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The tyrosine kinase JAK2 is a key signaling protein for at least 20 receptors in the cytokine/hematopoietin receptor superfamily and is a component of signaling for multiple receptor tyrosine kinases and several G-protein-coupled receptors. In this study, phosphopeptide affinity enrichment and mass spectrometry identified serine 523 (Ser523) in JAK2 as a site of phosphorylation. A phosphoserine 523 antibody revealed that Ser523 is rapidly but transiently phosphorylated in response to growth hormone (GH). MEK1 inhibitor UO126 suppresses GH-dependent phosphorylation of Ser523, suggesting that extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) 1 and/or 2 or another kinase downstream of MEK1 phosphorylate Ser523 in response to GH. Other ERK activators, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and epidermal growth factor, also stimulate phosphorylation of Ser523. When Ser523 in JAK2 was mutated, JAK2 kinase activity as well as GH-dependent tyrosyl phosphorylation of JAK2 and Stat5 was enhanced, suggesting that phosphorylation of Ser523 inhibits JAK2 kinase activity. We hypothesize that phosphorylation of Ser523 in JAK2 by ERKs 1 and/or 2 or other as-yet-unidentified kinases acts in a negative feedback manner to dampen activation of JAK2 in response to GH and provides a mechanism by which prior exposure to environmental factors that regulate Ser523 phosphorylation might modulate the cell's response to GH.

The tyrosine kinase JAK2 is a key signaling protein for at least 20 receptors in the cytokine/hematopoietin receptor superfamily and is a component of signaling by insulin receptor and several G-protein-coupled receptors. However, there is only limited knowledge of the physical structure of JAK2 or which of the 49 tyrosines in JAK2 are autophosphorylated. In this study, mass spectrometry and two-dimensional peptide mapping were used to determine that tyrosines 221, 570, and 1007 in JAK2 are autophosphorylated. Phosphorylation of tyrosine 570 is particularly robust. In response to growth hormone, JAK2 was rapidly and transiently phosphorylated at tyrosines 221 and 570, returning to basal levels by 60 min. Analysis of the sequences surrounding tyrosines 221 and 570 in JAK2 and tyrosines in other proteins that are phosphorylated in response to ligands that activate JAK2 suggests that the YXX[L/I/V] motif is one of the motifs recognized by JAK2. Experiments using JAK2 with tyrosines 221 and 570 mutated to phenylalanine suggest that tyrosines 221 and 570 in JAK2 may serve as regulatory sites in JAK2, with phosphorylation of tyrosine 221 increasing kinase activity and phosphorylation of tyrosine 570 decreasing kinase activity and thereby contributing to rapid termination of ligand activation of JAK2.

The tyrosine kinase Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) binds to the majority of the known members of the cytokine family of receptors. Ligand-receptor binding leads to activation of the associated JAK2 molecules, resulting in rapid autophosphorylation of multiple tyrosines within JAK2. Phosphotyrosines can then serve as docking sites for downstream JAK2 signaling molecules. Despite the importance of these phosphotyrosines in JAK2 function, only a few sites and binding partners have been identified. Using two-dimensional phosphopeptide mapping and a phosphospecific antibody, we identified tyrosine 813 as a site of JAK2 autophosphorylation of overexpressed JAK2 and endogenous JAK2 activated by growth hormone. Tyrosine 813 is contained within a YXXL sequence motif associated with several other identified JAK2 phosphorylation sites. We show that phosphorylation of tyrosine 813 is required for the SH2 domain-containing adapter protein SH2-B beta to bind JAK2 and to enhance the activity of JAK2 and STAT5B. The homologous tyrosine in JAK3, tyrosine 785, is autophosphorylated in response to interleukin-2 stimulation and is required for SH2-B beta to bind JAK3. Taken together these data strongly suggest that tyrosine 813 is a site of autophosphorylation in JAK2 and is the SH2-B beta-binding site within JAK2 that is required for SH2-B beta to enhance activation of JAK2.

SH2-Bbeta binds to the activated form of JAK2 and various receptor tyrosine kinases. It is a potent stimulator of JAK2, is required for growth hormone (GH)-induced membrane ruffling, and increases mitogenesis stimulated by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and insulin-like growth factor I. Its domain structure suggests that SH2-Bbeta may act as an adapter protein to recruit downstream signaling proteins to kinase.SH2-Bbeta complexes. SH2-Bbeta is tyrosyl-phosphorylated in response to GH and interferon-gamma, stimulators of JAK2, as well as in response to PDGF and nerve growth factor. To begin to elucidate the role of tyrosyl phosphorylation in the function of SH2-Bbeta, we used phosphopeptide mapping, mutagenesis, and a phosphotyrosine-specific antibody to identify Tyr-439 and Tyr-494 in SH2-Bbeta as targets of JAK2 both in vitro and in intact cells. SH2-Bbeta lacking Tyr-439 and Tyr-494 inhibits GH-induced membrane ruffling but still activates JAK2. We provide evidence that JAK1, like JAK2, phosphorylates Tyr-439 and Tyr-494 in SH2-Bbeta and that PDGF receptor phosphorylates SH2-Bbeta on Tyr-439. Therefore, phosphorylated Tyr-439 and/or Tyr-494 in SH2-Bbeta may provide a binding site for one or more proteins linking cytokine receptor.JAK2 complexes and/or receptor tyrosine kinases to the actin cytoskeleton.

