title: Differential regulation of B-raf isoforms by phosphorylation and autoinhibitory mechanisms.
abstract: The B-Raf proto-oncogene encodes several isoforms resulting from alternative splicing in the hinge region upstream of the kinase domain. The presence of exon 8b in the B2-Raf(8b) isoform and exon 9b in the B3-Raf(9b) isoform differentially regulates B-Raf by decreasing and increasing MEK activating and oncogenic activities, respectively. Using different cell systems, we investigated here the molecular basis of this regulation. We show that exons 8b and 9b interfere with the ability of the B-Raf N-terminal region to interact with and inhibit the C-terminal kinase domain, thus modulating the autoinhibition mechanism in an opposite manner. Exons 8b and 9b are flanked by two residues reported to down-regulate B-Raf activity upon phosphorylation. The S365A mutation increased the activity of all B-Raf isoforms, but the effect on B2-Raf(8b) was more pronounced. This was correlated to the high level of S365 phosphorylation in this isoform, whereas the B3-Raf(9b) isoform was poorly phosphorylated on this residue. In contrast, S429 was equally phosphorylated in all B-Raf isoforms, but the S429A mutation activated B2-Raf(8b), whereas it inhibited B3-Raf(9b). These results indicate that phosphorylation on both S365 and S429 participate in the differential regulation of B-Raf isoforms through distinct mechanisms. Finally, we show that autoinhibition and phosphorylation represent independent but convergent mechanisms accounting for B-Raf regulation by alternative splicing.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire 110, Institut Curie-Recherche, Centre Universitaire, 91405 Orsay Cédex, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hmitou
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Druillennec
authors.forename: Agathe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valluet
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peyssonnaux
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eychène
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1