Non-receptor cytosolic protein tyrosine kinases from various rat tissues.

Adipocytic-cytosolic non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase (CytPTK) when activated can substitute for the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase (InsRTK), in manifesting several insulin effects in insulin-receptor independent fashion. Our aims here were to utilize PolyGlu4Tyr, a good experimental exogenous substrate for protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) in general, for studying qualitative and quantitative parameters of CytPTKs extracted from different tissue cytosols. At the same time, we would search for a unique specific marker specifically characterizing CytPTKs. High speed supernatants of spleen, thymus, smooth muscle, lung and kidney were found to be rich in CytPTK activities. Their specific activities being 6- to 13-fold that of liver or adipose cytosols. Brain, testis and adrenal cytosols were an intermediate source of CytPTK activity, whereas CytPTK activity of heart and skeletal muscle was low. It was also evaluated that the capacity of the cytosol to phosphorylate PolyGlu4Tyr is 15-50% that of the non-stimulated Triton X-100 extractable plasma membrane PTKs. Fractionation of the cytosols on superose 12 column revealed several CytPTKs within the same tissue, their peaks ranging between 30 and 450 kDa. Immunoblotting analysis showed Fyn and Lyn were present in most tissue cytosols. Upon immunoprecipitation, however, with anti-Fyn or anti-Lyn, negligible amounts (< 2%) of the total cellular CytPTK were precipitated. Thus, these general markers of CytPTKs comprise only a minor proportion of the total intracellular PolyGlu4Tyr phosphorylating capacity. To see whether a specific marker for CytPTK could be detected, we also examined the requirement of CytPTKs for divalent ions, their preferred phosphate donor and their sensitivity to inhibition by known PTK inhibitors. We found that the order of reactivity with divalent cations was Co2+ > Mn2+ > Mg2+, while Zn2+ and Ca2+ did not support CytPTK activity. The best phosphate donor was ATP (ED50 = 5 microM), but other nucleoside 3-phosphates could substitute for ATP at high concentrations. With respect to these parameters, no basic difference exists between cytosolic and plasma-membrane PTKs. The PTK inhibitors, genestein and quercetin, inhibited both cytosolic and membranal PTKs at micromolar concentrations. In contrast, staurosporine was a potent inhibitor of CytPTKs (IC50 5-20 nM) and a poor inhibitor of membranal PTKs (IC50 10-40 microM). One of the conclusions we can draw from this study is that tissue cytosols contain PolyGlu4Tyr phosphorylating capacity in quantities greater than previously assumed and that the low level of phosphotyrosine found in cells is not the result of limited intracellular levels of CytPTKs.

Identification of a new SCN5A mutation, D1840G, associated with the long QT syndrome. Mutations in brief no. 153. Online.

The long QT syndrome (LQT) is an inherited cardiac disorder that can cause sudden cardiac death among apparently healthy young individuals due to malignant ventricular arrhythmias. LQT was found to be caused by mutations in four genes LTQ1, LQT2, LQT3 and LQT5, and linkage was reported for an additional locus, LQT4, on chromosome 4q25-27. We have studied a large (n=131) LQT-affected Jewish kindred and identified tight linkage between the LQT-affected status and LQT3 (lod score 6.13, with an estimated recombination fraction of zero). We identified a new point-mutation, A to G substitution at nucleotide 5519 of the SCN5A gene, changing the aspartate 1840 to glycine, D1840G. This is a non-conservative change of an amino acid completely conserved in sodium channels from Molusca to human. The mutation was identified in all affected individuals (n=23), and not identified in all the unaffected family members (n=40), and not in 200 chromosomes of healthy control individuals. The mutation was identified in 3/12 individuals with equivocal phenotype, thus, providing an accurate dignostic tool for all family members. This mutation is currently being used in a cellular electrophysiological model, to characterize the function of the mutated sodium channel in this syndrome.