Signal regulatory proteins (SIRPs) are receptor-like transmembrane proteins, the majority of which contain a cytoplasmic proline-rich region and four cytoplasmic tyrosines that, when phosphorylated, bind SH2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatases (SHP). We demonstrated previously that growth hormone (GH) induces tyrosyl phosphorylation of SIRPalpha and association of SIRPalpha with SHP-2. The GH-activated tyrosine kinase JAK2 associates with and tyrosyl-phosphorylates SIRPalpha1. Here we show that JAK2-SIRPalpha1 association does not require phosphotyrosines in SIRPalpha1 or JAK2 or the proline-rich region of SIRPalpha1. However, when the C-terminal 30 amino acids of SIRPalpha1 containing the proline-rich region and tyrosine 495 are deleted, tyrosyl phosphorylation of SIRPalpha1 by JAK2 and association of SHP-2 with SIRPalpha1 are reduced. GH-dependent tyrosyl phosphorylation of JAK2 is reduced when wild-type SIRPalpha1 compared with SIRPalpha1 lacking the four cytoplasmic tyrosines (SIRP 4YF) is expressed in cells, suggesting that SIRPalpha1 negatively regulates GHR/JAK2 signaling. Consistent with reduced JAK2 activity, overexpression of wild-type SIRPalpha1 but not SIRP 4YF reduces GH-induced phosphorylation of ERKs 1 and 2, STAT3, and STAT5B. These results suggest that SIRPalpha1 is a negative regulator of GH signaling and that the ability of SIRPalpha1 mutants to negatively regulate GHR-JAK2 signaling correlates with their ability to bind SHP-2.

Demonstration that the tyrosine kinase JAK2 is activated in response to growth hormone (GH) has established tyrosyl phosphorylation as a signalling mechanism for GH. In addition a number of signalling molecules have recently been identified that interact with the GH receptor/JAK2 complex and require JAK2 for activation. These pathways regulate cellular functions including gene transcription, metabolite transport, and metabolism and contribute to the ability of GH to control body growth and metabolism.

The intracellular pathways by which the binding of growth hormone (GH) to its receptor elicits its diverse effects have eluded investigators for many years. Studies showing that GH rapidly stimulates tyrosyl phosphorylation of cellular proteins, and that tyrosine kinase activity co-purifies with GH-GH receptor complexes, led us to hypothesize that activation by GH of a receptor-associated tyrosine kinase is an important early, and perhaps, initiating step in signal transduction by GH. Here, we review the work identifying JAK2 as a GH receptor-associated tyrosine kinase that is rapidly activated by ligand binding.

One of the earliest cellular responses to prolactin (PRL) binding in Nb2 cells, a rat pre-T lymphoma cell line, is an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins. In this work, immunologic techniques have been used to demonstrate that in Nb2 cells and in mouse mammary gland explants, JAK2, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, is activated following stimulation with PRL. PRL stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK2 at times as early as 30 sec and concentrations of PRL as low as 0.5 ng/ml (2.5 pM) in Nb2 cells and 100 ng/ml (5 nM) in mammary gland explants. When JAK2 was immunoprecipitated from solubilized Nb2 cells or mammary gland explants and incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP, 32P was incorporated into a protein migrating with an apparent molecular weight appropriate for JAK2 only when cells had been incubated with PRL, indicating that JAK2 tyrosine kinase activity is exquisitely sensitive to PRL. In Nb2 cells, JAK2 was found to associate with PRL receptor irrespective of whether or not the cells had been incubated with PRL. These results provide strong evidence that JAK2 is constitutively associated with the PRL receptor and that it is activated and tyrosine phosphorylated upon PRL binding to the PRL receptor. These results are consistent with JAK2 serving as an early, perhaps initial, signaling molecule for PRL.

Growth hormone receptor (GHR) forms a complex with a tyrosine kinase, suggesting involvement of a ligand-activated tyrosine kinase in intracellular signaling by growth hormone (GH). Here we identify JAK2, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, as a GHR-associated tyrosine kinase. Immunological approaches were used to establish GH-dependent complex formation between JAK2 and GHR, activation of JAK2 tyrosine kinase activity, and tyrosyl phosphorylation of both JAK2 and GHR. The JAK2-GHR and JAK2-erythropoietin receptor interactions described here and in the accompanying paper provide a molecular basis for involvement of tyrosyl phosphorylation in physiological responses to these ligands and suggest a shared signaling mechanism among members of the cytokine/hematopoietin receptor family.

