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Subunit Immunoreceptor Tyrosine-Based Activation Motif in Signaling of Myeloid High Affinity Fc Receptor for IgG (Fc
RI)1




*
Neil Bogart Memorial Laboratories, Division of Hematology-Oncology, and
Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Department of Pathology, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Research Institute and University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90027; and
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan Jeonbuk, Korea
| Abstract |
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RI aggregation in U937IF cells. Fc
RI cross-linking of U937IF
cells results in the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl, Crkl, and Hef-1,
an increase in the association of Crkl with Cbl via direct SH2 domain
interaction and increased Crkl-Hef-1 binding. Crkl constitutively binds
to the guanine nucleotide-releasing protein, C3G, via direct SH3 domain
binding. Our data show that distinct Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G complexes
exist in myeloid cells, suggesting that these complexes may modulate
distinct signaling events. Anti-Crkl immunoprecipitations demonstrate
that the ITAM-containing
subunit of Fc
RI is induced to form a
complex with the Crkl protein, and Crkl binds to the cytoskeletal
protein, Hef-1. The induced association of Crkl with Cbl, Hef-1, and
Fc
RI
after Fc
RI activation and the constitutive association
between C3G and Crkl provide the first evidence that a
Fc
RI
-Crkl-C3G complex may link ITAM receptors to the activation
of Rap1 in myeloid cells. | Introduction |
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RI)3 and low
affinity receptors (Fc
RII and Fc
RIII). Fc
RI is a membrane
glycoprotein comprised of a ligand-binding
subunit containing C2
class Ig binding domains (2) along with a transmembrane and cytoplasmic
domain consisting of a homodimeric
subunit that contains an
immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) (3). Fc
RI and
Fc
RII are expressed on monocytic cells such as the human histiocytic
lymphoma cell line U937, which has been used as a model to examine
FcR-mediated signal transduction (4, 5, 6, 7). In monocytes and monocytic
cell lines such as U937, IFN-
increases Fc
RI expression by as
much as 20-fold and facilitates the examination of Fc
RI signaling
events (8, 9) leading to activation of the respiratory burst (oxidant
signaling) (4, 5, 6, 7, 10). The mechanisms linking FcRs to activation of
small GTPases and oxidant production are poorly understood but probably
involve adapter proteins and nucleotide exchange proteins. Since Rap1
is involved in the regulation of the respiratory burst response in
myeloid cells and since the adapter protein Crkl via its binding to the
nucleotide exchange protein, C3G, is involved in the regulation of
Rap1, we hypothesized that the Fc
RI signal may involve the Crkl
adapter protein. Using U937 cells differentiated in IFN-
(U937IF
cells) we have proceeded to characterize the involvement of the
Cbl-Crkl, Crkl-Hef-1, and Crkl-C3G interactions in Fc
RI signaling in
the current study. Crkl, or Crk-like protein, is a 38-kDa adapter protein with an N-terminal SH2 domain, two C-terminal SH3 domains, no catalytic function, and a 60% homology to the Crk adapter protein (11). The Crkl SH2 domain shows specificity for YXXP sequences present on the proto-oncoprotein Cbl and the cytoskeleton-associated proteins paxillin, p130 Cas, and Hef-1. The N-terminal Crkl SH3 domain has been found associated with the guanine nucleotide-releasing proteins, C3G and SOS; the proto-oncoprotein Abl; and the Bcr-Abl fusion protein implicated in CML and Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Crkl is tyrosine phosphorylated in Bcr-Abl-transformed cells, suggesting a role in malignant transformation. Crkl is present in a variety of nontransformed cell types, predominantly hemopoietic cells, and interacts with Cbl in T cell (12, 13), B cell (14, 15), and EGF (16) receptor signaling. The Crkl protein has been observed to undergo tyrosine phosphorylation upon cell surface receptor activation, but the physiologic significance of this phosphorylation event is unclear.
