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Centre de Recherche en Rhumatologie et Immunologie, Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec (CHUQ), Pavillon Centre Hospitalier de lUniversite Laval (CHUL), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Serine and threonine phosphorylations are also involved in activated neutrophils. For example, p47phox, which is one of the five core components of the NADPH oxidase complex, is extensively phosphorylated on serine residues following activation of the complex (31). These serine residues have been mapped, and their phosphorylation is essential for membrane translocation and activation of the NADPH oxidase. Furthermore, serine/threonine phosphatases are involved in the deactivation of NADPH oxidase, as illustrated by the enhancement of O2- production in FMLP-activated neutrophils treated with inhibitors of serine-threonine phosphatases (32, 33).
Okadaic acid and calyculin are two potent inhibitors of type 1 and type 2A (PP1 and PP2A) serine/threonine phosphatases that have been exploited to provide evidence for an interplay between serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation signaling pathways in several cell types. In platelets, okadaic acid drastically inhibits thrombin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation and platelet aggregation (34). In several lymphoid cell lines, calyculin A induces dephosphorylation of tyrosine phosphorylated p130cas (35). In neutrophils, Brumell and Grinstein (36) showed that tyrosine phosphorylation is a necessary upstream event in the activation of two serine/threonine kinases PK65 and PK72. Furthermore, okadaic acid has been reported to enhance the increase in tyrosine phosphorylation observed in response to CD32 cross-linking (37) and to decrease the responses to PMA in LPS-primed neutrophils (38).
The aim of our study was to investigate the cross-talk between the serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation signaling pathways in human neutrophils. We examined the direct effects of serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitors on the patterns of neutrophil serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation as well as their effects on the responses elicited by CD32 cross-linking. Distinct time-dependent effects of serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitors were observed. Short-term treatment with calyculin induced transient increases in the tyrosine phosphorylation of a limited number of substrates including Cbl and Syk. On the other hand, longer incubation times with the inhibitors resulted in an inhibition of the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl and of the mobilization of calcium and in an increase in the superoxide production stimulated by the cross-linking of CD32. These effects were accompanied by a phosphorylation of Cbl on serine/threonine residues leading to a marked retardation of its electrophoretic mobility.
| Materials and Methods |
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The enhanced chemiluminescence (Renaissance) reagents used for Western blotting and [32P]orthophosphate (NEX053H) were purchased from DuPont Pharmaceuticals (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada). Calyculin was purchased from Biomol (Plymouth Meeting, PA) and okadaic acid from Kamiya Biomedical (Seattle, WA). Diisopropylfluorophosphate and cytochrome c were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (Oakville, Ontario, Canada). Dextran, Sephadex G-10, and protein A-Sepharose were obtained from Pharmacia (Baie dUrfé, Quebec, Canada). Ficoll and the Mg2+-free HBSS were obtained from Wisent Canadian Laboratories (St. Bruno, Quebec, Canada). Alkaline phosphatase was purchased from Promega (Madison, WI).
Antibodies
F(ab')2 fragments of Abs IV.3 (hybridoma obtained from American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA) were prepared essentially as described in the Pierce catalog (Rockford, IL). Briefly, the Abs were digested with pepsin (as pepsin beads) and intact Abs were eliminated by adding protein A and protein G beads. The integrity of the F(ab') 2 fragments was verified by their ability to label intact human neutrophils as determined by flow cytometry. Affinity-purified F(ab')2 fragment goat anti-mouse IgG, F(ab')2 fragment-specific (115-006-072), and peroxidase-labeled anti-mouse or anti-rabbit IgG Abs were obtained from Jackson ImmunoResearch (West Grove, PA). The anti-phosphotyrosine Ab (UBI 05-321, clone 4G10) was purchased from Upstate Biotechnology (Lake Placid, NY); the polyclonal anti-Cbl Ab (sc-170) was obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA). The polyclonal anti-phosphothreonine Ab (71 8200) was obtained from Zymed (Inter Medico, Markham, Ontario, Canada). The polyclonal anti-phosphoserine (AB1603) and the monoclonal anti-Syk (MAB88906) Abs were obtained from Chemicon International (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada). The anti-CD32 polyclonal Ab against the cytoplasmic tail of CD32 was generated in our laboratory as described previously (39).
Neutrophil purification
Neutrophils were obtained from healthy adult volunteers as described previously (8). Neutrophils were resuspended at a concentration of 40 x 106 cells/ml in HBSS containing calcium (1.6 mM). Before stimulation, the neutrophil suspensions were always incubated with 1 mM di-isopropylfluorophosphate for 10 min at room temperature.
Cell stimulation and lysis
Neutrophils were incubated with 10-6 M calyculin or the diluent DMSO (final concentration, 0.1%) at 37°C for the time indicated. Cross-linking of CD32 was accomplished by the addition of F(ab') 2 goat anti-mouse F(ab')2 fragments (cross-linker Ab; final concentration, 25 µg/ml) for 1 min, or for the times indicated, to neutrophil suspensions previously preincubated for 5 min at 37°C with 2.5 µg/ml of the F(ab')2 fragment of Ab IV.3.
For the determination of the phosphorylation patterns in whole cells, 80 µl of the cell suspensions was directly transferred to tubes containing an equal volume of boiling 2x Laemmlis sample buffer (1x is 62.5 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 4% SDS, 5% 2-ME, 8.5% glycerol, 2.5 mM orthovanadate, 10 mM paranitro-phenylphosphate, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, 10 µg/ml aprotinin, and 0.025% bromophenol blue) and boiled for 7 min.
For immunoprecipitations, cell lysates were prepared under reducing
conditions as described previously (40). Briefly, 500 µl
of the cell suspensions was added to an equal volume of 2x denaturing
lysis buffer (1x is 62.5 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 3% SDS, 1.5%
-ME,
8.5% glycerol, 2.5 mM orthovanadate, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, 10 µg/ml
aprotinin, and 0.025% bromophenol blue) and boiled for 7 min.
Cell labeling
The cells were centrifuged, washed once in loading buffer [150 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 10 mM glucose, and 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.4)] and resuspended at 40 x 106 cells/ml in the same buffer containing 0.4 mCi/ml of 32P-labeled phosphoric acid. After 1 h at 37°C, DMSO or calyculin was added for 30 min. The reactions were stopped by washing the radioactive cell suspensions twice with HBSS and mixing them with the same volume of boiling denaturing lysis buffer for immunoprecipitation as described above.
Immunoprecipitation
Lysates prepared as described above were filtered through Sephadex G-10 columns to remove the denaturing and the reducing agents, then Nonidet P-40, BSA, orthovanadate, aprotinin, and leupeptin (final concentrations, 1%, 0.005%, 2 mM, 10 µg/ml, and 10 µg/ml, respectively) were added. Lysates were incubated for 90 min with anti-Cbl or anti-Syk Abs previously bound to protein A-Sepharose prepared as follows: 1 µg of anti-Cbl Ab or 1 µg of anti-Syk Ab or 5 µg of anti-CD32 Ab was incubated with 50 µl of a 30% slurry of protein A-Sepharose for 1 h at 4°C with constant end-over-end mixing. This complex was washed once in washing buffer (62.5 mM Tris (pH 6.8), 1% Nonidet P-40, 1% glycerol, 2 mM orthovanadate, 10 µg/ml aprotinin, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, 137 mM NaCl, and 0.001% BSA) and added to the lysates for immunoprecipitation. The agarose beads were then collected, and an aliquot of the supernatant was kept for electrophoretic analysis. The beads were washed five times with the same washing buffer. A total of 40 µl of 2x sample buffer was added and the immunoprecipitates were boiled for 7 min.
Electrophoresis and immunoblotting
Samples were fractionated on 7.5%20% SDS-polyacrylamide gel gradients. Proteins were then transferred onto Immobilon polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes (Millipore, Bedford, MA). Immunoblotting was performed as follows: nonspecific sites were blocked using either 1% fatty acid-free BSA (for antiphosphothreonine blotting) or 2% gelatin (for all other Abs) in TBS-Tween (25 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.8), 190 mM NaCl, and 0.15% Tween 20) for 30 min at 37°C. The first Abs, either monoclonal anti-phosphotyrosine Ab (1/4000, final dilution) or polyclonal anti-Cbl Ab (0.1 µg/ml, final concentration), or polyclonal anti-phosphothreonine Ab (0.5 µg/ml, final concentration), or polyclonal anti-phosphoserine Ab (1 µg/ml, final concentration), were incubated with the membranes for 1 h at 37°C in TBS-Tween except for the anti-phosphotyrosine Ab which was diluted in gelatin. The membranes were washed three times at room temperature in TBS-Tween for a total duration of 30 min and then incubated with HRP-labeled sheep anti-mouse or donkey anti-rabbit IgG for 30 min at 37°C at a final dilution of 1/20,000 in TBS-Tween. The membranes were washed three times with TBS-Tween at room temperature, and the protein bands were revealed using the enhanced chemiluminescence Western blotting detection system following the manufacturers directions.
