The G protein G alpha12 stimulates Bruton's tyrosine kinase and a rasGAP through a conserved PH/BM domain.

Overview

Heterotrimeric guanine-nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) are signal transducers that relay messages from many receptors on the cell surface to modulate various cellular processes. The direct downstream effectors of G proteins consist of the signalling molecules that are activated by their physical interactions with a G alpha or Gbetagamma subunit. Effectors that interact directly with G alpha12 G proteins have yet to be identified. Here we show that G alpha12 binds directly to, and stimulates the activity of, Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) and a Ras GTPase-activating protein, Gap1m, in vitro and in vivo. G alpha12 interacts with a conserved domain, composed of the pleckstrin-homology domain and the adjacent Btk motif, that is present in both Btk and Gap1m. Our results are, to our knowledge, the first to identify direct effectors for G alpha12 and to show that there is a direct link between heterotrimeric and monomeric G proteins.