A. Blangy et al., PHOSPHORYLATION BY P34(CDC2) PROTEIN-KINASE REGULATES BINDING OF THE KINESIN-RELATED MOTOR HSEG5 TO THE DYNACTIN SUBUNIT P150(GLUED), The Journal of biological chemistry, 272(31), 1997, pp. 19418-19424
The kinesin-related motor HsEg5 is essential for centrosome separation
, and its association with centrosomes appears to be regulated by phos
phorylation of tail residue threonine 927 by the p34(cdc2) protein kin
ase. To identify proteins able to interact with the tail of HsEg5, we
performed a yeast two-hybrid screen with a HsEg5 stalk-tail construct
as bait. We isolated a cDNA coding for the central, alpha-helical regi
on of human p150(Glued), a prominent component of the dynactin complex
. The interaction between HsEg5 and p150(Glued) was enhanced upon acti
vation of p34(CDC28), the budding yeast homolog of p34(cdc2), provided
that HsEg5 had a phosphorylatable residue at position 927. Phosphoryl
ation also enhanced the specific binding of p150(Glued) to the tail do
main of HsEg5 in vitro, indicating that the two proteins are able to i
nteract directly. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed co-localizati
on of HsEg5 and p150(Glued) during mitosis but not during interphase,
consistent with a cell cycle-dependent association between the two pro
teins. Taken together, these results suggest that HsEg5 and p150(Glued
) may interact in mammalian cells in vivo and that p34(cdc2) may regul
ate this interaction. Furthermore, they imply that the dynactin comple
x may functionally interact not only with dynein but also with kinesin
-related motors.