Die vakuoläre Protonen-ATPase, kurz V-ATPase, ist ein multimerer Enzymkomplex, der in fast jeder eukaryotischen Zelle zu finden ist und den aktiven elektrogenen Transport von Protonen über Membranen katalysiert. Die Aktivität der V-ATPase ist essentiell für eine Vielzahl physiologischer Prozesse. Ein grundlegender Mechanismus zur Regulation der V-ATPase-Aktivität ist die reversible Dissoziation des Holoenzyms in den integralen VO-Komplex, der als Protonenkanal dient, und den cytosolischen V1-Komplex, der ATP hydrolysiert und somit den Protonentransport energetisiert. Die Untereinheit C, die im dissoziierten Zustand der V-ATPase als einzige Untereinheit isoliert im Cytoplasma vorliegt, scheint bei der Bildung des aktiven Holoenzyms eine Schlüsselrolle zu übernehmen. In den Speicheldrüsen der Schmeißfliege Calliphora vicina ist die V-ATPase an der Speichelsekretion beteiligt. In den sekretorischen Zellen wird die Bildung des V-ATPase-Holoenzyms in der apikalen Plasmamembran durch das Neurohormon Serotonin (5-HT) stimuliert. Der Effekt von 5-HT auf die V-ATPase wird intrazellulär durch die Proteinkinase A (PKA) vermittelt und hält nur für die Dauer der Stimulierung an. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde mittels Phosphoproteinfärbungen und 2D-Elektrophorese nachgewiesen, dass infolge einer Stimulierung der Drüsenzellen mit 5-HT die Untereinheit C der V-ATPase durch die PKA reversibel phosphoryliert wird. Die Phosphorylierung geht einher mit einer Umverteilung der Untereinheit C aus dem Cytoplasma zur apikalen Plasmamembran und der Bildung des aktiven Holoenzyms. Immuncytochemische Untersuchungen zeigten, dass die katalytische Untereinheit der PKA ebenfalls umverteilt wird und in stimulierten Zellen im Bereich der apikalen Plasmamembran konzentriert vorliegt. Um herauszufinden welche Proteinphosphatase der PKA entgegenwirkt, wurden luminale pH-Messungen durchgeführt und der Effekt von spezifischen Proteinphosphatase-Inhibitoren und veresterten Komplexbildnern zweiwertiger Kationen auf die V-ATPase-Aktivität untersucht. Diese Messungen führten zu der Schlussfolgerung, dass eine Proteinphosphatase des Typs 2C an der Inaktivierung der V-ATPase beteiligt ist. Mit weiteren Phosphoproteinfärbungen konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Dephosphorylierung der Untereinheit C ebenfalls durch eine Proteinphosphatase 2C katalysiert wird und dies vermutlich die Dissoziation des VO- und V1-Komplexes begünstigt. Darüber hinaus konnte durch luminale pH-Messungen und ergänzende biochemische Untersuchungen eine Calcineurin-vermittelte Modulation des cAMP/PKA-Signalweges durch den parallel aktivierten IP3/Ca2+-Signalweg und damit einhergehend eine Beeinflussung der V-ATPase-Aktivität durch den [Ca2+]-Spiegel nachgewiesen werden. / The vacuolar-type H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) is a multimeric enzyme that can be found in nearly every eukaryotic cell. It catalyses the active electrogenic transport of protons across membranes and is essential for a multitude of physiological processes. A fundamental mechanism to regulate V-ATPase activity is the reversible dissociation of the holoenzyme into an integral proton conducting VO-complex and a cytosolic V1-complex that hydrolyses ATP and thus energises proton translocation. Subunit C occurs isolated in the cytoplasm upon dissociation of the V-ATPase complexes and seems to be critical for the formation of active holoenzymes. In the salivary glands of the blowfly Calliphora vicina the V-ATPase is involved in fluid secretion. In secretory cells, formation of the V-ATPase holoenzyme is stimulated by the hormone serotonin (5-HT). The effect of 5-HT on V-ATPase activity