Activity of the Bcr GTPase-activating domain is regulated through direct protein/protein interaction with the Rho guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor

Abstract

The cycling of Rac GTPases, alternating between an active GTP- and an inactive GDP-bound state, is controlled by guanine nucleotide exchange factors, GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs), and guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors (GDIs). Little is known about how these controlling activities are coordinated. Studies using null mutant mice have demonstrated that Bcr and Abr are two physiologically important GAPs for Rac. Here, we report that in the presence of RhoGDIα, Bcr is unable to convert Rac-GTP to Rac-GDP because RhoGDI forms a direct protein complex with Bcr. Interestingly, RhoGDIα binds to the GAP domain in Bcr and Abr, a domain that also binds to Rac-GTP and catalyzes conversion of the bound GTP to GDP on Rac. The presence of activated Rac diminished the Bcr/RhoGDIα interaction. Moreover, a Bcr mutant that lacks the ability to promote hydrolysis of Rac-GTP bound to its GAP domain did not bind to RhoGDIα in cell lysates, indicating that binding of RhoGDIα and Rac-GTP to the Bcr GAP domain is mutually exclusive. Our results provide the first identification of a protein that regulates BcrGAP activity. © 2008 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.