Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Lipid Phosphohydrolase That Degrades Sphingosine-1- Phosphate and Induces Cell Death
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Molecular cloning and characterization of a lipid phosphohydrolase that degrades sphingosine-1- phosphate and induces cell death Suzanne M. Mandala*, Rosemary Thornton*, Ismael Galve-Roperh†, Samantha Poulton†, Courtney Peterson†, Ana Olivera†, James Bergstrom*, Myra B. Kurtz*, and Sarah Spiegel†‡ *Department of Infectious Disease, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ 07065; and †Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007 Communicated by Edward M. Scolnick, Merck & Co., Inc., West Point, PA, April 3, 2000 (received for review December 17, 1999) Sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP) are interconvert- SPP can be metabolized by two distinct pathways: catabolism ible sphingolipid metabolites with opposing effects on cell growth by a microsomal pyridoxal phosphate-dependent lyase to palmi- and apoptosis. Based on sequence homology with LBP1, a lipid taldehyde and phosphoethanolamine, which then can be used for phosphohydrolase that regulates the levels of phosphorylated the biosynthesis of glycerolipids, or dephosphorylation by spe- sphingoid bases in yeast, we report here the cloning, identification, cific phosphatases to sphingosine (27). Recently, the genes and characterization of a mammalian SPP phosphatase (mSPP1). encoding these enzymes were identified in Saccharomyces cer- This hydrophobic enzyme, which contains the type 2 lipid phos- evisiae (28–30), and genetic manipulation has demonstrated an phohydrolase conserved sequence motif, shows substrate speci- important role for long-chain phosphorylated sphingoid bases in ficity for SPP. Partially purified Myc-tagged mSPP1 was also highly growth and survival of yeast after nutrient deprivation and heat active at dephosphorylating SPP. When expressed in yeast, mSPP1 stress (29, 31–33) in a manner that is reminiscent of their effects can partially substitute for the function of LBP1. Membrane frac- on mammalian cells. Although the mammalian counterpart of tions from human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells transfected with the yeast SPP lyase recently has been identified (34), a specific mSPP1 markedly degraded SPP but not lysophosphatidic acid, mammalian SPP phosphatase has not been previously cloned. phosphatidic acid, or ceramide-1-phosphate. Enforced expression The yeast SPP phosphatases encoded by LBP1 and LBP2 are of mSPP1 in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts not only decreased SPP and members of type 2 lipid phosphate phosphohydrolases, a family enhanced ceramide levels, it also markedly diminished survival and of magnesium-independent, membrane-bound enzymes that induced the characteristic traits of apoptosis. Collectively, our share sequence conservation within three domains that are results suggest that SPP phosphohydrolase may regulate the dy- predicted to be involved in the coordination and hydrolysis of the namic balance between sphingolipid metabolite levels in mamma- phosphate moiety (35). A search of the yeast genome for lian cells and consequently influence cell fate. enzymes containing the three conserved domains revealed the presence of four genes encoding putative type 2 lipid phospha- phingosine-1-phosphate (SPP) is a bioactive sphingolipid tases. Two of these, DPP1 and LPP1, were shown to encode Smetabolite that regulates diverse biological processes (re- phosphatases with activity against phosphatidic acid (PA), lyso- viewed in refs. 1 and 2). Many of its pleiotropic actions appear phosphatidic acid (LPA), and diacylglycerol pyrophosphate (36, to be mediated by a family of specific cell surface G protein- 37). In contrast, LBP1 (also known as YSR2 or LCB3) and LBP2 coupled receptors (GPCR), known as EDG (endothelial differ- (YSR3) encode phosphatases with remarkable specificity for entiation genes) receptors. Binding of SPP to EDG-1 expressed phosphorylated sphingoid bases and without activity toward on endothelial cells enhances survival (3), chemotaxis, and in glycerolipid substrates (29, 30, 33). CELL BIOLOGY vitro angiogenesis (4), and adherens junction assembly leading to In crude rat liver and cerebellum extracts, high-affinity SPP morphogenetic differentiation (5), whereas binding of SPP to phosphatase activity has been previously described (38), with EDG-5 and EDG-3 induces neurite retraction and soma round- enzymatic properties similar to yeast SPP phosphatases. Al- ing (6, 7). SPP induces activation of Gi-gated inward rectifying ϩ though three isoforms of type 2 lipid phosphate phosphohydro- K -channels in atrial myocytes (8) and inhibits motility of lases, known as LPP1͞PAP2a, LPP3͞PAP2b, and LPP2͞PAP2c, melanoma cells (9) through as yet uncharacterized GPCRs. have been cloned from