βTrCP controls GH receptor degradation via two different motifs

Tyrosine kinases compete for growth hormone receptor binding and regulate receptor mobility and degradation

Growth hormone (GH) acts via JAK2 and LYN to regulate growth, metabolism, and neural function. However, the relationship between these tyrosine kinases remains enigmatic. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining cell biology, structural biology, computation, and single-particle tracking on live cells, we find overlapping LYN and JAK2 Box1-Box2-binding regions in GH receptor (GHR). Our data implicate direct competition between JAK2 and LYN for GHR binding and imply divergent signaling profiles. We show that GHR exhibits distinct mobility states within the cell membrane and that activation of LYN by GH mediates GHR immobilization, thereby initiating its nanoclustering in the membrane. Importantly, we observe that LYN mediates cytokine receptor degradation, thereby controlling receptor turnover and activity, and this applies to related cytokine receptors. Our study offers insight into the molecular interactions of LYN with GHR and highlights important functions for LYN in regulating GHR nanoclustering, signaling, and degradation, traits broadly relevant to many cytokine receptors.

Small molecules to regulate the GH/IGF1 axis by inhibiting the growth hormone receptor synthesis

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) play an important role in mammalian development, cell proliferation and lifespan. Especially in cases of tumor growth there is an urgent need to control the GH/IGF1 axis. In this study we screened a 38,480-compound library, and in two consecutive rounds of analogues selection, we identified active lead compounds based on the following criteria: inhibition the GH receptor (GHR) activity and its downstream effectors Jak2 and STAT5, and inhibition of growth of breast and colon cancer cells. The most active small molecule (BM001) inhibited both the GH/IGF1 axis and cell proliferation with an IC50 of 10-30 nM of human cancer cells. BM001 depleted GHR in human lymphoblasts. In preclinical xenografted experiments, BM001 showed a strong decrease in tumor volume in mice transplanted with MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, the drug acts on the synthesis of the GHR. Our findings open the possibility to inhibit the GH/IGF1 axis with a small molecule.

GHR signalling: Receptor activation and degradation mechanisms

Growth hormone (GH) actions via initiating cell signalling through the GH receptor (GHR) are important for many physiological processes, in addition to its well-known role in regulating growth. The activation of JAK-STAT signalling by GH is well characterized, however knowledge on GH activation of SRC family kinases (SFKs) is still limited. In this review we summarise the collective knowledge on the activation, regulation, and downstream signalling of GHR. We highlight studies on GH activation of SFKs and the important outcome of this signalling pathway with a focus on the different degradation mechanisms that can regulate GHR availability since this is an area that warrants further study considering its role in tumour progression.

Growth Hormone Receptor Regulation in Cancer and Chronic Diseases

The GHR signaling pathway plays important roles in growth, metabolism, cell cycle control, immunity, homeostatic processes, and chemoresistance via both the JAK/STAT and the SRC pathways. Dysregulation of GHR signaling is associated with various diseases and chronic conditions such as acromegaly, cancer, aging, metabolic disease, fibroses, inflammation and autoimmunity. Numerous studies entailing the GHR signaling pathway have been conducted for various cancers. Diverse factors mediate the up- or down-regulation of GHR signaling through post-translational modifications. Of the numerous modifications, ubiquitination and deubiquitination are prominent events. Ubiquitination by E3 ligase attaches ubiquitins to target proteins and induces proteasomal degradation or starts the sequence of events that leads to endocytosis and lysosomal degradation. In this review, we discuss the role of first line effectors that act directly on the GHR at the cell surface including ADAM17, JAK2, SRC family member Lyn, Ubc13/CHIP, proteasome, βTrCP, CK2, STAT5b, and SOCS2. Activity of all, except JAK2, Lyn and STAT5b, counteract GHR signaling. Loss of their function increases the GH-induced signaling in favor of aging and certain chronic diseases, exemplified by increased lung cancer risk in case of a mutation in the SOCS2-GHR interaction site. Insight in their roles in GHR signaling can be applied for cancer and other therapeutic strategies.

Orchestration of signaling by structural disorder in class 1 cytokine receptors

BACKGROUND

Class 1 cytokine receptors (C1CRs) are single-pass transmembrane proteins responsible for transmitting signals between the outside and the inside of cells. Remarkably, they orchestrate key biological processes such as proliferation, differentiation, immunity and growth through long disordered intracellular domains (ICDs), but without having intrinsic kinase activity. Despite these key roles, their characteristics remain rudimentarily understood.

