Functional transition of Pak proto-oncogene during early evolution of metazoans

Proto-oncogenes encode signaling molecular switches regulating cellular homeostasis in metazoans, and can be converted to oncogenes by gain-of-function mutations. To address the molecular basis for development of the regulatory system of proto-oncogenes during evolution, we screened for ancestral proto-oncogenes from the unicellular choanoflagellate Monosiga ovata by monitoring their transforming activities, and isolated a Pak gene ortholog encoding a serine/threonine kinase as a 'primitive oncogene'. We also cloned Pak orthologs from fungi and the multicellular sponge Ephydatia fluviatilis, and compared their regulatory features with that of M. ovata Pak (MoPak). MoPak is constitutively active and induces cell transformation in mammalian fibroblasts, although the Pak orthologs from multicellular animals are strictly regulated. Analyses of Pak mutants revealed that structural alteration of the auto-inhibitory domain (AID) of MoPak confers higher constitutive kinase activity, as well as greater binding ability to Rho family GTPases than the multicellular Paks, and this structural alteration is responsible for cell transformation and disruption of multicellular tissue organization. These results show that maturation of AID function was required for the development of the strict regulatory system of the Pak proto-oncogene, and suggest a potential link between the establishment of the regulatory system of proto-oncogenes and metazoan evolution.