is mediated by protein kinase A (PKA) and persists for the duration of the 5-HT stimulus. In this study, it was shown by phosphoprotein stainings and two-dimensional electrophoresis that subunit C of the V-ATPase becomes phosphorylated by PKA upon exposure of blowfly salivary glands to 5-HT. Parallel to the phosphorylation event, subunit C translocates from the cytoplasm to the apical plasma membrane for the assembly of active V-ATPase holoenzymes. Using immunofluorescence staining, it could be shown that PKA catalytic subunit translocates as well to the apical membrane upon 5-HT stimulation. To examine which protein phosphatase counteracts PKA, luminal pH-measurements were carried out. Based on the results with protein phosphatase inhibitors and esterified chelating agents of bivalent cations, it may be concluded that a protein phosphatase 2C is involved in the process leading to V-ATPase inactivation. Phosphoprotein stainings revealed that dephosphorylation of subunit C is likewise catalysed by a protein phosphatase 2C. Therefore the dephosphorylation of subunit C seems to promote dissociation of VO- and V1-complexes. Finally, luminal pH-measurements and supplemental biochemical experiments revealed a Ca2+/calcineurin-mediated modulation of the cAMP/PKA signalling cascade and an influence of intracellular calcium on the V-ATPase activity.

The proline-rich tyrosine kinase (Pyk2) together with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) define a family of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases that are regulated by diverse stimuli. Activation of Pyk2 has been implicated in multiple signaling events, including modulation of ion channels, activation of MAP kinase cascades and apoptotic cell death. This thesis investigates the role of Pyk2 in the regulation of mitogenic signals and cell cytoskeleton. We identified a hematopoietic isoform of Pyk2 (designated Pyk2-H)that is generated by alternative RNA splicing and is mainly expressed in thymocytes, B cells and natural killer cells. In addition, we demonstrated that engagement of antigen receptors in lymphocytes leads to rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of Pyk2-H suggesting a potential role in host immune responses. These findings were corroborated by defects in B cell-mediated immune responses of Pyk2-/- mice. Several reports have previously indicated that Pyk2 acts as an upstream regulator of ERK and JNK MAP kinase cascades in response to numerous extracellular signals. Which MAP kinase pathway is activated by Pyk2 depends on arrays of effector proteins associated with Pyk2. We proposed a model where the formation of Pyk2-Src complexes results in phosphorylation of Shc, p130Cas and Pyk2. This creates binding sites for the SH2 domains of adaptor proteins Grb2 and Crk, which in turn recruit exchange factors for Ras and Rho GTPases that specifically activate ERK or JNK. Integration of signaling pathways initiated by receptor tyrosine kinases and integrins is essential for growth factor-mediated biological responses. We described neuronal cellular models where activation of both growth factor receptors and integrins is required for neurite outgrowth. In these cells, Pyk2 and FAK associate with integrin-linked complexes containing EGF receptors via their C- and N-terminal domains. Inhibition of Pyk2/FAK functions was sufficient to block neurite outgrowth and effectors of the C-terminal domain of Pyk2/FAK, including paxillin, were shown to regulate neurite outgrowth independently of ERK/MAP kinase in these cells. We thus proposed that Pyk2 and FAK play important roles in signal integration proximal to the integrin-growth factor receptor complexes.