METHODS

The current paper asks the question of why disorder has evolved to govern signaling of C1CRs by reviewing the literature in combination with new sequence and biophysical analyses of chain properties across the family.

RESULTS

We uncover that the C1CR-ICDs are fully disordered and brimming with SLiMs. Many of these short linear motifs (SLiMs) are overlapping, jointly signifying a complex regulation of interactions, including network rewiring by isoforms. The C1CR-ICDs have unique properties that distinguish them from most IDPs and we forward the perception that the C1CR-ICDs are far from simple strings with constitutively bound kinases. Rather, they carry both organizational and operational features left uncovered within their disorder, including mechanisms and complexities of regulatory functions.

CONCLUSIONS

Critically, the understanding of the fascinating ability of these long, completely disordered chains to orchestrate complex cellular signaling pathways is still in its infancy, and we urge a perceptional shift away from the current simplistic view towards uncovering their full functionalities and potential. Video abstract.

Endocytosis and Degradation of Pegvisomant and a Potential New Mechanism That Inhibits the Nuclear Translocation of GHR

CONTEXT

Pegvisomant, a growth hormone receptor (GHR) antagonist, is a well-known drug that was designed to treat acromegaly. However, recent studies have indicated that the GHR is a "moonlighting" protein that may exhibit dual functions based on its localization in the plasma membrane and nucleus. In light of this finding, we explored whether pegvisomant is a potential "moonlighting" GHR antagonist. In addition, the mechanisms of the endocytosis, postendocytic sorting, and degradation of pegvisomant are not fully understood.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated whether pegvisomant is a "moonlighting" antagonist and explored the mechanisms of the endocytosis, postendocytic sorting, and degradation of pegvisomant.

METHODS

Indirect immunofluorescence and Western blot coupled with pharmacological inhibitors and gene silencing (small interfering RNA) were used to explore the mechanisms of the endocytosis, postendocytic sorting, and degradation of pegvisomant. Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and indirect immunofluorescence coupled with subcellular fractionation analysis were used to determine the effect of pegvisomant on GHR's nuclear localization in vitro and in vivo.

RESULTS

Here, we show that the endocytosis of pegvisomant is mainly mediated though the clathrin pathway. Further study of the postendocytic sorting of pegvisomant shows that pegvisomant enters into different types of endosomes under GHR mediation. In addition, GHR is slightly downregulated by pegvisomant; further study indicates that proteasomes and lysosomes may cooperate to regulate pegvisomant/GHR degradation. Most importantly, we show that pegvisomant inhibits the nuclear localization of GHR.

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that pegvisomant is a "moonlighting" antagonist. In addition, we revealed the mechanisms of the endocytosis, postendocytic sorting, and degradation of pegvisomant.

Proteome-wide analysis of phospho-regulated PDZ domain interactions

A key function of reversible protein phosphorylation is to regulate protein-protein interactions, many of which involve short linear motifs (3-12 amino acids). Motif-based interactions are difficult to capture because of their often low-to-moderate affinities. Here, we describe phosphomimetic proteomic peptide-phage display, a powerful method for simultaneously finding motif-based interaction and pinpointing phosphorylation switches. We computationally designed an oligonucleotide library encoding human C-terminal peptides containing known or predicted Ser/Thr phosphosites and phosphomimetic variants thereof. We incorporated these oligonucleotides into a phage library and screened the PDZ (PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1) domains of Scribble and DLG1 for interactions potentially enabled or disabled by ligand phosphorylation. We identified known and novel binders and characterized selected interactions through microscale thermophoresis, isothermal titration calorimetry, and NMR We uncover site-specific phospho-regulation of PDZ domain interactions, provide a structural framework for how PDZ domains accomplish phosphopeptide binding, and discuss ligand phosphorylation as a switching mechanism of PDZ domain interactions. The approach is readily scalable and can be used to explore the potential phospho-regulation of motif-based interactions on a large scale.

Functions of intrinsic disorder in transmembrane proteins

Intrinsic disorder is common in integral membrane proteins, particularly in the intracellular domains. Despite this observation, these domains are not always recognized as being disordered. In this review, we will discuss the biological functions of intrinsically disordered regions of membrane proteins, and address why the flexibility afforded by disorder is mechanistically important. Intrinsically disordered regions are present in many common classes of membrane proteins including ion channels and transporters; G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), receptor tyrosine kinases and cytokine receptors. The functions of the disordered regions are many and varied. We will discuss selected examples including: (1) Organization of receptors, kinases, phosphatases and second messenger sources into signaling complexes. (2) Modulation of the membrane-embedded domain function by ball-and-chain like mechanisms. (3) Trafficking of membrane proteins. (4) Transient membrane associations. (5) Post-translational modifications most notably phosphorylation and (6) disorder-linked isoform dependent function. We finish the review by discussing the future challenges facing the membrane protein community regarding protein disorder.

