Glutaredoxin modulates platelet-derived growth factor-dependent cell signaling by regulating the redox status of low molecular weight protein-tyrosine phosphatase

Glutaredoxin (GRX) is a glutathione-disulfide oxidoreductase involved in various cellular functions, including the redox-dependent regulation of certain integral proteins. Here we demonstrated that overexpression of GRX suppressed the proliferation of myocardiac H9c2 cells treated with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB. After stimulation with PDGF-BB, the phosphorylation of PDGF receptor (PDGFR) beta was suppressed in GRX gene-transfected cells, compared with controls. Conversely, the phosphorylation was enhanced by depletion of GRX by RNA interference. In this study we focused on the role of low molecular weight protein-tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) in the dephosphorylation of PDGFR beta via a redox-dependent mechanism. We found that depletion of LMW-PTP using RNA interference enhanced the PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of PDGFR beta, indicating that LMW-PTP works for PDGFR beta. The enhancement of the phosphorylation of PDGFR beta was well correlated with inactivation of LMW-PTP by cellular peroxide generated in the cells stimulated with PDGF-BB. In vitro, with hydrogen peroxide treatment, LMW-PTP showed decreased activity with the concomitant formation of dithiothreitol-reducible oligomers. GRX protected LMW-PTP from hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidation and inactivation in concert with glutathione, NADPH, and glutathione disulfide reductase. This strongly suggests that retention of activity of LMW-PTP by enhanced GRX expression suppresses the proliferation of cells treated with PDGF-BB via enhanced dephosphorylation of PDGFR beta. Thus, GRX plays an important role in PDGF-BB-dependent cell proliferation by regulating the redox state of LMW-PTP.