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Molecular and Cellular Biology, June 2006, p. 4052-4062, Vol. 26, No. 11
0270-7306/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.01591-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Lawrence S. Argetsinger,2,
Jean-Louis K. Kouadio,2
Allan Stensballe,3
Ole N. Jensen,3
Joel M. Cline,2 and
Christin Carter-Su2*
Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology,1 Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0622,2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark3
Received 17 August 2005/ Returned for modification 20 September 2005/ Accepted 8 March 2006
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Auto- and/or transphosphorylation of JAK2 is therefore an important step in the transduction of cytokine signaling. Murine JAK2 contains 49 tyrosines, of which more than 10 appear to be sites of autophosphorylation (5, 19, 20, 45; L. S. Argetsinger et al., unpublished data). Phosphorylation of some of these tyrosines appears to regulate the activity of JAK2, for example, tyrosine 1007 (20) and more recently identified tyrosine 221 and tyrosine 570 (5, 19). Some phosphorylated tyrosines recruit other signaling molecules that contain motifs of phosphotyrosine binding (SH2 and PTB domains) to JAK2. Phosphorylated tyrosine 1007, which is critical for activation of JAK2, binds the negative regulators SOCS-1 (74), SOCS-3 (57), and phosphatase PTP1B (47); phosphorylated tyrosine 966 binds p70, an SH3 domain-containing protein of unknown function (11); and phosphorylated tyrosine 813 binds SH2-Bß (39), an adapter protein and enhancer of JAK2 kinase activity (51, 53).
Little is
known about the phosphorylation of JAK2 on serines and threonines.
Protein kinase C-
(PKC-
)-mediated
phosphorylation of JAK2 on serine/threonine has been reported to
inhibit activation of JAK2
(37). In other
proteins, phosphorylation on serines and threonines has a variety of
effects. Phosphorylation at serines and threonines can induce
conformational changes with a consequent increase or decrease in the
catalytic activity of the protein
(65; reviewed in
reference 42).
Serine/threonine phosphorylation of the receptor tyrosine kinases,
ErbB-2 (35) and the
insulin receptor (48,
63), as well as insulin
receptor substrate 1 and 2
(48,
50) and Stat3
(13), decreases tyrosyl
phosphorylation of these molecules and downregulates downstream
signaling. Serine phosphorylation is reported to modulate the
transcriptional activity of Stat3
(68). Phosphorylated
serines and threonines can also recruit other signaling proteins: for
example, 14-3-3 binds phosphoserine/threonine-containing motifs in its
numerous binding partners (reviewed in reference
44). Proteins bind to
phosphorylated serines and threonines via a large variety of domains,
including WW, FHA, WD40, and Polo-box domains (reviewed in reference
71). To begin to
understand how serine/threonine phosphorylation of JAK2
affects signaling, we set out to identify sites of serine/threonine
phosphorylation in JAK2 and to determine their function in cytokine
signaling.
In this study, serine 523 was identified as a site of phosphorylation in JAK2 using mass spectrometry (MS). Using a phosphospecific antibody directed against phosphorylated serine 523, we demonstrated that phosphorylation of serine 523 can be stimulated by both GH and epidermal growth factor (EGF) and provide evidence that GH-dependent phosphorylation of JAK2 at serine 523 is mediated by extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) 1 and/or 2 or some other kinase downstream of MEK1. Finally, we show that mutation of serine 523 to alanine increases JAK2 kinase activity and both the basal and GH-stimulated levels of tyrosyl phosphorylation of JAK2 and Stat5b, suggesting that phosphorylation of serine 523 inhibits JAK2 kinase activity. We hypothesize that phosphorylation of serine 523 in JAK2 by ERKs 1 and/or 2 or other, as-yet-unidentified kinases acts in a negative feedback manner to dampen the activation of JAK2 in response to GH and provides a mechanism by which prior exposure to other ERK-activating ligands or environmental factors that regulate Ser 523 phosphorylation might modulate the cell's response to GH.
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FIG. 5. EGF
promotes the phosphorylation of JAK2 at serine 523. 3T3-F442A cells
were stimulated with vehicle or with 125 ng EGF/ml for 5, 10, 15, or 30
min. Cells were lysed, and lysates were immunoblotted with
pS523 JAK2 (top panel), pY1007/1008 JAK2 (middle
panel), or JAK2 (bottom panel), n = 2. The
migration of JAK2 and a nonspecific band (ns) is
indicated.
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FIG. 8. Pretreatment
with EGF inhibits GH-dependent activation of JAK2. 3T3-F442A cells were
treated with 125 ng EGF/ml as indicated or treated with 125 ng EGF/ml
or vehicle for 30 min and then treated with vehicle or 50 ng GH/ml as
indicated. Cell lysates were blotted with pY1007/1008 JAK2,
PY, or JAK2. The intensities of the bands
corresponding to phosphorylated JAK2 were quantified, normalized to
levels of JAK2, and graphed as the fraction of maximum phosphorylation
detected with pY1007 (A) and PY
(B) (error bars denote ranges of values, n =
2).
