Figure 1
The SH2 domain of STAT5A is required for efficient binding to Src kinases. (A) Domain structure of fluorescently labeled STAT5A-eYFP. (B) Subcellular localization of STAT5A-eYFP in the absence or presence of Epo. HeLa T-REx HA-EpoR cells stably transfected with STAT5A-eYFP were stimulated with 1 U/ml Epo for 30 min and the localization of STAT5A-eYFP was analyzed by confocal microscopy. Scale bars: 20 μm. (C) Subcellular localization of STAT5A-eYFP (upper panel), STAT5AR618Q-eYFP (middle panel) and STAT3-eYFP (lower panel) was investigated in the presence of vSrc-dsRed. HeLa T-REx vSrc-dsRed cells were treated with 5 ng/ml doxycycline and transfected with the indicated constructs and the distribution of fluorescently labeled fusion proteins was analyzed after 24 h by confocal microscopy. Scale bars: 20 μm. (D) Quantification of the relative subcellular distribution of eYFP-labeled STAT3 and STAT5A constructs in HeLa T-REx HA-EpoR cells stably expressing STAT5A-eYFP (B) and HeLa T-REx vSrc-dsRed cells transfected with STAT5A-eYFP, STAT5AR618Q-eYFP or STAT3-eYFP (C). The expression of the HA-EpoR and vSrc-dsRed was induced with 5 ng/ml doxycycline for 24 hours. Mean fluorescence intensities (MFI) of the cytoplasm and nucleus were determined using the Zen 2012 software and changes in the ratio between the compartments were plotted. The data shown are means ± SD of n = 30 cells and were statistically evaluated by Student’s t-test. ***p < 0.0005. n.s. = not significant. (E + F) HeLa T-REx FRT cells were co-transfected with plasmids coding for STAT5A-eYFP or STAT5AR618Q-eYFP and vSrc-dsRed or Hck-dsRed. Fluorescently labeled STAT5 was immunoprecipitated from cell lysates using a GFP antibody and analyzed by immunoblotting for the presence of vSrc-dsRed or Hck-dsRed 24 h after transfection. The expression and phosphorylation of STAT5A and vSrc/Hck proteins was analyzed in the whole cellular lysates (WCL) using antibodies against pY416-Src, Src, Hck, pY694/699-STAT5A/B and GFP.