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Identification and characterization of protein phosphatase 2C activation by ceramide.

ABSTRACT: Ceramide is a bioactive sphingolipid with many associated biological outcomes, yet there is a significant gap in our current understanding of how ceramide mediates these processes. Previously, ceramide has been shown to activate protein phosphatase (PP) 1 and 2A. While continuing this line of work, a late fraction from a Mono-Q column was consistently observed to be activated by ceramide, yet PP1 and PP2A were undetectable in this fraction. Proteomic analysis of this fraction revealed the identity of the phosphatase to be PP2C?/PPM1G. This was consistent with our findings that PP2C? 1-eluted in a high salt fraction due to its strongly acidic domain, and 2-was insensitive to okadaic acid. Further characterization was performed with PP2C?, which showed robust activation by C(6)-ceramide. Activation was specific for the erythro conformation of ceramide and the presence of the acyl chain and hydroxyl group at the first carbon. In order to demonstrate more physiological activation of PP2C? by ceramide, phospho-p38? was utilized as substrate. Indeed, PP2C? induced the dephosphorylation of p38? only in the presence of C(16)-ceramide. Taken together, these results show that the PP2C family of phosphatases is activated by ceramide, which may have important consequences in mediating the biological effects of ceramide.

SUBMITTER: Perry DM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3540846 | biostudies-other | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Identification and characterization of protein phosphatase 2C activation by ceramide.

Perry David M DM Kitatani Kazuyuki K Roddy Patrick P El-Osta Mohamad M Hannun Yusuf A YA

Journal of lipid research 20120521 8

Ceramide is a bioactive sphingolipid with many associated biological outcomes, yet there is a significant gap in our current understanding of how ceramide mediates these processes. Previously, ceramide has been shown to activate protein phosphatase (PP) 1 and 2A. While continuing this line of work, a late fraction from a Mono-Q column was consistently observed to be activated by ceramide, yet PP1 and PP2A were undetectable in this fraction. Proteomic analysis of this fraction revealed the identi ...[more]

PMID: 22615346

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Project description:In bacteria, signaling phosphorylation is thought to occur primarily on His and Asp residues. However, phosphoproteomic surveys over the past decade in phylogenetically diverse bacteria have identified numerous proteins that are phosphorylated on Ser and/or Thr residues. Consistently, genes encoding Ser/Thr kinases are present in many bacterial genomes, such as that of Escherichia coli, which encodes at least three Ser/Thr kinases. Since Ser/Thr phosphorylation is a stable modification, a dedicated phosphatase is necessary to allow reversible regulation. Ser/Thr phosphatases belonging to several conserved families are found in bacteria. One family of particular interest are Ser/Thr phosphatases, which have extensive sequence and structural homology to eukaryotic Ser/Thr protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) phosphatases. These proteins, called eukaryote-like Ser/Thr phosphatases (eSTPs), have been identified in a number of bacteria but not in E. coli Here, we describe a previously unknown eSTP encoded by an E. coli open reading frame (ORF), yegK, and characterize its biochemical properties, including its kinetics, substrate specificity, and sensitivity to known phosphatase inhibitors. We investigate differences in the activity of this protein in closely related E. coli strains. Finally, we demonstrate that this eSTP acts to dephosphorylate a novel Ser/Thr kinase that is encoded in the same operon.IMPORTANCE Regulatory protein phosphorylation is a conserved mechanism of signaling in all biological systems. Recent phosphoproteomic analyses of phylogenetically diverse bacteria, including the model Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, demonstrate that many proteins are phosphorylated on serine or threonine residues. In contrast to phosphorylation on histidine or aspartate residues, phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues is stable and requires the action of a partner Ser/Thr phosphatase to remove the modification. Although a number of Ser/Thr kinases have been reported in E. coli, no partner Ser/Thr phosphatases have been identified. Here, we biochemically characterize a novel Ser/Thr phosphatase that acts to dephosphorylate a Ser/Thr kinase that is encoded in the same operon.

Project description:Protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A) were identified in a variety of plant cells and found to be particulate or soluble depending on the species. In extracts prepared from oilseed-rape seeds these enzymes were associated with microsomes and more rapidly sedimenting fractions, whereas in wheat leaf extracts they were largely microsomal, the remainder being present in the soluble fraction. In pea leaf and carrot cell extracts PP1 and PP2A were almost entirely soluble. No PP1 or PP2A activity was associated with the membranes or stroma of chloroplasts in oilseed-rape seeds, pea leaves and wheat leaves. An Mg2(+)-dependent okadaic acid-insensitive protein phosphatase that resembles protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) was detected in carrot cells, pea leaves and wheat leaves, but not in oilseed-rape seeds. In wheat leaf extracts PP2C was mostly present in the soluble fraction, a different location from PP1 or PP2A. The rapid inactivation of the cytosolic enzyme quinate dehydrogenase (QDH) in a fraction prepared from light-grown carrot cells was completely blocked by either okadaic acid or microcystin (two potent and specific inhibitors of PP1 and PP2A), whereas inhibitor 2 (a specific inhibitor of PP1) inhibited inactivation by only about 10%. Addition of the purified PP2A catalytic subunit from mammalian skeletal muscle increased the rate of QDH inactivation, whereas addition of mammalian PP1 did not. It is concluded that PP2A is the major enzyme responsible for dephosphorylating (inactivating) QDH in carrot cells. These observations indicate that okadaic acid and microcystin may be useful for identifying other plant processes that are controlled by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation mechanisms. Okadaic acid did not prevent the rapid inactivation of phosphoribulokinase or activation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in a fraction prepared from light-grown pea leaves, and addition of the purified catalytic subunits of PP1 and PP2A did not accelerate either process. These observations, in conjunction with the absence of PP1 and PP2A activity in chloroplasts, suggest that these phosphatases are not involved in the regulation of chloroplast metabolism.

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Identification and characterization of protein phosphatase 2C activation by ceramide.

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Identification and characterization of protein phosphatase 2C activation by ceramide.

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