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JAK2) was
raised against a peptide corresponding to amino acids 758 to 776 of
murine JAK2. The
JAK2 used for immunoprecipitation (at a
dilution of 1:1,000) was prepared by our laboratory in conjunction with
Pel-Freeze Biologicals
(3). The
JAK2
used for Western blotting was from Upstate USA, Inc. (dilution of
1:7,500 for Fig. 2 and
4), or Biosource
(
JAK2 monoclonal clone no. 829; dilution of 1:2,000 for Fig.
3 and
5 to
8). Antibody that
recognizes a peptide containing phosphorylated serine 523
(
pS523 JAK2) and antibody to a peptide containing
phosphorylated tyrosine 570 in JAK2 (
pY570 JAK2)
(5) were developed in
conjunction with Upstate USA, Inc., and used at a 1:2,000 dilution for
immunoblotting. Antibody to phosphorylated tyrosines 1007/1008 in JAK2
(
pY1007/1008 JAK2) was a gift from M. Myers (University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor)
(19). Antibodies to
phospho-p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (
pErk; E10)
and total ERK (
Erk) were from Cell Signaling and used at a
dilution of 1:2,000 for immunoblotting. Antibody to phosphotyrosine
(
PY; 4G10) was from Upstate USA, Inc., and used at a dilution
of 1:7,500 for immunoblotting. Antibody to Stat5b against amino acids
711 to 727 of murine Stat5b (
Stat5b) was from Santa Cruz
Biotechnology, Inc., and used at a 1:5,000 dilution for immunoblotting.
Antibody to phosphorylated tyrosine 699 of Stat5b (
pStat5b)
was from Zymed Laboratories Inc. and was used at a 1:7,500 dilution for
immunoblotting. AlexaFluor 680 anti-rabbit antibody from Molecular
Probes and IRdye800 anti-mouse antibodies from Rockland were used at a
dilution of 1:20,000. Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse and
anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G antibodies from Santa Cruz were used at a
dilution of
1:10,000.
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FIG. 2. GH
promotes the phosphorylation of JAK2 at serine 523. (A) 293T
cells transfected with cDNA (1 µg) encoding either JAK2 (lane
1) or JAK2 S523A (lane 2) were lysed. The lysates were immunoblotted
(IB) with pSer523 JAK2 (upper panel) or JAK2 (lower
panel) (n = 4). wt, wild type. (B) 3T3-F442A
cells were treated with vehicle or with 500 ng GH/ml for 5, 10, or 15
min. The cells were lysed, and lysates were immunoblotted (IB) with
pS523 JAK2 (top
panel), pY1007/1008
JAK2 (second panel), pY570 JAK2 (third panel), or
JAK2 (bottom panel). (C) Replicates for the experiment shown
in panel B were normalized to levels of JAK2. Means ± standard
errors of the means are shown for n = 6. (D) 3T3-F442A
cells were treated with vehicle (lanes 1 and 5) or with 500 ng GH/ml
(lanes 2 to 4 and 6 to 8). Cells were lysed, and lysates were incubated
without (lanes 1 to 4) or with (lanes 5 to 8) 0.7 U pp2A at
37°C for 60 min. Cell lysates were immunoblotted with either
pS523 JAK2 (top panel) or JAK2 (bottom panel). The
migration of JAK2 is indicated. (E) Results from the experiment shown
in panel D were quantified and normalized to levels of
JAK2.
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FIG. 4. MEK1
inhibitor UO126 inhibits PMA-stimulated phosphorylation of
JAK2 on serine 523. (A) 3T3-F442A cells were pretreated with
DMSO (lanes 1 to 3) or with 10 µM UO126 in DMSO (lanes 4 and 5)
for 30 min prior to stimulation with vehicle (lane 1) or with 1
µM PMA for the indicated times (lanes 2 to 5). Cells were
lysed, and the lysates were immunoblotted (IB) with pS523 JAK2
(top panel), JAK2 (middle panel), or pErk (bottom
panel). The migration of JAK2, a nonspecific band (ns), and the ERKs is
indicated. (B) Replicates for the experiment shown in panel A
were quantified and normalized to levels of JAK2. Means and the range
are shown for n =
2.
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FIG. 3. MEK1
inhibitor UO126 inhibits GH-stimulated phosphorylation of
serine 523 in JAK2. (A) 3T3-F442A cells were incubated with
vehicle (lanes 1 to 3) or with 10 µM UO126 (lanes 4 to 6) for
30 min. Cells were then treated with vehicle (lanes 1 and 4) or with
500 ng GH/ml for 5 or 10 min (lanes 2 and 3 and lanes 5 and 6). Cell
lysates were immunoblotted (IB) with pS523 JAK2 (top panel),
JAK2 (second panel), pErk (third panel), or
Erk (bottom panel). The migration of JAK2 and the ERKs is
indicated. (B) Replicates for the experiment shown in panel A
were quantified and normalized to levels of JAK2. Means ±
standard errors of the means are shown for n =
4.
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Detection of phosphorylation sites by mass spectrometry.
