Metablastin (also called p19, stathmin, prosolin, p18, Lap18, and oncoprotein 18) is a highly conserved, cytosolic 149-amino acid polypeptide that is expressed in immature vertebrate cells and undergoes extracellular factor-and cell cycle-regulated serine phosphorylation. The protein was shown recently to destabilize microtubules in vitro (Belmont, L., and Mitchison, T. J. (1996) Cell 84, 623-631). Here we demonstrate that microinjection of recombinant metablastin induces a loss of microtubules in COS-7 cells. This effect is enhanced by serineto-alanine mutations at several phosphorylation sites and virtually abolished by aspartate substitution at a single site, Ser-63. We also show that stoichiometric amounts of metablastin prevent assembly and promote disassembly of microtubules in vitro. Interestingly, the phosphorylation site mutations of metablastin that have dramatic differential effects in intact cells do not alter the ability of metablastin to block tubulin assembly in vitro. The data suggest that phosphorylation of metablastin controls its microtubule-destabilizing activity in vivo but that this regulation may require additional cellular factors. This control mechanism is poised to play a critical role in the dynamic reorganization of the cellular microtubule network that occurs during morphogenesis and mitosis.Serine phosphorylation of metablastin is stimulated in mammalian cells by a diverse group of extracellular factors, which include cAMP-linked agonists (1-3), factors known to activate protein kinase C (3, 4), growth factors that initiate signaling through tyrosine kinase receptors (5, 6), heat shock (7), and, in some cells, agents that induce calcium flux (8). Furthermore, the phosphorylation state of metablastin fluctuates during the cell cycle, achieving its highest level in M phase (9 -11).The known phosphorylation sites of metablastin are . Although the specific protein kinases that directly phosphorylate metablastin in vivo have not been identified, the available evidence suggests that, in cells, Ser-63 and, to a lesser extent, Ser-16 are phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (14), Ser-25 and Ser-38 by mitogen-activated protein kinase(s) and cyclin-dependent kinase(s) (14 -16), and Ser-16 by Ca 2ϩ /calmodulin kinase-GR (8).To test the microtubule-destabilizing activity of metablastin in intact cells and to explore the potential role of phosphorylation in regulating this activity, we have introduced recombinant metablastin and phosphorylation site mutants into COS-7 cells by microinjection and assessed changes in the cellular microtubule array by immunocytochemistry. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESPreparation of Recombinant Proteins-Metablastin and mutated forms of the protein were expressed as GST 1 fusion proteins in Escherichia coli. Metablastin cDNA (17) encoding amino acids 6 -145 was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (forward primer, 5Ј-AGGGATCCAGGTGAAAGAGCTGGAGAAG-3Ј; reverse primer, 5ЈCA-AAGACCCCGCGGACGAGAATTCCA3Ј; 30 temperature cycles: 94°C, 1 min; 60°C, 45 s; 72°C, 30...

Extensive structure-activity studies done with Taxol have identified the side chain at C-13 as one of the requirements for biological activity. Baccatin III, an analogue of Taxol lacking the C-13 side chain, has none of the biological characteristics of Taxol. Since 2-m-azido Taxol, a Taxol derivative with a m-azido substituent in the C-2 benzoyl ring, has greater activity than Taxol, we questioned whether 2-m-azido baccatin III might be active. 2-m-Azido baccatin III inhibited the proliferation of human cancer cells at nanomolar concentrations, blocked cells at mitosis, and reorganized the interphase microtubules into distinct bundles, a typical morphological change induced by Taxol. In contrast to 2-m-azido baccatin III, 2-p-azido baccatin III was similar to baccatin III, having no Taxol-like activity, further indicating the specificity and significance of the 2-meta position substituent. Molecular modeling studies done with the C-2 benzoyl ring of Taxol indicated that it fits into a pocket formed by His227 and Asp224 on beta-tubulin and that the 2-m-azido, in contrast to the 2-p-azido substituent, is capable of enhancing the interaction between the benzoyl group and the side chain of Asp224. The observation that the C-13 side chain is not an absolute requirement for biological activity in a taxane molecule has enabled the development of a new common pharmacophore model between Taxol and the epothilones.

Removal or modification of the sugar moiety alters the cytotoxic potency of eleutherobin and its pattern of cross-resistance in Taxol-resistant cells, although such compounds retain a small percentage of the microtubule-stabilizing activity of eleutherobin. The N(1)-methylurocanic acid moiety of eleutherobin, or perhaps some other substituent at the C8 position, is essential for Taxol-like activity. These findings will be important for the future design and the synthesis of new and more potent eleutherobin derivatives.

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