Our group is interested in understanding the role of the Intersectin (ITSN) adaptor protein in regulating signal transduction cascades in general and receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in particular. ITSN is a member of a growing family of adaptor proteins that possess conserved Eps15 homology (EH) domains as well as additional protein recognition motifs. EH-containing proteins play an integral role in regulating clathrin-dependent endocytosis. ITSN consists of two NH4-terminal EH domains, a coiled-coil (CC) region and 5 tandem Src homology 3 (SH3) domains. In addition, there is a larger splice variant of ITSN, termed ITSN-L, which possess a COOH-terminal extension encoding a Dbl homology (DH) domain, a Pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and a C2 domain . DH domains function as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for the Rho subfamily of Ras-like GTPases which include Rho, Rac and Cdc42. These domains function in concert with PH domains which direct interaction with lipids and membrane. Thus, ITSN-L may serve to regulate Rho family activation within the nervous system. C2 domains bind phospholipid membranes, proteins or soluble inositol polyphosphates using both Ca+2-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Although a variety of experiments have implicated ITSN in the regulation of endocytosis, we have now demonstrated that ITSN activates signal transduction pathways. Research over the past decade has suggested a link between endocytosis and mitogenic signaling. Thus, our findings suggest that ITSN may be one possible molecular link between these two cellular processes. Our current focus is on understanding the mechanism by which ITSN activates signaling pathways. One of the targets of ITSN is the Elk-1 transcription factor. Although Elk-1 is classically known as a target of the Ras-MAPK pathway, we have demonstrated that ITSN activates Elk-1 in a MEK and MAPK-independent manner. Thus, ITSN appears to stimulate a pathway distinct from the classic Ras-MAPK pathway in order to activate Elk-1. We recently published our work demonstrating that ITSN stimulates a JNK-dependent pathway necessary for Elk-1 activation by ITSN. In addition, we discovered that ITSN also activates an independent Ras pathway which does not lead to activation of the JNK or ERK MAPK pathways. Thus we have focused our attention on determining the role of this pool of ITSN-activated Ras in the cell. We have also continued our characterization of the biochemical function of ubiquitin-interacting motifs (UIMs). We recently published that UIMs from many but not all proteins are capable of both binding polyubiquitin chains and promoting ubiquitylation of proteins. We discovered that UIMs function in an orientation-dependent manner to promote ubiquitylation, a finding which suggested that UIMs may also regulate protein function through intra and inter molecular interactions.
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