Rac1 and RhoA are members of the Rho family of Ras-related proteins and function as regulators of actin cytoskeletal organization, gene expression, and cell cycle progression. Constitutive activation of Rac1 and RhoA causes tumorigenic transformation of NIH 3T3 cells, and their functions may be required for full Ras transformation. The effectors by which Rac1 and RhoA mediate these diverse activities, as well as the interrelationship between these events, remain poorly understood. Rac1 is distinct from RhoA in its ability to bind and activate the p65 PAK serine/threonine kinase, to induce lamellipodia and membrane ruffling, and to activate the c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase (JNK). To assess the role of PAK in Rac1 function, we identified effector domain mutants of Rac1 and Rac1-RhoA chimeric proteins that no longer bound PAK. Surprisingly, PAK binding was dispensable for Rac1-induced transformation and lamellipodium formation, as well as activation of JNK, p38, and serum response factor (SRF). However, the ability of Rac1 to bind to and activate PAK correlated with its ability to stimulate transcription from the cyclin D1 promoter. Furthermore, Rac1 activation of JNK or SRF, or induction of lamellipodia, was neither necessary nor sufficient for Rac1 transforming activity. Finally, the signaling pathways that mediate Rac1 activation of SRF or JNK were distinct from those that mediate Rac1 induction of lamellipodia. Taken together, these observations suggest that Rac1 regulates at least four distinct effector-mediated functions and that multiple pathways may contribute to Rac1-induced cellular transformation.

Rac is a member of the Ras superfamily of GTPases and functions as a GDP/GTP-regulated switch. Formation of active Rac-GTP is stimulated by Dbl family guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), such as Tiam1 (ref. 2). Once activated, Rac stimulates signalling pathways that regulate actin organization, gene expression and cellular proliferation. Rac also functions downstream of the Ras oncoprotein in pathways that stimulate membrane ruffling, growth transformation, activation of the c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) mitogen-activated protein kinase, activation of the NF-kappa B transcription factor and promotion of cell survival. Although recent studies support phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase (PI(3)K)-dependent mechanisms through which Ras might activate Rac (refs 9,10), the precise mechanism remains to be determined. Here we demonstrate that Tiam1, a Rac-specific GEF, preferentially associates with activated GTP-bound Ras through a Ras-binding domain. Furthermore, activated Ras and Tiam1 cooperate to cause synergistic formation of Rac-GTP in a PI(3)K-independent manner. Thus, Tiam1 can function as an effector that directly mediates Ras activation of Rac.

The NCK adapter protein is comprised of three consecutive Src homology 3 (SH3) protein-protein interaction domains and a C-terminal SH2 domain. Although the association of NCK with activated receptor proteintyrosine kinases, via its SH2 domain, implicates NCK as a mediator of growth factor-induced signal transduction, little is known about the pathway(s) downstream of NCK recruitment. To identify potential downstream effectors of NCK we screened a bacterial expression library to isolate proteins that bind its SH3 domains. Two molecules were isolated, the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP, a putative CDC42 effector) and a serine/ threonine protein kinase (PRK2, closely related to the putative Rho effector PKN). Using interspecific backcross analysis the Prk2 gene was mapped to mouse chromosome 3. Unlike WASP, which bound the SH3 domains of several signaling proteins, PRK2 specifically bound to the middle SH3 domain of NCK and (weakly) that of phospholipase C␥. PRK2 also specifically bound to Rho in a GTP-dependent manner and cooperated with Rho family proteins to induce transcriptional activation via the serum response factor. These data suggest that PRK2 may coordinately mediate signal transduction from activated receptor protein-tyrosine kinases and Rho and that NCK may function as an adapter to connect receptor-mediated events to Rho protein signaling.Upon association with ligand, receptor protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) 1 dimerize and transphosphorylate on tyrosine residues. These phosphotyrosine-containing sequences then provide docking sites for SH2 and PTB domains, modular protein-protein interaction domains that bind to phosphotyrosine in the context of adjacent C-or N-terminal peptide sequences, respectively (1). In addition to recruiting signaling enzymes such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase, phospholipase C␥, and p120 GAP, adapter molecules including Grb2, Crk, and NCK also bind to PTKs via their SH2 domains. While lacking enzymatic activities, these adaptor proteins possess SH3 domains that bind to proline-rich sequences, minimally containing a consensus PXXP motif, in other signaling molecules (1-3). Possibly the best characterized adapter molecule is Grb2 that binds to PXXP motifs in the C terminus of the Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor, Sos, recruiting it to the plasma membrane where it promotes Ras activation (4).The role of the adapter molecule NCK is less clearly understood. NCK is made up of three consecutive SH3 domains and a C-terminal SH2 domain (5). While the SH2 domain binds to a number of receptor-PTKs, including the epidermal, plateletderived, and vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptors as well as the insulin receptor substrate, IRS-1 (6 -8), little is known about the putative effector proteins that bind to its three SH3 domains. NCK's SH3 domains have been shown to bind to Cbl (9), a major PTK substrate and possible inhibitor of cellular signaling (10), as well as Sos1 (11), two molecules that also associate with Grb2 (12). However, unlike Grb2 (13), 2 NCK has also be...