Calcium mobilization measurement
The cells (107 cells/ml) were incubated at 37°C with 1 µM fura-2-acetoxymethyl ester for 30 min. Neutrophils were washed twice in HBSS to remove the extracellular probe, resuspended at 5 x 106 cells/ml, and transferred to the thermostated (37°C) cuvette compartment of a spectrofluorometer (SLM 8000; Aminco, Urbana, IL). The fluorescence of the cells was monitored at an excitation wavelength of 340 nm and an emission wavelength of 510 nm. The internal calcium concentrations were calculated as described by Grynkievicz et al. (41).
Superoxide production measurement
Superoxide production was monitored as already described (18) as the reduction of cytochrome c by a suspension of 107 neutrophils using a slight modification of the method described in Metcalf et al. (42). The absorption of cytochrome c was monitored at 550 nm and 540 nm, and the amount of superoxide anions produced was calculated from the difference between the OD at the two wavelengths using an extinction coefficient of 21.1.
| Results |
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Because calyculin is a potent serine-threonine phosphatase
inhibitor, we first examined, by immunoblotting, its effects on the
levels of serine and threonine phosphorylation in human neutrophils. We
also monitored the tyrosine phosphorylation patterns, since calyculin
has been shown to induce tyrosine phosphorylation in other systems
(36, 43). Neutrophils were incubated with 1 µM calyculin
or 0.1% DMSO as control; at each time indicated, a sample
of cell suspension was transferred in the same volume of boiling sample
buffer. The samples were electrophoresed and transferred to Immobilon
PVDF membranes before being probed with either the
anti-phosphothreonine, anti-phosphoserine, or
anti-phosphotyrosine Abs (Fig. 1
).
These data make several points. First, as expected, serine
and threonine phosphorylation levels gradually increase with the time
of exposure of neutrophils to calyculin. Newly serine- or
threonine-phosphorylated bands are detectable within 5 min of
incubation with calyculin, and the phosphorylation levels increase
gradually until 60 min, the longest time tested. A major
threonine-phosphorylated band appeared in the 140-kDa region and other
bands appeared in the 116-kDa, 60-kDa, and 40-kDa molecular mass
ranges. The serine-phosphorylated bands are less well defined; many
proteins appear newly serine-phosphorylated in the molecular range
between 40 and 150 kDa. On the other hand, the antiphosphotyrosine blot
indicates that calyculin rapidly and transiently increases the levels
of tyrosine phosphorylation of a small number of substrates, prominent
among which are bands in the 120-kDa, 85-kDa,70-kDa, and 55-kDa
regions. The tyrosine phosphorylation of these bands is detectable
within 30 s of incubation with calyculin, reaches a maximal level
at 2 min, then gradually declines, and is undetectable at times
10
min. We also observed the tyrosine phosphorylation of a 40-kDa
substrate after 30 min or more of incubation with calyculin. This
protein might be a member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase
family as previously suggested in neutrophils (36) and in
adipocytes (44). Therefore, in human neutrophils,
calyculin rapidly increases the tyrosine phosphorylation of a select
subset of proteins. This is followed by a disappearance of the tyrosine
phosphorylation which occurs concomitantly with an increase in overall
serine and threonine phosphorylation. Time courses of control cells
(0.1% DMSO) probed with the three Abs indicated that the
phosphorylation levels (serine, threonine, and tyrosine) were not
modified during the 60-min interval (data not shown). We also confirmed
by trypan blue exclusion that neutrophil viability was not modified
even after long exposure to DMSO or calyculin under our conditions.
Furthermore, neutrophils can still respond to CD32 cross-linking
following a 60-min exposure with calyculin or DMSO (see Fig. 4
),
further indicating that the cells remained functionally responsive.
