Dystroglycan, a scaffold for the ERK–MAP kinase cascade

HJ Spence, AS Dhillon, M James, SJ Winder - EMBO reports, 2004 - embopress.org
HJ Spence, AS Dhillon, M James, SJ Winder
EMBO reports, 2004embopress.org
Dystroglycan is an important cell adhesion receptor linking the actin cytoskeleton, via
utrophin and dystrophin, to laminin in the extracellular matrix. To identify adhesion‐related
signalling molecules associated with dystroglycan, we conducted a yeast two‐hybrid screen
and identified mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase 2 (MEK2) as a β‐dystroglycan
interactor. Pull‐down experiments and localization studies substantiated a physiological link
between β‐dystroglycan and MEK and localized MEK with dystroglycan in membrane …
Dystroglycan is an important cell adhesion receptor linking the actin cytoskeleton, via utrophin and dystrophin, to laminin in the extracellular matrix. To identify adhesion‐related signalling molecules associated with dystroglycan, we conducted a yeast two‐hybrid screen and identified mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase 2 (MEK2) as a β‐dystroglycan interactor. Pull‐down experiments and localization studies substantiated a physiological link between β‐dystroglycan and MEK and localized MEK with dystroglycan in membrane ruffles. Moreover, we also identified active extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK), the downstream kinase from MEK, as another interacting partner for β‐dystroglycan and localized both active ERK and dystroglycan to focal adhesions in fibroblast cells. These studies suggest a role for dystroglycan as a multifunctional adaptor or scaffold capable of interacting with components of the ERK–MAP kinase cascade including MEK and ERK. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the role of dystroglycan in normal cellular processes and in disease states such as muscular dystrophy.
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