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The retinoblastoma (Rb) gene product is a tumor suppressor that is mutated or inactivated in many types of human cancers. Although Rb is known to be an upstream negative regulator of Abl protein tyrosine kinase, we propose here that Rb also functions as a downstream effector of Abl that plays a positive role in survival of Abl-dependent human tumor cells, including Bcr/Abl-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). We show that Rb is constitutively phosphorylated at tyrosine in Abl-dependent tumor cells, and that Abl phosphorylates Rb specifically at Y805 within the C-terminal domain of the molecule. We also show that ectopic expression of Rb induces apoptosis in Abl-dependent tumor cells by inhibiting the Abl tyrosine kinase activity, and that Rb-induced apoptosis is compromised by Abl-catalysed phosphorylation of Rb at Y805. Furthermore, the silencing of endogenous Rb by RNA interference induced apoptosis in Abl-dependent tumor cells. Thus, our findings suggest that Abl-catalysed tyrosine phosphorylation of Rb is necessary for survival of Abl-dependent human tumor cells, and raises the possibility that this phosphorylated Rb can be a molecular target for cancer therapy aimed at inducing apoptosis of Abl-dependent tumor cells, such as Bcr/Abl-positive CML.

To find novel short coding sequences from accumulated full-length cDNA sequences, proteomic analysis of small proteins expressed in human leukemia K562 cells was performed using high-resolution nanoflow liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Our analysis led to the identification of 54 proteins not more than 100 amino acids in length, including four novel ones. These novel short coding sequences were all located upstream of the longest open reading frame (ORF) of the corresponding cDNA. Our findings indicate that the translation of short ORFs occurs in vivo whether or not there exists a longer coding region in the downstream of the mRNA. This investigation provides the first direct evidence of translation of upstream ORFs in human cells, which could greatly change the current outline of the human proteome.

Although interactions between cell surface proteins and extracellular ligands are key to initiating embryonic stem cell differentiation to specific cell lineages, the plasma membrane protein components of these cells are largely unknown. We describe here a group of proteins expressed on the surface of the undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cell line D3. These proteins were identified using a combination of cell surface labeling with biotin, subcellular fractionation of plasma membranes, and mass spectrometry-based protein identification technology. From 965 unique peptides carrying biotin labels, we assigned 324 proteins including 235 proteins that have putative signal sequences and/or transmembrane segments. Receptors, transporters, and cell adhesion molecules were the major classes of proteins identified. Besides known cell surface markers of embryonic stem cells, such as alkaline phosphatase, the analysis identified 59 clusters of differentiation-related molecules and more than 80 components of multiple cell signaling pathways that are characteristic of a number of different cell lineages. We identified receptors for leukemia-inhibitory factor, interleukin 6, and bone morphogenetic protein, which play critical roles in the maintenance of undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells. We also identified receptors for growth factors/cytokines, such as fibroblast growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, ephrin, Hedgehog, and Wnt, which transduce signals for cell differentiation and embryonic development. Finally we identified a variety of integrins, cell adhesion molecules, and matrix metalloproteases. These results suggest that D3 cells express diverse cell surface proteins that function to maintain pluripotency, enabling cells to respond to various external signals that initiate differentiation into a variety of cell types.

Mammalian sperm-borne oocyte activating factor (SOAF) induces oocyte activation from a compartment that engages the oocyte cytoplasm, but it is not known how. A SOAF-containing extract (SE) was solubilized from the submembrane perinuclear matrix, a domain that enters the egg. SE initiated activation sufficient for full development. Microinjection coupled to tandem mass spectrometry enabled functional correlation profiling of fractionated SE without a priori assumptions about its chemical nature. Phospholipase C-zeta (PLCzeta) correlated absolutely with activating ability. Immunoblotting confirmed this and showed that the perinuclear matrix is the major site of 72-kDa PLCzeta. Oocyte activation was efficiently induced by 1.25 fg of sperm PLCzeta, corresponding to a fraction of one sperm equivalent (approximately 0.03). Immunofluorescence microscopy localized sperm head PLCzeta to a post-acrosomal region that becomes rapidly exposed to the ooplasm following gamete fusion. This multifaceted approach suggests a mechanism by which PLCzeta originates from an oocyte-penetrating assembly--the sperm perinuclear matrix--to induce mammalian oocyte activation at fertilization.

The 14-3-3 protein family binds a variety of proteins in cell-signaling pathways, but the structural elements necessary for the ligand binding are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that the `box-1' region, which spans residues 171–213 in the η-isoform and was previously identified as the binding site of 14-3-3 to the phosphorylated tryptophan hydroxylase, plays a critical role in the interaction with many target proteins. Using a series of truncated 14-3-3 mutants, we show that the mutant 167–213 carrying box-1 binds bacurovirus-expressed Raf-1 and Bcr protein kinases to the similar extent as the full-length 14-3-3 in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, while the mutants lacking this region abolish the binding activity. Furthermore, the box-1 region also appears essential for binding of 14-3-3 to more than 40 phosphoproteins found in the brainstem extract. These results suggest that the box-1 region, consisting of helices 7 and 8 in the tertiary structure, is a common structural element whereby the 14-3-3 protein binds many, if not all, target proteins.