PHOSPHORYLATION AND UBIQUITINATION REGULATE PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 5 ACTIVITY AND ITS PROSURVIVAL ROLE IN KIDNEY CANCER

Abstract

Protein Phosphatase 5 (PP5) is a serine/threonine phosphatase known to regulate many essential cellular functions including steroid hormone signaling, stress response, proliferation, apoptosis, and DNA repair. PP5 is a knownco-chaperone of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), and its regulation of Hsp90aidswiththe proper activation of Hsp90 clients and withsteroid hormone signaling.Hsp90 is also one of the strongest activators of PP5, as it releases the auto-inhibition of PP5 by interacting with the N-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain of PP5. Our lab has recently shown that PP5 is phosphorylated at T362, and that this phosphorylation acts as an “on switch” resultingin the hyperactivation of PP5. Misregulation of this key phosphatase has been shown to aid in the tumor progression of ER-dependent and independent breast cancer. Elevated PP5 levels have also been linked to colorectalcancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), lymphoma, and prostate cancer. The work presented here reveals the pro-survival role that PP5 plays in kidney cancer. Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) are most often driven by mutations in the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (VHL). The data in this thesis shows that VHL binds and multi mono-ubiquitinates PP5 at two lysine residues K185 and K199. This post-translational modification negatively regulates PP5 likean “off switch” and ultimately leads to its degradation bythe proteasome. Mutations in the VHLgene that result in inactive mutants or a lack of VHL protein expression lead to ccRCC tumors. The data in this thesis shows that these VHL-nulltumors become dependent on elevated levels of PP5, and that both PP5 knockdown and inhibition lead to cancer cell death. The data further shows that the decrease in PP5 activity in VHL-null cells results in the induction of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway with a dramatic increase in the cleavage of PARP and caspases 3, 7, and 8.