We have determined the human genome to contain 296 different Src homology-3 (SH3) domains and cloned them into a phagedisplay vector. This provided a powerful and unbiased system for simultaneous assaying of the complete human SH3 proteome for the strongest binding to target proteins of interest, without the limitations posed by short linear peptide ligands or confounding variables of more indirect methods for protein interaction screening. Studies involving three ligand proteins, human immunodeficiency virus-1 Nef, p21-activated kinase (PAK)2 and ADAM15, showed previously reported as well as novel SH3 partners with nanomolar affinities specific for them. This argues that SH3 domains may have a more dominant role in directing cellular protein interactions than has been assumed. Besides showing potentially important new SH3-directed interactions, these studies also led to the discovery of novel signalling proteins, such as the PAK2-binding adaptor protein POSH2 and the ADAM15-binding sorting nexin family member SNX30.

BackgroundDystroglycan is a ubiquitously expressed cell adhesion receptor best understood in its role as part of the dystrophin glycoprotein complex of mature skeletal muscle. Less is known of the role of dystroglycan in more fundamental aspects of cell adhesion in other cell types, nor of its role in myoblast cell adhesion.Principal FindingsWe have examined the role of dystroglycan in the early stages of myoblast adhesion and spreading and found that dystroglycan initially associates with other adhesion proteins in large puncta morphologically similar to podosomes. Using a human SH3 domain phage display library we identified Tks5, a key regulator of podosomes, as interacting with β-dystroglycan. We verified the interaction by immunoprecipitation, GST-pulldown and immunfluorescence localisation. Both proteins localise to puncta during early phases of spreading, but importantly following stimulation with phorbol ester, also localise to structures indistinguishable from podosomes. Dystroglycan overexpression inhibited podosome formation by sequestering Tks5 and Src. Mutation of dystroglycan tyrosine 890, previously identified as a Src substrate, restored podosome formation.ConclusionsWe propose therefore, that Src-dependent phosphorylation of β-dystroglycan results in the formation of a Src/dystroglycan complex that drives the SH3-mediated association between dystroglycan and Tks5 which together regulate podosome formation in myoblasts.

SummaryDystroglycan is a ubiquitously expressed cell adhesion protein. Its principal role has been determined as a component of the dystrophinglycoprotein complex of muscle, where it constitutes a key component of the costameric cell adhesion system. To investigate more fundamental aspects of dystroglycan function in cell adhesion, we examined the role of dystroglycan in the dynamics and assembly of cellular adhesions in myoblasts. We show that -dystroglycan is recruited to adhesion structures and, based on staining for vinculin, that overexpression or depletion of dystroglycan affects both size and number of fibrillar adhesions. Knockdown of dystroglycan increases the size and number of adhesions, whereas overexpression decreases the number of adhesions. Dystroglycan knockdown or overexpression affects the ability of cells to adhere to different substrates, and has effects on cell migration that are consistent with effects on the formation of fibrillar adhesions. Using an SH3 domain proteomic screen, we identified vinexin as a binding partner for dystroglycan. Furthermore, we show that dystroglycan can interact indirectly with vinculin by binding to the vinculin-binding protein vinexin, and that this interaction has a role in dystroglycan-mediated cell adhesion and spreading. For the first time, we also demonstrate unequivocally that -dystroglycan is a resident of focal adhesions.

Itk and Btk are nonreceptor tyrosine kinases of the Tec family that signal downstream of the T cell receptor (TCR) and B cell receptor (BCR), respectively. Despite their high sequence similarity and related signaling roles, Btk is a substantially more active kinase than Itk. We showed that substitution of six of the 619 amino acid residues of Itk with those of Btk was sufficient to completely switch the activities of Itk and Btk. The substitutions responsible for the swap in activity are all localized to the activation segment of the kinase domain. Nuclear magnetic resonance and hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry analyses revealed that Itk and Btk had distinct protein dynamics in this region, which could explain the observed differences in catalytic efficiency between these kinases. Introducing Itk with enhanced activity into T cells led to enhanced and prolonged TCR signaling compared to that in cells with wild-type Itk. These findings imply that evolutionary pressures have led to Tec kinases having distinct enzymatic properties depending on the cellular context. We suggest that the weaker catalytic activities observed for T cell–specific kinases is one mechanism to regulate cellular activation and prevent aberrant immune responses.

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Background: ADAM15 is a metalloprotease-disintegrin implicated in ectodomain shedding and cell adhesion. Aberrant ADAM15 expression has been associated with human cancer and other disorders. We have previously shown that the alternative splicing of ADAM15 transcripts is misregulated in cancer cells. To gain a better understanding of ADAM15 regulation, its genomic organization and regulatory elements as well as the alternative exon use in human tissues were characterized.

A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease (ADAM15) is a member of the adamalysin protein family and has been associated with cancer, possibly via its role in ectodomain shedding of cadherins. Alternative mRNA splicing generates several ADAM15 isoforms containing different combinations of putative Src homology-3 (SH3) domain binding sites in their cytosolic tails. Here we present a comprehensive characterization of SH3 binding potential of different ADAM15 isoforms. Alternative use of ADAM15 exons was found to profoundly influence selection of SH3-containing cellular partner proteins, including the avid interactions with nephrocystin and sorting nexin-33 (SNX33 a.k.a. SNX30). Specifically, strong co-precipitation of nephrocystin from cell lysates was specific to ADAM15 isoforms i4, i5, and i6. These isoforms contain one or both of the two almost identical proline-rich regions encoded by exons 20 and 21, wherein the residues RxLPxxP were found to be indispensable for nephrocystin SH3 binding. Similarly, robust cellular association with SNX33 was observed only for ADAM15 isoforms containing the most carboxyterminal proline cluster lacking in isoforms i1 and i3. Thus, alternative mRNA splicing provides a versatile mechanism for regulation of intracellular protein interactions and thereby likely the cellular functions of ADAM15, which could explain the association with cancer of some but not all ADAM15 isoforms.

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