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Experimental Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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ß dimers, thereby blocking access of endogenous peptides
with newly synthesized class II molecules, assisting in the folding of
these molecules, and facilitating their movement out of the ER. Class
II
ßIi complexes are then targeted to endosomal compartments by
the recognition of targeting signals present in the 30-amino acid Ii
cytosolic domain (3, 4, 5). Whether these compartments represent a
specialized organelle in Ag processing cells or are conventional
lysosomes is still a matter of some debate; however, for simplicity we
will refer to these structures as endocytic Ag processing compartments.
Once in the endocytic pathway, Ii is degraded by a series of
proteolytic steps, and most of the Ii molecule dissociates from the
class II
ßIi complex. The small fragment of Ii that remains in the
peptide binding groove of the class II molecule, termed CLIP, is
finally removed by the action of the enzyme HLA-DM (6). Following CLIP
removal, antigenic peptides bind to the class II
ß dimer, and the
complex is transported to the cell surface (7).
The molecular recognition events leading to the delivery of newly
synthesized MHC class II
ßIi complexes to Ag processing
compartments remain enigmatic. Like most other membrane proteins, class
II
ßIi complexes are sorted in the trans-Golgi network
(TGN) (5).
ßIi complexes can move directly from the TGN into
compartments along the endocytic pathway (8, 9). In addition, a portion
of the pool of class II
ßIi complexes in the TGN can move directly
to the plasma membrane, from where they are rapidly internalized and
enter a variety of Ag processing compartments from the cell surface
(10, 11, 12). Based on experiments performed in nonlymphoid cells
transfected with a variety of Ii cytosolic domain mutants, it is known
that two leucine-based lysosomal targeting motifs in the Ii cytosolic
domain are required for Ii targeting to the endocytic pathway (8, 13, 14, 15) and that nearby acidic amino acids regulate the recognition of
these targeting motifs (16, 17). It remains to be determined, however,
if there are additional signals in the Ii cytosolic domain that can
affect the activity of the leucine-based targeting signals.
The intracellular transport route used by class II molecules to gain
access to Ag processing compartments is regulated by the isoform of Ii
present in the complex. In human APCs two isoforms of Ii are generated
by the use of alternative translational start sites (18). Association
of class II
ß dimers with Ii trimers containing the longer p35
isoform of Ii results in exclusively intracellular targeting of the
complex from the TGN to endosomes, while class II
ß dimers
associated with Ii trimers containing only the shorter p33 isoform of
Ii can traffic to these same compartments by a pathway using a cell
surface intermediate before internalization of the complex
(12).
Protein phosphorylation has been shown to be one mechanism that
regulates the recognition of leucine-based endosomal targeting signals
(19, 20, 21, 22, 23). We report here that only the longer p35 isoform of Ii is
phosphorylated in B lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCL) and human PBMC.
Furthermore, staurosporine, a serine/threonine kinase inhibitor,
greatly reduces Ii phosphorylation in B-LCL in vivo and specifically
inhibits the trafficking of newly synthesized class II
ßIi
complexes to endocytic compartments. Thus, phosphorylation regulates
Ii-mediated transport of MHC class II molecules to Ag processing
compartments.
| Materials and Methods |
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The human B-LCL JY, Raji, and 721.174 were cultured in RPMI containing 10% FBS and 50 µg/ml gentamicin. Stable transfectants of B-LCL expressing Tac-DMß were cultured in the above medium supplemented with 100 U/ml hygromycin B (24). Human PBMC were isolated from 50 ml of peripheral blood from a healthy donor as previously described (25). The cells were either used immediately or cultured overnight on 10-cm plastic dishes in RPMI containing 10% FBS. The human cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa (American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, MD) was cultured in DMEM containing 10% FBS and 50 µg/ml gentamicin.
Metabolic labeling of cells
To label cells with 32P or 35S, cells were cultured in phosphate-free DMEM or methionine-free DMEM, respectively, supplemented with 3% dialyzed FBS. Cells were cultured in the appropriate medium for 15 min and then labeled for 3 h with either [32P]orthophosphate or [35S]methionine. Typically, lymphoid cells were labeled at 107 cells/ml in 3 ml of medium containing 0.5 mCi of radiolabel, and HeLa cells were labeled in 1 ml of media containing 0.25 mCi of radiolabel. Ii (15 µg) in the mammalian expression vector pcDNA3 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) was transfected into HeLa by calcium phosphate precipitation, and cells were cultured for 2 days on 10-cm tissue culture dishes before analysis.
Site-directed mutagenesis of human Ii cDNA
The cDNAs encoding human Ii-p33 and human Ii-p35 were described previously (18) and were subcloned into the expression vector pcDNA3. (The second methionine codon of the Ii-p35 cDNA was changed to CTG to prevent generation of Ii-p33.) Site-directed mutagenesis to change various Ii cytosolic domain residues to alanine was performed using the Chameleon double-stranded site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA). All mutagenesis was performed in pBluescript II KS- (Stratagene), and Ii mutants were then subcloned into pcDNA3. The entire open reading frame of each mutant was sequenced by automated DNA sequence analysis.
Immunoprecipitation and electrophoresis
Cells were lysed for 1 h in ice-cold lysis buffer (10 mM
Tris and 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.4, containing 5 mM iodoacetamide, 50 mM
PMSF, 0.1 mM
L-
-p-tosyl-L-lysine
chloromethyl ketone, and 1 mg/ml BSA). When lysing cells labeled with
[32P]orthophosphate, the lysis buffer contained the
following phosphatase inhibitors: 5 mM EDTA, 5 mM EGTA, 50 mM NaF, 10
mM Na4P2O7, and 1 mM
Na3VO4. Ii was immunoprecipitated with the
isoform independent mAb, Pin.1 (26), or with corresponding rabbit serum
EQLP (27). The p35 isoform of Ii was specifically immunoprecipitated
using a rabbit serum essentially identical with RIp35N (26). MHC class
II molecules were precipitated with the anti-DR
-chain mAb
DA6.147, MHC class I molecules were precipitated with the mAb w6/32,
and Tac-DMß was precipitated with the mAb 7G7 (12, 24). mAb were
prebound to protein A-agarose (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) in the presence of
rabbit anti-mouse Ig serum (Sigma) for 1 h, and unbound Abs
were removed by washing beads twice with lysis buffer. Extracts were
precleared for 1 h with protein A-agarose containing bound rabbit
anti-mouse Ig serum and an isotype-matched irrelevant mAb (MOPC21;
Sigma). Specific immunoprecipitations were performed for 1 h.
Immunoprecipitates were washed twice with lysis buffer; twice in lysis
buffer diluted 1/10 in 10 mM Tris and 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.4; and once in
10 mM Tris, pH 7.4.
To reisolate various Ii isoforms, class II Ii complexes were first isolated with mAb DA6.147 and washed, and the complexes were disrupted by incubation in 10 mM Tris, 10 mM ß-mercaptoethanol, and 1% SDS at 95°C for 5 min. The sample was diluted 30-fold in lysis buffer, and equivalent aliquots were incubated with the indicated antiserum and protein A-agarose as described above. In some cases immunoprecipitations were treated (or not) with recombinant endoglycosidase H (endo H; New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA) according to the manufacturers protocols.
Proteins were eluted from protein A-agarose beads by boiling in
SDS-PAGE sample buffer and were resolved by SDS-PAGE (28). For analysis
of SDS-stable class II
ß dimers, bound proteins were eluted in
SDS-PAGE sample buffer (without reducing agent) at room temperature for
30 min. For immunoblot analysis, proteins were transferred to
polyvinylidene difluoride membranes, probed with anti-Ii mAb and
horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-mouse Ig, and analyzed
by enhanced chemiluminescence (Amersham Life Science, Arlington
Heights, IL) according to the manufacturers protocols.
