activity and p85 protein expression. PI3K activity in anti-PY IPs from PY-ROS was 10 times that from N-ROS, and Western blot analysis probed with the anti-p85 antibody showed that the amount of p85 in IPs from PY-ROS was also approximately 10 times that in the IPs from N-ROS. These results indicate that the p85 regulatory subunit is most likely bound to and coimmunoprecipitates with a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein, in response to phosphorylation of ROS.
Src homology 2 (SH2) domains are found in a variety of cytoplasmic
proteins involved in mediating signals from cell surface receptors to
various intracellular pathways.36
They fold as molecular
units and are capable of recognizing and binding to proteins and linear
peptide sequences containing phosphorylated tyrosine
residues.37
To identify and characterize the
tyrosine-phosphorylated protein(s) in ROS, we constructed two GST-p85
(SH2) mutant fusion protein (N- and C-SH2 domains). GST pull-down
assays on PY-ROS and N-ROS followed by Western blot analysis using an
anti-PY antibody indicated the binding of a 97-kDa
tyrosine-phosphorylated protein to GST-p85 (N-SH2) fusion protein. No
binding was observed in GST-p85 (N-SH2, R358A) mutant fusion protein,
suggesting the specificity of phosphorylation-dependent binding. Van
Horn et al.8
reported a similar finding, although they
also saw a low level of binding to the C-terminus of their GST-p85
fusion protein. We found increased binding of p110
and an increase
in PI3K activity in the presence of the 97-kDa protein bound to the
GST-p85 (N-SH2) domain, which suggests that a p85-p110
-97-kDa
protein complex is sufficient to explain the increased PI3K activity in
anti-PY IPs. However, the involvement of other proteins could not be
ruled out by these experiments.
Several studies have shown that the ß-subunit of the insulin receptor and the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 receptor can be phosphorylated in whole retina and ROS in response to insulin27 38 and IGF-1.39 40 Using immunocytochemistry techniques, Rodrigues et al.41 found the insulin receptor to be localized in photoreceptor and neuronal cell bodies, with lower immunoreactivity in ROS. Bell et al.13 14 reported a 97-kDa protein in ROS that was actively phosphorylated in vitro under conditions that favor tyrosine phosphorylation, and Ghalayini et al.12 showed that a 97-kDa protein is phosphorylated in rat ROS in a light-dependent manner in vivo. Based on these studies, we suspected that the 97-kDa protein we found bound to the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K could be the IRß subunit, and the experiments described herein show that this is indeed the case.
Although it is known that PI3K can be activated in other tissues by insulin,7 there is no evidence that the insulin receptors in the retina undergo any physiological response after insulin stimulation. In our study, we observed a basal level of insulin receptor phosphorylation in N-ROS accompanied by low PI3K activity (Fig. 6 , lanes 2, 4, 6). Under conditions favorable for phosphorylation, we observed an increase in the PI3K activity that could be due to the increased phosphorylation of insulin receptor (Fig. 6 , lane 1). This phenomenon is also true when the ROS were treated in the presence of insulin, followed by immunoprecipitation with anti-IRß, which resulted in increased PI3K activity (Fig. 6 , lane 3). Increased PI3K activity was also observed from the IPs of PY from insulin-treated ROS (Fig. 6 , lane 5), further confirming that insulin-induced, tyrosine phosphorylation-autophosphorylation of IRß leads to the increased PI3K activity.
The regulatory p85 subunit of PI3K binds to phosphotyrosine at a YXXM motif42 in IRS-1 and thereby activates the catalytic p110 subunit.43 It is surprising that inactivation of the IRS-1 gene in the mouse, by the homologous recombination approach, did not result in any dramatic pathologic phenotype, suggesting the possible existence of alternative signaling pathways.44 45 It has also been shown that wild-type insulin receptor binds tightly to the SH2 domains of p85, whereas the mutant insulin receptor truncated by 43 amino acids at the C terminus binds poorly to the SH2 domains that do not have the Y1322THM motif.8 To examine the binding properties of the noncatalytic regions of the insulin receptor containing the YTHM motif, this sequence was expressed in bacteria and inducibly phosphorylated on tyrosine, thereby mimicking receptor autophosphorylation normally induced by ligand binding. The phosphorylated C-terminal tail of the insulin receptor bound to the p85 subunit of PI3K in N-ROS, and the resultant complex contained PI3K activity. These results are consistent with the notion that noncatalytic cytoplasmic regions of growth factor receptors provide phosphorylation-dependent binding sites for SH2-containing signaling proteins. Furthermore, because there was no binding of IRS-1 to the phosphorylated C-terminal tail of the insulin receptor, the evidence supports a direct interaction of p85 subunit of PI3K with the CTIR, independent of IRS-1.
Our experiments on PI3K activation through its interaction with the 97-kDa protein identified as IRß could not rule out the possibility of the involvement of the IGF-1 receptor ß-subunit, which also has an apparent molecular weight of 97 kDa.38 Indeed, both insulin and IGF-1 can stimulate PI3K in bovine lens.46 Our phosphorylation and binding experiments could have included IGF-1ß, which would not have been detected by the anti-IRß antibody. Similarly, the experiments using immunoprecipitation with the anti-PY antibody could not differentiate between the ß-subunits of insulin and IGF-1 receptors. However, the antibody we used against IRß does not cross-react with IGF-1ß (catalog no. SC-711; Santa Cruz Biotechnology), and immunoprecipitation with anti-IRß followed by Western blot analysis with the anti-p85 antibody or measuring the PI3K activity clearly showed an association between IRß and PI3K. Also, the phosphorylated GST-CTIR fusion protein that bound the p85 subunit of PI3K contained the insulin sequence, which is different from the IGF-1 sequence. Therefore, we feel confident in concluding that phosphorylation of the ß-subunit of the insulin receptor in ROS leads to its association with PI3K. Studies are currently under way to determine whether PI3K also associates with IGF-1 receptors in photoreceptor cells.
In vitro20 21 and in vivo47 studies in our laboratory have now shown that the activity of PI3K in the retina can be controlled by light and tyrosine phosphorylation. We speculate that the molecular mechanism of the activation is through binding of the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K to the ß-subunit of the insulin receptor. The role of PI3K in photoreceptor outer segments is not known. However, its function could be related to the activities driven by light, such as shedding of photoreceptor tips, biogenesis of new ROS membranes through addition of newly synthesized membranes at the base of the ROS, or light adaptation. Also, environmental and genetic (mutation) stresses lead to death of rod and cone photoreceptor cells. In some neuronal cell types, such as cerebellar granular neurons48 and PC-12 cells,49 receptor activation of PI3K has been shown to protect these cells from stress-induced neurodegeneration. Whether PI3K activation protects the retina from stress is currently under study in our laboratory.
| Footnotes |
|---|
Submitted for publication May 29, 2001; revised August 9, 2001; accepted August 16, 2001.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page
charge payment. This article must therefore be marked
"advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C.
1734
solely to indicate this fact.
Corresponding author: Raju V. S. Rajala, 608 Stanton L. Young Boulevard, Room 409, Oklahoma City, OK 73104. raju-rajala{at}ouhsc.edu
| References |
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subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulate binding to growth factor receptors Mol Cell Biol 12,991-997
and a 97 kDa tyrosine phosphorylated protein in photoreceptor rod outer segments J Neurochem 73,2331-2340[Medline][Order article via Infotrieve]
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