PHLPP

PHLPP is a member of the PPM family of phosphatases, which requires magnesium or manganese for their activity and are insensitive to most common phosphatase inhibitors, including [okadaic acid]. PHLPP1 and PHLPP2 have a similar domain structure, which includes a putative Ras association domain, a pleckstrin homology domain, a series of leucine-rich repeats, a PP2C phosphatase domain, and a C-terminal PDZ ligand. PHLPP1 has two splice variants, PHLPP1α and PHLPP1β, of which PHLPP1β is larger by approximately 1.5 kilobase pairs. PHLPP1α, which was the first PHLPP isoform to be characterized, lacks the N-terminal portion of the protein, including the Ras association domain.[1] PHLPP's domain structure influences its ability to dephosphorylate its substrates. A PHLPP construct lacking the PH domain is unable to decrease PKC phosphorylation, while PHLPP lacking the PDZ ligand is unable to decrease Akt phosphorylation.[2]

The phosphatases in the PHLPP family, PHLPP1 and PHLPP2 have been shown to directly dephosphorylate, and therefore inactivate, distinct Akt isoforms, at one of the two critical phosphorylation sites required for activation: Serine473. PHLPP2 dephosphorylates AKT1 and AKT3, whereas PHLPP1 is specific for AKT2 and AKT3. Lack of PHLPP appears to have effects on growth factor-induced Akt phosphorylation. When both PHLPP1 and PHLPP2 are knocked down using siRNA and cells are stimulated using epidermal growth factor, peak Akt phosphorylation at both Serine473 and Threonine308 (the other site required for full Akt activation) is increased dramatically.[4]

PHLPP1 and 2 also dephosphorylate the hydrophobic motifs of two classes of the protein kinase C (PKC) family: the conventional PKCs and the novel PKCs. (The third class of PKCs, known as the atypicals, have a phospho-mimetic at the hydrophobic motif, rendering them insensitive to PHLPP.)

The PKC family of kinases consists of 10 isoforms, whose sensitivity to various second messengers is dictated by their domain structure. The conventional PKCs can be activated by calcium and diacylglycerol, two important mediators of G protein-coupled receptor signaling. The novel PKCs are activated by diacylglycerol but not calcium, while the atypical PKCs are activated by neither.

The PKC family, like Akt, plays roles in cell survival and motility. Most PKC isoforms are anti-apoptotic, although PKCδ (a novel PKC isoform) is pro-apoptotic in some systems.

Although PKC possesses the same phosphorylation sites as Akt, its regulation is quite different. PKC is constitutively phosphorylated, and its acute activity is regulated by binding of the enzyme to membranes. Dephosphorylation of PKC at the hydrophobic motif by PHLPP allows PKC to be dephosphorylated at two other sites (the activation loop and the turn motif). This in turn renders PKC sensitive to degradation. Thus, prolonged increases in PHLPP expression or activity inhibit PKC phosphorylation and stability, decreasing the total levels of PKC over time.[1]

Investigators have hypothesized that the PHLPP isoforms may play roles in cancer, for several reasons. First, the genetic loci coding for PHLPP1 and 2 are commonly lost in cancer. The region including PHLPP1, 18q21.33, commonly undergoes loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in colon cancers, while 16q22.3, which includes the PHLPP2 gene, undergoes LOH in breast and ovarian cancers, Wilms tumors, prostate cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma.[1] Second, experimental overexpression of PHLPP in cancer cell lines tends to decrease apoptosis and increase proliferation, and stable colon and glioblastoma cell lines overexpressing PHLPP1 show decreased tumor formation in xenograft models.[2][7] Recent studies have also shown that Bcr-Abl, the fusion protein responsible for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), downregulates PHLPP1 and PHLPP2 levels, and that decreasing PHLPP levels interferes with the efficacy of Bcr-Abl inhibitors, including Gleevec, in CML cell lines.[8]

Finally, both Akt and PKC are known to be tumor promoters, suggesting that their negative regulator PHLPP may act as a tumor suppressor.