Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Paxillin during Cell Adhesion

Proteins that are involved in cellular signal cascade experience phosphorylation and dephosphorylation cycles in their tyrosine residue(s) during cell adhesion. In order to identify the protein(s), which tyrosine desidues are specifically phosphorylated when the cells attached to the substrate, we compared the tyrosine phosphorylation level of proteins between suspension and adhered culture condition in rat fibroblast 3Y1 cells. We found that a cluster of 70 kDa protein was specifically phosphorylated when the cells adhered to the substrate, but did not effect the cells held in suspension. The phosphorylated protein is identified as paxillin, a focal adhesion protein in immunoprecipitation and immunobloting analysis. These results suggest that the tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin may play a role in cell-substrate adhesion.