Screening for antimitotic compounds using the cdc25 tyrosine phosphatase, an activator of the mitosis-inducing p34cdc2/cyclin Bcdc13 protein kinase.

A universal intracellular factor, the "M phase-promoting factor" (MPF), triggers the G2/M transition of the cell cycle in all organisms. In late G2, it is present as an inactive complex of tyrosine-phosphorylated p34cdc2 and unphosphorylated cyclin Bcdc13. In M phase, its activation as an active MPF displaying histone H1 kinase activity originates from the specific tyrosine dephosphorylation of the p34cdc2 subunit by the tyrosine phosphatase p80cdc25. We describe here a colorimetric assay of recombinant human cdc25A tyrosine phosphatase used as a cell cycle-specific target to screen for antimitotic compounds. The glutathione-S-transferase/cdc25A tyrosine phosphatase fusion protein is produced in large amounts of Escherichia coli and easily purified by affinity chromatography on glutathione-agarose. Optimal purification, storage and assay conditions (concentrations of enzyme, p-nitrophenylphosphate and dithiothreitol; duration of assay) have been determined. Using this system we tested 15 compounds currently used in cancer treatment; none of them displayed any inhibitory activity. However, the assay detected the inhibitory activity of vanadate, a reported tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor. The simplicity, speed and possible extensive automation of this assay using an essential cell cycle-regulating component provide a highly specific mechanism-based screen for antimitotic drugs discovery.