JAK2 was prepared as described
previously (5). Briefly,
Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells were infected with
baculovirus containing cDNA encoding six-His-tagged JAK2. JAK2 was
immunoprecipitated using
JAK2, resolved on 5 to 12% sodium
dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels, and stained with Coomassie
blue. The JAK2 from 20 immunoprecipitations was pooled for analysis by
mass spectrometry. JAK2 was subjected to in-gel reduction and
S-carboxyamidomethylation followed by in-gel digestion with trypsin
(59). To detect
phosphorylation at serine 523, detailed analysis of JAK2 tryptic
peptides was performed in the laboratory of O. N. Jensen at
the University of Southern Denmark using nanoscale sample preparation
methods in combination with matrix-assisted laser desorption
ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (REFLEX
IV; Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany) and nanoelectrospray quadrupole
time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (QTOF-1; Waters/Micromass,
Manchester, United Kingdom)
(62). The protein digest
was loaded onto two nanocolumns (GELoader tips; Eppendorf, Hamburg,
Germany) aligned in series, the first containing QIAGEN
Fe(III)-nitrilotriacetic acid-immobilized metal affinity
chromatography (IMAC; QIAGEN, Valencia,
CA) and the second OligoR3 material (Applied Biosystems, Framingham,
MA) (62). The
IMAC-enriched phosphopeptide mixture was eluted from the Fe(III)-IMAC
column with 10 µl dilute ammonia (pH 10.5) and immediately
acidified by addition of 10 µl of 5% formic acid.
Phosphopeptide mixtures were desalted using an OligoR3 nanocolumn and
eluted either directly onto the MALDI target using the MALDI matrix for
MALDI mass spectrometry analysis (REFLEX IV; Bruker Daltonics, Bremen,
Germany) or by 50% methanol in 1% formic acid directly into a
nanoelectrospray needle (Proxeon Biosystems A/S, Odense, Denmark) for
nanoelectrospray quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry
(QTOF-1; Waters/Micromass, Manchester, United Kingdom) as described
previously
(62).
Cell culture and transfection. The stock of 3T3-F442A fibroblasts was kindly provided by H. Green (Harvard University). 293T and COS-7 cells were from the American Type Culture Collection. 3T3-F442A and 293T cells were grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 8% calf serum, 1 mM L-glutamine, 100 U of penicillin per ml, 100 µg of streptomycin per ml, and 0.25 µg of amphotericin B per ml. COS-7 cells were grown in the same medium using fetal bovine serum rather then calf serum. Both 293T and COS-7 cells were transfected using calcium phosphate precipitation (12) and assayed 24 or 48 h after transfection, respectively. When cells were to be incubated with a ligand, they were incubated overnight in serum-free medium containing 1% bovine serum albumin before addition of ligand (500 ng GH/ml, 125 ng EGF/ml, 1 µM PMA) or vehicle for the time indicated. When the MEK inhibitor UO126 was used, cells were treated with 10 µM UO126 or vehicle for 30 min prior to the addition of ligand.
Cell lysis, immunoprecipitation, and immunoblotting. Cells were washed three times with chilled PBSV (10 mM sodium phosphate, 137 mM NaCl, 1 mM Na3VO4, pH 7.4) and solubilized in lysis buffer (50 mM Tris, 0.1% Triton X-100, 150 mM NaCl, 2 mM EGTA, 1 mM Na3VO4, pH 7.5) containing 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 10 µg/ml aprotinin, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, and 25 mM NaF. The solubilized material was centrifuged at 16,750 x g at 4°C for 10 min. For immunoprecipitations, the supernatant (cell lysate) was incubated with the indicated antibody on ice for 2 h. The immune complexes were collected on 30 µl of protein A-agarose for 1 h. The beads were washed three times with lysis buffer and boiled for 5 min in a mixture (80:20) of lysis buffer and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) sample buffer (250 mM Tris-HCl, 10% SDS, 10% ß-mercaptoethanol, 40% glycerol, 0.01% bromophenol blue, pH 6.8). The solubilized proteins were separated on SDS-polyacrylamide gels, transferred to nitrocellulose, immunoblotted with the indicated antibody, and detected using enhanced chemiluminescence or an Odyssey Infrared Imaging System (Li-Cor Biosciences). With the exception of Fig. 2D, results presented were representative of two or more experiments. For experiments monitoring the effect of pp2A, 20 µl of cell lysate was incubated with vehicle or 0.7 units of pp2A at 37°C for 1 h. The reaction was stopped with the addition of SDS-PAGE sample buffer (80:20 ratio), and the reaction mixture was boiled for 5 min. Immunoblots were quantified using Bio-Rad MultiAnalyst software (for enhanced chemiluminescence detection) or Li-Cor Odyssey 2.0 software and normalized for levels of JAK2 or Stat5 as appropriate. As indicated, for some experiments, the results of a representative experiment are quantified and normalized. In other figures, normalized means ± standard errors of the means (or range if n equals 2) are shown for results carried out on different days.
JAK2 kinase assay.
