Tyrosine kinase BMX phosphorylates phosphotyrosine-primed motif mediating the activation of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases.

The nonreceptor tyrosine kinase BMX (bone marrow tyrosine kinase gene on chromosome X) is abundant in various cell types and activated downstream of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) and the kinase Src, but its substrates are unknown. Positional scanning peptide library screening revealed a marked preference for a priming phosphorylated tyrosine (pY) in the -1 position, indicating that BMX substrates may include multiple tyrosine kinases that are fully activated by pYpY sites in the kinase domain. BMX phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase (FAK) at Tyr⁵⁷⁷ subsequent to its Src-mediated phosphorylation at Tyr⁵⁷⁶. Loss of BMX by RNA interference or by genetic deletion in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) markedly impaired FAK activity. Phosphorylation of the insulin receptor in the kinase domain at Tyr¹¹⁸⁹ and Tyr¹¹⁹⁰, as well as Tyr¹¹⁸⁵, and downstream phosphorylation of the kinase AKT at Thr³⁰⁸ were similarly impaired by BMX deficiency. However, insulin-induced phosphorylation of AKT at Ser⁴⁷³ was not impaired in Bmx knockout MEFs or liver tissue from Bmx knockout mice, which also showed increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, possibly because of decreased abundance of the phosphatase PHLPP (PH domain leucine-rich repeat protein phosphatase). Thus, by identifying the pYpY motif as a substrate for BMX, our findings suggest that BMX functions as a central regulator among multiple signaling pathways mediated by tyrosine kinases.