Does N1-Src drive neurite outgrowth through N-WASP? (360G-Wellcome-206917_Z_17_Z)

The ubiquitous tyrosine kinase, Src, has a fundamental role in signalling pathways that drive proliferation, adhesion and migration. Src is enriched in the brain, but also undergoes alternative splicing in neurons to yield N1- and N2-Src. The N-Srcs have small inserts in their SH3 domain, a region involved in substrate specificity and kinase activity, and have been implicated in neuronal development and as a prognostic indicator of the childhood cancer, neuroblastoma. We and others demonstrated that the N-Srcs drive neuronal morphology by rearranging the actin cytoskeleton. To discover the physiological substrates of N1-Src, we undertook a pulldown using the N1-Src SH3 domain. A promising candidate was N-WASP, a regulator of the Arp2/3 complex that promotes actin polymerisation and has been implicated in neurite outgrowth in neurons. This project aims to confirm if N1-Src acts through N-WASP to elicit neurite outgrowth. The specific goals are to i) investigate the tyrosine phosphorylation of N-WASP by N1-Src and ii) establish the effect of manipulating N-WASP activity upon N1-Src-dependent neurite outgrowth in cells. The project will therefore provide an excellent grounding in molecular research approaches and insight into the function of a gene relevant to neuronal development and disease.