Dbs was identified initially as a transforming protein and is a member of the Dbl family of proteins (>20 mammalian members). Here we show that Dbs, like its rat homolog Ost and the closely related Dbl, exhibited guanine nucleotide exchange activity for the Rho family members RhoA and Cdc42, but not Rac1, in vitro. Dbs transforming activity was blocked by specific inhibitors of RhoA and Cdc42 function, demonstrating the importance of these small GTPases in Dbs-mediated growth deregulation. Although Dbs transformation was dependent upon the structural integrity of its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, replacement of the PH domain with a membrane localization signal restored transforming activity. Thus, the PH domain of Dbs (but not Dbl) may be important in modulating association with the plasma membrane, where its GTPase substrates reside. Both Dbs and Dbl activate multiple signaling pathways that include activation of the Elk-1, Jun, and NF-kappaB transcription factors and stimulation of transcription from the cyclin D1 promoter. We found that Elk-1 and NF-kappaB, but not Jun, activation was necessary for Dbl and Dbs transformation. Finally, we have observed that Dbl and Dbs regulated transcription from the cyclin D1 promoter in a NF-kappaB-dependent manner. Previous studies have dissociated actin cytoskeletal activity from the transforming potential of RhoA and Cdc42. These observations, when taken together with those of the present study, suggest that altered gene expression, and not actin reorganization, is the critical mediator of Dbl and Rho family protein transformation.

In this study, we utilized retroviral transfer of cDNA libraries in order to identify oncogenes that are expressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). From screens using two different cell types as targets for cellular transformation, a single cDNA encoding a variant of the TrkA protooncogene was isolated. The protein product of this protooncogene, TrkA, is a receptor tyrosine kinase for nerve growth factor. The isolated transforming cDNA encoded a TrkA protein that contains a 75-amino-acid deletion in the extracellular domain of the receptor and was named ⌬TrkA. ⌬TrkA readily transformed fibroblast and epithelial cell lines. The deletion resulted in activation of the tyrosine kinase domain leading to constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation of the protein. Expression of ⌬TrkA in cells led to the constitutive activation of intracellular signaling pathways that include Ras, extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase, and Akt. Importantly, ⌬TrkA altered the apoptotic and growth properties of 32D myeloid progenitor cells, suggesting ⌬TrkA may have contributed to the development and/or maintenance of the myeloid leukemia from which it was isolated. Unlike Bcr-Abl, expression of ⌬TrkA did not activate Stat5 in these cells. We have detected expression of ⌬TrkA in the original AML sample by reverse transcriptase PCR and by Western blot analysis. While previous TrkA mutations identified from human tumors involved fusion to other proteins, this report is the initial demonstration that deletions within TrkA may play a role in human cancers. Finally, this report is the first to indicate mutations in TrkA may contribute to leukemogenesis.