TGFβ and BMP receptor kinases activate Smad transcription factors by C-terminal phosphorylation. We have identified a subsequent agonist-induced phosphorylation that plays a central dual role in Smad transcriptional activation and turnover. As receptor-activated Smads form transcriptional complexes, they are phosphorylated at an interdomain linker region by CDK8 and CDK9, which are components of transcriptional mediator and elongation complexes. These phosphorylations promote Smad transcriptional action, which in the case of Smad1, is mediated by the recruitment of YAP to the phosphorylated linker sites. An effector of the highly conserved Hippo organ size control pathway, YAP supports Smad1-dependent transcription and is required for BMP suppression of neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. The phosphorylated linker is ultimately recognized by specific ubiquitin ligases, leading to proteasome-mediated turnover of activated Smad proteins. Thus, nuclear CDK8/9 drive a cycle of Smad utilization and disposal that is an integral part of canonical BMP and TGFβ pathways.

FGF and other Ras/MAPK pathway activators counterbalance BMP action during neurogenesis, bone formation, and other aspects of vertebrate development and homeostasis. BMP receptors signal through C-terminal phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of the transcription factor Smad1, whereas MAPKs catalyze inhibitory phosphorylation in the Smad1 linker region. Here we show that linker phosphorylation restricts Smad1 activity by enabling Smad1 recognition by the HECT-domain ubiquitin ligase Smurf1. Besides causing Smad1 polyubiquitination, Smurf1 binding inhibits the interaction of Smad1 with the nuclear translocation factor Nup214. Consequently, MAPK-dependent Smurf1 binding leads Smad1 alternatively to degradation or cytoplasmic retention. Smad1 linker phosphorylation and Smurf1 act as interdependent inputs to control BMP signaling during mouse osteoblast differentiation and Xenopus neural development. Linker phosphorylation is triggered also by BMP, providing feedback control. The interplay between linker phosphorylation, Smurf-dependent ubiquitination, and nucleoporin exclusion enables regulation of BMP action by diverse signals and biological contexts.

Summary TGFβ induces phosphorylation of the transcription factors Smad2 and Smad3 at the C-terminus as well as at an interdomain linker region. TGFβ-induced linker phosphorylation marks the activated Smad proteins for proteasome-mediated destruction. Here we identify Nedd4L as the ubiquitin ligase responsible for this step. Through its WW domain Nedd4L specifically recognizes a TGFβ-induced phosphoThr-ProTyr motif in the linker region, resulting in Smad2/3 poly-ubiquitination and degradation. Nedd4L is not interchangeable with Smurf1, a ubiquitin ligase that targets BMP-activated, linker-phosphorylated Smad1. Nedd4L limits the half-life of TGFβ activated Smads, restricts the amplitude and duration of TGFβ gene responses, and in mouse embryonic stem cells limits the induction of mesoendodermal fates by Smad2/3-activating factors. Hierarchical regulation is provided by SGK1, which phosphorylates Nedd4L to prevent binding of Smad2/3. Previously identified as a regulator of renal sodium channels, Nedd4L is shown here to play a broader role as a general modulator of Smad turnover during TGFβ signal transduction.

The LKB1 gene encodes a serine/threonine kinase mutated in Peutz±Jeghers cancer syndrome. Despite several proposed models for LKB1 function in development and in tumour suppression, the detailed molecular action of LKB1 remains unde®ned. Here, we report the identi®cation and characterization of an LKB1-speci®c adaptor protein and substrate, STRAD (STe20 Related ADaptor). STRAD consists of a STE20-like kinase domain, but lacks several residues that are indispensable for intrinsic catalytic activity. Endogenous LKB1 and STRAD form a complex in which STRAD activates LKB1, resulting in phosphorylation of both partners. STRAD determines the subcellular localization of wild-type, but not mutant LKB1, translocating it from nucleus to cytoplasm. One LKB1 mutation previously identi®ed in a Peutz±Jeghers family that does not compromise its kinase activity is shown here to interfere with LKB1 binding to STRAD, and hence with STRAD-dependent regulation. Removal of endogenous STRAD by siRNA abrogates the LKB1-induced G 1 arrest. Our results imply that STRAD plays a key role in regulating the tumour suppressor activities of LKB1.

Xanthine oxidase (XO) was shown to catalyze the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide (NO), under anaerobic conditions, in the presence of either NADH or xanthine as reducing substrate. NO production was directly demonstrated by ozone chemiluminescence and showed stoichiometry of approximately 2:1 versus NADH depletion. With xanthine as reducing substrate, the kinetics of NO production were complicated by enzyme inactivation, resulting from NO-induced conversion of XO to its relatively inactive desulfo-form. Steady-state kinetic parameters were determined spectrophotometrically for urate production and NADH oxidation catalyzed by XO and xanthine dehydrogenase in the presence of nitrite under anaerobic conditions. pH optima for anaerobic NO production catalyzed by XO in the presence of nitrite were 7.0 for NADH and <6.0 for xanthine. Involvement of the molybdenum site of XO in nitrite reduction was shown by the fact that alloxanthine inhibits xanthine oxidation competitively with nitrite. Strong preference for Mo‫؍‬S over Mo‫؍‬O was shown by the relatively very low NADH-nitrite reductase activity shown by desulfo-enzyme. The FAD site of XO was shown not to influence nitrite reduction in the presence of xanthine, although it was clearly involved when NADH was the reducing substrate. Apparent production of NO decreased with increasing oxygen tensions, consistent with reaction of NO with XO-generated superoxide. It is proposed that XO-derived NO fulfills a bactericidal role in the digestive tract.

