Regulation of Chk2 phosphorylation by interaction with protein phosphatase 2A via its B regulatory subunit

Chk2 is a key player of the DNA damage signalling pathway. To identify new regulators of this kinase, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen and found that Chk2 associated with the Bʹ regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase PP2A. In vitro GST-Chk2 pulldowns demonstrated that Bʹ(gamma) isoforms bound to Chk2 with the strongest apparent affinity. This was confirmed in cellulo by co-immunoprecipitation after overexpression of the respective partners in HEK293 cells. The A and C subunits of PP2A were present in the complexes, suggesting that Chk2 was associated with a functionnal PP2A. In vitro kinase assays showed that Bʹ(gamma)3 was a potent Chk2 substrate. This phosphorylation increased the catalytic phosphatase activity of PP2A measured on MAP kinase-phosphorylated myelin basic protein as well as on autophosphorylated Chk2. Finally, we demonstrated that overexpressing Bʹ(gamma)3 in HEK293 suppressed the phosphorylation of Chk2 induced by a genotoxic treatment, suggesting that PP2A may counteract the action of the checkpoint kinase in living cells.