The 120-kDa Cbl is a complex adapter protein expressed in hemopoietic
cells and is the cellular homologue of the transforming protein of the
murine Cas NS-1 retrovirus that causes pro-B, pre-B, and myeloid
leukemias in mice (17). It is the mammalian homologue of the
sli-1 gene described in Caenorhabditis elegans as
a negative regulator of Ras in the EGF receptor signaling pathway. Cbl
is known to interact with adapter proteins (e.g., Grb2, Crk, Crkl, and
Nck) that regulate guanine nucleotide exchange factors in mammalian
cells, and Cbl has been implicated in Fc
receptor signaling
(18, 19, 20, 21). In this report we demonstrate the first evidence implicating
Crkl and the Cbl-Crkl, Crkl-Hef-1, and Crkl-C3G interactions in Fc
RI
signaling. Upon Fc
RI stimulation, we observe the tyrosine
phosphorylation of Crkl, Cbl, and Hef-1. We observe the inductive
direct association of Crkl with Cbl and the constitutive direct binding
of C3G with Crkl. The Fc
RI-induced association of Crkl with the
Fc
RI
subunit and Hef-1 provides the first evidence for Crkl and
Hef-1 in Fc
RI signal relay and the first direct evidence for Crkl,
Hef-1, and Abl in
ITAM receptor signaling. The data suggest a model
for regulation of Rap1 in myeloid oxidant signaling.
| Materials and Methods |
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The Fc
RI-specific Abs were provided by Medarex (West Lebanon,
NH). mAb 32.2 was a F(ab')2 IgG specific for Fc
RI, while
mAb 197 was a whole Ab specific for the receptor. The cross-linking Ab
was a rabbit anti-mouse (R
M) F(ab')2 purchased from
Organon Teknika (Durham, NC). Polyclonal anti-Cbl, anti-Crkl,
anti-Grb2, anti-C3G, and anti-SOS Abs were purchased from
Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA). The mAb that recognizes both
p130 CAS and p110 Hef-1 and anti-Grb2 mAb were obtained from
Transduction Laboratories (Lexington, KY). Anti-peptide serum against
the
subunit of Fc
RI (Ab 5927.3) specific for the extreme
C-terminal sequence of the
subunit (i.e., NQETYETLKHEKPPQ) was
used in
immunoblots (4). 4D8 anti-
subunit mAb was provided
by J. Kochan of Hoffmann-La Roche (Nutley, NJ). GST-Crkl (residues
1303), GST-Crkl SH2 (residues 7128), and GST-Crkl SH33 (both SH3
domains in tandem, residues 115303) as previously described by ten
Hoeve et al. (22) were used in precipitations and Far Western blotting.
Cells
The U937 histiocytic lymphoma cell line was obtained from the
American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA) and cultured in RPMI
1640 with 10% FBS. IFN-
-differentiated U937 (U937IF) cells were
prepared by culturing U937 cells in RPMI 1640 with 10% FBS and 250
U/ml human rIFN-
for 5 or 6 days (Genentech, San Francisco, CA).
U937IF cells were maintained at a concentration of 5 x
105 cells/ml, and the medium was replaced with fresh medium
containing IFN-
every 2 or 3 days as previously described (4, 6).
Fc
RI cross-linking of U937IF cells
U937IF cells were collected and washed in cold HBSS and adjusted
to a concentration of 4 x 107/ml. mAbs against
Fc
RI were used to activate the cells. Cells (2 x
107) in 0.5 ml of RPMI were incubated on ice for 30 min
with 0.25 µg/sample of the anti-Fc
RI (F(ab')2) Ab,
mAb 32.2, or whole Ab, mAb 197. We then added the secondary R
M Ab at
a concentration of 10 µg/ml and incubated the cells at 37°C
for different times. The addition of the secondary Ab at 37°C was
considered the start of stimulation with rapid cooling by the addition
of an equal volume of cold HBSS at the stop time. For PMA (Sigma, St.
Louis, MO) stimulation of cells we added PMA at 0.01 µmol to 2
x 107 cells for 5 min followed by rapid cooling by
addition of cold HBSS. Samples were then centrifuged at 500 x
g in a refrigerated centrifuge for 5 min, and the
supernatant was quickly aspirated. Cells were lysed in 800 µl of
Triton X-100 extraction buffer on ice for 30 min followed by
centrifugation at 15,000 x g for 30 min.
Immunoprecipitations or GST fusion protein pull-downs were performed as
described below.
Immunoprecipitation
Cell lysates were prepared in extraction buffer containing 1% Triton X-100, 10 mM Tris (pH 7.6), 50 mM NaCl, 0.1% BSA, 1 mM PMSF, 1% aprotinin, 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM NaF, 0.1% 2-ME, 5 µM phenylarsine oxide, and 100 µM sodium orthovanadate. Lysates were cleared by centrifugation at 15,000 x g at 4°C for 30 min. To precipitate Cbl, Crkl, Grb2, C3G, and SOS, we added 1 µg of the polyclonal anti-Cbl, Crkl, Grb2, C3G, or SOS antisera to these lysates. After a 2-h incubation on ice, 30 µl of a 10% suspension of formalin-fixed Staphylococcus aureus (Pansorbin, Calbiochem, La Jolla, CA) was added to the immunoprecipitates and incubated for another hour on ice. The adsorbed immune complexes were washed three times with extraction buffer. We resuspended the samples in 25 µl of sample buffer, heated these samples at 98°C for 5 min, and resolved proteins using SDS-PAGE.
