Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1991 Mar;10(3):633–639. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb07991.x

The rate of nuclear cytoplasmic protein transport is determined by the casein kinase II site flanking the nuclear localization sequence of the SV40 T-antigen.

H P Rihs 1, D A Jans 1, H Fan 1, R Peters 1
PMCID: PMC452694  PMID: 1848177

Abstract

We have previously demonstrated [Rihs, H.-P. and Peters, R. (1989) EMBO J., 8, 1479-1484] that the nuclear transport of recombinant proteins in which short fragments of the SV40 T-antigen are fused to the amino terminus of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase is dependent on both the nuclear localization sequence (NLS, T-antigen residues 126-132) and a phosphorylation-site-containing sequence (T-antigen residues 111-125). While the NLS determines the specificity, the rate of transport is controlled by the phosphorylation-site-containing sequence. The present study furthers this observation and examines the role of the various phosphorylation sites. Purified, fluorescently labeled recombinant proteins were injected into the cytoplasm of Vero or hepatoma (HTC) cells and the kinetics of nuclear transport measured by laser microfluorimetry. By replacing serine and threonine residues known to be phosphorylated in vivo, we identified the casein kinase II (CK-II) site S111/S112 to be the determining factor in the enhancement of the transport. Either of the residues 111 or 112 was sufficient to elicit the maximum transport enhancement. The other phosphorylation sites (S120, S123, T124) had no influence on the transport rate. Examination of the literature suggested that many proteins harboring a nuclear localization sequence also contain putative CK-II sites at a distance of approximately 10-30 amino acid residues from the NLS. CK-II has been previously implicated in the transmission of growth signals to the nucleus. Our results suggest that CK-II may exert this role by controlling the rate of nuclear protein transport.

