Activation-induced bi-dentate interaction of SHIP and Shc in B lymphocytes

SHIP is a SH2 domain-containing inositol polyphosphatase that is selectively tyrosine phosphorylated and associated with the adapter protein Shc in B lymphocytes upon co-crosslinking surface immunoglobulin and Fc gamma RIIB1. We previously observed that this stimulation condition is associated with a reduction in the interaction of Grb2 with phosphorylated Shc, an enhanced interaction of Shc with SHIP, and a block in the Ras signaling pathway. We proposed that the SH2 domain of SHIP competes with Grb2 in binding to phospho-Shc, resulting in a block in Ras signaling. To test this model, we examined the mode of SHIP-Shc interaction. Using recombinant Shc and SHIP interaction domains and purified Shc and SHIP phosphopeptides, we show that the interaction is bi-dentate such that the SH2 domain of SHIP recognizes phosphorylated Y317 and doubly-phosphorylated Y239/Y240 of Shc and the Shc PTB domain recognizes phosphorylated NPxpY motifs within SHIP. We observed no role for the Shc SH2 domain in the interaction. These findings are consistent with our earlier model that SHIP and Grb2 compete for binding to phospho-Shc and support the notion that, in addition to the hydrolysis of inositol phosphates and phospholipids, SHIP contributes to anti-proliferative biochemistry by blocking protein-protein interactions.