Wednesday, January 15, 2025
1/15/2025
PROJECT SUMMARY Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a ubiquitous and the most prominant Ser/Thr phosphatase that regulates the phosphorylation status of a large number of cellular proteins involved in diverse biological pathways. Derulagulation of PP2A is associated with many human cancers, Alzheimer's Disease and susceptibility to pathogens. The PP2A core enzyme is a heterodimer of highly conserved scaffold and catalytic subunits, which forms the heterotrimeric holoenzyme by binding a variable and highly diverse regulatory subunit that determines substrate selectivity. Built on recent advance on structural choreography of tight control of PP2A holoenzyme biogenesis, in particular, the conformational switches of PP2Ac required for its latency and activation, we further made a striking observation on recycling of PP2Ac from holoenzymes. We also observed a novel function of PME-1 (PP2A-specific methylesterase 1) in demethylation of and interaction with PP2A holoenzymes; PME-1 was previously thought to specifically act on the core enzyme. The research proposed here will extend our preliminary electron microscopic analyses of PP2A complexes, and use structural, biochemical, biophysical and cell biological approaches to elucidate mechanisms that control novel function and mechanism of PME-1 in holoenzyme regulation (Specific Aim 1), recycling of PP2Ac from PP2A holoenzymes (Specific Aim 2), and novel insights into PP2A holoenzyme biogenesis and recycling and the multi-faceted roles of PME-1 in cellular signaling. These studies will establish a novel regulation loop of PP2A holoenzyme biogenesis and recycling for precise and dynamic control of PP2A holoenzymes in diverse cellular and physiological processes, and provides a novel framework for understanding the mechanisms that regulate PP2A functions in normal and transformed human cells.
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