Phosphorylation of the fibronectin receptor complex in cells transformed by oncogenes that encode tyrosine kinases.

The fibronectin (FN) receptor in avian cells has been characterized previously as a complex of three membrane glycoproteins of about Mr 160,000, Mr 140,000, and Mr 120,000 (simply termed protein band 1, band 2, and band 3, respectively). Monoclonal antibodies to the band 3 protein of the complex prevent FN and laminin binding both in vivo and in vitro and enable the detection of the receptor proteins in the plasma membrane and in adhesion plaques. Association of the FN receptor proteins with the adhesion-plaque protein talin also has been reported. We now find that the band 2 and band 3 proteins in the complex are phosphorylated in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chicken cells but not in normal chicken cells. Phosphorylation occurs predominantly on tyrosine and is accompanied by a reorganization of the receptor complex in the membrane of the transformed cells. Whereas normal cells contain the FN receptor in focal contacts and cellular processes between cells, v-src-transformed cells exhibit a more diffuse distribution of this receptor. In addition to the viral v-src oncogene, cells transformed by other avian oncogenes that also encode tyrosine kinases (v-fps, v-erbB, and v-yes) also express the receptor complex proteins in the phosphorylated state regardless of whether the transforming protein is detectable in adhesion plaques. These results suggest that the altered FN and laminin receptor proteins may contribute to the transformed phenotype, but their significance and role in the transformed state remain to be established.