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Inhibition of CD32 cross-linking-induced tyrosine
phosphorylation.
Calyculin and okadaic acid have been shown to modulate
agonist-induced tyrosine phosphorylation in several systems (37, 38, 48). This prompted us to study the effect of calyculin on
CD32 cross-linking-induced tyrosine phosphorylation because this
response is well characterized in human neutrophils. Neutrophils were
preincubated with 10-6 M calyculin (or 0.1%
DMSO as control) for various times before cross-linking CD32 for 1 min
as described in Materials and Methods. The reactions were
stopped by direct transfer of cell suspension aliquots to the same
volume of boiling 2x Laemmlis sample buffer. The
tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were analyzed using the
anti-phosphotyrosine Ab, and the results of these experiments are
illustrated in Fig. 3
A. These
data first illustrate that the characteristic increases in tyrosine
phosphorylation induced by cross-linking CD32 was observed to be stable
over the 60-min time period. In the absence of calyculin, as already
described (46), CD32 cross-linking rapidly induced the
tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins among which were Cbl (120
kDa), Syk (72 kDa), and CD32 (40 kDa). After 5 min of incubation with
calyculin, a slight and selective decrease in the tyrosine
phosphorylation pattern in response to CD32 cross-linking was observed.
More specifically, treatment with calyculin decreased the intensity of
phosphorylation of substrates in the 120-kDa and 60- to 70-kDa regions,
whereas a 140-kDa band appears. The other tyrosine-phosphorylated
substrates in response to CD32 cross-linking, and most prominently
those bands in the 70-kDa and 40-kDa regions are not affected. The
inhibitory effect of calyculin increased with the incubation time. The
effects of calyculin on the kinetics of the increases in tyrosine
phosphorylation induced by cross-linking CD32 were examined next.
Neutrophils were preincubated with calyculin for 20 min, and the time
course of the increases in tyrosine phosphorylation in response to CD32
cross-linking was monitored. The results of these experiments are
presented in Fig. 4
A. The
level of tyrosine phosphorylation of most of the substrates increased
as rapidly as 20 s after CD32 cross-linking, reached a maximum
between 40 s and 2 min, and then gradually decreased. After a
20-min preincubation with calyculin, the overall tyrosine
phosphorylation response in response to ligation of CD32 was decreased.
More specifically, and consistently with the results illustrated in
Fig. 3
A, the tyrosine phosphorylation of the 120-kDa band
(Cbl) decreased whereas that of the 72-kDa and 40-kDa bands was not
affected. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the two bands in the 60- to
70-kDa range was totally abrogated.
|
Characterization of the electrophoretic shift of Cbl induced by
calyculin.
Changes in electrophoretic migration are often caused by
hyperphosphorylation which increases the apparent m.w. of the protein.
This might explain the shift of Cbl since calyculin increased the level
of serine and threonine phosphorylation of several proteins under our
conditions with kinetics similar to those of the alteration of
migration of the protooncogene (compare Figs. 1
and 3
B). Two
approaches were used to test this hypothesis. First, neutrophils were
preincubated with [32P]orthophosphorus in the
absence or presence of calyculin, Cbl was then immunoprecipitated, and
the autoradiogram of the electrophoretic analysis of this
immunoprecipitation is shown in Fig. 5
A. Incorporation of
32P into Cbl was observed only in Cbl
immunoprecipitates from calyculin-treated cells. This membrane was then
reprobed for the presence of Cbl to show that equivalent amounts of Cbl
were loaded in both lanes and that calyculin induced the previously
described shift of electrophoretic mobility of Cbl. In an additional
series of experiments, Cbl was immunoprecipitated from cells incubated
for 30 min with DMSO or calyculin, and the immunoprecipitates were
treated with alkaline phosphatase before electrophoretic analysis (Fig. 5
B). A comparative examination of lanes 14
indicates that the decreased electrophoretic mobility of Cbl induced by
calyculin was significantly reduced following treatment with alkaline
phosphatase. Furthermore, Cbl was immunoprecipitated from cells
incubated for 30 min with DMSO or calyculin. Immunoblotting of the
immunoprecipitates with anti-phosphoserine and
anti-phosphothreonine Abs indicates that Cbl is serine
phosphorylated and, to a lesser extent, threonine phosphorylated in
response to treatment with calyculin (data not shown). Therefore, the
calyculin-induced shift of Cbl was due, at least in part, to serine
and/or threonine phosphorylation.
