Human VAV2 blocking peptide

Cell motility is regulated by a balance between forward protrusion and tail retraction. These phenomena are controlled by a spatial asymmetry in signals at the front and the back of the cell. We show here that the protein-tyrosine phosphatase, PTP-PEST, is required for the coupling of protrusion and retraction during cell migration. PTP-PEST null fibroblasts, which are blocked in migration, exhibit exaggerated protrusions at the leading edge and long, unretracted tails in the rear. This altered morphology is accompanied by changes in the activity of Rho GTPases, Rac1 and RhoA, which mediate protrusion and retraction, respectively. PTP-PEST null cells exhibit enhanced Rac1 activity and decreased RhoA activity. We further show that PTP-PEST directly targets the upstream regulators of Rac1 and RhoA, VAV2 and p190RhoGAP. Moreover, we demonstrate that the activities of VAV2 and p190RhoGAP are regulated by PTP-PEST. Finally, we present evidence indicating the VAV2 can be regulated by integrin-mediated adhesion. These data suggest that PTP-PEST couples protrusion and retraction by acting on VAV2 and p190RhoGAP to reciprocally modulate the activity of Rac1 and RhoA.

Vav and vav2 are members of the dbl family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEF) for the rho/rac family of GTP binding proteins. Vav is expressed primarily in hematopoietic cells, while vav2, has a wider tissue distribution. The genomic structure of the human vav proto-oncogene was studied by identifying and sequencing all 27 exons of the gene from overlapping PI and cosmid clones. The gene spans a 77-kb region on chromosome 19. In contrast, the coding region of vav2 is distributed over 30 exons spanning 227-kb. The overall organization of the exons which encode both proteins was found to be similar. In humans, alternative splicing of exons 6, 16 and 28 generated at least two distinct vav2 mRNA species. Several differences from the original vav cDNA sequence were noted. The most important difference was the identification of amino acid 718 as isoleucine, rather than threonine. This change warrants the reclassification of the vav SH2 domain as a type 3 SH2, instead of a type 2 SH2 as originally proposed by Songyang et al. (Mol. Cell. Biol. 14 (1994) 2777-2785). A series of vav promoter deletions were constructed using the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a reporter gene. A 23-bp segment that included a potential CBF/AML-1 binding site was found to be essential for ECFP expression in U937 cells. The same constructs were not active in HeLa cells, which do not express vav. A potential c-myb DNA binding site within the vav promoter was not required for EGFP expression. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.