Thrombin stimulates association of the src homology domain containing adaptor protein nck with pp125fak (focal adhesion kinase). Choudhury, Goutam Ghosh, Fabio Marra, and Hanna E. Abboud. Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio TX 78284-7882, USA
APStracts 2:0154F, 1995.
Thrombin stimulates mitogenesis and tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins in glomerular mesangial cells (Force et. al. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 6650-6656; Grandaliano et. al. (1994) Am. J. Physiol. 267 (Renal Fluid and Electrolyte Physiol. 36, F528-F536). However, none of the tyrosine phosphorylated proteins have been identified. Here we show that thrombin stimulates phosphorylation of four major proteins of molecular weights 170, 125, 97 and 47 kDs in antiphosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates in vitro. Immunoblot analysis of antiphosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates from lysates of thrombin -treated cells with anti-Nck antibody revealed the presence of this src homology domain-containing adaptor molecule in the tyrosine -phosphorylated protein fraction. In addition, in thrombin-treated cells, direct immunoblotting of Nck immunoprecipitates with antiphosphotyrosine antibody showed no tyrosine phosphorylation of Nck. In these immunoprecipitates, we detected a 125 kD tyrosine -phosphorylated protein. We identified this protein as pp125FAK (focal adhesion kinase) after analyzing Nck immunoprecipitates by anti- FAK immunoblotting. Treatment of mesangial cells with thrombin resulted in stimulation of the tyrosine kinase activity of pp125FAK in vitro. We conclude that activation of the cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase pp125FAK by thrombin stimulates its association with the src homology domain-containing adaptor protein Nck. This indicates that Nck is a direct target for focal adhesion kinase in the thrombin -induced signal transduction pathway.

Received 3 May 1995; accepted in final form 16 August 1995.
APS Manuscript Number F146-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Renal Fluid Electrolyte
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 23 September 1995.