Protein tyrosine phosphatase φ regulates paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation and mediates colony-stimulating factor 1-induced morphological changes in macrophages

Removal of colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) causes macrophages to round up and to increase their expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase φ (PTPφ). This is accompanied by the disruption of focal complexes and the formation of ruffles. Here we have overexpressed wild-type (WT) PTPφ and a phosphatase-inactive (C325S) mutant in a macrophage cell line in the presence and absence of CSF-1. In the presence of CSF-1, WT PTPφ induces cell rounding and ruffle formation, while C325S PTPφ has no effect. In contrast, in CSF-1-starved cells, C325S PTPφ behaves in a dominant negative fashion, preventing rounding and ruffling. Furthermore, C325S PTPφ increases adhesion in cycling cells, while WT PTPφ enhances motility. In WT PTPφ-overexpressing cells, the focal contact protein paxillin is selectively depleted from focal complexes and specifically dephosphorylated on tyrosine. In contrast, paxillin is hyperphosphorylated in C325S PTPφ-expressing cells. Moreover, a complex containing PTPφ, paxillin, and a paxillin-associated tyrosine kinase, Pyk2, can be immunoprecipitated from macrophage lysates, and the catalytic domain of PTPφ selectively binds paxillin and Pyk2 in vitro. Although PTPφ and Pyk2 do not colocalize with paxillin in focal complexes, all three proteins are colocalized in dorsal ruffles. The results suggest that paxillin is dephosphorylated by PTPφ in dorsal ruffles, using Pyk2 as a bridging molecule, resulting in a reduced pool of tyrosine-phosphorylated paxillin available for incorporation into focal complexes, thereby mediating CSF-1 regulation of macrophage morphology, adhesion, and motility.