ERK MAP kinase is targeted to RSK2 by the phosphoprotein PEA-15

Abstract

The ERK pathway responds to extracellular stimuli and oncogenes by modulating cellular processes, including transcription, adhesion, survival, and proliferation. ERK has diverse substrates that carry out these functions. The processes that are modulated are determined in part by the substrates that ERK phosphorylates. We demonstrate that PEA-15 (phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes, 15 kDa) targets ERK to RSK2 and thereby enhances RSK2 activation. PEA-15 independently bound ERK and RSK2 and increased ERK association with RSK2 in a concentration-dependent manner. PEA-15 increased RSK2 activity and CREB-mediated transcription, and this process was regulated by phosphorylation of PEA-15. Finally, phorbol ester stimulation of PEA-15-null lymphocytes resulted in impaired RSK2 activation that was rescued by exogenous PEA-15 expression. Therefore, PEA-15 functions as a scaffold to enhance ERK activation of RSK2, and this activity is regulated by phosphorylation. Thus, PEA-15 can integrate signal transduction to provide a specific physiological outcome from activation of the multipotent ERK MAP kinase pathway.