The protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B is required for efficient delivery of N-cadherin to the cell surface.

PTP1B bound to mature N-cadherin promotes the association of beta-catenin into the complex, the stable expression of the complex at cell surface, and cadherin-mediated adhesion. Here we show that PTP1B is also required for N-cadherin precursor trafficking through early stages of the secretory pathway. This function does not require association of PTP1B with the precursor. In PTP1B null cells, the N-cadherin precursor showed higher sensitivity to endoglycosidase H than in cells reconstituted with the wild-type enzyme. It also showed slower kinetics of ER-to-Golgi translocation and processing. Trafficking of the viral stomatitis vesicular glycoprotein, VSV-G, however, revealed no differences between PTP1B null and reconstituted cells. N-cadherin precursor complexes contained similar levels of alpha- and beta-catenin regardless of PTP1B expression. In contrast, the associated p120 catenin (p120) was significantly reduced in absence of PTP1B expression. An N-cadherin precursor construct defective in p120 binding, and expressed in PTP1B reconstituted cells, showed higher sensitivity to endoglycosidase H and slower kinetics of processing than the wild-type precursor. Our results suggest that PTP1B promotes the association of p120 to the N-cadherin precursor, facilitating the trafficking of the complex from the ER to the Golgi complex.

ER-bound PTP1B is targeted to newly forming cell-matrix adhesions.

Here, we define the mechanism through which protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is targeted to cell-matrix adhesion sites. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled PTP1B bearing the substrate-trapping mutation D181A was found in punctate structures in lamellae. The puncta co-localized with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and Src, and defined the distal tips of cell-matrix adhesion sites identified with paxillin and vinculin. PTP1B is largely associated with the external face of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the puncta develop from ER projections over cell-matrix adhesion sites, a process dependent on microtubules. Deletion of the ER-targeting sequence resulted in cytosolic localization and altered the distribution of PTP1B at cell-matrix foci, whereas mutations disrupting interactions with Src homology 3 (SH3) domains, and the insulin and cadherin receptors had no effect. PTP1B recognizes substrates within forming adhesion foci as revealed by its preferential association with paxillin as opposed to zyxin-containing foci. Our results suggest that PTP1B targets to immature cell-matrix foci in newly forming lamellae by dynamic extensions of the ER and contributes to the maturation of these sites.