title: Interconversion of the kinetic identities of the tandem catalytic domains of receptor-like protein-tyrosine phosphatase PTPalpha by two point mutations is synergistic and substrate-dependent.
abstract: The two tandem homologous catalytic domains of PTPalpha possess different kinetic properties, with the membrane proximal domain (D1) exhibiting much higher activity than the membrane distal (D2) domain. Sequence alignment of PTPalpha-D1 and -D2 with the D1 domains of other receptor-like PTPs, and modeling of the PTPalpha-D1 and -D2 structures, identified two non-conserved amino acids in PTPalpha-D2 that may account for its low activity. Mutation of each residue (Val-536 or Glu-671) to conform to its invariant counterpart in PTPalpha-D1 positively affected the catalytic efficiency of PTPalpha-D2 toward the in vitro substrates para-nitrophenylphosphate and the phosphotyrosyl-peptide RR-src. Together, they synergistically transformed PTPalpha-D2 into a phosphatase with catalytic efficiency for para-nitrophenylphosphate equal to PTPalpha-D1 but not approaching that of PTPalpha-D1 for the more complex substrate RR-src. In vivo, no gain in D2 activity toward p59(fyn) was effected by the double mutation. Alteration of the two corresponding invariant residues in PTPalpha-D1 to those in D2 conferred D2-like kinetics toward all substrates. Thus, these two amino acids are critical for interaction with phosphotyrosine but not sufficient to supply PTPalpha-D2 with a D1-like substrate specificity for elements of the phosphotyrosine microenvironment present in RR-src and p59(fyn). Whether the structural features of D2 can uniquely accommodate a specific phosphoprotein substrate or whether D2 has an alternate function in PTPalpha remains an open question.
authors.affiliation: Cell Regulation Laboratory, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 30 Medical Drive, Singapore 117609.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Kolatkar
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Pallen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D017931:DNA Primers; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051076:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fyn; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051076:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fyn; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases