Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:O15085 (PDZ-RhoGEF)
 91 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A recently identified family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Rho that includes PDZ-RhoGEF, LARG, and p115RhoGEF exhibits a unique structural feature consisting in the presence of area of similarity to regulators of G protein signaling (RGS). This RGS-like (RGL) domain provides a structural motif by which heterotrimeric G protein alpha subunits of the Galpha(12) family can bind and regulate the activity of RhoGEFs. Hence, these newly discovered RGL domain-containing RhoGEFs provide a direct link from Galpha(12) and Galpha(13) to Rho. Recently available data suggest, however, that tyrosine kinases can regulate the ability of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to stimulate Rho, although the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unknown. Here, we found that the activation of thrombin receptors endogenously expressed in HEK-293T cells leads to a remarkable increase in the levels of GTP-bound Rho within 1 min (11-fold) and a more limited but sustained activation (4-fold) thereafter, which lasts even for several hours. Interestingly, tyrosine kinase inhibitors did not affect the early phase of Rho activation, immediately after thrombin addition, but diminished the levels of GTP-bound Rho during the delayed phase. As thrombin receptors stimulate focal adhesion kinase (FAK) potently, we explored whether this non-receptor tyrosine kinase participates in the activation of Rho by GPCRs. We obtained evidence that FAK can be activated by thrombin, Galpha(12), Galpha(13), and Galpha(q) through both Rho-dependent and Rho-independent mechanisms and that PDZ-RhoGEF and LARG can in turn be tyrosine-phosphorylated through FAK in response to thrombin, thereby enhancing the activation of Rho in vivo. These data indicate that FAK may act as a component of a positive feedback loop that results in the sustained activation of Rho by GPCRs, thus providing evidence of the existence of a novel biochemical route by which tyrosine kinases may regulate the activity of Rho through the tyrosine phosphorylation of RGL-containing RhoGEFs.
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PMID:Regulation of G protein-linked guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Rho, PDZ-RhoGEF, and LARG by tyrosine phosphorylation: evidence of a role for focal adhesion kinase. 1179 11

PDZ-RhoGEF, LARG, and p115RhoGEF are members of a newly identified family of Rho-guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) exhibiting a unique structural feature consisting of the presence of an area of similarity to regulators of G protein signaling (RGS). This RGS-like (RGL) domain provides a functional motif by which Galpha(12) and Galpha(13) can bind and regulate the activity of these RhoGEFs, thus providing a direct link from these heterotrimeric G proteins to Rho. PDZ-RhoGEF and LARG can also be phosphorylated by tyrosine kinases, including FAK, and associate with Plexin B, a semaphorin receptor, which controls axon guidance during development, through their PDZ domain, thereby stimulating Rho. Interestingly, while characterizing a PDZ-RhoGEF antiserum, we found that a transfected PDZ-RhoGEF construct associated with the endogenous PDZ-RhoGEF. Indeed, we observed that PDZ-RhoGEF and LARG can form homo- and hetero-oligomers, whereas p115RhoGEF can only homo-oligomerize, and that this intermolecular interaction was mediated by their unique C-terminal regions. Deletion of the C-terminal tail of PDZ-RhoGEF had no significant effect on the GEF catalytic activity towards Rho in vitro, but resulted in a drastic increase in the ability to stimulate a serum response element reporter and the accumulation of the GTP-bound Rho in vivo. Furthermore, removal of the C-termini of each of the three RGL-containing GEFs unleashed their full transforming potential. Together, these findings suggest the existence of a novel mechanism controlling the activity of PDZ-RhoGEF, LARG, and p115RhoGEF, which involves homo- and hetero-oligomerization through their inhibitory C-terminal region.
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PMID:Homo- and hetero-oligomerization of PDZ-RhoGEF, LARG and p115RhoGEF by their C-terminal region regulates their in vivo Rho GEF activity and transforming potential. 1471 28

The neuropeptides bombesin and endothelin-1 stimulate prostate cancer (PC) cell migration and invasion (J Clin Invest, 2000; 106: 1399-1407). The intracellular signaling pathways that direct this cell movement are not well delineated. The monomeric GTPase RhoA is required for migration in several cell types including neutrophils, monocytes and fibroblasts. We demonstrate that bombesin-stimulated PC cell migration occurs via the heterotrimeric G-protein-coupled receptors (G-protein) G alpha 13 subunit leading to activation of RhoA, and Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein kinase (ROCK). Using siRNA to suppress expression of the three known G-protein alpha-subunit-associated RhoA guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), we also show that two of these RhoA GEFs, PDZ-RhoGEF and leukemia-associated RhoGEF (LARG), link bombesin receptors to RhoA in a non-redundant manner in PC cells. We next show that focal adhesion kinase, which activates PDZ-RhoGEF and LARG, is required for bombesin-stimulated RhoA activation. Neutral endopeptidase (NEP) is expressed on normal prostate epithelium whereas loss of NEP expression contributes to PC progression. We also demonstrate that NEP inhibits neuropeptide activation of RhoA. Together, these results establish a contiguous signaling pathway from the bombesin receptor to ROCK in PC cells, and they implicate NEP as a major regulator of neuropeptide-stimulated RhoA in these cells. This work also identifies members of this signaling pathway as potential targets for rational pharmacologic manipulation of neuropeptide-stimulated migration of PC cells.
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PMID:Neuropeptide-stimulated cell migration in prostate cancer cells is mediated by RhoA kinase signaling and inhibited by neutral endopeptidase. 1665 49