Electrophoresis and immunoblotting
Immunoprecipitates and whole cell lysates were resolved on 15% acrylamide-0.193% bisacrylamide gels by SDS-PAGE (6). Proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose filters (1 mA-h/cm2) using a dry transfer system (Ellard, Seattle, WA) (4). The blot was incubated with a blocking solution (10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 150 mM NaCl, 5% powdered milk, and Tween-20) at room temperature for 1 h and incubated with specific Ab at room temperature for 2 h with continuous agitation. After three washes in rinse solution (10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) and 150 mM NaCl), the membranes were incubated at room temperature for 1 h with secondary anti-mouse Ab conjugated with horseradish peroxidase for enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL kit, Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL) or conjugated with alkaline phosphatase for colorimetric development. Immunoblotting with polyclonal anti-C3G, anti-SOS, anti-Cbl, and anti-Crkl antisera was performed on sectioned portions of the monoclonal anti-Tyr(p) blot with detection using the ECL system.
In vitro GST fusion protein precipitations
Cell lysates were prepared as described above followed by precipitation with GST fusion proteins. Ten micrograms of GST fusion protein was preincubated with 50 µl of extraction buffer washed glutathione-Sepharose beads (glutathione-Sepharose 4B, Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, NJ) for 1 h and added to each lysate for 2 h. Beads were washed three times with ice-cold extraction buffer. Samples were resuspended in 25 µl of sample buffer and heated at 98°C for 5 min before proteins were separated using SDS-PAGE. Western blots were performed as described above.
Far Western assays
Immunoprecipitations with anti-Crkl Ab were performed as described above. Far Western assays were performed as follows. Nitrocellulose membranes were blocked with 25 mM sodium phosphate, 150 mM NaCl, 0.1% Tween-20, 2.5 mM EDTA, 20 mM NaF, and 1 mM DTT (Far Western binding buffer) in 2% nonfat milk at 4°C for 1 h. Membranes were washed with 137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 10 mM Na2HPO4, 1.8 mM KH2PO4, and 1 mM DTT (PBS-T). Membranes were incubated with 2 µg/ml of GST fusion proteins in Far Western binding buffer and 2% nonfat milk overnight at 4°C, washed with PBS-T, then incubated with anti-GST Ab (1/1000) at room temperature for 2 h. Membranes were washed with PBS-T, incubated with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated rabbit anti-mouse Ab in Far Western binding buffer and 2% nonfat milk at room temperature for 2 h, and developed using the ECL system.
| Results |
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RI-stimulated U937IF cells
To determine whether Cbl is involved in Fc
RI signaling, we
compared the phosphotyrosine pattern of Cbl immunoprecipitated from
resting and Fc
RI-stimulated U937IF cells. We stimulated U937IF cells
with anti-Fc
RI mAb (32.2, F(ab')2). The 120-kDa Cbl
displays a basal level of tyrosine phosphorylation in resting cells
(Fig. 1
, lane 2), and the
intensity of phosphorylation increased within 1 min of receptor
aggregation (lane 5), peaked in intensity by 510
min (lanes 6 and 7), and began to
disappear by 30 min (lane 9) of Fc
RI stimulation.
An additional, slower migrating, less intense Tyr(p) band appeared upon
receptor activation and followed a similar pattern of inducible
phosphorylation as the 120-kDa band. Both Tyr(p) bands were
immunoreactive with anti-Cbl Ab, consistent with the presence of
Cbl and its slower migrating isoform (18, 19, 20). It was interesting to
note that the mobility-shifted Cbl isoform present after receptor
activation was also seen in PMA-stimulated cells (Fig. 1
, anti-Cbl
blot, lane 3). Under these stimulation conditions, Cbl is
dephosphorylated (Fig. 1
, anti-Tyr(p) blot, compare lane
2 with lane 3).
|
RI stimulation
The results in Fig. 1
, upper panel, demonstrate that
Cbl undergoes increased tyrosine phosphorylation upon Fc
RI
aggregation. Cbl immunoprecipitates probed with anti-Crkl
antiserum revealed that a small amount of Crkl was associated with Cbl
in resting cells, with a marked increased Crkl-Cbl binding noted within
the first 10 s to 1 min of Fc
RI stimulation (five- to sixfold
increase; Fig. 1
, lanes 4 and 5). Crkl-Cbl
binding peaked by 510 min of receptor stimulation (Fig. 1
, lanes 6 and 7) and appeared to be kinetically related
to the phosphorylation of Cbl (Fig. 1
, lanes 47). By
2030 min after Fc
RI stimulation the Crkl-Cbl association began to
decrease, paralleling the dephosphorylation of Cbl (Fig. 1
, lanes
8 and 9). PMA stimulation resulted in a slight decrease
in the resting association of Crkl with Cbl and correlated with the
dephosphorylation of Cbl (Fig. 1
, lane 3). We interpret
these data to suggest that the Cbl-Crkl interaction is dependent upon
the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl.
To provide additional support for the presence of a Cbl-Crkl
interaction in myeloid cells and to implicate this adapter complex in
Fc
RI signaling, we performed reciprocal immunoprecipitations with
Crkl antisera in resting and Fc
RI-stimulated U937IF cells (Fig. 2
, A and B).
Similar to the data shown in Fig. 1
, we observed a basal level of
tyrosine-phosphorylated Cbl in the Crkl immunoprecipitated from resting
cells (Fig. 2
, A and B, lane 2). Within 10 s
of Fc
RI stimulation a marked increase was seen in amount of
tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins bound to Crkl (Fig. 2
A,
compare lane 2 with lane 4). Cbl immunoblotting
confirmed the identity of one of these proteins as p120 Cbl (Fig. 2
B, anti-Cbl blot). Coprecipitation of Cbl with Crkl
peaked by 5 min (Fig. 2
B, anti-Cbl blot, lane
6) and gradually lessened by 20 min of receptor activation,
correlating with the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl (lane
9). PMA stimulation resulted in the decreased tyrosine
phosphorylation of Cbl and a decreased amount of Cbl associated with
Crkl compared with Crkl precipitations performed on resting cells (Fig. 2
, A and B, lane 3). The induced
tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl and Crkl and the augmented Cbl-Crkl
interaction that follows Fc
RI stimulation implicate Cbl and Crkl in
Fc
RI signaling.
|
RI stimulation induces Crkl tyrosine phosphorylation
Previous reports demonstrate Crkl tyrosine phosphorylation in
Bcr/Abl-transformed cells (23). Anti-Tyr(p) immunoblots of the Crkl
precipitations demonstrated an immunoreactive band migrating at 38 kDa,
of which the intensity increased with Fc
RI activation (Fig. 2
A, anti-Tyr(p) blot). Immunoblot analysis with
polyclonal anti-Crkl Ab demonstrated that the Tyr(p) band directly
superimposed with a slower migrating form of Crkl (compare
anti-Tyr(p) blot of Fig. 2
A with anti-Crkl blots of
Fig. 2
B). Previous experiments have shown that the slower
migrating form of Crkl represents the tyrosine-phosphorylated protein,
whereas the more rapidly migrating form consists of nonphosphorylated
Crkl (23). Crkl immunoprecipitates demonstrate increasing tyrosine
phosphorylation that peaked 5 min after Fc
RI stimulation (Fig. 2
A, lane 6), which corresponded to the induction of the
slower migrating Crkl isoforms. Interestingly, the mobility-shifted
Crkl isoform described above in Crkl immunoprecipitates was not
observed to coimmunoprecipitate with Cbl or C3G (Fig. 1
, lanes
29; Fig. 3
, compare lanes 8and 9 to lanes 2, 3,
10, and 11, anti-Crkl blots).
|
It has been suggested that the Crkl-C3G interaction serves to
activate Rap1 during receptor engagement. In contrast, the function of
the Crkl-Cbl interaction is less clear. Our Crkl immunoprecipitates
demonstrated the coprecipitation of Crkl with both Cbl and C3G (Fig. 2
B, lanes 2 and 49; Fig. 4
, lanes 6 and 7).
We designed a series of experiments to determine whether the Cbl-Crkl
and Crkl-C3G protein complexes were distinct. Although Crkl was
detected in Cbl precipitations, we were unable to detect C3G in the
same immunoprecipitates (Fig. 3
, lanes 2 and 3).
Similarly, C3G immunoprecipitates demonstrated Crkl, but no Cbl could
be detected (Fig. 3
A, lanes 10 and
11); however, we could show trimolecular complexes
consisting of Crkl, Cbl, and Grb2 using the same methods (Fig. 3
A, lanes 8 and 9). Crkl precipitation
following the immunodepletion of Cbl demonstrated that the
immunodepletion of Cbl occurs with no decrease in the amount of C3G
complexed with Crkl, providing additional support for the argument that
Cbl-Crkl-C3G complexes are not present to a significant extent in vivo
(data not shown). GST fusion protein pull-down experiments demonstrate
that the full-length Crkl protein binds both Cbl and C3G (Fig. 4
A, lanes 3 and 4). The Crkl-SH2
domain binds to Cbl, and the Crkl-SH3 domain binds C3G in U937IF cell
lysates (Fig. 4
A, lanes 58). Far Western
immunoblotting with full-length Crkl-GST fusion proteins demonstrated
direct Crkl binding to Cbl and C3G (Fig. 4
B, lanes
1 and 2), that the Crkl-SH2 domain binds directly to
Cbl (Fig. 4B
, lanes 3 and 4), and that the
Crkl-SH3 domain binds directly to C3G in myeloid cell lysates (Fig. 4
B, lanes 5 and 6). Consistent with
our other data, Fc
RI stimulation is noted to induce more
Cbl-Crkl-SH2 binding in Far Western (Fig. 4
B) and
coimmunoprecipitation experiments (Fig. 3
, compare lanes 8
and 9). The data above provide evidence for a direct
interaction between Cbl and the Crkl-SH2 domain and between C3G and the
Crkl-SH3 motif, and support a model for the mutually exclusive
interaction between Cbl and Crkl vs Crkl and C3G in myeloid cells.
|
Crkl immunoprecipitates probed with antiphosphotyrosine Ab
revealed a prominent phosphoprotein migrating at 110120 kDa (Fig. 2
A, lanes 7 and 8) identified as Cbl
(Fig. 2
B). We probed anti-Crkl immunoprecipitates with
Abs against Cbl, Hef-1, and c-Abl kinase (Fig. 5
). These data demonstrate that Crkl
binds to Cbl, Hef-1, and Abl in myeloid cells (Fig. 5
, lanes
29). The Crkl-Abl interaction is constitutive, with slightly
increased binding occurring after 20- to 30-min stimulation (Fig. 5
, lanes 8 and 9). The Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-Hef-1
interactions are constitutive but inducible upon Fc
RI stimulation.
The induced associations between Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-Hef-1 correlate with
the augmented tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl and Hef-1, respectively.
In the Crkl immunoprecipitate it is clear that the kinetics of Cbl
tyrosine phosphorylation differ from those of the Fc
RI-induced
phosphorylation of Hef-1, in that Hef-1 tyrosine phosphorylation and
Hef-1-Crkl binding are later events occurring 2030 min following
Fc
RI cross-linking (Fig. 5
, lanes 79). The tyrosine
phosphorylation of Cbl and the induced Cbl-Crkl interaction is an
earlier event, peaking 15 min after receptor engagement (Figs. 1
and 5
, lanes 26). The data provide the first evidence for a
role for Hef-1 and Abl in Fc
RI signaling.
|
subunit of Fc
RI is complexed with Crkl after receptor
aggregation
We previously reported that Fc
RI signals through a homodimeric
subunit containing an ITAM (4). It is possible that this
subunit signaling complex may bind to downstream signaling molecules
such as Crkl to activate the small GTPase, Rap1. To test this
hypothesis we immunoprecipitated Crkl and probed these
immunoprecipitates for the presence of
subunit protein. The
subunit of the Fc
RI (Fc
RI
) coprecipitated with Crkl (Fig. 6
A,
blot) in an inducible
and transient manner after receptor activation. There was some
constitutive binding of the
subunit to Crkl-containing complexes in
cells at rest (Fig. 6
A, lane 2), followed by an
inducible increase with receptor stimulation that peaked by 1 min
(three- to fivefold increase; Fig. 6
A, lane
5). PMA stimulation resulted in a decrease in the amount of
the
subunit coprecipitated with Crkl (Fig. 6
A,
lane 3), with no change in the amount of Crkl
immunoprecipitated (Fig. 6
A, lane 3, Crkl blot).
Preimmune antisera did not immunoprecipitate Crkl, Cbl, or the
subunit in resting cell lysates. Peptide blocking experiments were
performed on identical parallel anti-Crkl immunoprecipitates with a
peptide (NQETYETLKHEKPPQ; Fig. 6
B) specific for the
5927.3 anti-
subunit Ab (4). The
subunit-specific bands
shown to coimmunoprecipitate with Crkl antisera (Fig. 6
B,
lanes 14) were completely blocked by preincubation of
blotting Ab with the
subunit-specific peptide (Fig. 6
B,
lanes 69) and confirmed the identity and the specificity
of the coprecipitating receptor complexes. From these data we
conclude that Crkl binds to the Fc
RI
subunit in aggregated
Fc
RI complexes.
