Yr. Du et al., IDENTIFICATION OF A NOVEL CORTACTIN SH3 DOMAIN-BINDING PROTEIN AND ITS LOCALIZATION TO GROWTH CONES OF CULTURED NEURONS, Molecular and cellular biology, 18(10), 1998, pp. 5838-5851
Cortactin is an actin-binding protein that contains several potential
signaling motifs including a Src homolog 3 (SH3) domain at the distal
C terminus. Translocation of cortactin to specific cortical actin stru
ctures and hyperphosphorylation of cortactin on tyrosine have been ass
ociated with the cortical cytoskeleton reorganization induced by a var
iety of cellular stimuli. The function of cortactin in these processes
is largely unknown in part due to the lack of information about cellu
lar binding partners for cortactin. Here we report the identification
of a novel cortactin-binding protein of approximately 180 kDa by yeast
two-hybrid interaction screening. The interaction of cortactin with t
his 180-kDa protein was confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo methods
, and the SH3 domain of cortactin was found to direct this interaction
. Since this protein represents the first reported natural ligand for
the cortactin SH3 domain, we designated it CortBP1 for cortactin-bindi
ng protein 1. CortBP1 contains two recognizable sequence moths within
its C-terminal region, including a consensus sequence for cortactin SH
3 domain-binding peptides and a sterile alpha motif. Northern and West
ern blot analysis indicated that CortBP1 is expressed predominately in
brain tissue. Immunofluorescence studies revealed colocalization of C
ortBP1 with cortactin and cortical actin filaments in lamellipodia and
membrane ruffles in fibroblasts expressing CortBP1. Colocalization of
endogenous CortBP1 and cortactin was also observed in growth cones of
developing hippocampal neurons, implicating CortBP1 and cortactin in
cytoskeleton reorganization during neurite outgrowth.