When the catalytically active, tyrosyl-phosphorylated form of insulin receptor was isolated from human placenta and treated with ADP, only partial dephosphorylation was observed. This observation suggests the existence of two distinct classes of phosphotyrosyl residues of the phosphorylated insulin receptor: one in which the phosphoryl groups undergo reversible transfer to ADP and one in which they do not. There were 8.8 +/- 2.2 phosphorylation sites per tetrameric insulin receptor, of which 2.4 +/- 0.5 were irreversible (mean +/- S.D., n = 6). The reversible sites were determined to be equivalent and noninteracting and to have an equilibrium constant for the transfer of a phosphoryl group from ATP to a site of reversible phosphorylation of 8.7. Surprisingly, both phosphorylation and dephosphorylation at the reversible sites were relatively insensitive to the presence of insulin. Since only minimal autophosphorylation of insulin receptor was detected in the absence of insulin, the results suggest that the incorporation of phosphate into the two to three irreversible phosphorylation sites is insulin dependent. Phosphorylation of the irreversible phosphorylation sites then renders the insulin receptor relatively insensitive to the continued presence of insulin and facilitates rapid reversible phosphorylation of a second group of tyrosyl residues. The dependence of the degree of phosphorylation of insulin receptor on the ATP:ADP ratio may provide a mechanism for modulating the cellular response to insulin.

We have shown previously that GH receptors (GHRs) become phosphorylated on tyrosyl residues when GH-responsive cells are exposed to GH. In this work we investigate the molecular mechanism by which GH binding stimulates tyrosyl phosphorylation of GHR. To test whether in the presence of GH, GHR and the tyrosine kinase responsible for GHR phosphorylation are tightly associated in a complex or form a transient enzyme-substrate complex, the rate of in vitro phosphorylation of GHR was determined as a function of receptor concentration. GH-GHR complexes were purified from 3T3-F442A fibroblasts by immunoadsorption to and elution from immobilized phosphotyrosyl-binding antibody. The rate of in vitro tyrosyl phosphorylation of GH-GHR complexes was not substantially reduced when the GHR preparation was diluted 1:10 or 1:100 before phosphorylation, consistent with a tight association between kinase and substrate (GHR). When cells were labeled metabolically with 35S, and GHRs containing phosphorylated tyrosyl residues were isolated by immunoadsorption to and elution from phosphotyrosyl-binding antibody, the ability to immunoprecipitate 35S-labeled GHR with GHR antibodies was only evident when the cells had been incubated with GH. This indicates that in vivo, GHRs are phosphorylated on tyrosyl residues only when GH is bound. Additionally, when anti-GHR antibodies were used to immunoprecipitate GHR from solubilized cells, only GHRs isolated from GH-treated cells were phosphorylated when subjected to an in vitro kinase assay. The increased tyrosyl phosphorylation of GHR detected after incubation of cells with GH is consistent either with GH increasing tyrosine kinase activity associated with the GHR or with GH inducing a conformational change in GHR that renders it susceptible to tyrosyl phosphorylation. To discern whether GH binding increased GHR-associated kinase activity, we tested the ability of anti-GHR antibody immunoprecipitates to phosphorylate the synthetic substrate poly(Glu4,Tyr). GH treatment of cells resulted in a 2-fold increase in the rate of phosphorylation of poly(Glu4,Tyr). The increase in kinase activity was dose dependent, with half-maximal stimulation between 15-20 ng/ml GH. These results provide strong evidence that GH actually increases tyrosine kinase activity associated with the GHR. This would be consistent with GH-dependent complex formation between a constitutively activated kinase and GHR and/or activation of a constitutively associated or intrinsic kinase.