Full text

PDF
637

Images in this article

635Image
on p.635
636Image
on p.636

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adam S. A., Lobl T. J., Mitchell M. A., Gerace L. Identification of specific binding proteins for a nuclear location sequence. Nature. 1989 Jan 19;337(6204):276–279. doi: 10.1038/337276a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barbosa M. S., Edmonds C., Fisher C., Schiller J. T., Lowy D. R., Vousden K. H. The region of the HPV E7 oncoprotein homologous to adenovirus E1a and Sv40 large T antigen contains separate domains for Rb binding and casein kinase II phosphorylation. EMBO J. 1990 Jan;9(1):153–160. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08091.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Benditt J. O., Meyer C., Fasold H., Barnard F. C., Riedel N. Interaction of a nuclear location signal with isolated nuclear envelopes and identification of signal-binding proteins by photoaffinity labeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Dec;86(23):9327–9331. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.23.9327. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Butel J. S. SV40 large T-antigen: dual oncogene. Cancer Surv. 1986;5(2):343–365. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chelsky D., Ralph R., Jonak G. Sequence requirements for synthetic peptide-mediated translocation to the nucleus. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Jun;9(6):2487–2492. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.6.2487. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chen S., Paucha E. Identification of a region of simian virus 40 large T antigen required for cell transformation. J Virol. 1990 Jul;64(7):3350–3357. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.7.3350-3357.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dagert M., Ehrlich S. D. Prolonged incubation in calcium chloride improves the competence of Escherichia coli cells. Gene. 1979 May;6(1):23–28. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(79)90082-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dang C. V., Lee W. M. Identification of the human c-myc protein nuclear translocation signal. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Oct;8(10):4048–4054. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.10.4048. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. DePaoli-Roach A. A., Ahmad Z., Camici M., Lawrence J. C., Jr, Roach P. J. Multiple phosphorylation of rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen synthase. Evidence for interactions among phosphorylation sites and the resolution of electrophoretically distinct forms of the subunit. J Biol Chem. 1983 Sep 10;258(17):10702–10709. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dingwall C., Laskey R. A. Protein import into the cell nucleus. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1986;2:367–390. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.02.110186.002055. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Dingwall C., Robbins J., Dilworth S. M., Roberts B., Richardson W. D. The nucleoplasmin nuclear location sequence is larger and more complex than that of SV-40 large T antigen. J Cell Biol. 1988 Sep;107(3):841–849. doi: 10.1083/jcb.107.3.841. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Dyson N., Howley P. M., Münger K., Harlow E. The human papilloma virus-16 E7 oncoprotein is able to bind to the retinoblastoma gene product. Science. 1989 Feb 17;243(4893):934–937. doi: 10.1126/science.2537532. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Edelman A. M., Blumenthal D. K., Krebs E. G. Protein serine/threonine kinases. Annu Rev Biochem. 1987;56:567–613. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.56.070187.003031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Fiol C. J., Mahrenholz A. M., Wang Y., Roeske R. W., Roach P. J. Formation of protein kinase recognition sites by covalent modification of the substrate. Molecular mechanism for the synergistic action of casein kinase II and glycogen synthase kinase 3. J Biol Chem. 1987 Oct 15;262(29):14042–14048. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gerace L., Burke B. Functional organization of the nuclear envelope. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1988;4:335–374. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.04.110188.002003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Ghosh S., Gifford A. M., Riviere L. R., Tempst P., Nolan G. P., Baltimore D. Cloning of the p50 DNA binding subunit of NF-kappa B: homology to rel and dorsal. Cell. 1990 Sep 7;62(5):1019–1029. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90276-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Gilmore T. D., Temin H. M. v-rel oncoproteins in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm transform chicken spleen cells. J Virol. 1988 Mar;62(3):703–714. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.3.703-714.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Grässer F. A., Scheidtmann K. H., Tuazon P. T., Traugh J. A., Walter G. In vitro phosphorylation of SV40 large T antigen. Virology. 1988 Jul;165(1):13–22. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(88)90653-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hall M. N., Hereford L., Herskowitz I. Targeting of E. coli beta-galactosidase to the nucleus in yeast. Cell. 1984 Apr;36(4):1057–1065. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90055-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hathaway G. M., Traugh J. A. Casein kinases--multipotential protein kinases. Curr Top Cell Regul. 1982;21:101–127. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Kalderon D., Richardson W. D., Markham A. F., Smith A. E. Sequence requirements for nuclear location of simian virus 40 large-T antigen. Nature. 1984 Sep 6;311(5981):33–38. doi: 10.1038/311033a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kalderon D., Smith A. E. In vitro mutagenesis of a putative DNA binding domain of SV40 large-T. Virology. 1984 Nov;139(1):109–137. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(84)90334-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kleinschmidt J. A., Seiter A. Identification of domains involved in nuclear uptake and histone binding of protein N1 of Xenopus laevis. EMBO J. 1988 Jun;7(6):1605–1614. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02986.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Kost S. L., Smith D. F., Sullivan W. P., Welch W. J., Toft D. O. Binding of heat shock proteins to the avian progesterone receptor. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Sep;9(9):3829–3838. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.9.3829. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Krebs E. G., Eisenman R. N., Kuenzel E. A., Litchfield D. W., Lozeman F. J., Lüscher B., Sommercorn J. Casein kinase II as a potentially important enzyme concerned with signal transduction. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1988;53(Pt 1):77–84. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1988.053.01.012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Krohne G., Wolin S. L., McKeon F. D., Franke W. W., Kirschner M. W. Nuclear lamin LI of Xenopus laevis: cDNA cloning, amino acid sequence and binding specificity of a member of the lamin B subfamily. EMBO J. 1987 Dec 1;6(12):3801–3808. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02716.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Kröger M., Hobom G. Restriction enzyme HgiCI characterization of the 6-nucleotide staggered cut sequence and its application in mismatch cloning. Methods Enzymol. 1987;155:3–10. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(87)55003-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Lanford R. E., Butel J. S. Construction and characterization of an SV40 mutant defective in nuclear transport of T antigen. Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):801–813. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90415-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Lang I., Scholz M., Peters R. Molecular mobility and nucleocytoplasmic flux in hepatoma cells. J Cell Biol. 1986 Apr;102(4):1183–1190. doi: 10.1083/jcb.102.4.1183. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Lee W. C., Mélèse T. Identification and characterization of a nuclear localization sequence-binding protein in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Nov;86(22):8808–8812. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.22.8808. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Lenardo M. J., Baltimore D. NF-kappa B: a pleiotropic mediator of inducible and tissue-specific gene control. Cell. 1989 Jul 28;58(2):227–229. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90833-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Li R. H., Thomas J. O. Identification of a human protein that interacts with nuclear localization signals. J Cell Biol. 1989 Dec;109(6 Pt 1):2623–2632. doi: 10.1083/jcb.109.6.2623. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Loewinger L., McKeon F. Mutations in the nuclear lamin proteins resulting in their aberrant assembly in the cytoplasm. EMBO J. 1988 Aug;7(8):2301–2309. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03073.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Lüscher B., Kuenzel E. A., Krebs E. G., Eisenman R. N. Myc oncoproteins are phosphorylated by casein kinase II. EMBO J. 1989 Apr;8(4):1111–1119. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb03481.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. McVey D., Brizuela L., Mohr I., Marshak D. R., Gluzman Y., Beach D. Phosphorylation of large tumour antigen by cdc2 stimulates SV40 DNA replication. Nature. 1989 Oct 12;341(6242):503–507. doi: 10.1038/341503a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Meek D. W., Simon S., Kikkawa U., Eckhart W. The p53 tumour suppressor protein is phosphorylated at serine 389 by casein kinase II. EMBO J. 1990 Oct;9(10):3253–3260. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07524.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Newport J. W., Forbes D. J. The nucleus: structure, function, and dynamics. Annu Rev Biochem. 1987;56:535–565. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.56.070187.002535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Peters R. Fluorescence microphotolysis to measure nucleocytoplasmic transport and intracellular mobility. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1986 Dec 22;864(3-4):305–359. doi: 10.1016/0304-4157(86)90003-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Picton C., Woodgett J., Hemmings B., Cohen P. Multisite phosphorylation of glycogen synthase from rabbit skeletal muscle. Phosphorylation of site 5 by glycogen synthase kinase-5 (casein kinase-II) is a prerequisite for phosphorylation of sites 3 by glycogen synthase kinase-3. FEBS Lett. 1982 Dec 13;150(1):191–196. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(82)81332-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Prives C. The replication functions of SV40 T antigen are regulated by phosphorylation. Cell. 1990 Jun 1;61(5):735–738. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90179-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Richardson W. D., Roberts B. L., Smith A. E. Nuclear location signals in polyoma virus large-T. Cell. 1986 Jan 17;44(1):77–85. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90486-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Rihs H. P., Peters R. Nuclear transport kinetics depend on phosphorylation-site-containing sequences flanking the karyophilic signal of the Simian virus 40 T-antigen. EMBO J. 1989 May;8(5):1479–1484. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb03531.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Roberts B. Nuclear location signal-mediated protein transport. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1989 Aug 14;1008(3):263–280. doi: 10.1016/0167-4781(89)90016-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Roth S., Stein D., Nüsslein-Volhard C. A gradient of nuclear localization of the dorsal protein determines dorsoventral pattern in the Drosophila embryo. Cell. 1989 Dec 22;59(6):1189–1202. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90774-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Roux P., Blanchard J. M., Fernandez A., Lamb N., Jeanteur P., Piechaczyk M. Nuclear localization of c-Fos, but not v-Fos proteins, is controlled by extracellular signals. Cell. 1990 Oct 19;63(2):341–351. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90167-d. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Rushlow C. A., Han K., Manley J. L., Levine M. The graded distribution of the dorsal morphogen is initiated by selective nuclear transport in Drosophila. Cell. 1989 Dec 22;59(6):1165–1177. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90772-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Scheidtmann K. H., Echle B., Walter G. Simian virus 40 large T antigen is phosphorylated at multiple sites clustered in two separate regions. J Virol. 1982 Oct;44(1):116–133. doi: 10.1128/jvi.44.1.116-133.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Schulz B., Peters R. Nucleocytoplasmic protein traffic in single mammalian cells studied by fluorescence microphotolysis. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1987 Oct 1;930(3):419–431. doi: 10.1016/0167-4889(87)90015-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Shapira S. K., Chou J., Richaud F. V., Casadaban M. J. New versatile plasmid vectors for expression of hybrid proteins coded by a cloned gene fused to lacZ gene sequences encoding an enzymatically active carboxy-terminal portion of beta-galactosidase. Gene. 1983 Nov;25(1):71–82. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(83)90169-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Shirakawa F., Mizel S. B. In vitro activation and nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B catalyzed by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and protein kinase C. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Jun;9(6):2424–2430. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.6.2424. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Silver P. A., Keegan L. P., Ptashne M. Amino terminus of the yeast GAL4 gene product is sufficient for nuclear localization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Oct;81(19):5951–5955. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.19.5951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Silver P., Sadler I., Osborne M. A. Yeast proteins that recognize nuclear localization sequences. J Cell Biol. 1989 Sep;109(3):983–989. doi: 10.1083/jcb.109.3.983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Simons K., Virta H. Perforated MDCK cells support intracellular transport. EMBO J. 1987 Aug;6(8):2241–2247. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02496.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Sommercorn J., Mulligan J. A., Lozeman F. J., Krebs E. G. Activation of casein kinase II in response to insulin and to epidermal growth factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Dec;84(24):8834–8838. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.24.8834. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Steward R. Relocalization of the dorsal protein from the cytoplasm to the nucleus correlates with its function. Cell. 1989 Dec 22;59(6):1179–1188. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90773-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. Taylor J. W., Ott J., Eckstein F. The rapid generation of oligonucleotide-directed mutations at high frequency using phosphorothioate-modified DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Dec 20;13(24):8765–8785. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.24.8765. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  58. Taylor J. W., Schmidt W., Cosstick R., Okruszek A., Eckstein F. The use of phosphorothioate-modified DNA in restriction enzyme reactions to prepare nicked DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Dec 20;13(24):8749–8764. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.24.8749. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  59. Woodgett J. R., Cohen P. Multisite phosphorylation of glycogen synthase. Molecular basis for the substrate specificity of glycogen synthase kinase-3 and casein kinase-II (glycogen synthase kinase-5). Biochim Biophys Acta. 1984 Aug 14;788(3):339–347. doi: 10.1016/0167-4838(84)90047-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  60. Wychowski C., Benichou D., Girard M. A domain of SV40 capsid polypeptide VP1 that specifies migration into the cell nucleus. EMBO J. 1986 Oct;5(10):2569–2576. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04536.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  61. Yamasaki L., Kanda P., Lanford R. E. Identification of four nuclear transport signal-binding proteins that interact with diverse transport signals. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Jul;9(7):3028–3036. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.7.3028. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  62. Yanisch-Perron C., Vieira J., Messing J. Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene. 1985;33(1):103–119. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(85)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  63. Yoneda Y., Imamoto-Sonobe N., Matsuoka Y., Iwamoto R., Kiho Y., Uchida T. Antibodies to Asp-Asp-Glu-Asp can inhibit transport of nuclear proteins into the nucleus. Science. 1988 Oct 14;242(4876):275–278. doi: 10.1126/science.3051382. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES