Structure and Classification of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases

The receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases have a transmembrane and, in some cases, a large extracellular domain with a very variable structme (Fig. 8.16). Many, but not all, membrane protein tyrosine phosphatases have two catalytic domains in the cytoplasmic region. The complete structme is very similar to the structure of transmembrane receptors. Understanding of their function is far from complete. Both the natural ligands and the substrate proteins following in the sequence are incompletely characterized. Several studies have demonstrated a role for receptor-like PTPs in neuronal cell adhesion signaling pathways. In cells of the neural tissue, a surface protein, contactin has been identified as ligand for the extracellular domain of a protein tyrosine phosphatase (Peles et al., 1995). 

Interesting information on the mechanism of regulation by extracellular hgands was obtained from the crystal structure of the catalytic domain of PTPa, a receptor-hke PTP. PTPa crystallizes as an inactive dimer in which structmal elements of one subunit 

Cytoplasmically localized protein tyrosine phosphatases have a catalytic domain and other structural elements that specify the subcellular localization and association with effector molecules. These structural elements contain sequence signals for nuclear localization, for membrane association and for association with the cytoskeleton (see Fig. 8.16). The presence of SH2 domains suggests that these molecules might interact with signaling pathways involving growth hormones and receptor tyrosine kinases. 

The catalytic center of the protein tyrosine phosphatases includes ca. 230 amino acids and contains the conserved sequence motif HA -C-(X)5-R-S/T-G/A/P (X is any amino acid) which is involved in phosphate binding and in catalysis and is part of a loop known as the P loop. The available structural data on the catalytic domains of protein tyrosine phosphatases indicate that the mechanism shown schematically in Fig. 8.17 is likely (see Tainer and Russell, 1994). The invariant Cys and Arg residues of the P loop have a central function in binding and cleavage of the phosphate residue. 

The Cys residue exists as a thiolate, which carries out a nucleophilic attack on the phosphate of the phosphotyrosine residue. The thiolate is stabUized by the positively 

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