Phosphorylation of the adenomatous polyposis coli protein and its possible regulatory effects in cells

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene is etiologically associated with familial adenomatous polyposis and gastrointestinal malignancies, but its cellular function and role in tumorigenesis are unclear. Recent reports indicate that wild-type, but not mutant, APC gene product (APC) is associated with and promotes the assembly of cytoskeletal microtubules in vitro, suggesting that this mechanism has importance in tumor development. Because other microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) undergo phosphorylation in their normal functioning, we postulated that APC is a phosphoprotein. HCT116 cells, containing full-length APC protein, were [32P]-prelabeled, and a 300-kDa band corresponding to phosphorylated APC was immunoprecipitated using each of three different anti-APC antibodies. High voltage electrophoresis of [32P]-labeled APC showed the presence of phospho-serine and phospho-threonine residues. Further immunoprecipitation analyses showed phosphorylation of i) full-length APC in human lymphoblastoid cells and ii) carboxyl-truncated APC in SW480 and DiFi colon carcinoma cells. Thus, APC is probably a phosphoprotein in normal and malignant tissues. We hypothesize a mechanism whereby phosphorylation of APC may play a regulatory role in its interaction with microtubules. This may involve phosphorylation of (Ser/Thr)-Pro amino acid motifs in APC's basic domain. We propose that deletion of this domain disrupts APC binding to microtubules, explaining how APC mutations are linked to cancer development.