Identification of Shc docking site on Ret tyrosine kinase.

The RET proto-oncogene encodes two isoforms of a receptor type tyrosine kinase which plays a role in neural crest and kidney development. Distinct germ-line mutations of RET have been associated with the inherited cancer syndromes MEN2A, MEN2B and FMTC as well as with the congenital disorder Hirschsprung disease (HSCR), whereas somatic rearrangements (RET/PTCs) have been frequently detected in the papillary thyroid carcinoma. Despite these findings, suggesting a relevant role for RET product in development and neoplastic processes, little is known about the signalling triggered by this receptor. In this study, we have demonstrated that the transducing adaptor molecule Shc is recruited and activated by both Ret isoforms and by the rearranged cytoplasmatic Ret/ptc2 oncoproteins as well as by the membrane bound receptor activated by MEN2A or by MEN2B associated mutations. Moreover, our analysis has identified the Ret tyrosine residue and the Shc domains involved in the interaction. In fact, here we show that both the phosphotyrosine binding domains of Shc, PTB and SH2, interact with Ret/ptc2 in vitro. However, PTB domain binds 20 folds higher amount of Ret/ptc2 than SH2. The putative binding site for either SH2 and PTB domains has been identified as Tyr586 of Ret/ptc2 (Tyr1062 on proto-Ret). In keeping with this finding, by using RET/PTC2-Y586F mutant, we have demonstrated that this tyrosine residue, the last amino acid but one before the divergence of the two Ret isoforms, is the docking site for Shc.

The full oncogenic activity of Ret/ptc2 depends on tyrosine 539, a docking site for phospholipase Cgamma.

RET/PTC oncogenes, generated by chromosomal rearrangements in papillary thyroid carcinomas, are constitutively activated versions of proto-RET, a gene coding for a receptor-type tyrosine kinase (TK) whose ligand is still unknown. RET/PTCs encode fusion proteins in which proto-RET TK and C-terminal domains are fused to different donor genes. The respective Ret/ptc oncoproteins display constitutive TK activity and tyrosine phosphorylation. We found that Ret/ptcs associate with and phosphorylate the SH2-containing transducer phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma). Two putative PLCgamma docking sites, Tyr-505 and Tyr-539, have been identified on Ret/ptc2 by competition experiments using phosphorylated peptides modelled on Ret sequence. Transfection experiments and biochemical analysis using Tyr-->Phe mutants of Ret/ptc2 allowed us to rule out Tyr-505 and to identify Tyr-539 as a functional PLCgamma docking site in vivo. Moreover, kinetic measurements showed that Tyr-539 is able to mediate high-affinity interaction with PLCgamma. Mutation of Tyr-539 resulted in a drastically reduced oncogenic activity of Ret/ptc2 on NIH 3T3 cells (75 to 90% reduction) both in vitro and in vivo, which correlates with impaired ability of Ret/ptc2 to activate PLCgamma. In conclusion, this paper demonstrates that Tyr-539 of Ret/ptc2 (Tyr-761 on the proto-RET product) is an essential docking site for the full transforming potential of the oncogene. In addition, the present data identify PLCgamma as a downstream effector of Ret/ptcs and suggest that this transducing molecule could play a crucial role in neoplastic signalling triggered by Ret/ptc oncoproteins.

Phosphorylated residues as specificity determinants for an acidophilic protein tyrosine kinase. A study with src and cdc2 derived phosphopeptides.

Spleen TPK-IIB is an acidophilic protein tyrosine kinase, devoid of autophosphorylation activity, whose phosphorylation of the src-peptide NEYTA is crucially specified by Glu-2[(1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 17798-17803]. We show that phosphothreonine, phosphotyrosine and phosphoserine are, in this order, specificity determinants even more effective than glutamic acid if they are replacing Glu-2, to give the phosphopeptides NTpYTA, NYpYTA, NSpYTA, respectively. Non-phosphorylated threonine, tyrosine and serine are conversely ineffective. Consequently also the heptapeptide GEGTYGV reproducing the phosphoacceptor and inhibitory site of p34cdc2 is not appreciably affected by TPK-IIB, unless its threonyl residue is previously phosphorylated, the phosphoderivative GEGTpYGV being readily phosphorylated at its tyrosyl residue. Such a behaviour is unique for TPK-IIB among the protein tyrosine kinases tested (lyn-TPK, fgr-TPK and EGF-receptor, besides TPK-IIB). These data provide the first evidence that, in some instances, the targeting by protein tyrosine kinases can be specifically determined by the previous phosphorylation of the peptide substrate, thus extending the concept of 'hierarchal phosphorylation' [(1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 14139-14142] to tyrosyl residues as well.