The fundamental building blocks of chromatin are the nucleosomes. Each such unit is composed of about 200 bp of DNA, the well-conserved core histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) and a linker histone (H1). The DNA is wound around two dimers of H2A–H2B and a tetramer comprising two molecules each of H3 and H4, and there is approximately one linker histone molecule positioned on the exterior of the DNA–protein octamer complex. The nucleosome directs the various structural transitions in chromatin that are needed for proper transcriptional regulation during differentiation and development of the organism in question. The gene activity can be regulated by different histone variants, DNA–protein interactions, and protein–protein interactions, all of which are influenced by the enormous amounts of post-translational modifications that occur in the histone tails. The research underlying this thesis focused on different aspects of post-translational modifications during aging, differentiation, and progression of the cell cycle, and also on expression of linker histone variants and linker histone-chromatin interactions in a variety of cells and tissues. The present results are the first to show that H4 can be trimethylated at lysine 20 in mammalian cells. The trimethylated H4K20 was found in rat kidney and liver at levels that rose with increasing age of the nimals, and it was also detected in trace amounts in human cell lines. Furthermore, in differentiating MEL cells, trimethylated H4K20 was localized to heterochromatin, and levels of trimethylated H4K20 increased during the course of cell differentiation and were correlated with the increasing compaction of the chromatin. The chromatin of terminally differentiated chicken and frog erythrocytes is highly condensed, and the linker histone variants it contains vary between the two species. Cytofluorometric analyses revealed that the linker histones in the chicken erythrocytes exhibited higher affinity for chromatin than did those in the frog erythrocytes. Characterization of the H1° in frog erythrocytes proved it to be the H1°-2 subvariant. Other experiments demonstrated that normal human B lymphocytes expressed the linker histone variants H1.2, H1.3, H1.4, and H1.5, and that B cells from patients with B-CLL expressed the same variants although in different amounts. The most striking dissimilarity was that amounts of H1.3 in the cells were decreased or undetectable in some samples. Sequencing did not discern any defects in the H1.3 gene, and thus the absence of H1.3 is probably regulated at the post-translational level. It was also observed that the levels of linker histone phosphorylation in EBV-transformed B lymphocytes were already increased in the G1 phase of the cell cycle, which is earlier than previously thought. This increase in phosphorylation is probably responsible for the lower affinity of linker histones for chromatin in EBV-transformed cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

The microtubule cytoskeleton, which consists of dynamic polymers of alpha/beta tubulin heterodimers, organizes the cytoplasm and is essential for chromosome segregation during mitosis. My thesis addresses the significance and potential interplay between four distinct microtubule-regulatory proteins. The experimental approach included the development of a replicating vector system directing either constitutive expression of short hairpin RNAs or inducible ectopic expression, which allows stable depletion and/or conditional exchange of gene-products. Based on the originally observed activities in frog egg extracts, MCAK and TOGp have been viewed as major antagonistic proteins that regulate microtubule-dynamics throughout the cell cycle. Surprisingly, while my thesis work confirmed an essential role of these proteins to ensure mitotic fidelity, tubulin subunits partitioning is not controlled by the endogenous levels of MCAK and TOGp in human somatic cells. Our major discovery in these studies is that the activities of both CaMKII and TOGp are essential for spindle bipolarity through a mechanism involving protection of spindle microtubules against MCAK activity at the centrosome. In our search for the major antagonistic activities that regulates microtubule-dynamics in interphase cells, we found that the microtubule-destabilizing activity of Op18 is counteracted by MAP4. These studies also established Op18 and MAP4 as the predominant regulators of tubulin subunit partitioning in all three human cell model systems studied. Moreover, consistent with phosphorylation-inactivation of these two proteins during mitosis, we found that the microtubule-regulatory activities of both MAP4 and Op18 were only evident in interphase cells. Importantly, by employing a system for inducible gene product replacement, we found that site-specific phosphorylation-inactivation of Op18 is the direct cause of the demonstrated hyper-polymerization in response to T-cell antigen receptor triggering. This provides the first formally proven example of a signal transduction pathway for regulation of interphase microtubules. Op18 is frequently upregulated in various types of human malignancies. In addition, a somatic mutation of Op18 has recently been identified in an adenocarcinoma. This thesis work revealed that the mutant Op18 protein exerts increased microtubule-destabilizing activity. The mutant Op18 protein was also shown to be partially resistant to phosphorylation-inactivation during mitosis, which was associated with increased chromosome segregation aberrancies. Interestingly, we also observed the same phenotype by overexpressing the wild type Op18 protein. Thus, either excessive levels of wild type Op18 or normal levels of mutated hyper-active Op18 seems likely to contribute to tumor progression by exacerbating chromosomal instability.