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| Discussion |
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Two types of effects of calyculin were observed. Short-term events (<5 min) were characterized by a rapid and transient induction of tyrosine phosphorylation of a few proteins among which were Cbl and Syk. Longer treatments with calyculin (>5 min) led to a partial inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation, an inhibition of intracellular calcium mobilization, and a potentiation of the production of superoxide anions in response to CD32 cross-linking. These events occurred concomitantly with a shift in the electrophoretic mobility of Cbl resulting from an increase in its level of serine/threonine phosphorylation.
All of the effects observed following calyculin treatment were also observed with okadaic acid, although to a lesser extent and with slightly slower kinetics (data not shown). Okadaic acid and calyculin inhibit PP2A with similar efficiency (IC50 of 0.51.0 nM) whereas calyculin is a better inhibitor of PP1 than okadaic acid (IC50 of 2 and 60500 nM for calyculin and okadaic acid, respectively). The effects of calyculin described in the present study were detectable at 100 nM and optimal at 0.51 µM (data not shown). Although these concentrations are high, the lack of knowledge concerning the intracellular concentrations of the inhibitors precludes any firm conclusions to be drawn about the respective contributions of the two phosphatases to the effects observed. The permeability of neutrophil membranes for calyculin has never been tested directly. The rates of transport of okadaic acid and calyculin through erythrocyte membranes have been estimated (49), and the results indicate that the permeation of calyculin is much faster than that of okadaic acid. This is in agreement with our results since calyculin acted more rapidly and was more efficient than okadaic acid (data not shown).
Since calyculin is described as a serine/threonine phosphatase (PP1 and
PP2A) inhibitor, the rapid (<5 min) increases in tyrosine
phosphorylation were surprising. However, a similar effect has been
observed in spermatozoa after a 5-min incubation with calyculin
(43). Two proteins of molecular masses of 105 kDa and 81
kDa, localized in the flagellum of spermatozoa, were tyrosine
phosphorylated in response to calyculin, and there was a concomitant
increase of the level of sperm capacitation. In neutrophils, our study
is the first to analyze the short-term effects of calyculin. However,
earlier reports showed that calyculin by itself stimulated
serine/threonine protein kinase activities as well as tyrosine
phosphorylation after a 30-min incubation (36). These
calyculin-induced kinase activities may account for the accumulation of
phosphothreonine and phosphoserine shown in Fig. 1
. The tyrosine
phosphorylation pattern observed in the previous study
(36) is consistent with our results since these authors
observed a spontaneous tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of MAP
kinase which correspond to the 40-kDa tyrosine-phosphorylated substrate
evident in Fig. 1
C after a 30-min incubation with calyculin.
Moreover, Haystead et al. (44) showed that okadaic acid
activates MAP kinase in adipocytes as well. One explanation proposed by
these authors is that PP2A acts as a tyrosine as well as a
serine/threonine phosphatase. This interpretation would be consistent
with the findings of Cayla et al. (50) that PP2A possesses
significant phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity, in vitro, under
certain conditions. However, in contrast to the above data, our results
indicate that the calyculin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation was rapid
and transient. Therefore, the stimulation by calyculin of tyrosine
phosphorylation in human neutrophils does not seem to reflect a simple
inhibition of tyrosine phosphatases since this would be anticipated to
generate time-dependent phosphotyrosine accumulation as we observed for
phosphothreonine (Fig. 1
A) and phosphoserine (Fig. 1
B). Furthermore, the limited number of
tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in response to calyculin also argues
against a generalized antiphosphotyrosine phosphatase mechanism of
action of this compound.
The inhibition of PP2A and PP1 by calyculin may activate tyrosine kinases, either by increased phosphorylation of serine/threonine residues of the kinases themselves or of regulatory factors associated with their activity. In calyculin-treated neutrophils, detectable serine/threonine phosphorylation was dissociated in time from the tyrosine phosphorylation burst. Therefore, the available data do not provide evidence that the tyrosine phosphorylation peak induced by calyculin is a direct effect of serine/threonine phosphatase inhibition.
