Tyrosine phosphatase activity is restricted by basic charge substituting mutation of substrates

Abstract

Phosphorylation controls important cellular signals and its dysregulation leads to disease. While most phospho-regulation studies are focused on kinases, phosphatases are comparatively overlooked. Combining peptide arrays with SAMDI mass spectrometry, we show that tyrosine phosphatase activity is restricted by basic amino acids adjacent to phosphotyrosines. We validate this model using two β-catenin mutants associated with cancer (T653R/K) and a mouse model for intellectual disability (T653K). These mutants introduce a basic residue next to Y654, an established phosphorylation site where modification shifts β-catenin from cell–cell adhesions and towards its essential nuclear role as Wnt-signaling effector. We show that T653-basic mutant β-catenins are less efficiently dephosphorylated by phosphatases, leading to sustained Y654 phosphorylation and elevated Wnt signals, similar to those observed for Y654E phospho-mimic mutant mice. This model rationalizes how basic mutations proximal to phosphotyrosines can restrict counter-regulation by phosphatases, providing new mechanismistic and treatment insights for 6000+ potentially relevant cancer mutations.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 05, 2022
Source ID
10.1038/s41598-022-19133-4

Entities

People

  • Cara J Gottardi
  • Che-Fan Huang
  • Milan Mrksich

Organizations

  • Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
  • National Institutes of Health
  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Systems Analysis and Design