Ed. Fixman et al., PATHWAYS DOWNSTREAM OF SHC AND GRB2 ARE REQUIRED FOR CELL-TRANSFORMATION BY THE TPR-MET ONCOPROTEIN, The Journal of biological chemistry, 271(22), 1996, pp. 13116-13122
The Tpr-Met oncoprotein, which is a member of a family of tyrosine kin
ase oncoproteins generated following genomic rearrangement, consists o
f the catalytic kinase domain of the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter
factor receptor tyrosine kinase (Met) fused downstream from sequences
encoded by the tpr gene. We have previously demonstrated that a single
tyrosine residue in the carboxyl terminus, Tyr(489), is highly phosph
orylated and is essential for efficient transformation of Fr3T3 fibrob
lasts by Tpr-Met and for the association of Tpr-Met with the Grb2 adap
tor protein and phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase. We show here that Tyr(
489) is also required for association of Tpr-Met with phospholipase C
gamma and the tyrosine phosphatase, SHPTP2/Syp. To distinguish which o
f these substrates are required for cell transformation by the Tpr-Met
oncoprotein, we generated a novel Tpr-Met mutant that selectively fai
ls to associate with the Grb2 adaptor protein. Utilizing this mutant,
together with additional Tpr-Met mutants containing Tyr to Phe substit
utions, we have demonstrated that transformation of Fr3T3 fibroblasts
by the Tpr-Met oncoprotein is dependent upon pathways downstream of Sh
c and Grb2 and that pathways downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kin
ase, phospholipase G gamma, and SHPTP2/Syp are insufficient for transf
ormation.