293T cells were transfected with 0.5
mg cDNA for JAK2 or JAK2 S523A and 1.5 µg vector using calcium
phosphate precipitation. JAK2 immunoprecipitates were washed and
incubated in 50 mM HEPES, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM
NaVO4, 5 mM MnCl2, pH 7.5, at 30°C, and
ATP, 10 µCi [
-32P]ATP (BP Biomedical), and
a JAK2 substrate (a Stat5 peptide containing tyrosine 699
[AKAADGY699VKPQIKQVV], prepared by the Protein Structure
Facility of the Michigan Biomedical Research Core Facility, University
of Michigan) were added to yield a final concentration of 50 µM
ATP and the indicated Stat5 peptide concentration. After 20, 40, and 60
min, the vials were centrifuged and an aliquot of the supernatant was
spotted on p81 paper. The p81 paper was washed in 75 mM
H3PO4, and bound 32P was counted using
a Packard scintillation
counter.
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JAK2, resolved by SDS-PAGE, and then
stained by Coomassie brilliant blue. The protein was reduced and
S-alkylated and then in-gel digested using trypsin. Phosphopeptides in
the tryptic digest of JAK2 were enriched by Fe(III)-IMAC and then
desalted/concentrated using a miniaturized OligoR3 column prior to
analysis by mass spectrometry. Peptide samples were analyzed by MALDI
MS and nanoelectrospray tandem mass spectrometry. The MALDI MS tryptic
peptide mass map of JAK2 displayed an ion signal consistent with
phosphorylation of the peptide
T514NGISDVQISPTLQR528.
Sequencing by nanoelectrospray quadrupole time of flight tandem mass
spectrometry confirmed the identity of the peptide and located the
phosphorylation site at position 523:
T514NGISDVQI[pS]PTLQR528(Fig.
1).
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FIG. 1. JAK2
is phosphorylated on serine 523. JAK2 was isolated from Sf9 cells
infected with baculovirus containing the cDNA for murine JAK2. JAK2 was
digested with trypsin and analyzed by nanoelectrospray quadrupole time
of flight tandem mass spectrometry. The doubly charged ion
corresponding to
T514NGISDVQI[pS]PTLQR528and the Y-ion series corresponding to the C-terminal peptide ion
fragments are indicated. The increment corresponding to the
phosphorylated serine (pS) is indicated and corresponds to the
molecular weight of a phosphorylated serine
residue.
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pS523 JAK2) would recognize JAK2 overexpressed in 293T cells.
Cells transiently overexpressing JAK2 or JAK2 S523A were solubilized,
and cell lysates were immunoblotted with either
JAK2 or
pS523 JAK2. The
JAK2 blot revealed that the
expression of JAK2 and that of JAK2 S523A were similar (Fig.
2A, bottom panel). When the lysates were blotted with
pS523 JAK2, JAK2 was recognized, but not JAK2 S523A, suggesting that overexpressed
JAK2 is phosphorylated on serine 523.
We next examined
whether endogenous JAK2 was also phosphorylated on serine 523 and
whether GH, a potent activator of JAK2, regulates the phosphorylation
of serine 523 in JAK2. 3T3-F442A cells were treated with vehicle or
with 500 ng GH/ml for 0, 5, 10, or 15 min. Immunoblotting proteins in
cell lysates with
pS523 JAK2 demonstrated a low level of
phosphorylation of serine 523 in the absence of GH. We believe that
this signal is due to a low basal level of phosphorylation of serine
523, since it was detected by both our antibody and the antibody of
Ishida-Takahashi et al.
(32a) and because it was
present in
JAK2 immunoprecipitates but not in precipitates
using nonimmune serum (data not shown). GH transiently stimulated the
phosphorylation of serine 523 with maximal phosphorylation of serine
523 routinely detected by 5 or 10 min (Fig.
2B, top panel, and 2C).
Immunoblotting with
JAK2 demonstrated that the differences in
JAK2 phosphorylation were not the result of differences in endogenous
JAK2 expression (Fig. 2B,
bottom panel). Immunoblotting the lysates with
pY1007/1008 and
pY570 (Fig. 2B,
middle panels) demonstrated that GH stimulates tyrosyl phosphorylation
of JAK2 within 5 min, as reported previously using
PY
(2,
3). When the lysates from
GH-stimulated 3T3-F442A cells were treated with protein phosphatase
pp2A, detection of JAK2 by
pSer523 was substantially
diminished (Fig. 2D and
E), indicating that
pS523 JAK2 detects the
phosphorylated form of serine
523.
Pretreatment of 3T3-F442A cells with a MEK1 inhibitor, UO126, abolishes GH-stimulated phosphorylation of JAK2 on serine 523. Inspection of the amino acid sequence flanking serine 523(DVQISPTLQ) suggests that serine 523 is phosphorylated by a proline-directed serine/threonine kinase. Because GH has been shown to rapidly activate the proline-directed serine/threonine kinases ERKs 1 and 2 (1, 9, 46, 69), we examined whether ERKs 1 and/or 2 might be responsible for GH stimulation of phosphorylation of serine 523. Because activated MEK1 phosphorylates and thereby activates ERKs 1 and 2 (58) and MEK1 is activated by GH (66), to block the activation of ERKs 1 and 2, we used UO126, a potent inhibitor of MEK1 (18).
