First published online 27 February 2008
doi: 10.1242/dev.009936
Development 135, 1347-1353 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
Evidence that DIF-1 and hyper-osmotic stress activate a Dictyostelium STAT by inhibiting a specific protein tyrosine phosphatase
Tsuyoshi Araki1,*,
Judith Langenick1,*,
Marianne Gamper2,3,
Richard A. Firtel2 and
Jeffrey G. Williams1,
1 University of Dundee, College of Life Sciences, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH,
UK.
2 University of California, San Diego, Natural Sciences Building Room 6111, 9500
Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0380, USA.
3 Biomedical Research Foundation (SBF), Lauchefeld 31, CH-9548 Matzingen,
Switzerland.

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Fig. 1. Analysis of STATc in slugs of a strain overexpressing PTP3 protein
tyrosine phosphatase or its dominant-negative form. (A) PTP3 and
slug morphology. The control slugs (left) are transformed with a myc-GFP
overexpression construct, while those on the right overexpress PTP3. The
arrows indicate points at which the slugs seem to have split apart. (B)
PTP3 and STATc staining slugs derived from a non-transformed control and from
cells transformed with myc:PTP3 or myc:PTP3CS, the dominant-negative form,
were immunostained using a STATc antibody. In the control, STATc is nuclear
enriched in the pstO region (double-headed arrow). In the slugs transformed
with the PTP3 overexpressor, there is almost no detectable staining; in cells
transformed with the dominant-negative PTP3, mutant PTP3 is nuclear enriched
in all parts of the slug. (C) PTP3 and STATc activation level. Total
cell lysate was prepared from slugs of parental Ax2 cells and PTP3OE cells.
The samples were analysed using a tyrosine phosphorylation specific STATc
antibody (CP22), total STATc antibody (7H3) and, as a loading control, a GSK-3
antibody.
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Fig. 2. Analysis of STATc activation by DIF-1 and osmotic stress in a PTP3
overexpressing strain. Parental Ax2 cells and PTP3OE cells were starved
for 4 hours and then left untreated, exposed to 100 nM DIF-1 (A) for 5
minutes or exposed to 200 mM sorbitol (B) for 5 minutes. One aliquot of
cells was lysed, subjected to western transfer and the blot was analysed with
an antibody specific to the tyrosine phosphorylated form of STATc. As a
loading control, a parallel blot was probed with total STATc antibody. The
second aliquot of cells was fixed and immunostained for STATc.
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Fig. 3. Analysis of the effects of PTP inhibition on STATc tyrosine
phosphorylation. (A) Induction assay using dominant-negative forms
of PTP3 cells transformed with myc:PTP3 CS were starved in suspension
for 4 hours and then exposed to DIF-1 at 100 nM. The activation of STATc was
analysed by western transfer using an antibody specific to the tyrosine
phosphorylated form of STATc. As a loading control, a parallel blot was probed
with a non phospho-specific STATc antibody. (B) Pervanadate-mediated
inhibition of PTP3 Ax-2 cells. Cells were starved in suspension for 4 hours,
then exposed to DIF-1 at 100 nM or pervanadate at 2 mM (1 mM
H2O2 and 2 mM NaVO4) for the indicated times
and analysed as in A.
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Fig. 5. Osmotic stress and DIF-1 treatment decrease cellular PTP3 activity.
Cells at 4 hours of development in suspension and expressing myc:PTP3 were
left untreated or exposed to DIF-1 (100 nM), sorbitol (200 mM) or pervanadate
(1 mM H2O2 and 2 mM Na3VO4) for 5
and 15 minutes. They were lysed in a non-ionic detergent and
immunoprecipitated using a myc antibody. The precipitates were dissolved and
assayed for tyrosine phosphatase activity using the general substrate pNPP. As
controls, parental Ax2 cell extracts or cells transformed with myc:PTP3CS were
immunoprecipitated with myc antibody. Neither precipitation yielded
significant activity (data not shown). For purposes of comparison, the western
blot at the bottom shows the level of the STATc phosphorylation in parental
Ax2 cells after the treatments described above.
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Fig. 6. Electrophoretic mobility shifts of myc-PTP3CS after DIF-1 treatment.
Cells transformed with myc:PTP3 CS were starved for 4 hours, exposed to
DIF-1 at 100 nM for 3 minutes or left untreated, where indicated the samples
were treated with lambda phosphatase. All samples were analysed by 2D gel
electrophoresis (pH 6-10 for first dimension and 4-12% gradient gel for second
dimension). After western transfer, the resultant blots were stained using a
myc antibody.
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Fig. 7. A model for DIF-1 and stress-induced activation of STATc. The model
proposes regulation of STATc at the level of de-phosphorylation. In untreated
cells, PTP3 activity is relatively high and STATc is, therefore, minimally
tyrosine phosphorylated. Upon stress or DIF-1 treatment, PTP3 is
serine-threonine phosphorylated. This reduces PTP3 activity and the level of
tyrosine phosphorylation of STATc increases.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2008