LKB1 interacts with and phosphorylates PTEN: a functional link between two proteins involved in cancer predisposing syndromes.

Abstract

Germline mutations of the LKB1 (STK11) tumor suppressor gene lead to Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) and predisposition to cancer. LKB1 encodes a serine/threonine kinase generally inactivated in PJS patients. We identified the dual phosphatase and tumor suppressor protein PTEN as an LKB1-interacting protein. Several LKB1 point mutations associated with PJS disrupt the interaction with PTEN suggesting that the loss of this interaction might contribute to PJS. Although PTEN and LKB1 are predominantly cytoplasmic and nuclear, respectively, their interaction leads to a cytoplasmic relocalization of LKB1. In addition, we show that PTEN is a substrate of the kinase LKB1 in vitro. As PTEN is a dual phosphatase mutated in autosomal inherited disorders with phenotypes similar to those of PJS (Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome and Cowden disease), our study suggests a functional link between the proteins involved in different hamartomatous polyposis syndromes and emphasizes the central role played by LKB1 as a tumor suppressor in the small intestine.

• Authors: Hamid Mehenni, Nathalie Lin-Marq, Karine Buchet-Poyau, Alexandre Reymond, Martine A Collart, Didier Picard, Stylianos E Antonarakis
• Journal: Human molecular genetics (Hum Mol Genet) Vol. 14 Issue 15 Pg. 2209-19 (Aug 01 2005) ISSN: 0964-6906 [Print] England
• PMID: 15987703 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
• STK11 protein, human
• AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases

Topics

• AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases
• Amino Acid Sequence
• Cell Nucleus (enzymology)
• Cells, Cultured
• Cytoplasm (enzymology)
• Genes, Tumor Suppressor
• Genetic Predisposition to Disease
• Germ-Line Mutation
• Humans
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Mutation, Missense
• Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (genetics, metabolism)
• Phosphorylation
• Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases (genetics, metabolism)
• Two-Hybrid System Techniques