Interaction between Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASP) and the Fyn protein-tyrosine kinase

Abstract

Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) is a severe X-linked disorder characterised by immune deficiency, thrombocytopenia and eczema, resulting from abnormalities in a range of haematopoietic cell types. The protein that is defective in WAS, named WASP, appears to be involved in regulating changes in the cytoskeletal organisation of haematopoietic cells in response to external stimuli. In support of this idea, WASP has been found to be physically associated in haematopoietic cells in vivo with a number of SH3 domain-containing proteins involved in signal transduction, including the cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine kinase Fyn. Here, we have used a baculovirus expression system to explore the biochemical consequences of the interaction between WASP and Fyn. We find that the kinase activity of Fyn is stimulated as a result of binding to WASP, and that a cellular protein, which may be WASP itself, becomes phosphorylated on tyrosine as a result of the binding of WASP to Fyn.