Activation of TRAP/mediator subunit TRAP220/Med1 is regulated by mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent phosphorylation.
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Pandey PK, Udayakumar TS, Lin X, Sharma D, Shapiro PS, Fondell JD
Activation of TRAP/mediator subunit TRAP220/Med1 is regulated by mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent phosphorylation.
Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Dec;25(24):10695-710.
- PubMed ID
- 16314496 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
The TRAP/Mediator coactivator complex serves as a molecular bridge between gene-specific activators and RNA polymerase II. TRAP220/Med1 is a key component of TRAP/Mediator that targets the complex to nuclear hormone receptors and other types of activators. We show here that human TRAP220/Med1 is a specific substrate for extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family. We demonstrate that ERK phosphorylates TRAP220/Med1 in vivo at two specific sites: threonine 1032 and threonine 1457. Importantly, we found that ERK phosphorylation significantly increases the stability and half-life of TRAP220/Med1 in vivo and correlates with increased thyroid hormone receptor-dependent transcription. Furthermore, ERK phosphorylates TRAP220/Med1 in a cell cycle-dependent manner, resulting in peak levels of expression during the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle. ERK phosphorylation of ectopic TRAP220/Med1 also triggered shuttling into the nucleolus, thus suggesting that ERK may regulate TRAP220/Med1 subnuclear localization. Finally, we observed that ERK phosphorylation of TRAP220/Med1 stimulates its intrinsic transcriptional coactivation activity. We propose that ERK-mediated phosphorylation is a regulatory mechanism that controls TRAP220/Med1 expression levels and modulates its functional activity.