title: Phosphorylation of the TAL1 oncoprotein by the extracellular-signal-regulated protein kinase ERK1.
abstract: Alteration of the TAL1 gene is the most common genetic lesion found in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. TAL1 encodes phosphoproteins, pp42TAL1 and pp22TAL1, that represent phosphorylated versions of the full-length (residues 1 to 331) and truncated (residues 176 to 331) TAL1 gene products, respectively. Both proteins contain the basic helix-loop-helix motif, a DNA-binding and protein dimerization motif common to several known transcriptional regulatory factors. We now report that serine residue 122 (S122) is a major phosphorylation site of pp42TAL1 in leukemic cell lines and transfected COS1 cells. In vivo phosphorylation of S122 is induced by epidermal growth factor with a rapid time course that parallels activation of the ERK/MAP2 protein kinases. Moreover, S122 is readily phosphorylated in vitro by the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase ERK1. These data suggest that TAL1 residue S122 serves as an in vivo substrate for ERK/MAP2 kinases such as ERK1. Therefore, S122 phosphorylation may provide a mechanism whereby the properties of TAL1 polypeptides can be modulated by extracellular stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cobb
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baer
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010449:Peptide Mapping; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D000073942:T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 1; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D011494:Protein Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000073942:T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 1; D014157:Transcription Factors; C067143:TAL1 protein, human