Novel Regulatory Mechanisms of p115RhoGEF

p115RhoGEF is a member of a family of Rho-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors that also contains a regulator of G protein signaling homology domain (RH-RhoGEFs) that serves as a link between Gα13 signaling and RhoA activation. While the mechanism of regulation of p115RhoGEF by Gα13 is becoming well-known, the role of other regulatory mechanisms, such as post-translational modification or autoinhibition, in mediating p115RhoGEF activity are less well-characterized. Here, putative phosphorylation sites on p115RhoGEF are identified and characterized. Mutation of one of these sites leads to a decrease in serum response element-mediated transcription, changes in cellular migration, and decreased activation by Gα13 in vitro. Additionally, this study provides the first report of the binding kinetics between full-length p115RhoGEF and RhoA in its various nucleotide states and examines the binding kinetics of phospho-mutant p115RhoGEF to RhoA. Taken together and with other recent reports on regulatory mechanisms of p115RhoGEF, these data suggest that this putative phosphorylation site serves as a means for initiation or relief of autoinhibition of p115RhoGEF, providing further insight into the regulation of its activity.