Atypical defects resulting in growth hormone insensitivity

Besides four well-documented genetic causes of GH insensitivity (GHI) (GHR, STAT5B, IGF1, IGFALS defects), several other congenital and acquired conditions are associated with GHI. With respect to its anabolic actions, GH induces transcription of IGF1, IGFBP3 and IGFALS through a complex regulatory cascade including GH binding to its receptor (GHR), activation of JAK2 and phosphorylation of STAT5b, which then trafficks to the nucleus. GH also activates the MAPK and PI3K pathways. The synthesis of GHR can be reduced by estrogen deficiency or corticosteroid excess, and is possibly decreased in African pygmies. An increased degradation of GHRs because of overexpression of cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein (CIS) was suggested for some children with idiopathic short stature. Effects on several downstream components of GH signaling were observed for FGF21, cytokines, sepsis, fever and chronic renal failure. In Noonan syndrome and other "rasopathies" the activation of the RAS-RAF-MAPK-ERK pathway leads to inhibition of the JAK/STAT pathway. In contrast, fibroblasts from tall patients with Sotos syndrome showed a downregulation of this axis. Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that the NF-κB pathway plays a role in GH signaling. In a patient with an IκBα mutation presenting with short stature, GHI, severe immune deficiency and other features, NF-κB nuclear transportation and STAT5 and PI3K expression and activity were reduced. A patient with a mosaic de novo duplication of 17q21-25 presented with several congenital anomalies, GHI and mild immunodeficiency. Studies in blood lymphocytes showed disturbed signaling of the CD28 pathway, involving NF-κB and related proteins. Functional studies on skin fibroblasts revealed that NF-κB activation, PI3K activity and STAT5 phosphorylation in response to GH were suppressed, while the sensitivity to GH in terms of MAPK phosphorylation was increased. The expression of one of the duplicated genes, PRKCA, was significantly higher than in control cells, which might be the cause of this clinical syndrome.

Fos-Zippered GH Receptor Cytosolic Tails Act as Jak2 Substrates and Signal Transducers

Members of the Janus kinase (Jak) family initiate the majority of downstream signaling events of the cytokine receptor family. The prevailing principle is that the receptors act in dimers: 2 Jak2 molecules bind to the cytosolic tails of a cytokine receptor family member and initiate Jak-signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling upon a conformational change in the receptor complex, induced by the cognate cytokine. Due to the complexity of signaling complexes, there is a strong need for in vitro model systems. To investigate the molecular details of the Jak2 interaction with the GH receptor (GHR), we used cytosolic tails provided with leucine zippers derived from c-Fos to mimic the dimerized state of GHR. Expressed together with Jak2, fos-zippered tails, but not unzippered tails, were stabilized. In addition, the Jak-signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling pathway was activated by the fos-zippered tails. The stabilization depended also on α-helix rotation of the zippers. Fos-zippered GHR tails and Jak2, both purified from baculovirus-infected insect cells, interacted via box1 with a binding affinity of approximately 40nM. As expected, the Jak kinase inhibitor Ruxolitinib inhibited the stabilization but did not affect the c-Fos-zippered GHR tail-Jak2 interaction. Analysis by blue-native gel electrophoresis revealed high molecular-weight complexes containing both Jak2 and nonphosphorylated GHR tails, whereas Jak2-dissociated tails were highly phosphorylated and monomeric, implying that Jak2 detaches from its substrate upon phosphorylation.

A systems-wide screen identifies substrates of the SCFβTrCP ubiquitin ligase

Cellular proteins are degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in a precise and timely fashion. Such precision is conferred by the high substrate specificity of ubiquitin ligases. Identification of substrates of ubiquitin ligases is crucial not only to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which the UPS controls protein degradation but also for drug discovery purposes because many established UPS substrates are implicated in disease. We developed a combined bioinformatics and affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS) workflow for the system-wide identification of substrates of SCF(βTrCP), a member of the SCF family of ubiquitin ligases. These ubiquitin ligases are characterized by a multisubunit architecture typically consisting of the invariable subunits Rbx1, Cul1, and Skp1 and one of 69 F-box proteins. The F-box protein of this member of the family is βTrCP. SCF(βTrCP) binds, through the WD40 repeats of βTrCP, to the DpSGXX(X)pS diphosphorylated motif in its substrates. We recovered 27 previously reported SCF(βTrCP) substrates, of which 22 were verified by two independent statistical protocols, thereby confirming the reliability of this approach. In addition to known substrates, we identified 221 proteins that contained the DpSGXX(X)pS motif and also interacted specifically with the WD40 repeats of βTrCP. Thus, with SCF(βTrCP), as the example, we showed that integration of structural information, AP-MS, and degron motif mining constitutes an effective method to screen for substrates of ubiquitin ligases.

