Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain

Summary: Although most members of the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) family are found to be phosphorylated, how phosphorylation regulates RhoGEF function is poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a mechanism of RhoGEF regulation by phosphorylation. We find that ARHGEF3 i...

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Main Authors: Jesus F. Moreno, Jae-Sung You, Carlos C. Rodriguez, Shashank Pant, Adriana Reyes-Ordoñez, Reean Abdullah, Nilmani Singh, Maxine J. van der Donk, Emad Tajkhorshid, Jie Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:iScience
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225010144
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author Jesus F. Moreno
Jae-Sung You
Carlos C. Rodriguez
Shashank Pant
Adriana Reyes-Ordoñez
Reean Abdullah
Nilmani Singh
Maxine J. van der Donk
Emad Tajkhorshid
Jie Chen
author_facet Jesus F. Moreno
Jae-Sung You
Carlos C. Rodriguez
Shashank Pant
Adriana Reyes-Ordoñez
Reean Abdullah
Nilmani Singh
Maxine J. van der Donk
Emad Tajkhorshid
Jie Chen
author_sort Jesus F. Moreno
collection DOAJ
description Summary: Although most members of the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) family are found to be phosphorylated, how phosphorylation regulates RhoGEF function is poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a mechanism of RhoGEF regulation by phosphorylation. We find that ARHGEF3 is phosphorylated in the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain in a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent manner. This phosphorylation inhibits ARHGEF3 activation of RhoA and actin stress fiber formation in the cells, and it also disrupts ARHGEF3 binding to PI(3,5)P2 but not to PI(4,5)P2. Guided by molecular dynamics simulation, a mutation in the PH domain is identified to uncouple ARHGEF3 binding to the two lipids, which is used to rule out a role of PI(3,5)P2 in regulating GEF activity. Results of in vitro GEF assays suggest that PH domain phosphorylation diminishes ARHGEF3 catalytic activity, likely through an allosteric mechanism. Our findings reveal a previously unknown type of regulatory mechanism for the family of RhoGEFs.
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spelling doaj-art-42b5e8e43a13436d946dd85ebc7e84dc2025-08-20T03:46:45ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422025-06-0128611275310.1016/j.isci.2025.112753Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domainJesus F. Moreno0Jae-Sung You1Carlos C. Rodriguez2Shashank Pant3Adriana Reyes-Ordoñez4Reean Abdullah5Nilmani Singh6Maxine J. van der Donk7Emad Tajkhorshid8Jie Chen9Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USADepartment of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Visualization, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Corresponding authorSummary: Although most members of the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) family are found to be phosphorylated, how phosphorylation regulates RhoGEF function is poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a mechanism of RhoGEF regulation by phosphorylation. We find that ARHGEF3 is phosphorylated in the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain in a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent manner. This phosphorylation inhibits ARHGEF3 activation of RhoA and actin stress fiber formation in the cells, and it also disrupts ARHGEF3 binding to PI(3,5)P2 but not to PI(4,5)P2. Guided by molecular dynamics simulation, a mutation in the PH domain is identified to uncouple ARHGEF3 binding to the two lipids, which is used to rule out a role of PI(3,5)P2 in regulating GEF activity. Results of in vitro GEF assays suggest that PH domain phosphorylation diminishes ARHGEF3 catalytic activity, likely through an allosteric mechanism. Our findings reveal a previously unknown type of regulatory mechanism for the family of RhoGEFs.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225010144BiochemistryIn silico biologyMolecular biology
spellingShingle Jesus F. Moreno
Jae-Sung You
Carlos C. Rodriguez
Shashank Pant
Adriana Reyes-Ordoñez
Reean Abdullah
Nilmani Singh
Maxine J. van der Donk
Emad Tajkhorshid
Jie Chen
Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain
iScience
Biochemistry
In silico biology
Molecular biology
title Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain
title_full Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain
title_fullStr Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain
title_full_unstemmed Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain
title_short Regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the PH domain
title_sort regulation of rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 3 by phosphorylation in the ph domain
topic Biochemistry
In silico biology
Molecular biology
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225010144
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