3T3-F442A
cells were pretreated for 30 min with either DMSO or 10 µM
UO126. We then stimulated the cells with either vehicle or 500 ng GH/ml
for 5 or 10 min. Cell lysates were immunoblotted with an anti-active
ERK (
pErk) antibody that recognizes the doubly phosphorylated
(pThr202, pTyr204) active form of ERKs 1 and 2.
GH-stimulated phosphorylation of ERKs 1 and 2 on threonine 202 and
tyrosine 204 and UO126 inhibited this stimulation (Fig.
3A, third panel from top). Immunoblotting the lysates with
ERK
verified that comparable amounts of ERK were present in each lane (Fig.
3A, bottom panel).
Immunoblotting the lysates with
JAK2 verified that comparable
amounts of JAK2 were loaded in each lane (Fig.
3A, second panel). When
the lysates were immunoblotted with
pS523 JAK2, GH was found
to stimulate the phosphorylation of serine 523 to maximal levels by 5
min (Fig. 3A, top panel,
lanes 1 to 3, and 3B). However, blocking activation of ERKs 1 and 2
with UO126 prior to GH stimulation inhibited GH-dependent
phosphorylation of serine 523 (Fig.
3A, top panel, lanes 4 to
6, and 3B). This result suggests that in response to GH, ERKs 1 and/or
2 or an unknown kinase downstream of MEK1 phosphorylates serine 523 in
JAK2.
PMA induces phosphorylation of JAK2 on serine 523 via a kinase that lies downstream of MEK1.
Phorbol esters are potent activators of
ERKs 1 and 2. Exactly how they activate ERKs 1 and 2 is not known, with
some researchers hypothesizing the involvement of PKCs and others
invoking the involvement of the phorbol ester binding proteins RasGRPs
(7,
8,
67). If GH-dependent
phosphorylation of serine 523 is mediated via ERKs 1 and/or 2, we would
predict that activation of ERKs 1 and 2 by PMA would also stimulate the
phosphorylation of serine 523. When 3T3-F442A cells were treated with 1
µM PMA, phosphorylation of ERKs 1 and 2 was detected by 10 min
and persisted for 60 min (Fig.
4A, bottom panel). Blotting with
pS523 JAK2 (Fig.
4A, top panel, and 4B)
reveals that PMA also stimulates the phosphorylation of serine 523.
Neither PMA nor UO126 affected the levels of JAK2 (Fig.
4A, middle panel).
Consistent with PMA stimulation of phosphorylation of serine 523 in
JAK2 involving ERKs 1 and/or 2, pretreatment of the cells with the MEK1
inhibitor UO126 (10 µM for 30 min) decreased both PMA-induced
activation of ERKs 1 and 2 and phosphorylation of JAK2 on serine 523
(Fig. 4A, lanes 4 and 5,
and 4B).
EGF stimulates the phosphorylation of JAK2 on serine 523.
EGF, like PMA and GH, is known to
activate ERKs 1 and 2
(52; reviewed in
reference 34). We
predicted, therefore, that EGF, like PMA and GH, would stimulate the
phosphorylation of serine 523. 3T3-F442A cells, which contain
endogenous EGF receptors, were treated with vehicle or 125 ng EGF/ml
for 5, 10, 15, and 30 min. Cell lysates were prepared, and proteins
were blotted with
pS523 JAK2. Similar to what was seen with
GH, EGF stimulated the phosphorylation of serine 523 by 5 min (Fig.
5). Serine 523 phosphorylation decreased gradually until it dropped below
basal levels by 30 min. As predicted, EGF did not activate
JAK2, as assessed by blotting with antibody (
pY1007/1008) to
the activating tyrosine in JAK2.
Mutation of serine 523 to alanine in JAK2 increases the activity of JAK2.
Having established that
serine 523 in JAK2 is phosphorylated in response to GH as well as PMA
and EGF, we began to investigate the function of phosphorylation of
serine 523. Because serine/threonine phosphorylation often has a
regulatory function (reviewed in reference
42), we tested whether
phosphorylation of JAK2 at serine 523 affects the kinase activity of
JAK2. JAK2 or JAK2 S523A was expressed in 293T cells and
immunoprecipitated using
JAK2. Kinase activity was then
assessed using a Stat5 peptide containing the major JAK2 tyrosyl
phosphorylation site at amino acid 699 in Stat5. Immunoblotting with
JAK2 demonstrated that JAK2 and JAK2 S523A were expressed at
similar levels (Fig.
6A). The time course for phosphorylation of the Stat5 peptide at the highest
(500 µM) Stat5 peptide concentration used demonstrated that the
assay was reasonably linear for at least 60 min and that the activity
of JAK2 S523A was at least twice as high as the activity of JAK2 (Fig.
6B). When the
concentration of Stat5 peptide was varied while the ATP concentration
was kept at 50 µM, the ratio of Stat5 peptide phosphorylation
in the presence of JAK2 S523A compared to that in the presence of JAK2
was 2.7 ± 0.35 (n = 3) at 50 µM Stat5
peptide, 3.9 ± 0.57 (n = 3) at 150 µM,
and 2.7 ± 0.34 (n = 2) at 500 µM.
