Feline sarcoma virus P115-associated protein kinase phosphorylates tyrosine. Identification of a cellular substrate conserved during evolution.

The Gardner strain of feline sarcoma virus (FeSV) has previously been shown to encode as its major translational product, a phosphoprotein of molecular weight (Mr) = 115,000 (P115) with an associated protein kinase activity and probable transforming function. In the present study, we demonstrate that this enzyme specifically phosphorylates tyrosine and that Gardner FeSV-transformed mink and rat cells exhibit constitutively higher levels of phosphotyrosine than nontransformed control cells. In addition, we identify a Mr = 150,000 cellular substrate for the FeSV P115-associated protein kinase activity. This latter protein, designated P150, is expressed in cells of a number of mammalian species including cat, mink, dog, rat, mouse and human, possesses broadly reactive interspecies antigenic determinants, and exhibits binding affinity for FeSV P115. Although P150 exhibits an associated protein kinase activity, this activity differs from the FeSV P115-associated enzyme in that it phosphorylates serine and threonine rather than tyrosine. On the basis of immunologic criteria and tryptic peptide analysis, the possibility that P150 is structurally related to Gardner FeSV P115 is excluded. As a consequence of its affinity for FeSV P115, P150 is efficiently incorporated into FeSV pseudotype virions, providing a source for its purification and preparation of antisera for study of its expression in mammalian cells.