Phosphatase Subfamily PTEN

Phosphatase Classification: Superfamily CC1: Family PTEN: Subfamily PTEN

PTEN dephosphorylates phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdIns (3,4,5)P3 or PIP3). PTEN is one of the most commonly lost tumor suppressors in human cancer.

Evolution

PTEN is found in almost all eukaryotes.

Domain

PTENs typically have a phosphatase domain followed by a C2 domain. C2 domain tethers PTEN to vesicles by specifically binding to phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI(3)P) (the signature lipid of endosomes) through the CBR3 loop [1].

The N-terminus of human PTEN contains a nuclear localization signal (NLS) (7-31), an overlapping PIP2-binding motif (PBM) (6-15) and a cytoplasmic localization signal (CLS) (19-25) (positions are numbered by human PTEN) [2].

Fungal loss of C2 domain

The C2 domain is lost from all fungi, including S. cerevisiae TEP1, though it still functions as a PTEN [3]. The C2 domain is present in animals, Dictyostelium, and other basal eukaryotes (see technical notes). Some fungal homologs have PH (phospholipid-binding) or LIM domains.

Is PTEN a Protein Phosphatase?

PTEN has in vitro protein phosphatase activity, particularly against highly acidic substrates, and can dephosphorylate tyrosine, serine, and threonine, and against signaling proteins including FAK and Shc. However, this activity appears weak and inconsistent, and genetic experiments in Drosophila indicate that the major function of PTEN remains as a lipid phosphatase [4].

Functions

PTEN is a critical negative regulator of PI3K signaling. PI3K produce the lipid second messenger phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PI (3,4,5)) trisphosphate (PI(3,4,5)P3/PIP3) in response to activation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), G-protein-coupled receptors, or membrane-bound oncogenes [5, 6]. It dephosphorylates the lipid second messenger, PI (3,4,5) [7]. It is mostly found in the cell cytoplasm, tethered to endosome vesicles. This localization regulates the enzyme’s activity towards specific lipids and influences its control of cell growth [8].

PTEN is a tumor suppressor and among the most frequently altered genes in cancer [9, 10]. However, as opposed to its tumor suppressor role in other cancers, PTEN inhibition in pre-B ALL is therapeutically effective and triggers cell death [11].

Technical notes

Fungal loss of the C2 domain

We observed the absence of C2 domain in budding yeast and its presence in Dictyostelium. We then asked i) whether C2 domain is generally absent from all fungi, ii) whether C2 domain is generally present in amoeba and/or basal eukaryotes, which means the presence of C2 domain before fungi diverged from other eukaryotes and lost C2 domain. To answer the questions, we BLASTed the sequence of the C2 domain of human PTEN (188-379) against NR dataset limiting the organisms to non-metazoa eukaryotes using NCBI BLAST server. We then manually looked through the domain combination of the hits of amoebazoa and basal eukaryotes through the link to sequence page, which has the link of conserved domain. In brief, we found, i) no hit from fungi, ii) the hits from amoebazoa and basal eukaryotes usually have the C2 domain.

References

1. Naguib A, Bencze G, Cho H, Zheng W, Tocilj A, Elkayam E, Faehnle CR, Jaber N, Pratt CP, Chen M, Zong WX, Marks MS, Joshua-Tor L, Pappin DJ, and Trotman LC. PTEN functions by recruitment to cytoplasmic vesicles. Mol Cell. 2015 Apr 16;58(2):255-68. DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2015.03.011 |
2. Gil A, Rodríguez-Escudero I, Stumpf M, Molina M, Cid VJ, and Pulido R. A functional dissection of PTEN N-terminus: implications in PTEN subcellular targeting and tumor suppressor activity. PLoS One. 2015;10(4):e0119287. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0119287 |
3. Heymont J, Berenfeld L, Collins J, Kaganovich A, Maynes B, Moulin A, Ratskovskaya I, Poon PP, Johnston GC, Kamenetsky M, DeSilva J, Sun H, Petsko GA, and Engebrecht J. TEP1, the yeast homolog of the human tumor suppressor gene PTEN/MMAC1/TEP1, is linked to the phosphatidylinositol pathway and plays a role in the developmental process of sporulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Nov 7;97(23):12672-7. DOI:10.1073/pnas.97.23.12672 |
4. Wishart MJ and Dixon JE. PTEN and myotubularin phosphatases: from 3-phosphoinositide dephosphorylation to disease. Trends Cell Biol. 2002 Dec;12(12):579-85. DOI:10.1016/s0962-8924(02)02412-1 |
5. Engelman JA, Luo J, and Cantley LC. The evolution of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases as regulators of growth and metabolism. Nat Rev Genet. 2006 Aug;7(8):606-19. DOI:10.1038/nrg1879 |
6. Vanhaesebroeck B, Stephens L, and Hawkins P. PI3K signalling: the path to discovery and understanding. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2012 Feb 23;13(3):195-203. DOI:10.1038/nrm3290 |
7. Maehama T and Dixon JE. The tumor suppressor, PTEN/MMAC1, dephosphorylates the lipid second messenger, phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate. J Biol Chem. 1998 May 29;273(22):13375-8. DOI:10.1074/jbc.273.22.13375 |
8. Stambolic V. Cancer: Precise control of localized signals. Nature. 2015 Jun 4;522(7554):38-40. DOI:10.1038/nature14531 |
9. Li J, Yen C, Liaw D, Podsypanina K, Bose S, Wang SI, Puc J, Miliaresis C, Rodgers L, McCombie R, Bigner SH, Giovanella BC, Ittmann M, Tycko B, Hibshoosh H, Wigler MH, and Parsons R. PTEN, a putative protein tyrosine phosphatase gene mutated in human brain, breast, and prostate cancer. Science. 1997 Mar 28;275(5308):1943-7. DOI:10.1126/science.275.5308.1943 |
10. Steck PA, Pershouse MA, Jasser SA, Yung WK, Lin H, Ligon AH, Langford LA, Baumgard ML, Hattier T, Davis T, Frye C, Hu R, Swedlund B, Teng DH, and Tavtigian SV. Identification of a candidate tumour suppressor gene, MMAC1, at chromosome 10q23.3 that is mutated in multiple advanced cancers. Nat Genet. 1997 Apr;15(4):356-62. DOI:10.1038/ng0497-356 |
11. Shojaee S, Chan LN, Buchner M, Cazzaniga V, Cosgun KN, Geng H, Qiu YH, von Minden MD, Ernst T, Hochhaus A, Cazzaniga G, Melnick A, Kornblau SM, Graeber TG, Wu H, Jumaa H, and Müschen M. PTEN opposes negative selection and enables oncogenic transformation of pre-B cells. Nat Med. 2016 Apr;22(4):379-87. DOI:10.1038/nm.4062 |