Multimeric growth hormone receptor complexes serve as signaling platforms

Growth hormone (GH) signaling is required for promoting longitudinal body growth, stem cell activation, differentiation, and survival and for regulation of metabolism. Failure to adequately regulate GH signaling leads to disease: excessive GH signaling has been connected to cancer, and GH insensitivity has been reported in cachexia patients. Since its discovery in 1989, the receptor has served a pivotal role as the prototype cytokine receptor both structurally and functionally. Phosphorylation and ubiquitylation regulate the GH receptor (GHR) at the cell surface: two ubiquitin ligases (SCF(βTrCP2) and CHIP) determine the GH responsiveness of cells by controlling its endocytosis, whereas JAK2 initiates the JAK/STAT pathway. We used blue native electrophoresis to identify phosphorylated and ubiquitylated receptor intermediates. We show that GHRs occur as ∼500-kDa complexes that dimerize into active ∼900-kDa complexes upon GH binding. The dimerized complexes act as platforms for transient interaction with JAK2 and ubiquitin ligases. If GH and receptors are made in the same cell (autocrine mode), only limited numbers of ∼900-kDa complexes are formed. The experiments reveal the dynamic changes in post-translational modifications during GH-induced signaling events and show that relatively simple cytokine receptors like GHRs are able to form higher order protein complexes. Insight in the complex formation of cytokine receptors is crucially important for engineering cytokines that control ligand-induced cell responses and for generating a new class of therapeutic agents for a wide range of diseases.

βTrCP interacts with the ubiquitin-dependent endocytosis motif of the GH receptor in an unconventional manner

GH (growth hormone) binding to the GHR (GH receptor) triggers essential signalling pathways that promote growth and metabolic regulation. The sensitivity of the cells to GH is mainly controlled by the endocytosis of the receptor via βTrCP (β-transducin repeat-containing protein). In the present study, we show that βTrCP interacts directly via its WD40 domain with the UbE (ubiquitin-dependent endocytosis) motif in GHR, promoting GHR ubiquitination in vitro. NMR experiments demonstrated that the UbE motif is essentially unstructured, and, together with functional mapping of the UbE and βTrCP WD40 residues necessary for binding, led to a unique interaction model of βTrCP with GHR-UbE. This interaction is different from the conventional βTrCP-substrate interactions described to date. This interaction therefore represents a promising specific target to develop drugs that inhibit GHR endocytosis and increase GH sensitivity in cachexia patients.

Reciprocal cross-regulation between RNF41 and USP8 controls cytokine receptor sorting and processing

The mechanisms controlling the steady-state cytokine receptor cell surface levels, and consequently the cellular response to cytokines, remain poorly understood. The number of surface-exposed receptors is a dynamic balance of de novo synthesis, transport to the plasma membrane, internalization, recycling, degradation and ectodomain shedding. We previously reported that the E3 ubiquitin ligase Ring Finger Protein 41 (RNF41) inhibits basal lysosomal degradation and enhance ectodomain shedding of JAK2-associated cytokine receptors. Ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8), an RNF41 interacting deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) stabilizes RNF41 and is involved in trafficking of various transmembrane proteins. The present study identifies USP8 as a substrate of RNF41 and reveals that loss of USP8 explains the aforementioned RNF41 effects. RNF41 redistributes and ubiquitinates USP8, and reduces USP8 levels. In addition, USP8 knockdown functionally matches the effects of RNF41 ectopic expression on the model leptin and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) receptors. Moreover, RNF41 indirectly destabilizes the ESCRT-0 complex via USP8 suppression. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that RNF41 controls JAK2-associated cytokine receptor trafficking by acting as a key regulator of USP8 and ESCRT-0 stability. Balanced reciprocal cross-regulation between RNF41 and USP8 thus decides if receptors are sorted for lysosomal degradation or recycling, this way regulating basal cytokine receptor levels.