title: Role for the adaptor protein Grb10 in the activation of Akt.
abstract: Grb10 is a member of the Grb7 family of adapter proteins lacking intrinsic enzymatic function and encodes functional domains including a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and an SH2 domain. The role of different Grb10 splice variants in signal transduction of growth factors like insulin or insulin-like growth factor has been described as inhibitory or stimulatory depending on the presence of a functional PH and/or SH2 domain. Performing a yeast two-hybrid screen with the c-kit cytoplasmic tail fused to LexA as a bait and a mouse embryo cDNA library as prey, we found that the Grb10 SH2 domain interacted with the c-kit receptor tyrosine kinase. In the course of SCF-mediated activation of c-kit, Grb10 is recruited to the c-kit receptor in an SH2 domain- and phosphotyrosine-dependent but PH domain-independent manner. We found that Akt and Grb10 form a constitutive complex, suggesting a role for Grb10 in the translocation of Akt to the cell membrane. Indeed, coexpression studies revealed that Grb10 and c-kit activate Akt in a synergistic manner. This dose-dependent effect of Grb10 is wortmannin sensitive and was also seen at a lower level in cells in which c-kit was not expressed. Expression of a Grb10 mutant lacking the SH2 domain as well as a mutant lacking the PH domain did not influence Akt activity. Grb10-induced Akt activation was observed without increased phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) activity, suggesting that Grb10 is a positive regulator of Akt downstream of PI3-kinase. Significantly, deficient activation of Akt by a constitutively activated c-kit mutant lacking the binding site for PI3-kinase (c-kitD814V/Y719F) could be fully compensated by overexpression of Grb10. In Ba/F3 cells, the incapacity of c-kitD814V/Y719F to induce interleukin-3 (IL-3)-independent growth could be rescued by overexpression of Grb10. In contrast, expression of the SH2 deletion mutant of Grb10 together with c-kitD814V/Y719F did not render Ba/F3 cells independent of IL-3. In summary, we provide evidence that Grb10 is part of the c-kit signaling pathway and that the expression level of Grb10 critically influences Akt activity. We propose a model in which Grb10 acts as a coactivator for Akt by virtue of its ability to form a complex with Akt and its SH2 domain-dependent translocation to the cell membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine III, Laboratory of Leukemogenesis, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jahn
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seipel
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Urschel
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peschel
authors.forename: Justus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duyster
mesh_terms: D000730:Androstadienes / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002458:Cell Fractionation; D002460:Cell Line; D002867:Chromones / Q000494:pharmacology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D051383:GRB10 Adaptor Protein; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D000077191:Wortmannin; D018909:src Homology Domains; D000099160:LexA Repressor Protein
chemical_list: D000730:Androstadienes; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002867:Chromones; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D051383:GRB10 Adaptor Protein; D009025:Morpholines; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011506:Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D000077191:Wortmannin; D000099160:LexA Repressor Protein; C085911:2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one; C494918:AKT1 protein, human