Thus, the activity of JAK2 S523A was consistently higher than the
activity of JAK2. Consistent with JAK2 S523A having higher activity
than JAK2, Stat5b was more highly phosphorylated when coexpressed with
JAK2 S523A than when coexpressed with JAK2 (Fig.
6D).
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FIG. 6. Mutation
of serine 523 to alanine in JAK2 elevates JAK2 kinase
activity. (A) 293T cells were transfected with cDNA (0.5
µg) encoding JAK2 (lane 1) or JAK2 S523A (lane 2).
Cell lysates (top panel) or JAK2 immunoprecipitates (bottom
panel) were immunoblotted with JAK2. The migration of JAK2 is
indicated. wt, wild type. (B) Immunoprecipitated JAK2 or JAK2
S523A was subjected to an in vitro kinase assay for 20, 40, and 60 min
using 50 µM ATP and 500 µM of a peptide containing
tyrosine 699 of Stat5 as substrate. (C) Immunoprecipitated
JAK2 or JAK2 S523A was subjected to an in vitro kinase assay at Stat5
peptide substrate concentrations between 0 and 500 µM. The
reaction velocity was determined by averaging the rate of
32P incorporation into the Stat5 peptide at 40 and 60 min,
n = 2. (D) COS-7 cells were transfected with
cDNAs encoding GH receptor (100 ng), Stat5b (200 ng), and either JAK2
(20 ng) or JAK2 S523A (20 ng). Cells were incubated in serum-free
medium overnight and resolved on a 5 to 12% gradient gel. Cell lysates
were immunoblotted with pStat5b, Stat5b, or
JAK2 as indicated, n =
2.
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JAK2. Blotting with
JAK2
revealed that expression levels of JAK2 and JAK2 S523A were comparable
(Fig.
7A, second panel from top). When cell lysates were blotted with
PY, tyrosyl phosphorylation of wild-type JAK2 was observed by
5 min. In contrast, with JAK2 S523A, both basal and GH-dependent
phosphorylation were increased (Fig.
7A, top panel, and 7B).
When cell lysates were blotted with antibody to phosphorylated tyrosine
699 in Stat5b, phosphorylation of tyrosine 699 in Stat5b was detected
by 5 min in the presence of wild-type JAK2. In the presence of JAK2
S523A, low-level phosphorylation of Stat5 at tyrosine 699 was
detectable at the zero time point (visible in darker exposures) and
GH-dependent phosphorylation of Stat5 at tyrosine 699 was enhanced
compared to the Stat5 phosphorylation seen in the presence of JAK2
(Fig. 7A, third panel, and
Fig. 7C). Unfortunately,
the levels of GH receptor required for us to reconstitute GH-dependent
activation of exogenous JAK2 were too low for us to assess whether
mutation of serine 523 in JAK2 alters phosphorylation of the GH
receptor. Taken together, these data suggest that phosphorylation of
JAK2 on serine 523 inhibits JAK2
activity.
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FIG. 7. Mutation
of serine 523 to alanine in JAK2 enhances GH-dependent phosphorylation
of JAK2 and Stat5b. (A) COS-7 cells were transfected with
cDNAs encoding GH receptor (100 ng), Stat5b (200 ng), and either JAK2
(10 ng) (lanes 1 to 6) or JAK2 S523A (10 ng) (lanes 7 to 12). Cells
were treated with vehicle or 500 ng GH/ml for the indicated times. Cell
lysates were immunoprecipitated with JAK2 and immunoblotted
with PY (top panel) or JAK2 (second panel). Cell
lysates were blotted with pStat5b (third panel) or
Stat5b (bottom panel), n = 2. The migration
of JAK2 and Stat5b is indicated. wt, wild type. (B and C) The
intensities of the bands corresponding to phosphorylated JAK2 and
phosphorylated Stat5b were quantified, normalized for levels of JAK2
and Stat5, and plotted as the fraction of maximum phosphorylation
detected with PY (B) and with pStat5
(C).
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pY1007/1008 JAK2 and
PY. Previous studies indicated that the tyrosyl-phosphorylated
bands that comigrate with JAK2 are primarily if not exclusively JAK2
(3). Tyrosyl
phosphorylation that comigrates with JAK2 was quantified, normalized to
amounts of JAK2, and graphed. Figures
8A and
B, illustrate that EGF did not stimulate overall tyrosyl phosphorylation
of JAK2 or tyrosyl phosphorylation of Y1007/1008. When cells stimulated
with GH alone were compared to cells pretreated with EGF and then
stimulated with GH, the ability of GH to stimulate phosphorylation at
tyrosines 1007 and 1008 as well as total tyrosyl phosphorylation of
JAK2 (and any proteins that comigrate with JAK2) was similar prior to
10 min. However, by 20 min, pretreatment with EGF suppressed
phosphorylation at tyrosines 1007 and 1008 (Fig.
