Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3- and Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase-Dependent Phosphorylation of Paxillin Regulates Cytoskeletal Rearrangement

Abstract

Paxillin is a 68-kDa focal adhesion-associated protein that plays an important role in controlling cell spreading and migration. Phosphorylation of paxillin regulates its biological activity and thus has warranted investigation. Serine 126 and serine 130 were previously identified as two major extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent phosphorylation sites in Raf-transformed fibroblasts. Here serine 126 is identified as a phosphorylation site induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation of RAW264.7 cells. A number of other stimuli, including adhesion and colony-stimulating factor, induce serine 126 phosphorylation in RAW264.7 cells, and nerve growth factor (NGF) treatment induces serine 126 phosphorylation in PC12 cells. The kinase responsible for phosphorylation of this site is identified as glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3). Interestingly, this GSK-3-dependent phosphorylation is regulated via an ERK-dependent priming mechanism, i.e., phosphorylation of serine 130. Phosphorylation of S126/S130 was required to promote spreading in paxillin null cells, and LPS-induced spreading of RAW264.7 cells was inhibited by expression of the paxillin S126A/S130A mutant. Furthermore, this mutant also retarded NGF-induced PC12 cell neurite outgrowth. Hence, phosphorylation of paxillin on serines 126 and 130, which is mediated by an ERK/GSK-3 dual-kinase mechanism, plays an important role in cytoskeletal rearrangement.

We thank Adi Dubash for laying some of the experimental groundwork for this study. Thanks to William Snider, Glenn Matsushima, and Sheila Thomas for providing reagents for this project. Thanks to members of the lab, Danielle Scheswohl, Jessica Harrell, and Martin Playford, for productive discussions. We are indebted to Jim Bear for the use of his microscope facility and members of his lab, particularly Liang Cai, for advice.

This work was supported by NIH grants CA90901 and HL45100 (to M.D.S.).