Highly purified GH-receptor preparations from 3T3-F442A fibroblasts, whose differentiation into adipocytes is promoted by GH, have been shown to contain a tyrosine kinase capable of phosphorylating GH receptors. In the current work, characteristics of the tyrosine kinase responsible for the in vitro phosphorylation of GH receptors from cultured 3T3-F442A fibroblasts were examined, and the presence of this GH receptor-associated tyrosine kinase activity was demonstrated in multiple cell types. GH-receptor complexes from GH-treated cells were partially purified by immunoprecipitation using anti-GH antibodies and then incubated as an immune complex with [gamma 32P] ATP. Incorporation of 32P into the GH receptor from 3T3-F442A fibroblasts was apparent within 1 min at 30 C after the addition of [gamma 32P]ATP (5-10 microM). A divalent cation was requisite for the phosphorylation; Mn2+ was significantly more effective than Mg2+ and Co2+; Ba2+, Ca2+, or Zn2+ had no effect. Excess unlabeled ATP, but not cytosine triphosphate, GTP, or uridine triphosphate, abolished 32P incorporation into the GH receptor and [gamma 32P]GTP could not replace [gamma 32P]ATP as a source of 32P. At 5.5 mM Mn2+, phosphorylation exhibited a biphasic dose response to ATP, with maximal phosphorylation occurring at a concentration of 10 microM ATP. At more physiological concentrations of ATP (1 mM), phosphorylation of the GH receptor was also stimulated by lower concentrations of Mn2+ (as low as 500 nM). Optimal reaction conditions determined for the phosphorylation reaction in 3T3-F442A fibroblasts were used to demonstrate incorporation of 32P from [gamma 32P]ATP into partially purified GH receptors from cultured human IM-9 lymphocytes, murine 3T3-F442A adipocytes, rat H-35 hepatoma cells, and freshly isolated rat adipocytes. The 32P was shown to be incorporated into tyrosyl residues in receptors from the two cell types tested (IM-9 lymphocytes and rat adipocytes). Cross-linked [125I] hGH-receptor complexes solubilized from the four cell types (IM-9 lymphocytes, 3T3-F442A adipocytes, H-35 hepatoma cells, and freshly isolated rat adipocytes) bound to and could be eluted from phosphotyrosyl antibody, suggesting that tyrosyl phosphorylation of GH receptors in all of these cells occurs in vivo. The presence of tyrosine kinase activity associated with GH receptors in multiple cell types from different species is consistent with tyrosine kinase activity playing a role in the actions of GH.

A procedure has been developed for the isolation of a catalytically competent phosphorylated tyrosine kinase (RSV Y-kinase) from avian sarcoma virus-induced rat tumors. The procedure involves reaction of partially purified RSV Y-kinase with ATP to effect tyrosyl phosphorylation of catalytically competent RSV Y-kinase. Tyrosyl phosphorylated RSV Y-kinase was isolated from the heterogeneous reaction mixture by immunoadsorption on immobilized phosphotyrosyl binding antibodies and elution with the hapten p-nitrophenyl phosphate. Estimation of the phosphate content of the purified phosphorylated RSV Y-kinase indicated that 1-3 tyrosyl groups had been phosphorylated upon reaction with ATP. The specific activity toward histone 2B of the purified phosphorylated RSV Y-kinase was at least 30-fold greater than that estimated for the RSV Y-kinase prepared previously by immunoadsorption on immobilized antiserum from tumor bearing rabbits.

We have shown previously that growth hormone (GH) promotes the phosphorylation of its receptor on tyrosyl residues (Foster, C. M., Shafer, J. A., Rozsa, F. W., Wang, X., Lewis, S. D., Renken, D. A., Natale, J. E., Schwartz, J., and Carter-Su, C. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 326-334). In the present study, we investigated the possibility that a tyrosine kinase is specifically associated with the GH receptor. GH-receptor complexes were first partially purified from GH-treated 3T3-F442A fibroblasts, a GH-responsive cell, by immunoprecipitation using anti-GH antiserum. 35S-Labeled proteins of Mr = 105,000-125,000 were observed in the immunoprecipitate from GH-treated cells labeled metabolically with 35S-amino-acids. These proteins were not observed in immunoprecipitates from cells not exposed to GH or when non-immune serum replaced the anti-GH antiserum, consistent with the proteins being GH receptors. GH receptors appeared to be phosphorylated, as evidenced by the presence of 32P-labeled bands, comigrating with the 105-125 kDa 35S-labeled proteins, in the immunoprecipitate of GH-treated cells labeled metabolically with [32P]Pi. When partially purified GH receptor preparation was incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP (7-15 microM) for 10 min at 30 degrees C in the presence of MnCl2, a protein of Mr = 121,000 was phosphorylated exclusively on tyrosyl residues. As expected for the GH receptor, this protein was not observed in immunoprecipitates when cells had not been treated with GH nor when non-immune serum replaced the anti-GH antiserum. GH-receptor complexes were also purified to near homogeneity by sequential immunoprecipitation with phosphotyrosyl-binding antibody followed by anti-GH antiserum. When cells were labeled metabolically with 35S-amino acids, the 35S label migrated almost exclusively as an Mr = 105,000-125,000 protein. This protein also incorporated 32P into tyrosyl residues when incubated in solution with [gamma-32P]ATP. These results show that highly purified GH receptor preparations undergo tyrosyl phosphorylation, suggesting that either the GH receptor itself is a tyrosine kinase or is tightly associated with a tyrosine kinase.