Two-dimensional SDS-PAGE (2D-PAGE) was performed essentially as
described, with nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis in the first
dimension and reducing SDS-PAGE in the second dimension (29). The first
dimension tube gels contained 2% Biolyte 3/10 (Bio-Rad Laboratories,
Hercules, CA) and were run at 500 V for 4 h. Proteins were
visualized by fluorography, and the amount of specified product in each
lane was determined by scanning laser densitometry.
Phosphopeptide maps
Ii labeled with [32P]orthophosphate was resolved by SDS-PAGE, and the gel was dried between two sheets of cellophane (Bio-Rad Laboratories). Ii was excised from the gel and washed twice for 30 min each time in 25% methanol and 10% acetic acid, and twice for 30 min each time in 50% methanol. Gel pieces were dried for 2 h in a Speed-Vac (Savant, Farmingdale, NY) and digested with 0.3 mg/ml L-p-tosylamino-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone-treated trypsin (Sigma) in 1 ml of 0.4% NH4HCO3 at 37°C overnight. The gel pieces were removed by centrifugation, and the tryptic phosphopeptides were dried in a Speed-Vac. The phosphopeptides were washed five times with H2O to remove residual NH4HCO3 (H2O was evaporated in a Speed-Vac), resuspended in 10 µl of H2O, and spotted 1 cm from the edge of a 20 x 20-cm TLC plate (Eastman Kodak, Rochester, NY). Peptides were separated by chromatography in 150 ml of buffer (15/10/3/12, pyridine/butanol/acetic acid/H2O). Chromatography plates were dried and visualized by autoradiography.
Endosomal targeting assay
The delivery of class II
ßIi complexes to endosomal
compartments was determined by monitoring the rate of stabilization of
Ii degradation products in cells treated with leupeptin. Following a
15-min pulse radiolabeling with [35S]methionine,
B-LCL were chased at 37°C for various times in the presence or the
absence of 1 µM staurosporine (Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, IN)
in RPMI medium containing 10% FCS with or without 1 mM leupeptin. In
other experiments, B-LCL cells were pretreated with 1 mM leupeptin for
2 h at 37°C before the 15-min pulse and chased at 37°C for
various times in the presence or the absence of 1 µM staurosporine in
RPMI medium containing 10% FCS. Each time point consisted of 5 x
106 cells pulsed with 0.25 mCi
[35S]methionine and chased in 0.4 ml of medium in a
24-well plate. Cell pellets were frozen and subsequently analyzed for
SDS-PAGE as described above.
| Results |
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MHC class II-associated Ii-p33 has been reported to be
phosphorylated in transformed APC lines (38). However, phosphorylation
of Ii in nontransformed APCs, the identification of the precise amino
acid residue(s) modified, or the biologic consequences of Ii
phosphorylation have not been established. To characterize further the
phosphorylation of Ii in vivo, we labeled B-LCL with
[32P]orthophosphate and isolated Ii and MHC class II
molecules by immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE analysis. Two
approximately 33-kDa phosphoproteins were observed in both the
anti-Ii and anti-HLA-DR immunoprecipitates (Fig. 1
A), suggesting that
the phosphoproteins were either Ii or the HLA-DR
-chain. An unknown
phosphoprotein of about 150 kDa was routinely observed in both
anti-Ii and anti-HLA-DR immunoprecipitates, and we are
currently attempting to identify this protein. Identical approximately
33-kDa phosphoproteins were observed in the anti-Ii
immunoprecipitate from the class II-negative, Ii-positive B-LCL
721.174, strongly suggesting that the phosphorylated protein was Ii and
that association with class II molecules is not required for Ii
phosphorylation.
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To confirm that the phosphoproteins were Ii, class II molecules were
isolated from B-LCL labeled with either [35S]methionine
or [32P]orthophosphate for 4 h, and 2D-PAGE was
performed. Interestingly, Figure 1
B demonstrates that the
phosphoproteins in the anti-HLA-DR immunoprecipitate consisted
exclusively of the p35 isoform of Ii and that both the high mannose and
sialylated complex carbohydrate forms of Ii-p35 were labeled. We never
obtained evidence of phosphorylation of Ii-p33 or of the class II
- or ß-chains, but phosphorylation of the p43 isoform of
Ii could be detected on longer exposures of the fluorograph (data not
shown). These data suggest that Ii-p35 is phosphorylated in human B-LCL
and PBMC, that Ii phosphorylation is not dependent on association with
class II molecules, and that the p33 isoform of Ii associated with the
ßI complex is not phosphorylated.
To confirm that Ii-p35 is phosphorylated in APCs using another assay,
we identified the phosphorylated isoform of Ii using an antiserum
specific for Ii-p35. B-LCL were labeled with
[32P]orthophosphate or [35S]methionine, and
class II Ii complexes were isolated with a class II-specific Ab. The
complexes were disrupted by heating in the presence of SDS, and Ii
molecules were reisolated using a control serum, a serum that
recognizes only Ii-p35, or a serum the recognizes both Ii-p33 and
Ii-p35. This procedure resulted in complete dissociation of class II Ii
complexes, since the anti-p35 specific serum only reprecipitated
Ii-p35 molecules, whereas the anti-p33/p35 serum reprecipitated
both Ii-p33 and Ii-p35 (Fig. 1
C). When the
anti-p35 serum was used to reisolate Ii from
32P-labeled
ßI complexes, only the p35 isoform of Ii
was detected using either serum, confirming that Ii-p35 is exclusively
phosphorylated in professional APC.
Identification of Ii phosphorylation sites
HeLa cells do not express Ii, and transfected HeLa cells (and
other transfected nonlymphoid cell lines) have been used extensively to
investigate the trafficking of Ii and class II molecules (4, 8, 14, 15, 30, 31, 32). Figure 2
A
demonstrates that Ii-p35 is phosphorylated when expressed in HeLa
cells. To identify the phosphorylation sites in Ii, we have mutated
each of the potential phosphorylation sites in the Ii-p35 amino
terminal extension. Figure 2
A reveals that mutation of
either serine almost completely abolished Ii-p35 phosphorylation. (The
expression of each construct was confirmed by immunoblotting.) These
data demonstrate that Ii-p35 phosphorylation could occur on either
serine residue, as it is likely that phosphorylation of one serine
regulates the phosphorylation of the other. In addition, we have
mutated two arginine residues in the Ii-p35 cytosolic domain that
function as the ER retention signal for Ii-p35 (33). Interestingly,
mutation of these arginines also abolished Ii-p35 phosphorylation.
2D-PAGE indicated that phosphorylated Ii-p35 expressed in HeLa cells
possesses high mannose carbohydrates, consistent with the retention of
this phosphoprotein in the ER (Fig. 2
A).
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Although HeLa cells offer an ideal system to map Ii phosphorylation
sites, it is possible that different sites on Ii-p35 may be
phosphorylated in HeLa cells and professional APCs. To address this
possibility we have analyzed the tryptic phosphopeptides from Ii
expressed in B-LCL as well as the various Ii isoforms expressed in HeLa
cells. The sequences of the cytosolic domains of Ii-p33 and Ii-p35 are
shown in Figure 3
A for
comparison. Figure 3
B demonstrates that this procedure
yielded two prominent phosphopeptides when Ii isolated from B-LCL was
analyzed. The same two phosphopeptides were obtained by analyzing
Ii-p35 expressed in HeLa cells, demonstrating that phosphorylation
occurs on the same serine residues of Ii-p35 when expressed in B-LCL or
HeLa cells. The two phosphopeptides observed in Figure 3
B
could represent either two unique tryptic phosphopeptides (one
containing Ser6 and the other containing Ser8)
or a partial tryptic digest of Ii-p35 containing a single
phosphorylated serine residue. We are currently attempting to resolve
this complex issue. It should also be noted that the phosphopeptide map
of Ii-p33 expressed in HeLa cells revealed a single phosphopeptide
(containing Ser9) that migrated with a mobility
distinct from that of the Ii-p35 phosphopeptides.
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We also examined Ii phosphorylation in different professional
APCs. Figure 3
C demonstrates that Ii isolated from the
Burkitts lymphoma line Raji or B-LCL 721.174 (which lacks MHC class
II protein expression) is phosphorylated on the same serine residue(s)
as Ii expressed in B-LCL JY. Furthermore, Ii isolated from PBMC is
phosphorylated on the same serine residues as Ii expressed in B-LCL
(data not shown). These data demonstrate that phosphorylation of Ii-p35
is not a peculiarity of APC transformation and does not require
association of Ii with class II molecules.
To determine whether different serine residues are phosphorylated as
Ii-p35 is transported throughout the secretory pathway, we have
analyzed tryptic phosphopeptides of Ii present in the early secretory
pathway, the late secretory pathway, and the endosomal system. Figure 3
D demonstrates that the phosphopeptide maps of the high
mannose and the sialylated complex carbohydrate forms of Ii are
identical, demonstrating that transport of Ii through the secretory
pathway does not alter the Ii phosphorylation sites. In addition,
phosphorylation of these same residues can be detected on a endosomal
degradation product of Ii termed leupeptin-induced protein (LIP).
Staurosporine prevents Ii phosphorylation and inhibits class II
ßIi transport to endocytic Ag processing compartments
In an initial screening of reagents that could inhibit Ii
phosphorylation in B-LCL, we found that the serine/threonine kinase
inhibitor staurosporine could inhibit Ii phosphorylation at very low
concentrations (Fig. 4
A). It should be noted
that even the highest dose of staurosporine used in these studies (2
µM) did not adversely affect cell viability. We have therefore chosen
to evaluate the effect of staurosporine on the ability of class II
ßIi complexes to traffic to endocytic Ag processing compartments
in B-LCL.
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A trivial explanation for the observed decrease in LIP generation in
staurosporine-treated cells is that staurosporine inhibits the
uptake of leupeptin into cells. However, staurosporine had no
effect on pinocytosis of the fluid phase marker Lucifer yellow in B-LCL
(35) (data not shown). Furthermore, to ensure that the decrease in LIP
generation could not be due to the effect of staurosporine on leupeptin
pinocytosis, B-LCL were treated with leupeptin for 2 h before
metabolic labeling to preload their endocytic compartments with this
protease inhibitor. Once again, pulse-chase studies performed in the
absence or the presence of staurosporine revealed a marked decrease in
the generation of the Ii degradation products LIP and p10 in
staurosporine-treated cells (Fig. 4
C).
The decreased accumulation of Ii degradation products in
staurosporine-treated cells suggested that phosphorylation may play a
role in the trafficking of Ii to endosomal compartments. To investigate
this using another assay, we evaluated the ability of staurosporine to
inhibit the ability of newly synthesized class II molecules to generate
SDS-stable compact
ß dimers. The SDS-stable conformation is
induced by binding of antigenic peptides to class II molecules (Ref. 1
and references contained therein). Pulse-chase studies (Fig. 4
D) and quantitative analysis of the fluorographs
revealed that there was a significant decrease in the amount of
SDS-stable
ß dimers detected at various times of chase in cells
treated with staurosporine compared with mock-treated cells. Together
with the data presented above, these data demonstrate that
staurosporine significantly inhibits the delivery of newly synthesized
class II
ßIi complexes to endosomal Ag processing and peptide
loading compartments.
Staurosporine does not inhibit ER to TGN transport of MHC glycoproteins
To rule out the possibility that the inhibition of LIP generation
and SDS-stable
ß dimer formation by staurosporine was a
consequence of impaired protein transport in the secretory pathway, we
analyzed the kinetics of protein transport out of the ER and through
the Golgi apparatus in mock-treated and staurosporine-treated cells.
Staurosporine had no effect on the rate of acquisition of endo H
resistance of MHC class I heavy chains in pulse-chase studies (Fig. 5
A). In addition, class
II molecules were isolated from these cells, and the rate of complex
carbohydrate sialylation was analyzed by 2D-PAGE (Fig. 5
B). Once again, staurosporine had no effect on the
rate of sialic acid acquisition on newly synthesized MHC class II
glycoproteins, demonstrating that staurosporine did not inhibit MHC
protein transport out of the ER, through the Golgi apparatus, and into
the TGN.
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We next devised experiments to determine whether staurosporine
nonspecifically inhibited protein transport from the TGN to endocytic
compartments. The chimeric molecule Tac-DMß contains the HLA-DM
ß-chain cytosolic domain fused to the Tac transmembrane and luminal
domains. This chimeric molecule is targeted to and degraded in
endocytic compartments when expressed in B-LCL (24). The high mannose
carbohydrate form of Tac-DMß (m, lower band)
rapidly exits the ER in these cells and is converted into the
sialylated, complex carbohydrate form of Tac-DMß (s, upper
band) in the Golgi apparatus (Fig. 6
A). Pulse-chase
kinetic analysis revealed that Tac-DMß degradation was not inhibited
in cells treated with staurosporine compared with that in mock-treated
cells. In agreement with an earlier report, loading the endocytic
pathway in these cells with leupeptin partially inhibited the rate of
Tac-DMß degradation (Fig. 6
B), confirming that
degradation of the chimeric molecule occurs in leupeptin-sensitive
compartments. In addition, staurosporine did not adversely affect
transport of Tac-DMß out of the ER and through the Golgi apparatus,
as the kinetics of carbohydrate processing are virtually identical in
staurosporine-treated and mock-treated cells.
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| Discussion |
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(21, 22), phosphorylation is required to
observe leucine-based signal-mediated internalization and degradation
following T cell stimulation with phorbol esters. More often, however,
phosphorylation simply enhances the effects of the leucine-based
signal, as is observed for the internalization of the IL-6R (23).
Similarly, mutation of the phosphorylation sites adjacent to
leucine-based motifs in the cytosolic domain of both the cation
dependent- and cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptors
inhibits lysosomal enzyme targeting (36, 37), once again demonstrating
that phosphorylation can regulate the activity of leucine-based
endosomal sorting signals.
In this study we have demonstrated that MHC class II-associated Ii is
phosphorylated and that phosphorylation regulates the delivery of class
II
ßIi complexes to endocytic Ag processing compartments.
Interestingly, only the longer p35 isoform of Ii is phosphorylated in
transformed B lymphocytes and in freshly isolated PBMC or adherent
PBMC. This is in contrast to an earlier report in which only the
shorter p33 isoform of Ii was found to be phosphorylated (38). However,
in this previous report identification of the phosphorylated isoform
was made solely on the mobility of the phosphoprotein on 2D-PAGE. Since
we have often observed slight gel-to-gel variations in protein mobility
in these gels, we have performed additional experiments to confirm that
the phosphoprotein was Ii-p35. We have isolated phospho-Ii using an
Ii-p35-specific serum and have also shown that the tryptic
phosphopeptides of Ii isolated from APCs are identical with the tryptic
phosphopeptides isolated from HeLa cells expressing Ii-p35, but not
with those from HeLa cells expressing Ii-p33.
Ii-p35 contains two unique serine residues, and mutagenesis of either residue almost completely prevents the phosphorylation of Ii-p35 expressed in HeLa cells. This suggests a complex regulation of Ii phosphorylation in which the phosphorylation of one residue regulates the phosphorylation of the other. Similarly, mutation of the arginine residues adjacent to these serine residues also prevents Ii phosphorylation. The inhibition of Ii-p35 phosphorylation by the double arginine mutation is most likely due to the disruption of the kinase recognition site, as this region of Ii-p35 contains a consensus phosphorylation site for cAMP-dependent protein kinase and protein kinase C.