mammalian cells (reviewed in ref. 39), SPP also plays important roles inside cells. In response to these gene products appear to have broad substrate specificity diverse external stimuli, sphingosine kinase, the enzyme that with similar efficiencies against PA, LPA, SPP, ceramide-1-P, catalyzes the phosphorylation of sphingosine to SPP, is activated and diacylglycerol pyrophosphate, when assayed in vitro in (10–15). Intracellular SPP, in turn, mobilizes calcium from lipid͞detergent micelles. We now report the cloning and char- internal stores independently of inositol triphosphate (15, 16), as acterization of a mammalian homolog of yeast SPP phosphatase, well as eliciting diverse signaling pathways leading to prolifera- murine SPP phosphatase-1 (mSPP1). The mammalian enzyme tion (17, 18) and suppression of apoptosis (19–22). Because of its dual function as a ligand and second messenger and its pivotal role in cell growth and survival, the synthesis and Abbreviations: SPP, sphingosine-1-phosphate; PA, phosphatidic acid; LPA, lysophospha- degradation of SPP should be tightly regulated in a spatial- tidic acid; LPP, lipid phosphate phosphohydrolase; mSPP1, murine SPP phosphatase-1; RACE, rapid amplification of cDNA ends; GFP, green fluorescent protein; EST, expressed temporal manner. Until recently, however, little was known of sequence tag. the enzymes involved in SPP metabolism. We have purified Data deposition: The sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the GenBank sphingosine kinase to apparent homogeneity from rat kidney database (accession no. AF247177). (23) and subsequently cloned and characterized a mammalian ‡To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. sphingosine kinase (24), which belongs to a highly conserved The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This gene family (24, 25). Enforced expression of sphingosine article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. kinase markedly enhanced proliferation and survival, substan- §1734 solely to indicate this fact. tiating the importance of intracellularly generated SPP in cell Article published online before print: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073͞pnas.120146897. fate decisions (26). Article and publication date are at www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.120146897 PNAS ͉ July 5, 2000 ͉ vol. 97 ͉ no. 14 ͉ 7859–7864 Downloaded by guest on September 24, 2021 differs from lipid phosphatase phosphatases (LPP) in its se- according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In some experi- quence, properties, and in its high specificity for SPP. Our results ments, cells were transfected with plasmids plus pCEFL GFP suggest that mSPP1, which regulates the dynamic balance be- (5:1), which encodes green fluorescent protein. Transfection tween ceramide and SPP levels in mammalian cells, may play an efficiencies were typically 30% and 40% for NIH 3T3 and important role in regulating cell survival. HEK293 cells, respectively. Materials and Methods SPP Phosphatase Assay. Forty-eight hours after transfection, cells cDNA Cloning. BLAST searches using the LBP1 sequence identified were washed twice in PBS. Then, 200 l of buffer A [100 mM expressed sequence tag (EST) clones: 1247076 (GenBank ac- Hepes (pH 7.5) containing 10 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, and 10 cession no. AA574626) had homology through the phosphatase- g͞ml each leupeptin, aprotinin, and soybean trypsin inhibitor] conserved domains, and 1664615 (GenBank accession no. was added to each well, and cells were scraped on ice. Cells were AI098466) contained 5Ј sequences. PCR primers (5Ј- subsequently freeze-thawed seven times, then centrifuged at CGGAACTGGGCAACGAGCTCTTC and 5Ј-CTCG- 100,000 ϫ g for 1 h. Supernatants were removed, and the GAATACAGCATGCCCTCCACGC) were used in 3Ј rapid membrane fractions were resuspended in 200 l of buffer A and amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) reactions using a Mara- homogenized. Protein concentrations were determined with the thon cDNA Amplification kit and mouse brain cDNA (CLON- Bradford assay. 32P-labeled SPP was prepared by phosphoryla- TECH). A 2.6-kb PCR product was cloned into pCR2.1 (In- tion of sphingosine with recombinant sphingosine kinase essen- vitrogen), and its sequence was found to match EST AA574626 tially as described (24). SPP phosphatase activity was measured with additional 3Ј sequence including the putative stop codon. by adding 32P-labeled SPP (2 nmol, 25,000 cpm, 0.3% BSA The full-length cDNA was constructed by ligating a 0.5-kb complex) to membrane or cytosol preparations (2 g) in 200 l HindIII͞BstYI fragment from AI098466 to a 1.0-kb BstYI͞ of buffer A and incubated for 30 min at 37°C. Remaining EcoRI fragment from the RACE PCR product into pcDNA3.1 32P-labeled SPP was extracted and analyzed by TLC as described (Invitrogen). NotI sites flanking