Biopolymers and cell. 2006; 22 (3): 217 - 224

Interaction of fatty acid transporting protein FABP4 with phosphatase PTEN

O. М. Gorbenko, G. Panayotou, D. D. Volkova, O. М. Zhyvoloup, O. P. Kukharenko, I. T. Gout, V. V. Filonenko

PTEN is a tumour suppressor protein with dual protein and lipid phosphatase activity, which is frequently deleted or mutated in many advanced cancers. At least 20% of its mutations are found in C-terminal domain of the phosphatase. Recent studies show that PTEN also plays an important role in the development of insulin resistance and glucose tolerance, thus it may be an important target in the diabetes 2 type and atherosclerosis treatment. Using C-terminal fragment of PTEN as a bait in yeast two-hybrid screening cDNA library of 18-day mouse embryo a novel PTEN binding protein –FABP4, which is a marker of adipocyte differentiation, has been identified. PTEN-FABP4 interaction was confirmed by mating assay, in vitro pull-down assay and BIAcore analysis. Our results show that PTEN phosphatase may be involved into regulation of adipose tissue formation through the interaction with fatty acid transporter FABP4.

Keywords: PTEN phosphatase, FABP4, lipid metabolism.