When expressed alone in nonprofessional APCs, Ii-p35 is retained in the
ER by recognition of the double arginine motif. Similarly, free Ii-p33
and Ii-p35 are retained in the ER even in professional APCs, presumably
due to the formation of mixed Ii trimers containing p35 (27). In
addition, there appears to be a requirement for association with class
II
- and ß-chains for efficient egress of Ii out of the ER,
presumably due to the masking of the ER-retention motif in Ii-p35 (26, 39). Once assembled,
ßI complexes containing Ii-p35 efficiently
leave the ER and traffic through the secretory pathway into the TGN. In
the TGN, it is likely that
ßI complexes containing Ii-p35 are
segregated from
ßI complexes containing Ii-p33, as class II
molecules associated with Ii-p33 can arrive in endosomes following a
pathway including transient passage through the plasma membrane and
internalization (10, 11, 12). By contrast, class II molecules associated
with Ii-p35 do not transit through the plasma membrane en route to the
endocytic pathway, but instead follow a strictly intracellular route
(12). It is important to note that class II molecules associated with
either isoform of Ii eventually arrive in endocytic Ag processing
compartments, as the degradation product LIP can be readily observed
for each isoform of Ii (12, 40).
During our studies we found that the serine/threonine kinase inhibitor
staurosporine could essentially prevent Ii phosphorylation. Therefore,
staurosporine treatment allowed us to examine the role of
phosphorylation in the intracellular trafficking class II
ßI
complexes in professional APCs. The cysteine protease inhibitor
leupeptin prevents the complete degradation of Ii and stabilizes a
21-kDa LIP fragment and a 10-kDa p10 fragment of Ii that remain stably
associated with class II
ß dimers. The generation of these
fragments can therefore be used to monitor the arrival of class II
molecules in endocytic Ag processing compartments (1, 34, 41). In
pulse-chase biosynthetic labeling studies performed in the presence or
the absence of staurosporine, we repeatedly found a marked diminution
in the amount of LIP associated with class II molecules at each time
point. To formally rule out the possibility that decreased leupeptin
uptake could account for the decrease in LIP generation in
staurosporine-treated cells, we preloaded cells with leupeptin before
the pulse-chase studies. Once again, we found a dramatic decrease in
the amount of LIP generated in staurosporine-treated cells.
Following Ii (and CLIP) dissociation from class II molecules in Ag
processing compartments, antigenic peptides bind to class II
ß
dimers and induce an SDS-stable conformation in a subpopulation of
class II molecules (reviewed in Refs. 1 and 2). As another indicator of
class II trafficking to endosomal compartments, we assayed the rate of
SDS-stable
ß dimer formation in pulse-chase studies. As
anticipated, the rate of SDS-stable dimer formation was significantly
delayed in staurosporine-treated cells, indicating that peptide loading
onto class II molecules was inhibited in these cells. Together with
data demonstrating that LIP generation was impaired in
staurosporine-treated cells, the results of these studies are
consistent with the hypothesis that inhibition of Ii phosphorylation
impairs delivery of class II
ßIi complexes to endosomal Ag
processing compartments.
In addition to demonstrating a direct effect on staurosporine on Ii
phosphorylation and subsequent trafficking of the phosphorylated class
II
ßIi complexes to the endocytic pathway, we had to consider
indirect effects of staurosporine on vesicular transport through the
secretory pathway. We did not observe any alteration in the acquisition
of endo H resistance of class I glycoproteins, and 2D-PAGE analysis of
biosynthetically labeled class II molecules did not reveal any obvious
alterations in the rate of sialic acid addition to class II molecules
in staurosporine-treated cells. These studies demonstrate that
staurosporine did not nonspecifically alter the rate of protein
transport out of the ER, through the Golgi apparatus, and into the TGN.
To investigate the possibility that staurosporine was nonspecifically
inhibiting protein transport from the TGN to the endocytic pathway, we
examined the effect of staurosporine on the transport of the reporter
molecule Tac-DMß. This protein is targeted to the endocytic pathway
by recognition of the tyrosine-based sorting signal of the HLA-DM
ß-chain (24). Using the same B-LCL in which we observed profound
inhibition of LIP generation and SDS-stable
ß dimer formation, we
did not observe any alteration in the rate of Tac-DMß degradation in
the presence of staurosporine. We should point out, however, that it is
formally possible that staurosporine inhibits the transport of class II
ßIi complexes to the endocytic pathway in B-LCL by inhibiting the
function of proteins that specifically recognize phosphorylated
leucine-based sorting signals but not tyrosine-based signals.
What is the biochemical consequence of Ii phosphorylation in vivo?
There is evidence that Ii is sequestered into clathrin-coated pits at
the plasma membrane (8) and that delivery of class II
ßIi
complexes to endosomes is impaired in dynamin-deficient cells (42). In
addition, it has been shown that Ii interacts with the
clathrin-associated adaptor molecule AP1 in the TGN and that
recruitment of AP1 onto Golgi membranes in cells overexpressing class
II
ßIi complexes is dependent upon the presence of an intact Ii
cytosolic domain (43). The TGN-associated AP1 molecule, like the plasma
membrane-associated AP2 molecule, has been extensively characterized as
the link between the tyrosine-based sorting signal and clathrin (44).
Recently, both tyrosine-based and leucine-based sorting signals have
been shown to interact with AP1 and AP2 adaptors in vitro (22, 45),
suggesting that sorting of proteins containing either tyrosine-based or
leucine-based signals to the endocytic pathway involves a common
trafficking machinery. In the case of the cation-dependent and
cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptors, phosphorylation of
serine residues adjacent to the leucine-based sorting signals has been
shown to be critical for the recruitment of AP1 adaptors to the Golgi
apparatus (37, 46), and mutation of these serines inhibits lysosomal
enzyme transport in vivo (36, 37). In addition, Arneson and Miller (47)
have shown that multimerization of Ii is required for efficient
endosomal targeting of class II Ii complexes. By analogy with these
results, we believe it likely that phosphorylation of Ii increases the
interaction of the leucine-based signal(s) of Ii with the endosomal
sorting machinery, resulting in more efficient trafficking of class II
ßIi complexes to Ag processing compartments. That the inhibition
of peptide loading onto newly synthesized class II molecules in
staurosporine-treated cells is most evident at early times of chase is
in excellent agreement with this hypothesis, suggesting that the effect
of phosphorylation of Ii is to regulate the kinetics of class II
trafficking to the endocytic pathway.
It is difficult to know whether the selective phosphorylation of Ii-p35 is responsible for the different transport pathways used by class II molecules associated with Ii-p33 or Ii-p35. It is possible that phosphorylation of Ii-p35 results in more efficient recognition by adaptors in the TGN and that these complexes are efficiently sorted by an intracellular route to the endocytic pathway. One might then hypothesize that nonphosphorylated Ii-p35 would behave like Ii-p33 and transport to endosomes via a cell surface intermediate. On the other hand, it is possible that the intracellular transport pathway used by class II molecules associated with Ii-p35 is determined by factors other than phosphorylation, and that phosphorylation simply enhances the recognition of these other signals. Clearly, additional experiments are required to unambiguously identify the mechanism by which Ii phosphorylation regulates intracellular trafficking of MHC class II molecules.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 Abbreviations used in this paper: Ii, invariant chain; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; TGN, trans-Golgi network; B-LCL, B lymphoblastoid cell line; endo H, endoglycosidase H; 2D-PAGE, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; LIP, leupeptin-induced protein. ![]()
Received for publication May 30, 1997. Accepted for publication January 23, 1998.
| References |
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ß heterodimers in endosomes. EMBO J. 11:411.[Medline]
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