8A) as well as
total tyrosyl phosphorylation of JAK2 (and any comigrating proteins)
(Fig. 8B) by more than
50%. Thus, pretreatment with EGF appears to dampen the ability of GH to
maintain JAK2
activity. |
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Analysis of the amino acids surrounding serine 523 in JAK2 (DVQISPTLQ) indicates that the kinase that phosphorylates JAK2 at serine 523 is a proline-directed serine/threonine kinase. GH has been shown to activate at least four proline-directed serine/threonine kinases, mitogen-activated protein kinases, ERKs 1 and 2 (1, 9, 46, 69), p38 (28, 78), and Jun N-terminal kinase (77), making these kinases logical candidates. The time course of activation in response to GH of all four of these kinases is compatible with any of them being the kinase that phosphorylates serine 523. When 3T3-F442A cells are treated with the MEK1 inhibitor UO126, GH-dependent phosphorylation of JAK2 at serine 523 is suppressed. This suggests that ERKs 1 and/or 2 (or another kinase downstream of MEK1) phosphorylates serine 523 in response to GH. Consistent with ERKs 1 and/or 2 being able to phosphorylate serine 523, serine 523 was also phosphorylated when 3T3-F442A cells were incubated with the phorbol ester PMA, a potent activator of ERKs 1 and 2 (52, 67). Like GH-induced phosphorylation of serine 523, PMA-induced phosphorylation of serine 523 was blocked by preincubation of the cells with the MEK1 inhibitor. Whether ERKs 1 and/or 2 or another serine/threonine kinase is responsible for the low level of serine 523 phosphorylation seen in serum-deprived 3T3-F442A cells (before GH addition) is not known. Because basal levels of phosphorylation were found to vary from day to day and with time of serum deprivation (data not shown and reference 32a), we suspect that there are other kinases capable of phosphorylating serine 523. Our finding that PMA stimulates the phosphorylation of serine 523 raises the possibility that PKC could be such a kinase. Although our results do not specifically exclude PKC from consideration, Ser523 does not lie in a PKC substrate consensus sequence and PMA-stimulated phosphorylation of serine 523 is inhibited by MEK1 inhibitor to a similar extent as PMA-induced ERK 1 and 2 activity. We also think it unlikely that PKC is the kinase in 3T3-F442A cells that phosphorylates serine 523 in response to GH because we are unaware of any evidence that GH activates PKC in 3T3-F442A cells (unpublished observation).
Because serine phosphorylation is often regulatory in nature, we examined whether phosphorylation of serine 523 might regulate the kinase activity of JAK2. Mutating serine 523 to alanine markedly increased the kinase activity of JAK2, as assessed in an in vitro kinase assay using Stat5 peptide as substrate, suggesting that phosphorylation of serine 523 in vivo inhibits the overall kinase activity of JAK2. It may therefore play a critical role in suppressing basal levels of JAK2 tyrosyl phosphorylation. Consistent with this, basal JAK2 autophosphorylation was increased when serine 523 was mutated. Phosphorylation of serine 523 may also dampen the ability of JAK2 to respond to ligand activation, as suggested by our finding that mutation of serine 523 to alanine increased GH-stimulated tyrosyl phosphorylation of both JAK2 and Stat5b. Based upon these findings, we hypothesize that phosphorylation of serine 523 in JAK2 by ERKs 1 and/or 2 acts in a negative feedback manner to dampen the initial activation of JAK2 in response to GH. Phosphorylation of serine 523 would also provide a mechanism by which prior exposure to other ERK-activating ligands might dampen the cellular response to GH. Ishida-Takahashi et al. (32a) have also found that mutation of serine 523 to alanine results in constitutive JAK2-dependent signaling in the absence of cytokine stimulation. In support of the hypothesis that phosphorylation of serine 523 acts in a negative feedback manner to dampen activation of JAK2 and downstream signaling pathways in response to cytokine binding, they observed that mutating serine 523 to alanine enhanced and prolonged JAK2 activation in response to EPO binding to a hybrid EPO-leptin receptor and increased EPO-dependent stimulation of expression of a Stat3 reporter.
A negative regulatory function for phosphorylation of
serine 523 would be consistent with what is known thus far about the
role of serine phosphorylation in the regulation of JAK2 and the
receptor tyrosine kinases. PKC-
-dependent phosphorylation of
JAK2 on serine and threonine has been reported to abrogate
interleukin-3-dependent tyrosyl phosphorylation and activation of JAK2,
with inhibition of JAK2 either by PKC-
-dependent
serine/threonine phosphorylation or by interleukin-3 deprivation,
leading to differentiation of 32D myeloid progenitor cells
(37). Serine/threonine
phosphorylation of insulin receptor has been reported to reduce
insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the receptor and its
targets and inhibit propagation of the insulin receptor signal
(48,
63). Protein kinase
C-dependent phosphorylation of EGF receptor is reported to decrease
autophosphorylation of EGF receptor and reduce tyrosine kinase activity
(14,
16). Phosphorylation of
the platelet-derived growth factor receptor ß on serine 1104 by
G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) is thought to reduce
signaling pathways downstream of platelet-derived growth factor
receptor at least in part by reducing receptor autophosphorylation and
reducing receptor interaction with the
Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory
factor (NHERF, also known as EBP50)
(27).
