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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1993 Apr 1;90(7):2900–2904. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.7.2900

Demonstration of ligand-dependent signaling by the erbB-3 tyrosine kinase and its constitutive activation in human breast tumor cells.

M H Kraus 1, P Fedi 1, V Starks 1, R Muraro 1, S A Aaronson 1
PMCID: PMC46204  PMID: 8464905

Abstract

The predicted human erbB-3 gene product is closely related to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and erbB-2, which have been implicated as oncogenes in model systems and human neoplasia. We expressed the erbB-3 coding sequence in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts and identified its product as a 180-kDa glycoprotein, gp180erbB-3. Tunicamycin and pulse-chase experiments revealed that the mature protein was processed by N-linked glycosylation of a 145-kDa erbB-3 core polypeptide. The intrinsic catalytic function of gp180erbB-3 was shown by its ability to autophosphorylate in vitro. Ligand-dependent signaling of its cytoplasmic domain was established employing transfectants that express a chimeric EGFR/erbB-3 protein, gp180EGFR/erbB-3. EGF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the chimera and promoted soft agar colony formation of such transfectants. These findings combined with the detection of constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation of gp180erbB-3 in 4 of 12 human mammary tumor cell lines implicate the activated erbB-3 product in the pathogenesis of some human malignancies.

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Selected References

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