title: Post-translational regulation of the ERK phosphatase DUSP6/MKP3 by the mTOR pathway.
abstract: MAP kinases phosphatases (MKPs) belong to the dual-specificity phosphatase family (DUSP) and dephosphorylate phosphothreonine and phosphotyrosine within MAP kinases. We had previously shown that DUSP6/MKP-3 was phosphorylated and degraded upon growth factor stimulation, in a MEK-dependent manner. Here we show that another pathway involved in growth factor signaling, the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, accounts for a part of the phosphorylation and degradation of DUSP6 induced by serum growth factors, as evidenced by experiments using pharmacological inhibitors of PI3 kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Moreover, specific agonists of the mTOR pathway, such as amino acids or insulin/IGF-1, which do not activate extracellular signal regulated kinases (ERKs) in our cellular model, were also able to induce the phosphorylation and degradation of DUSP6. However, a basal activity of MEK was required for the mTOR pathway-mediated phosphorylation to occur. Mutagenesis studies identified serine 159 within DUSP6 as the target of the mTOR pathway. The ERK phosphatase DUSP6 may thus constitute a novel branch-point of the crosstalk between two major signaling pathways induced by growth factors, the MEK/ERK pathway and the PI3K/mTOR pathway.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Signaling, Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, CNRS UMR 6543, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bermudez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pagès
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gimond
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006224:Cricetinae; D054642:Dual Specificity Phosphatase 6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000494:pharmacology; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
chemical_list: D054642:Dual Specificity Phosphatase 6; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D011494:Protein Kinases; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases