Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review
  • Published:

Post-translational regulation of PTEN

Abstract

PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) tumor suppressor regulates a variety of cellular processes including cell proliferation, growth, migration and death. This master regulator itself is also under deliberative regulation. Although the evidence for PTEN regulation and its significance in normal biology and disease is overwhelming, the mechanisms and exact functional consequences of PTEN regulation are far from clear. In this review, we discuss recent advances concerning post-translational regulation of PTEN in general, and in more detail about its regulation by ubiquitination. We also discuss some unsolved questions in the field and how they might be addressed in the future. We propose that the complex regulatory mechanisms of PTEN dictate how this tumor suppressor executes its distinct biological functions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ali IU, Schriml LM, Dean M . (1999). Mutational spectra of PTEN/MMAC1 gene: a tumor suppressor with lipid phosphatase activity. J Natl Cancer Inst 91: 1922–1932.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anan T, Nagata Y, Koga H, Honda Y, Yabuki N, Miyamoto C et al. (1998). Human ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4: expression, subcellular localization and selective interaction with ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes. Genes Cells 3: 751–763.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Backman SA, Stambolic V, Suzuki A, Haight J, Elia A, Pretorius J et al. (2001). Deletion of Pten in mouse brain causes seizures, ataxia and defects in soma size resembling Lhermitte–Duclos disease. Nat Genet 29: 396–403.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brognard J, Sierecki E, Gao T, Newton AC . (2007). PHLPP and a second isoform, PHLPP2, differentially attenuate the amplitude of Akt signaling by regulating distinct Akt isoforms. Mol Cell 25: 917–931.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks CL, Gu W . (2006). p53 ubiquitination: Mdm2 and beyond. Mol Cell 21: 307–315.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cai Z, Semenza GL . (2005). PTEN activity is modulated during ischemia and reperfusion: involvement in the induction and decay of preconditioning. Circ Res 97: 1351–1359.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chung JH, Ginn-Pease ME, Eng C . (2005). Phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) has nuclear localization signal-like sequences for nuclear import mediated by major vault protein. Cancer Res 65: 4108–4116.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crackower MA, Oudit GY, Kozieradzki I, Sarao R, Sun H, Sasaki T et al. (2002). Regulation of myocardial contractility and cell size by distinct PI3K–PTEN signaling pathways. Cell 110: 737–749.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Di Cristofano A, Pesce B, Cordon-Cardo C, Pandolfi PP . (1998). Pten is essential for embryonic development and tumour suppression. Nat Genet 19: 348–355.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dummler B, Hemmings BA . (2007). Physiological roles of PKB/Akt isoforms in development and disease. Biochem Soc Trans 35: 231–235.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Engelman JA, Luo J, Cantley LC . (2006). The evolution of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases as regulators of growth and metabolism. Nat Rev Genet 7: 606–619.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Georgescu MM, Kirsch KH, Akagi T, Shishido T, Hanafusa H . (1999). The tumor-suppressor activity of PTEN is regulated by its carboxyl-terminal region. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 10182–10187.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Georgescu MM, Kirsch KH, Kaloudis P, Yang H, Pavletich NP, Hanafusa H . (2000). Stabilization and productive positioning roles of the C2 domain of PTEN tumor suppressor. Cancer Res 60: 7033–7038.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gimm O, Perren A, Weng LP, Marsh DJ, Yeh JJ, Ziebold U et al. (2000). Differential nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of PTEN in normal thyroid tissue, and benign and malignant epithelial thyroid tumors. Am J Pathol 156: 1693–1700.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Groszer M, Erickson R, Scripture-Adams DD, Lesche R, Trumpp A, Zack JA et al. (2001). Negative regulation of neural stem/progenitor cell proliferation by the Pten tumor suppressor gene in vivo. Science 294: 2186–2189.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hershko A, Ciechanover A . (1998). The ubiquitin system. Annu Rev Biochem 67: 425–479.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hlobilkova A, Guldberg P, Thullberg M, Zeuthen J, Lukas J, Bartek J . (2000). Cell cycle arrest by the PTEN tumor suppressor is target cell specific and may require protein phosphatase activity. Exp Cell Res 256: 571–577.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iijima M, Huang YE, Luo HR, Vazquez F, Devreotes PN . (2004). Novel mechanism of PTEN regulation by its phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate binding motif is critical for chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 279: 16606–16613.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kurlawalla-Martinez C, Stiles B, Wang Y, Devaskar SU, Kahn BB, Wu H . (2005). Insulin hypersensitivity and resistance to streptozotocin-induced diabetes in mice lacking PTEN in adipose tissue. Mol Cell Biol 25: 2498–2510.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon CH, Luikart BW, Powell CM, Zhou J, Matheny SA, Zhang W et al. (2006). Pten regulates neuronal arborization and social interaction in mice. Neuron 50: 377–388.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon CH, Zhu X, Zhang J, Knoop LL, Tharp R, Smeyne RJ et al. (2001). Pten regulates neuronal soma size: a mouse model of Lhermitte–Duclos disease. Nat Genet 29: 404–411.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon J, Lee SR, Yang KS, Ahn Y, Kim YJ, Stadtman ER et al. (2004). Reversible oxidation and inactivation of the tumor suppressor PTEN in cells stimulated with peptide growth factors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101: 16419–16424.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lachyankar MB, Sultana N, Schonhoff CM, Mitra P, Poluha W, Lambert S et al. (2000). A role for nuclear PTEN in neuronal differentiation. J Neurosci 20: 1404–1413.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lee JO, Yang H, Georgescu MM, Di Cristofano A, Maehama T, Shi Y et al. (1999). Crystal structure of the PTEN tumor suppressor: implications for its phosphoinositide phosphatase activity and membrane association. Cell 99: 323–334.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Yen C, Liaw D, Podsypanina K, Bose S, Wang SI et al. (1997). PTEN, a putative protein tyrosine phosphatase gene mutated in human brain, breast, and prostate cancer. Science 275: 1943–1947.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay Y, McCoull D, Davidson L, Leslie NR, Fairservice A, Gray A et al. (2006). Localization of agonist-sensitive PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 reveals a nuclear pool that is insensitive to PTEN expression. J Cell Sci 119: 5160–5168.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Bruxvoort KJ, Zylstra CR, Liu J, Cichowski R, Faugere MC et al. (2007). Lifelong accumulation of bone in mice lacking Pten in osteoblasts. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104: 2259–2264.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maccario H, Perera NM, Davidson L, Downes CP, Leslie NR . (2007). PTEN is destabilised by phosphorylation on threonine 366. Biochem J 405: 439–444.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maehama T, Dixon JE . (1998). The tumor suppressor, PTEN/MMAC1, dephosphorylates the lipid second messenger, phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate. J Biol Chem 273: 13375–13378.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Minaguchi T, Waite KA, Eng C . (2006). Nuclear localization of PTEN is regulated by Ca(2+) through a tyrosil phosphorylation-independent conformational modification in major vault protein. Cancer Res 66: 11677–11682.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mirmohammadsadegh A, Marini A, Nambiar S, Hassan M, Tannapfel A, Ruzicka T et al. (2006). Epigenetic silencing of the PTEN gene in melanoma. Cancer Res 66: 6546–6552.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mocanu MM, Yellon DM . (2007). PTEN, the Achilles' heel of myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury? Br J Pharmacol 150: 833–838.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Odriozola L, Singh G, Hoang T, Chan AM . (2007). Regulation of PTEN activity by its carboxyl-terminal autoinhibitory domain. J Biol Chem 282: 23306–23315.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Okahara F, Ikawa H, Kanaho Y, Maehama T . (2004). Regulation of PTEN phosphorylation and stability by a tumor suppressor candidate protein. J Biol Chem 279: 45300–45303.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Okumura K, Mendoza M, Bachoo RM, DePinho RA, Cavenee WK, Furnari FB . (2006). PCAF modulates PTEN activity. J Biol Chem 281: 26562–26568.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Okumura K, Zhao M, Depinho RA, Furnari FB, Cavenee WK . (2005). Cellular transformation by the MSP58 oncogene is inhibited by its physical interaction with the PTEN tumor suppressor. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 2703–2706.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Oren M . (2003). Decision making by p53: life, death and cancer. Cell Death Differ 10: 431–442.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oudit GY, Kassiri Z, Zhou J, Liu QC, Liu PP, Backx PH et al (2008). Loss of PTEN attenuates the development of pathological hypertrophy and heart failure in response to biomechanical stress. Cardiovasc Res 78: 505–514.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perren A, Weng LP, Boag AH, Ziebold U, Thakore K, Dahia PL et al. (1999). Immunohistochemical evidence of loss of PTEN expression in primary ductal adenocarcinomas of the breast. Am J Pathol 155: 1253–1260.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Planchon SM, Waite KA, Eng C . (2008). The nuclear affairs of PTEN. J Cell Sci 121: 249–253.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Podsypanina K, Ellenson LH, Nemes A, Gu J, Tamura M, Yamada KM et al. (1999). Mutation of Pten/Mmac1 in mice causes neoplasia in multiple organ systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 1563–1568.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Raftopoulou M, Etienne-Manneville S, Self A, Nicholls S, Hall A . (2004). Regulation of cell migration by the C2 domain of the tumor suppressor PTEN. Science 303: 1179–1181.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy P, Liu L, Adhikari D, Jagarlamudi K, Rajareddy S, Shen Y et al. (2008). Oocyte-specific deletion of Pten causes premature activation of the primordial follicle pool. Science 319: 611–613.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosivatz E, Matthews JG, McDonald NQ, Mulet X, Ho KK, Lossi N et al. (2006). A small molecule inhibitor for phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN). ACS Chem Biol 1: 780–790.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ross SH, Lindsay Y, Safrany ST, Lorenzo O, Villa F, Toth R et al. (2007). Differential redox regulation within the PTP superfamily. Cell Signal 19: 1521–1530.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaoka T, Wada T, Tsuneki H . (2006). Lipid phosphatases as a possible therapeutic target in cases of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Pharmacol Ther 112: 799–809.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shen WH, Balajee AS, Wang J, Wu H, Eng C, Pandolfi PP et al. (2007). Essential role for nuclear PTEN in maintaining chromosomal integrity. Cell 128: 157–170.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stambolic V, Suzuki A, de la Pompa JL, Brothers GM, Mirtsos C, Sasaki T et al. (1998). Negative regulation of PKB/Akt-dependent cell survival by the tumor suppressor PTEN. Cell 95: 29–39.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steck PA, Pershouse MA, Jasser SA, Yung WK, Lin H, Ligon AH et al. (1997). Identification of a candidate tumour suppressor gene, MMAC1, at chromosome 10q23.3 that is mutated in multiple advanced cancers. Nat Genet 15: 356–362.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stiles BL, Kuralwalla-Martinez C, Guo W, Gregorian C, Wang Y, Tian J et al. (2006). Selective deletion of Pten in pancreatic beta cells leads to increased islet mass and resistance to STZ-induced diabetes. Mol Cell Biol 26: 2772–2781.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Subauste MC, Nalbant P, Adamson ED, Hahn KM . (2005). Vinculin controls PTEN protein level by maintaining the interaction of the adherens junction protein beta-catenin with the scaffolding protein MAGI-2. J Biol Chem 280: 5676–5681.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sun L, Hui AM, Su Q, Vortmeyer A, Kotliarov Y, Pastorino S et al. (2006). Neuronal and glioma-derived stem cell factor induces angiogenesis within the brain. Cancer Cell 9: 287–300.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi Y, Morales FC, Kreimann EL, Georgescu MM . (2006). PTEN tumor suppressor associates with NHERF proteins to attenuate PDGF receptor signaling. EMBO J 25: 910–920.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tamura M, Gu J, Matsumoto K, Aota S, Parsons R, Yamada KM . (1998). Inhibition of cell migration, spreading, and focal adhesions by tumor suppressor PTEN. Science 280: 1614–1617.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tolkacheva T, Boddapati M, Sanfiz A, Tsuchida K, Kimmelman AC, Chan AM . (2001). Regulation of PTEN binding to MAGI-2 by two putative phosphorylation sites at threonine 382 and 383. Cancer Res 61: 4985–4989.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Torres J, Pulido R . (2001). The tumor suppressor PTEN is phosphorylated by the protein kinase CK2 at its C terminus. Implications for PTEN stability to proteasome-mediated degradation. J Biol Chem 276: 993–998.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trotman LC, Alimonti A, Scaglioni PP, Koutcher JA, Cordon-Cardo C, Pandolfi PP . (2006). Identification of a tumour suppressor network opposing nuclear Akt function. Nature 441: 523–527.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Trotman LC, Niki M, Dotan ZA, Koutcher JA, Di Cristofano A, Xiao A et al. (2003). Pten dose dictates cancer progression in the prostate. PLoS Biol 1: E59.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Trotman LC, Wang X, Alimonti A, Chen Z, Teruya-Feldstein J, Yang H et al. (2007). Ubiquitination regulates PTEN nuclear import and tumor suppression. Cell 128: 141–156.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Valiente M, Andres-Pons A, Gomar B, Torres J, Gil A, Tapparel C et al. (2005). Binding of PTEN to specific PDZ domains contributes to PTEN protein stability and phosphorylation by microtubule-associated serine/threonine kinases. J Biol Chem 280: 28936–28943.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vazquez F, Matsuoka S, Sellers WR, Yanagida T, Ueda M, Devreotes PN . (2006). Tumor suppressor PTEN acts through dynamic interaction with the plasma membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103: 3633–3638.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vazquez F, Ramaswamy S, Nakamura N, Sellers WR . (2000). Phosphorylation of the PTEN tail regulates protein stability and function. Mol Cell Biol 20: 5010–5018.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Walker SM, Leslie NR, Perera NM, Batty IH, Downes CP . (2004). The tumour-suppressor function of PTEN requires an N-terminal lipid-binding motif. Biochem J 379: 301–307.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Trotman LC, Koppie T, Alimonti A, Chen Z, Gao Z et al. (2007). NEDD4-1 is a proto-oncogenic ubiquitin ligase for PTEN. Cell 128: 129–139.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Shi Y, Wang J, Huang G, Jiang X . (2008). The crucial role of the carboxyl terminus of PTEN in antagonizing NEDD4-1-mediated PTEN ubiquitination and degradation. Biohem J (E-pub ahead of print).

  • Weng L, Brown J, Eng C . (2001). PTEN induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through phosphoinositol-3-kinase/Akt-dependent and -independent pathways. Hum Mol Genet 10: 237–242.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whang YE, Wu X, Suzuki H, Reiter RE, Tran C, Vessella RL et al. (1998). Inactivation of the tumor suppressor PTEN/MMAC1 in advanced human prostate cancer through loss of expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 5246–5250.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman DC, Zhou XP, Cummings MC, Pavey S, Hayward NK, Eng C . (2002). Nuclear PTEN expression and clinicopathologic features in a population-based series of primary cutaneous melanoma. Int J Cancer 99: 63–67.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiencke JK, Zheng S, Jelluma N, Tihan T, Vandenberg S, Tamguney T et al. (2007). Methylation of the PTEN promoter defines low-grade gliomas and secondary glioblastoma. Neuro Oncol 9: 271–299.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wijesekara N, Konrad D, Eweida M, Jefferies C, Liadis N, Giacca A et al. (2005). Muscle-specific Pten deletion protects against insulin resistance and diabetes. Mol Cell Biol 25: 1135–1145.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wu W, Wang X, Zhang W, Reed W, Samet JM, Whang YE et al. (2003). Zinc-induced PTEN protein degradation through the proteasome pathway in human airway epithelial cells. J Biol Chem 278: 28258–28263.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yilmaz OH, Valdez R, Theisen BK, Guo W, Ferguson DO, Wu H et al. (2006). Pten dependence distinguishes haematopoietic stem cells from leukaemia-initiating cells. Nature 441: 475–482.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Grindley JC, Yin T, Jayasinghe S, He XC, Ross JT et al. (2006). PTEN maintains haematopoietic stem cells and acts in lineage choice and leukaemia prevention. Nature 441: 518–522.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Ian Ganley for critical reading and suggestions. This work was supported by an American Cancer Society Scholar fund (to XJ) and a Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research fund (to XJ).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to X Jiang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, X., Jiang, X. Post-translational regulation of PTEN. Oncogene 27, 5454–5463 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2008.242

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2008.242

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links