HCPTPA, a protein tyrosine phosphatase that regulates vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-mediated signal transduction and biological activity.

Angiogenesis is a tightly controlled process in which signaling by the receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role. In order to define signaling pathways downstream of VEGF receptors (VEGFR), the kinase domain of VEGFR2 (Flk-1) was used as a bait to screen a human fetal heart library in the yeast two-hybrid system. One of the signaling molecules identified in this effort was HCPTPA, a low molecular weight, cytoplasmic protein tyrosine phosphatase. Although HCPTPA possesses no identifiable phosphotyrosine binding domains (i.e. SH2 or phosphotyrosine binding domains), it bound specifically to active, autophosphorylated VEGFR2 but not to a mutated, kinase-inactive VEGFR2. Recombinant VEGFR2 and endogenous VEGFR2 were substrates for recombinant HCPTPA, and HCPTPA was co-expressed with VEGFR2 in endothelial cell lines, suggesting that HCPTPA may be a negative regulator of VEGFR2 signal transduction. To pursue this possibility, an adenovirus directing the expression of HCPTPA was constructed. When used to infect cultured endothelial cells, this adenovirus directed high level expression of HCPTPA that resulted in impairment of VEGF-mediated VEGFR2 autophosphorylation and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of HCPTPA also inhibited VEGF-induced cellular responses (endothelial cell migration and proliferation) and inhibited angiogenesis in the rat aortic ring assay. Taken together, these findings indicate that HCPTPA may be an important regulator of VEGF-mediated signaling and biological activity. Potential interactions with other signaling pathways and possible therapeutic implications are discussed.

Eph receptors discriminate specific ligand oligomers to determine alternative signaling complexes, attachment, and assembly responses.

Eph family receptor tyrosine kinases (including EphA3, EphB4) direct pathfinding of neurons within migratory fields of cells expressing gradients of their membrane-bound ligands. Others (EphB1 and EphA2) direct vascular network assembly, affecting endothelial migration, capillary morphogenesis, and angiogenesis. To explore how ephrins could provide positional labels for cell targeting, we tested whether endogenous endothelial and P19 cell EphB1 (ELK) and EphB2 (Nuk) receptors discriminate between different oligomeric forms of an ephrin-B1/Fc fusion ligand. Receptor tyrosine phosphorylation was stimulated by both dimeric and clustered multimeric ephrin-B1, yet only ephrin-B1 multimers (tetramers) promoted endothelial capillary-like assembly, cell attachment, and the recruitment of low-molecular-weight phosphotyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) to receptor complexes. Cell-cell contact among cells expressing both EphB1 and ephrin-B1 was required for EphB1 activation and recruitment of LMW-PTP to EphB1 complexes. The EphB1-binding site for LMW-PTP was mapped and shown to be required for tetrameric ephrin-B1 to recruit LMW-PTP and to promote attachment. Thus, distinct EphB1-signaling complexes are assembled and different cellular attachment responses are determined by a receptor switch mechanism responsive to distinct ephrin-B1 oligomers.