Résumé : The control of phosphatidylinositol 3, 4, 5-trisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P3] level depends on the activities of both PI kinase and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 phosphatases: 5-phosphatase like SHIP1 and SHIP2, and 3-phosphatase like PTEN. The ubiquitous SH2 domain containing inositol 5-phosphatase SHIP2 contains both a series of protein interacting domains and the ability to dephosphorylate PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. Previous reports obtained in SHIP2 deficient mice have shown that SHIP2 is involved in the control of insulin sensitivity and reducing weight gain on fatty diet.

Since SHIP2 is a lipid phosphatase as well as a docking protein, the initial aim that emerged in the lab was to measure the inositol lipid levels in SHIP2 +/+ and deficient cells and compare the levels of 3-phosphoinositides PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and PtdIns(3,4)P2. At first, we developed mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) as a cellular model. Amongst various stimuli tested, surprisingly, only serum showed an obvious difference in terms of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 level. This lipid was significantly up regulated in SHIP2 -/- cells but only after short-term (i.e. 5-10 min) incubation with serum. The difference in PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 levels in heterozygous fibroblast cells was intermediate between the +/+ and -/- cells. Serum stimulated PI3K activity appeared to be comparable between +/+ and -/- cells. Moreover, PKB, but not MAP kinase activity, was also potentiated in SHIP2 deficient cells stimulated by serum. The up regulation of PKB activity in serum stimulated cells was totally reversed in the presence of the PI3K inhibitor LY-294002, in both +/+ and -/- cells.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have emerged as physiological mediators of many cellular responses. H2O2 mimics some effects of insulin in a number of cell culture systems. It also inactivates tyrosine phosphatase activities including PTEN. In addition, in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts, Gray et al reported that exposure of the cells to H2O2 resulted a huge increase in PtdIns(3,4)P2 level. The authors suspected that the effect was attributed to a inositol 5-phosphatase activity. We thus exposed our cells to H2O2 in order to address the question of the role of SHIP2 in response to oxidative stress.

We worked on the same SHIP2 MEF model, stimulated by H2O2: at 15 min, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 was markedly increased in SHIP2 -/- cells as compared to +/+ cells. In contrast, no significant increase in PtdIns(3,4)P2 could be detected at 15 or 120 min incubation of the cells with H2O2 (0.6 mM). PKB activity was upregulated in SHIP2 -/- cells in response to H2O2 and therefore follows the regulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. As for serum, the PI3K activity appeared to be comparable between +/+ and -/- cells. The levels of PTEN and type I 4-phosphatase [an enzyme that acts on PtdIns(3,4)P2] remained unchanged between the two types of cells. SHIP2 add back experiments in SHIP2 -/- cells confirm its critical role in the control of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 level in response to H2O2: the decrease in PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, observed in SHIP2 expressing cells, was no longer seen in cells infected with a catalytic mutant of this enzyme.