Immediately following calyculin addition in suspensions of neutrophils, we observed, within 2 min, the transient tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl, Syk, and two other unidentified substrates of 85 kDa and 55 kDa. Although the rapidity of this event is characteristic of a response involving a membrane receptor, calyculin has never been shown to interact with such a cellular component. Furthermore, its overall hydrophobicity makes it cell permeant (49). However, we cannot rule out the possibility that calyculin interacts with a membrane component, namely, a tyrosine kinase or phosphatase, thus modifying its activity. The receptor-like tyrosine phosphatase CD45 is a membrane enzyme and it is the most abundant tyrosine phosphatase in neutrophils; it modulates the activity of the src family kinase (51, 52) and appears to have significant constitutive tyrosine phosphatase activity that may serve to repress neutrophil activation (53). The inhibition of this receptor-type tyrosine phosphatase might explain the tyrosine phosphorylation peak observed in response to calyculin. These considerations indicate that further investigations into the potential effects of calyculin and okadaic acid on the activity of CD45 are warranted.
The observation that Cbl and Syk are rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated in response to calyculin is of potential physiological relevance because these two proteins are thought to be intimately involved in neutrophil activation (39, 46, 47). In neutrophils, Cbl is tyrosine phosphorylated in response to a variety of agonists including CD32 cross-linking, opsonized bacteria and zymosan, GM-CSF, monosodium urate, and calcium pyrophosphate microcrystals (46). All of these agonists are known to activate various functions of neutrophils such as calcium mobilization, oxygen consumption, or phagocytosis. The signaling role of Cbl in different cell types has been related to its combination of potential tyrosine phosphorylation sites, proline-rich motifs, and leucine zipper domains (54) which have led to the present characterization of Cbl as an adapter molecule. Cbl has been shown to associate with several signaling proteins (55) including Syk. Cbl has been reported to be a substrate of Syk and to regulate its activity (56, 57, 58) but little is known about its role in neutrophils.
Exposure to calyculin for 10 min or longer induced an increase in serine and threonine phosphorylation. This is in accord with the property of this inhibitor. Previous reports, using pulse-chase experiments in electropermeabilized neutrophils, showed that this effect was due, at least in part, to an inhibition of dephosphorylation (32) and also, as already mentioned, to the activation of protein kinases (36). In the latter study, calyculin was found to greatly inhibit the FMLP-induced activities of pK65 and pK63 which belong to the p21-activated kinase (PAK) family of serine/threonine kinases (59, 60) as well as the FMLP-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of unidentified proteins of similar sizes. In response to CD32 cross-linking, we observed an inhibition of the tyrosine phosphorylation pattern when the cells are preincubated with calyculin. This calyculin-dependent inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation in response to CD32 cross-linking was irreversible since the same effect was observed after a 2-min incubation with calyculin followed by washing of the cells and incubation for 20 min with HBSS before CD32 cross-linking (data not shown). However, the inhibition of the stimulation of tyrosine phosphorylation induced by calyculin was partial and substrate specific. Tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl was decreased as was that of two unidentified substrates in the 60- to 70-kDa molecular mass range. On the other hand, the stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of Syk (72 kDa) and of the CD32 itself was not affected by calyculin treatment. The present results thus differ from those of Liang and Huang (37) who observed an enhancement of the tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins in the 120-kDa and 75-kDa molecular mass range in response to CD32 cross-linking following okadaic acid (1 µM) treatment. The reasons for these discrepancies are not known.
CD32 is constitutively expressed on neutrophils. It has a membrane-spanning domain and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif-containing cytoplasmic tail which has been shown to play an important signaling role (39). Although the signal transduction pathway in response to the ligation of this receptor is poorly understood in neutrophils, the data accumulated in other systems favor a model in which Cbl is a direct downstream target of Syk/Zap70, whereas members of the Src family of tyrosine kinases contribute indirectly to this process by the activation of Syk/Zap70. However, conflicting data argue against this model, and, in this context, the calyculin-dependent inhibition of specific tyrosine-phosphorylated substrates, and of Cbl in particular, could help to elucidate the precise role of each of these proteins in this signaling pathway.