The reversible phosphorylation of proteins is central to regulating most aspects of cell function. Malfunction in this critical cellular process have been implicated to cause diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Recent advances in mass spectrometry have made it possible to study this important post translational modification on a proteome-wide scale. However, to be able to do so, enrichment of phosphorylated peptides is required. Pairwise comparison of individual steps in an enrichment procedure and simultaneous improvement of data analysis resulted in a protocol which allowed high confidence identification of 2,131 unique phosphorylated peptides from 1,026 proteins. Thereby not only establishing a working protocol for phosphopeptide enrichment in the Griffin Lab, but also generating the largest list of proteins phosphorylated under normal conditions in yeast to date.

Cancer is the main cause of death in economically developed countries and the second leading cause of death in developing countries. Along with today’s knowledge that more than two hundred different diseases lie in the category of this prognosis there is an urge for more detailed and case-specific treatments to replace the dramatic actions of available radiation- and chemotherapy, which in many cases do not make a difference between healthy and cancer cells. The transcription factor and onco-protein c-Myc has, after being extensively studied during the past decades, become a prognostic marker for almost all cancer forms known. Still, many questions remain regarding how c-Myc interacts with its many different target proteins involved in cell-cycle regulation, proliferation and apoptosis. Current cell biology states that one of the regulating proteins, hPin1, interacts with c-Myc in a phosphorylation-dependent manner which appears to direct the correct timing of c-Myc activation and degradation through the ubiquitin/proteasome-pathway. The critical phosphorylation sites, T58 and S62, are located in the Myc-Box-I (MBI) region, a highly conserved sequence strongly coupled to aggressive tumourigenesis by hotspot mutations. Interestingly, preliminary results in the Sunnerhagen group suggested that MBI alone did not bind hPin1, suggesting hPin1 targeting a site distal from the residues to be phosphorylated. In this thesis, results from Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) show that the docking WW-domain of hPin1 binds unphosphorylated c-Myc at a region distal from the phosphorylation site, including residues 13-34. Furthermore, SPR experiments revealed that hPin1 binds unphosphorylated c-Myc with apparently greater affinity and with much slower kinetics than phosphorylated c-Myc. Thus, hPin1 recognition and interaction with c-Myc appears not to be dependent on phosphorylation of c-Myc prior binding. The newly identified binding region of c-Myc, located N-terminal of MBI, may further increase the understanding of protein degradation control and c-Myc function. The studies presented in this thesis provide a brick in the puzzle of c-Myc and hPin1 coupled oncogenesis for further development of new therapeutic strategies.

Optineurine ("Optic neuropathy-inducing", Optn) est une protéine exprimée de façon ubiquitaire chez les vertébrés et impliquée dans de nombreux processus cellulaires tels que la régulation du trafic vésiculaire associée à l'appareil de Golgi, la réponse immunitaire innée ou l'autophagie des bactéries. Mon travail de thèse a permis de caractériser une nouvelle fonction d'Optn dans la régulation du cycle cellulaire. Plus précisément, j'ai pu montrer qu'Optn était un régulateur négatif de Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1), une kinase qui joue un rôle clef dans chacune des étapes de la mitose : de la prophase à la cytokinèse. Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse montrent qu'Optn est phosphorylée par Plk1 sur la sérine 177 en début de mitose provoquant le détachement d'Optn de l'appareil de Golgi et son accumulation dans le noyau. Nous avons montré que la phosphorylation et la translocation nucléaire d'Optn étaient requises pour permettre la régulation négative de Plk1 par le complexe phosphatase MYPT1-PP1 au cours de la mitose. Les conséquences fonctionnelles de la déplétion d'Optn et donc de l'hyperactivité de Plk1 sont des défauts de cytokinèse et de ségrégation des chromosomes, aboutissant à l'apparition de cellules plurinucléées. En conclusion, nos résultats mettent en évidence un mécanisme de rétrocontrôle négatif par lequel Plk1 module la localisation d'Optn pendant la mitose pour réguler sa propre activité

