Phosphotyrosine phosphatases with SH2 domains: regulators of signal transduction.

Among the rapidly growing family of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), a subfamily of cytoplasmic PTPs that contain SH2 domains has been identified in both mammals and Drosophila. These PTPs each contain two tandem SH2 domains at their amino-terminus, and a single phosphatase domain. The SH2-containing PTPs appear to be downstream targets of growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases, and have been shown genetically to be required for normal development in Drosophila and in the mouse. Accumulating biochemical and genetic data therefore suggest that SH2-containing PTPs might have a physiological role in intracellular signal transduction.