title: p39 activates cdk5 in neurons, and is associated with the actin cytoskeleton.
abstract: Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) is a small serine/threonine kinase that displays close sequence homology to the mitotically active cyclin-dependent kinases. Cdk5 has been shown to play an essential role in the development of the nervous system, including neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth. Cdk5 activation requires the presence of a regulatory activator such as p35. cdk5 -/- mice have much more extensive defects in the development of the nervous system than p35 -/- mice, leading to the speculation that other regulatory activators of cdk5 exist. Indeed, p39 is a p35 related protein isolated by sequence homology to p35. We show here that p39 associates with cdk5 in brain lysates, and that this complex is active in phosphorylation of histone H1. By extensive characterization of p39 subcellular localization in different cell types, we demonstrate the presence of p39 in lamellipodial and fillopodial structures of cells and in growth cones of neurons. We show that p39 colocalizes with actin, and cofractionates with the detergent insoluble cytoskeleton from brain. Further, p39 coimmunoprecipitates with actin in brain lysates. Finally, disruption of the actin cytoskeleton alters p39 subcellular localization as well as kinase activity of the p39/cdk5 complex. Therefore, our results reveal the existence of the p39/cdk5 complex in vivo and suggest that it might play a role in regulating actin cytoskeletal dynamics in cells.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Humbert
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhavan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; C108298:Cdk5 activator p39; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5; C495906:Cdk5 protein, mouse; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases