A novel histidine tyrosine phosphatase, TULA-2, associates with Syk and negatively regulates GPVI signaling in platelets

Abstract

T-cell ubiquitin ligand-2 (TULA-2) is a recently discovered histidine tyrosine phosphatase thought to be ubiquitously expressed. In this work, we have investigated whether TULA-2 has a key role in platelet glycoprotein VI (GPVI) signaling. This study indicates that TULA-2 is expressed in human and murine platelets and is able to associate with Syk and dephosphorylate it. Ablation of TULA-2 resulted in hyperphosphorylation of Syk and its downstream effector phospholipase C-γ2 as well as enhanced GPVI-mediated platelet functional responses. In addition, shorter bleeding times and a prothrombotic phenotype were observed in mice lacking TULA-2. We therefore propose that TULA-2 is the primary tyrosine phosphatase mediating the dephosphorylation of Syk and thus functions as a negative regulator of GPVI signaling in platelets.