Several hypothesis may be proposed to explain the inhibitory effects of calyculin on the responses to CD32 ligation (tyrosine phosphorylation and calcium mobilization). First, a serine/threonine phosphatase (PP1 and/or PP2A) may be required early in the CD32-signaling pathway leading to intracellular calcium mobilization and Cbl tyrosine phosphorylation. A similar hypothesis was proposed in macrophages where the addition of calyculin results in sustained tyrosine phosphorylation of the MAP kinases and inhibition of LPS-induced expression of several genes (48). This hypothesis implies the involvement, in the CD32-signaling pathway, of at least one serine/threonine-phosphorylated protein, as negative regulator, upstream of Cbl tyrosine phosphorylation and calcium mobilization.
Second, a tyrosine phosphatase may be activated following serine/threonine phosphorylation in response to preincubation with calyculin. Two receptor-type tyrosine phosphatases CD45 and CD148 are known to modulate the functional responses to CD32 cross-linking in neutrophils (27, 28). Additionally, the soluble phosphatases SHP-1 and SHP-2 are both present in neutrophils. Phosphorylation of PTPs on serine residues has been described (61, 62), but in only a few cases could these phosphorylation events be correlated with changes in the catalytic activity of the respective phosphatase. Stover and Walsh (63) analyzed the influence of phosphorylation of CD45 activity in vitro and found that sequential phosphorylation on tyrosine and serine residues was necessary for activation. On the other hand, CD148 is constitutively associated with a serine/threonine kinase which may control its activity (64).
Finally, since the modulation of CD32 responses by calyculin is
correlated with a detectable accumulation of
serine/threonine-phosphorylated substrates, and more specifically of
Cbl, these two events are likely to be linked. Cbl may be
serine/threonine phosphorylated by one of the renaturable kinases
activated by calyculin (36). Alternatively, Cbl may be a
substrate of protein kinase C as suggested by Liu et al.
(65). Although in T cells, PMA induces serine
phosphorylation of Cbl and its association with 14-3-3 proteins
(66), the addition of PMA (100 nM, 030 min) did not
alter the electrophoretic mobility of Cbl in neutrophils, and the
protein kinase C inhibitor RO 31820 (0.33 µM) did not inhibit the
changes in electrophoretic mobility of Cbl induced by calyculin (data
not shown). This posttranslational modification, illustrated by the
electrophoretic shift, might limit the stimulated tyrosine
phosphorylation of Cbl which, in turn, is likely to affect the
association of Cbl with other proteins. The inhibition of the tyrosine
phosphorylation of Cbl would then down-regulate the signaling pathway
leading to functional responses to CD32 cross-linking. The inhibition
of calcium mobilization illustrated in Fig. 6
argues in favor of this
hypothesis.
The calyculin-dependent increase of superoxide formation in response to CD32 cross-linking confirms the nontoxic effect of calyculin. This increase may be explained by an inhibition of the dephosphorylation of p47phox which plays a critical role in activation and maintenance of superoxide anion generation. There are contradicting results on the role of phosphatases on superoxide formation (67, 68). These reports provide evidence for an heterogeneity in the signaling pathways of different neutrophil receptors.
The results of the present investigation uncovered complex and unexpected interrelationships between the serine/threonine and the tyrosine phosphorylation-signaling pathways. They suggest that additional investigations directed at the elucidation, at the molecular levels, of the targets of calyculin/okadaic acid are warranted to derive a comprehensive picture of signal transduction in neutrophils and by extension in other cell types.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
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2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Paul H. Naccache, Centre de recherche en rhumatologie et immunologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec (CHUQ) Pavillon Centre Hospitalier de lUniversite Laval (CHUL), Room T1-49, 2705 Boulevard Laurier, Ste-Foy, Quebec, G1V 4G2, Canada. E-mail address: ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: PTP, phosphotyrosine phosphatases; SH, Src homology; DFP, diisopropylfluorophosphate; PVDF, polyvinylidene difluoride; MAP, mitogen-activated protein. ![]()
Received for publication September 16, 1999. Accepted for publication October 29, 1999.
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2 inregrin-dependent phosphorylation of protein-tyrosine kinase Pyk2 stimulated by tumor necrosis factor
and FMLP in human neutrophils adherent to fibrinogen. FEBS Lett. 451:33.[Medline]
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receptor IIa signal transduction of human neutrophils. Eur. J. Immunol. 27:3532.[Medline]
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