How phosphorylation of serine 523 inhibits the kinase activity of JAK2 is not known. JAK2 is composed of seven JAK homology domains (JH1 to JH7) (24, 72). The C-terminal JH1 domain is the kinase domain (20, 76). JH2, the pseudokinase domain, is hypothesized to be autoinhibitory (21, 54-56). The entire JH3 domain combined with the second half of the JH4 domain of JAK2 has structural homology to an SH2 domain but does not appear to function as an SH2 domain (26). The first half of the JH4 domain of JAK2 and the JH5 to JH7 domains comprise the FERM (band 4.1, ezrin, radixin, and moesin) domain (23), responsible for binding to the GH receptor (22, 64), erythropoietin receptor (15, 30), gamma interferon receptor (15, 36), and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor ßc subunit (75). Serine 523 lies in the linker connecting the pseudokinase domain (JH2) to the JH3 domain. Thus, one can envision phosphorylation of serine 523 inducing a conformational change in JAK2 that would strengthen or promote the autoinhibitory action of the JH2 domain on the kinase domain of JAK2. Mutation of serine 523 to alanine would be expected to release phosphorylation-dependent inhibition, resulting in increased kinase activity and tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK2 and its substrates as demonstrated in this report. In support of this general region of JAK2 playing a critical role in regulating the enzymatic activity of JAK2, autophosphorylation of tyrosine 570 in JAK2 similarly appears to inhibit JAK2 activity (5, 19). It is also possible that phosphorylation of serine 523 and/or tyrosine 570 recruits a negative regulatory protein, such as a phosphatase, to JAK2 or prevents the binding of a positive regulatory protein. These possibilities are currently under investigation.
The finding that serine 523 appears to be phosphorylated by ERKs 1 and/or 2 suggests that phosphorylation of serine 523 may be a site of cross talk between ligands such as GH that activate JAK2 and ligands that activate MEK1 and ERKs 1 and/or 2 by a JAK2-independent pathway. Our finding here that EGF stimulates the phosphorylation of JAK2 on serine 523 and decreases the ability of GH to stimulate phosphorylation of the activating tyrosine, tyrosine 1007, in JAK2 as well as the overall tyrosyl phosphorylation of JAK2 provides support for this hypothesis. Interestingly, the cross talk between GH receptors and EGF receptor family members extends to both receptors, even in regards to the role of ERK activation. Thus, GH is thought to stimulate the phosphorylation of ErbB-2 by ERKs 1 and/or 2 and cause a decrease in EGF-induced tyrosyl phosphorylation of ErbB-2 and DNA synthesis (35). The cross talk between EGF family receptors and GH receptors appears multifaceted. GH has also been reported to protect EGF receptor from degradation and thereby potentiate EGF signaling and to decrease EGF binding to its receptor by decreasing the affinity of EGF for its receptor in a MEK1/ERK pathway-dependent manner (31, 32). GH has also been reported to stimulate phosphorylation of the EGF receptor on tyrosines (35, 73). It seems likely that EGF regulation of GH signaling may also be multifaceted, with phosphorylation of serine 523 being just one aspect of that regulation. Similarly, we would anticipate that other ligands that activate receptor tyrosine kinases and ERKs 1 and/or 2, such as platelet-derived growth factor, as well as ligands that activate ERKs 1 and/or 2 by other processes, such as via Gi-coupled receptors, would also stimulate phosphorylation of serine 523 in JAK2 and thereby downregulate GH signaling. The degree to which this would affect GH signaling would depend upon the timing of the stimulation via the various ligands and whether these ligands have other effects on GH signaling.
In summary, we have identified serine 523 in JAK2 as a site of phosphorylation. Using an antibody that specifically recognizes JAK2 phosphorylated at serine 523, we demonstrate that serine 523 is rapidly but transiently phosphorylated in response to GH and EGF and provide evidence that serine 523 is phosphorylated by ERKs 1 and/or 2. We also report that mutating serine 523 to an alanine increases the enzymatic activity of JAK2 as well as basal and GH-stimulated tyrosyl phosphorylation of JAK2 and the JAK2 substrate Stat5b, suggesting that phosphorylation of serine 523 inhibits JAK2 activity. We hypothesize that phosphorylation of serine 523 in JAK2 by ERKs 1 and/or 2 or another kinase downstream of MEK1 acts in a negative feedback manner to dampen the initial activation of JAK2 in response to GH. Phosphorylation of serine 523 also provides a mechanism by which exposure to other ERK-activating ligands or environmental factors that regulate serine 523 phosphorylation might modulate the cell's response to GH.
This work was supported by NIH grant DK34171 (to C.C.-S.) and a grant from the Danish Natural Sciences Research Council (to O.N.J.). cDNA sequencing was supported by the Cellular and Molecular Biology Core and peptide synthesis by the Protein Structure Facility of the Michigan Biomedical Research Core of the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center (P60 DK20572), University of Michigan Rheumatologic Diseases Comprehensive Center (P60-AR20557), and the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (NIH P30 CA46592). A.M.M.-M. was supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship from the Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Grant T32-GM 07315.
These
two authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
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