CDK phosphorylation of the discs large tumour suppressor controls its localisation and stability

The Discs Large (Dlg) protein is known to be involved in the regulation of cellular proliferation and polarity in a variety of tissues. The human homologue DLG1 is thought to be a tumour suppressor, through formation of a complex with the APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) protein, causing negative regulation of the cell cycle. An alternative oncogenic role has also been proposed, in which the PI3-kinase pathway is activated under the influence of the adenovirus E4 ORF1 protein. The differing roles seem to be related to differences in the precise pattern of expression. However, the biochemical pathways involved in regulating DLG1 function during different phases of the cell cycle remain unclear. In this study we show that phosphorylation is a major post-translational modification of the protein and it affects both location and function. DLG1 lies at the cellular junctions in G1, is enriched in the cytoplasm in S phase and locates to the mitotic spindle in M phase. We also show that DLG1 is phosphorylated by both CDK1 and CDK2 on Ser158 and Ser442. These phosphorylated sites together affect the nuclear localisation of the protein, and implicate the role of phosphorylation on Ser158 and Ser442 in its putative nuclear functions as a tumour suppressor. In addition, the mutants at these sites demonstrate different half-lives as well as different susceptibilities to ubiquitylation, suggesting a role for these phosphorylation events in controlling DLG1 protein stability. These findings establish phosphorylation events as key regulators of DLG1 localisation and function.