Endoglin Structure and Function

Determination of the functional relationship between the transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) receptor proteins endoglin and ALK1 is essential to the understanding of the human vascular disease, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. TGFbeta1 caused recruitment of ALK1 into a complex with endoglin in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Therefore, we examined TGFbeta receptor-dependent phosphorylation of endoglin by the constitutively active forms of the TGFbeta type I receptors ALK1, ALK5, and the TGFbeta type II receptor, TbetaRII. Of these receptors, TbetaRII preferentially phosphorylated endoglin on cytosolic domain serine residues Ser(634) and Ser(635). Removal of the carboxyl-terminal tripeptide of endoglin, which comprises a putative PDZ-liganding motif, dramatically increased endoglin serine phosphorylation by all three receptors, suggesting that the PDZ-liganding motif is important for the regulation of endoglin phosphorylation. Constitutively active (ca)ALK1, but not caALK5, phosphorylated endoglin on cytosolic domain threonine residues. caALK1-mediated threonine phosphorylation required prior serine phosphorylation, suggesting a sequential mechanism of endoglin phosphorylation. Wild-type, but not a threonine phosphorylation-defective endoglin mutant blocked cell detachment and the antiproliferative effects of caALK1 expressed in HUVECs. These results suggest that ALK1 is a preferred TGFbeta receptor kinase for endoglin threonine phosphorylation in HUVECs and indicate a role for endoglin phosphorylation in the regulation of endothelial cell adhesion and growth by ALK1.