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| Discussion |
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-IFN (U937IF) as a model system to study oxidant
signaling (4, 5, 6, 7). The Crkl-C3G interaction has been implicated in the
control of Rap1 (15), and the conversion of Rap1 to its GTP-bound state
has been shown to regulate the activity of the NADPH oxidase complex in
myeloid cells (24). We reported that the detection of superoxide anion
production following Fc
RI stimulation of U937IF cells with 32.2
anti-Fc
RI cross-linking begins 1 min after receptor
cross-linking is initiated (4, 5, 6, 7). The goal of the experiments reported
herein was to characterize the upstream signaling events associated
with the activation of Fc
RI that may lead to the activation of Rap1.
We hypothesized roles for Crkl, Cbl, and C3G in Fc
RI oxidant
signaling. Herein we present evidence that the Fc
RI
subunit
associates with Crkl and that Crkl-Cbl and Crkl-C3G interactions are
involved in Fc
RI signal transduction in myeloid cells. The
demonstration of Crkl-Cbl (13, 25, 26, 27) and Crkl-C3G (13, 28)
interactions in other signaling pathways suggests a potential role for
Crkl in linking Cbl with C3G in myeloid cells. The association of C3G
with Rap1 (15, 29) and that of Rap1 with the NADPH oxidase complex (24, 30) suggest that Crkl may link Fc
RI stimulation with the generation
of the respiratory burst (4, 5). Herein, we present data directly
implicating Crkl in the Fc
RI signaling pathway through its
association with Cbl or C3G, Hef-1, and the ITAM-containing Fc
RI
subunit.
Cell surface receptor aggregation activates intracytoplasmic signals
through assembly of adapter protein complexes at the plasma membrane,
which serves to localize nucleotide exchange proteins, SOS, C3G, etc.
Recent data from our laboratory suggest that Grb2 binds to the complex
adapter protein, Cbl, and that this interaction may participate in
Fc
RI signaling and the activation of Ras (21). Our data and those of
Rellahan et al. and Buday et al. are consistent with an "adapter
shield" exchange function for Cbl as it relates to the control of
Grb2-SOS interaction (21, 31, 32). Unlike the Cbl-Grb2 interaction that
occurs without Fc
RI stimulation, the Cbl-Crkl interaction is
primarily induced (Figs. 1
, 2
, and 5
, A and B).
Reciprocal precipitations with Crkl- and Cbl-specific antisera confirm
that Crkl inducibly associates with phosphorylated Cbl after Fc
RI
cross-linking in U937IF cells (Fig. 1
and 2
, A and
B), an interaction we also reproducibly found in the THP1
myeloid cell line (data not shown). Our data demonstrate increasing
amounts of Crkl that associate with Cbl through SH2 domain interactions
during the first 30 min of receptor activation, paralleling Cbl
phosphorylation. The baseline phosphorylation of Cbl in resting U937IF
cells also occurs in THP1 cells and primary macrophages derived from
human bone marrow and is probably not due to transformation of our cell
lines or an effect of IFN-
(our unpublished observations).
Inducible phosphorylation of Cbl is also seen following activation of
other receptors such as TCR (13, 33, 34), BCR (14, 35), EGF receptor
(16, 36, 37, 38), erythropoietin receptor (39), granulocyte-macrophage CSF
receptor (39), and thrombopoietin receptor (40). Crkl associates with
Cbl in TCR, BCR, and EGF receptor signaling (14, 15, 16, 41), interactions
that appear to be dependent on Cbl phosphorylation and possible SH2
interactions. Crkl SH2 association with Cbl is consistent with the
findings of others in Bcr-Abl- and v-Abl-transformed
cells (13, 25, 26, 27). Boussiotis et al. have implicated Cbl tyrosine
phosphorylation and Cbl-Crkl interaction as activators of Rap1 in T
cells (42). Their data suggest that the Cbl-Crkl-C3G-Rap1 suppresses
TCR activation in T cells and may be responsible for T cell anergy.
In addition to Crkl SH2-Cbl domain interactions, evidence from
several laboratories suggests the presence of SH3 domain-mediated
Crkl-C3G and Crk-C3G interactions that potentially modulate the
exchange of Rap1-GDP to Rap1-GTP (12, 13, 15, 28, 29, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47).
Constitutive Crkl SH3-C3G complexes are observed in U937 cells,
consistent with Crkl performing a role in linking SH2 binding proteins
such as Cbl with downstream SH3 domain binding nucleotide exchange
proteins. Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G complexes appear prominently in our
immunoprecipitations, which also demonstrate Crkl-Cbl-Grb2 ternary
complexes but no appreciable Cbl-Crkl-C3G complexes, arguing for a
lower stability or an absence of ternary complexes consisting of Crkl,
Cbl, and C3G. In activated Jurkat T cells small amounts of C3G
coimmunoprecipitate with Cbl (13), suggesting that Cbl-Crkl-C3G
complexes may potentially form after TCR activation, while in Jurkat T
cells overexpressing Cbl more C3G coimmunoprecipitates with Cbl (13).
Our Cbl immunodepletion experiments support the argument that the
Cbl-Crkl interaction is distinct from the Crkl-C3G interaction (data
not shown). We propose that Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G complexes may
differentially form after Fc
RI activation to sequentially link
receptor activation with downstream activation of Rap1. These
observations are similar to our results (21) and the data reported by
Rellahan et al. supporting an exchange function for Cbl in regulation
of Grb2-SOS interaction (32). The ability of Cbl to bind to Crkl or
Grb2 with potential downstream signaling via SOS-Ras or C3G-Rap1
interactions suggests potential cooperative signaling between the Ras
and Rap1 pathways after Fc
RI stimulation and that Cbl may
coordinately regulate Ras and Rap1 pathways through interactions with
Grb2 and Crkl, respectively, in the cell.
The tyrosine phosphorylation of Crkl has previously been observed in
Bcr/Abl-transformed leukemia cells (23) and under conditions of BCR and
ß1 integrin stimulation (48). We observed the tyrosine
phosphorylation of Crkl after Fc
RI activation, similar to that seen
when Crkl is phosphorylated on tyrosine by the Bcr-Abl and Abl kinases
(23). The phosphorylated fraction of Crkl in our experiments and in
Bcr/Abl-transformed cells is mobility shifted (Figs. 2
B and
4), and the slower migrating phosphorylated Crkl isoform is not
detected in our Cbl and C3G immunoprecipitations (Fig. 3
, compare
lanes 8 and 9 to lanes 2,
3, 10, and 11). The physiologic
significance of Crkl tyrosine phosphorylation is unknown. The
phosphorylation of Crkl after Fc
RI cross-linking may serve to
negatively regulate its interaction with Cbl and/or C3G via an
intramolecular interaction similar to what has been suggested for Crk,
since this isoform is not associated with these molecules in vivo. In
contrast, we (23) recently demonstrated that mutating Y207, such that
it cannot be phosphorylated by Bcr-Abl, does not enhance or decrease
the association of Crkl with C3G, SOS, or Cbl. The further analysis of
regulated Crkl phosphorylation following Fc
RI stimulation in the
non-Bcr/Abl-transformed U937IF cell line or normal macrophages may
provide insight into the significance of Crkl phosphorylation and
dephosphorylation in a nontransformed setting.
We sought direct evidence that Crkl is involved in Fc
RI signaling.
If Crkl participates in Fc
RI signaling, we postulated that the Crkl
protein may be recruited to this receptor complex. Crkl
immunoprecipitates probed with anti-Fc
RI
-specific antisera
revealed coassociation between Crkl and the
subunit, a result that
was confirmed in our peptide inhibition studies (Fig. 6
, A
and B). Unlike the direct binding of full-length Crkl to Cbl
and C3G seen in Fig. 4
B, experiments performed with
identical Crkl fusion proteins on
subunit immunoprecipitates failed
to demonstrate direct binding of Crkl to Fc
RI
(data not shown).
Possible candidates for binding to the
subunit and Crkl include
phosphorylated Cbl and Syk, both upstream effectors of the Fc
R
signal transduction pathway. Our laboratory has previously reported
that the nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinase, Syk, is tyrosine
phosphorylated with increased kinase activity and associates with the
Fc
RI
subunit after receptor cross-linking (5). Ota and Samelson
reported that Cbl is a potential negative regulator of Syk kinase in
Fc
RI signaling in mast cells (49). The coprecipitation of the
subunit with Crkl suggests that Cbl may serve to link Crkl to the
ITAM-containing
subunit, possibly after its phosphorylation by the
Syk kinase. This would then provide a mechanism for the suppression of
Syk kinase by Cbl. The inductive association of Crkl with the Fc
RI
subunit provides the first direct evidence that this adapter
protein may play a role in ITAM-mediated receptor signaling in myeloid
cells.
The recruitment of the nucleotide exchange factors, SOS and C3G,
to adapter proteins and the localization of SOS and C3G to the plasma
membrane where they can contact and activate the small GTPases Ras and
Rap1 lead to the propagation of downstream signal transduction
including the generation of superoxide anions in myeloid cells (24).
Other data from our laboratory support a role for Crk and Crkl in
integrin signaling pathways involving adhesion and motility responses
(50). Our results demonstrate that Crkl interacts in myeloid cells with
Hef-1 and Abl kinase, suggesting that other functions for Crkl probably
exist in myeloid cells. The Crkl-Abl interaction we observed is
consistent with other data from our laboratory that it occurs in a
constitutive manner through the Crkl-SH3 domain, whereas the Crkl-Hef-1
interaction is induced by Fc
RI stimulation (Fig. 5
, lanes
79) driven through the Crkl-SH2 domain (unpublished observation)
(50). Interestingly, the Crkl-Hef-1 interaction is induced as a late
event following Fc
RI cross-linking compared with the rapid
on-loading of Crkl to Cbl that occurs within 1 min of stimulation (Fig. 1
, lane 5, and Fig. 2
, lanes 5 and 6).
The binding of Crkl to Hef-1 occurs at a time when the Crkl-Cbl
interaction is decreasing and correlates with the augmented tyrosine
phosphorylation of Hef-1 (Fig. 5
, lanes 79). In addition
to increased Crkl-Hef-1 interaction, we observed a small increase in
Abl binding to Crkl under conditions of Fc
RI stimulation (Fig. 5
, lanes 79). These data constitute the first evidence that
Hef-1 and Abl are involved in ITAM signal relay and suggest alternative
functions for Crkl in Fc
RI signaling. Moreover, the data support the
concept that Fc
RI activation leads to a cascade of signaling events
involving Cbl, Crkl, Hef-1, and C3G that potentially leads to the
activation of Rap1 and the generation of the respiratory burst in
myeloid cells. Alternatively, the activation of Rap1 may suppress Ras
and Rac and negatively regulate oxidant signaling and other phenotypic
responses in myeloid cells. Recent evidence suggests that Ras can
activate the Rac pathway, suggesting a potential link between Ras and
the NADPH oxidase system (24, 51, 52). This suggests a potential role
for SOS-Ras-Rac interactions in the generation of the respiratory burst
in addition to C3G-Rap1 interactions. We propose a model in which
initially Src family kinases phosphorylate the ITAM of the
subunit
(6, 53) that recruits and activates Syk kinase (3, 5, 54, 55), which,
in turn, binds to and phosphorylates a number of substrates, including
Cbl, Shc, Crkl, and Hef-1 (10, 14, 20, 21). Other data from our
laboratory have confirmed that the Fc
RI signals through these
adapter proteins to activate Ras (10, 56) (unpublished observation). We
postulate that the phosphorylation of Cbl and Hef-1 is followed by
increased Cbl-Crkl and Hef-1-Crkl interactions in receptor aggregates
that sequentially lead to the downstream activation of Rap1 via
Crkl-C3G binding. The Hef-1-Crkl interaction may provide an as yet
unknown connection between Rap1 and the cytoskeletal compartment
participating in the orchestration of oxidant signaling events in
adherent macrophages. Studies are ongoing with mutant forms of
Crkl, Cbl, and Rap1 to test this two-step model for the
functional involvement of distinct Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G-Rap1
interactions in Fc
RI-induced signaling.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Donald L. Durden, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, M/S #57, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027. E-mail address: ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: Fc
RI, high affinity Fc receptor for IgG; Fc
RII, low affinity Fc receptor for IgG; Fc
RIII, low affinity Fc receptor for IgG; ITAM, immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif; SH2, Src-homology 2 domain; SH3, Src-homology 3 domain; EGF, epidermal growth factor; GST, glutathione S-transferase; R
M, rabbit anti-mouse Ab; ECL, enhanced chemiluminescence; Tyr(p), phosphotyrosine; PBS-T, 137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 10 mM Na2HPO4, 1.8 mM KH2PO4, and 1 mM dithithreitol; NADPH, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase system; BCR, B cell receptor. ![]()
Received for publication April 23, 1998. Accepted for publication July 13, 1998.
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