Par cette étude, nous montrons que la phosphorylation d'Eg5 par Eg2 n'est pas importante pour sa fonction dans la formation du fuseau mitotique dans l'extrait d'oeuf de Xénope. Au contraire, la phosphorylation d'Eg5 par Cdk1 est nécessaire pour son attachement aux microtubules. Cet attachement permettra par la suite l'assemblage du fuseau mitotique. En plus de confirmer de précédentes études, ces résultats indiquent que le site de phosphorylation de Cdk1 n'est pas seulement conservé parmi les membres des Kinésines 5, mais également que son mécanisme de régulation est conservé. Bien que des expériences plus approfondies soient nécessaires afin de caractériser les propriétés motrices d'Eg5 par l'intermédiaire de notre expérience de "microtubule-gliding" dans l'extrait de Xénope, nos expériences réalisées avec des chimères d'Eg5 ont souligné l'importance des propriétés motrices intrinsèques à Eg5 qui sont cruciales pour la formation du fuseau mitotique. En effet, aucune de ces chimères n'a pu rétablir la formation du fuseau mitotique. De plus, ces expériences ont fourni la première preuve expérimentale que la classification des Kinésines en différentes sous-familles selon la conservation de séquence de leur domaine moteur a également abouti à les classer selon leurs différentes fonctions.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is a mitochondrial deaminating enzyme that exists as two isoforms, MAO-A and -B. The MAO-mediated reaction generates hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a normal by-product. Dysregulation of MAO has been implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as in the aging process. Endogenous regulators of MAO-A function include calcium (Ca2+) and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Although the effect of p38(MAPK) is thought to rely on induction of mao-A gene expression, post-translational modification of the MAO-A protein is also possible. <p>Using standard biochemical approaches in combination with pharmacological interventions and recombinant DNA strategies, specific aspartic acid residues (within putative Ca2+-binding motifs) were demonstrated to contribute to MAO-A activity. Furthermore, MAO-A activity and its sensitivity to Ca2+ was negatively regulated by the p38(MAPK), which is usually activated during cell stress. The effect of p38(MAPK) on MAO-A function relies specifically on Serine209 in MAO-A, which resides in a p38(MAPK) consensus motif. The serine phosphorylation status of MAO-A determines its capacity for generating peroxy radicals and its toxicity in established cell lines (e.g. C6, N2a, HEK293A, HT-22) and in primary cortical neurons. p38(MAPK)-regulated MAO-A activity is also linked to neurotoxicity associated with the Alzheimer disease-related peptide, Ò-amyloid (AÒ). These data suggest a unique neuroprotective role for p38(MAPK) centered on a negative feedback regulation of the Ca2+-sensitive, H2O2-generating enzyme MAO-A.

High osmolarity causes amoebae of the cellular slime mould Polysphondylium pallidum to individually encyst, forming microcysts. During microcyst differentiation, actin is tyrosine phosphorylated. Tyrosine phosphorylation of actin is independent of encystment conditions and occurs during the final stages of microcyst formation. During microcyst germination, actin undergoes dephosphorylation prior to amoebal emergence. Renewed phosphorylation of actin in germinating microcysts can be triggered by increasing the osmolarity of the medium which inhibits emergence. Immunofluorescence reveals that actin is dispersed throughout the cytoplasm in dormant microcysts. Following the onset of germination, actin is observed around vesicles where it co-localizes with phosphotyrosine. Prior to emergence, actin localizes to patches near the cell surface. Increasing osmolarity disrupts this localization and causes actin to redistribute throughout the cytoplasm, a situation similar to that observed in dormant microcysts. Together, these results indicate an association between actin tyrosine phosphorylation, organization of the actin cytoskeleton, and microcyst dormancy.