did not alter the activity of LKB1 to phosphorylate itself or the tumor suppressor protein p53 or alter the amount of LKB1 associated with cell membranes. The reintroduction of wild-type LKB1 into a cancer cell line that lacks LKB1 suppressed growth, but mutants of LKB1 in which Ser 431 was mutated to Ala to prevent phosphorylation of LKB1 were ineffective in inhibiting growth. In contrast, a mutant of LKB1 that cannot be prenylated was still able to suppress the growth of cells.Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder that predisposes to a wide spectrum of benign and malignant tumors (1, 2). It is caused by mutation of a widely expressed protein kinase of unknown function termed LKB1 (also known as STK11) (3, 4). To date, over 60 different mutations have been mapped to LKB1, many of which would be expected to impair LKB1 activity. These discoveries have aroused great interest because they indicate that LKB1 is likely to function in cells as a tumor suppressor, and consistent with this, overexpression of LKB1 in a number of tumor cell lines has been shown to suppress cell growth by inducing a G 1 cell cycle block (5). However, little is known regarding the mechanism by which LKB1 activity is regulated in cells, and no substrates for LKB1 have thus far been identified.LKB1 is a 436-amino acid protein possessing a kinase domain (residues 50 -337) that is only distantly related to other mammalian kinases. The N-terminal non-catalytic domain comprises both a nuclear localization signal (6) and a putative cytoplasmic retention signal (7). There are no yeast homologs of LKB1, but there are putative homologs in Xenopus (termed XEEK1, with 84% overall identity to LKB1) (8) and Caenorhabditis elegans (termed PAR-4, with 26% overall identity to LKB1 and 41% identity in the kinase domain) (9). In Drosophila, an uncharacterized protein kinase listed in the NCBI Protein Database (NCBI accession number AAF54972) possesses 44% overall identity to LKB1.Recently, a C-terminal fragment of LKB1 was shown to be phosphorylated at Ser 431 by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (10). Ser 431 of LKB1 lies in the sequence Lys-Xaa-ArgArg-Xaa-Ser (where Xaa is any amino acid), which is conserved in all known mammalian LKB1 sequences and in Xenopus XEEK1. This study did not establish whether full-length or endogenously expressed LKB1 was phosphorylated at Ser 431 in response to stimuli that activated cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) 1 or the role that this phosphorylation played in enabling LKB1 to suppress cell growth. Ser 431 lies in the consensus sequence for phosphorylation by a group of kinases related to PKA, viz. p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (p90 RSK ), mitogen-and stress-stimulated protein kinase (MSK1), and p70 ribosomal S6 kinase (S6K1) (11)(12)(13), that collectively belong to the AGC kinase subfamily. p90 RSK is activated in cells by growth factors and phorbol esters and by ERK1/2 MAPK family members (14), whereas MSK1 is activated in vivo by two dif-* The costs of publication of this article were defr...

The role of the protein kinase Akt in cell migration is incompletely understood. Here we show that sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)-induced endothelial cell migration requires the Akt-mediated phosphorylation of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) EDG-1. Activated Akt binds to EDG-1 and phosphorylates the third intracellular loop at the T(236) residue. Transactivation of EDG-1 by Akt is not required for G(i)-dependent signaling but is indispensable for Rac activation, cortical actin assembly, and chemotaxis. Indeed, T236AEDG-1 mutant sequestered Akt and acted as a dominant-negative GPCR to inhibit S1P-induced Rac activation, chemotaxis, and angiogenesis. Transactivation of GPCRs by Akt may constitute a specificity switch to integrate rapid G protein-dependent signals into long-term cellular phenomena such as cell migration.

Hormones and growth factors induce the activation of a number of protein kinases that belong to the AGC subfamily, including isoforms of PKA, protein kinase B (also known as Akt), PKC, S6K p70 (ribosomal S6 kinase), RSK (p90 ribosomal S6 kinase) and MSK (mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase), which then mediate many of the physiological processes that are regulated by these extracellular agonists. It can be difficult to assess the individual functions of each AGC kinase because their substrate specificities are similar. Here we describe the small molecule BI-D1870, which inhibits RSK1, RSK2, RSK3 and RSK4 in vitro with an IC(50) of 10-30 nM, but does not signi-ficantly inhibit ten other AGC kinase members and over 40 other protein kinases tested at 100-fold higher concentrations. BI-D1870 is cell permeant and prevents the RSK-mediated phorbol ester- and EGF (epidermal growth factor)-induced phosphoryl-ation of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and LKB1 in human embry-onic kidney 293 cells and Rat-2 cells. In contrast, BI-D1870 does not affect the agonist-triggered phosphorylation of substrates for six other AGC kinases. Moreover, BI-D1870 does not suppress the phorbol ester- or EGF-induced phosphorylation of CREB (cAMP-response-element-binding protein), consistent with the genetic evidence indicating that MSK, and not RSK, isoforms mediate the mitogen-induced phosphorylation of this transcription factor.