Evidence for communication between nerve growth factor and protein tyrosine phosphorylation

Abstract

Nerve growth factor (NGF) stimulation of PC12 cells activated two myelin basic protein (MBP) kinase activities greater than 10-fold within 5 min, which were resolved by chromatography on Mono Q. Each enzyme phosphorylated MBP on threonine and was inactivated by incubation with either CD45, a protein tyrosine phosphatase, or protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), a serine/threonine phosphatase. The effects of CD45 and PP2A were prevented by vanadate and okadaic acid, respectively. Activation of the MBP-kinases provides a mechanism for communication between NGF and intracellular protein tyrosine phosphorylation.