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CUTTING EDGE |


*
Institute of Immunology, The National Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Departments of
Anatomy and
Physiology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;
§
Immunology and Inflammation, Hospital for Special Surgery, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and
¶
Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021
| Abstract |
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1,
SH2-domain-containing leukocyte-specific phosphoprotein of 76kDa, and
linker for activation of T cells was also reduced. Furthermore, TSAd
inhibited Zap-70 recruitment to the CD3
-chains in a dose-dependent
manner. Consistent with this, Lck kinase activity was reduced 3- to
4-fold in COS-7 cells transfected with both TSAd and Lck, indicating a
regulatory effect of TSAd on Lck. In conclusion, our data strongly
suggest an inhibitory role for TSAd in proximal T cell
activation. | Introduction |
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1 (PLC-
1),
Grb2-Sos, Grap, p85, c-Cbl, Vav, and SH2-domain-containing
leukocyte-specific phosphoprotein of 76 kDa (SLP-76)
(4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). This results in activation of PLC-
1 and
subsequent Ca2+ mobilization as well as
activation of the Ras signaling pathway, leading to cytokine production
and T cell proliferation (10).
Adapter proteins are intracellular molecules with no enzymatic activity
or DNA binding motifs, but with domains or motifs mediating
protein-protein interactions (11). Thus, they are well
suited to couple proximal activation events initiated by receptor
ligation with more distal signaling processes. In T cells, adapter
proteins may promote signaling through the TCR/CD3 complex by
recruiting catalytically active signaling molecules to their
substrates. The adapter protein LAT, for instance, assembles signaling
proteins at the plasma membrane following TCR triggering
(7). Its functional importance is evident from cell lines
deficient in LAT, which fail to activate PLC-
1 and Ras (10, 12), and LAT-deficient mice, which do not develop mature T cells
(13). However, adapter proteins may also have a negative
influence on TCR signaling. Cbl is an adapter protein involved in
down-regulation of the TCR/CD3 complex (14) and
degradation of Fyn (15), in addition to having a negative
regulatory effect on Syk and Zap-70 (16, 17, 18). By
sequestering Grb2, Cbl may also inhibit activation of Ras by preventing
recruitment of Sos to the plasma membrane (19).
We previously reported the cloning of a cDNA encoding a novel SH2-containing, T cell-specific adapter protein, TSAd3 (20). Here we demonstrate an inhibitory function of TSAd on both distal and proximal anti-CD3-mediated signaling. TSAd expression is rapidly induced after TCR triggering. Overexpression of TSAd in Jurkat T cells inhibits T cell activation, probably by directly regulating Lck activity. Together our data support a model by which TSAd is induced after TCR ligation to down-modulate proximal PTK activity.
| Materials and Methods |
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TSAd cDNA was cloned into the EcoRI site of the mammalian expression vector pEF/hemagglutinin (pEF/HA). The IL-2 luciferase reporter plasmid was a gift from Dr. Tomas Mustelin (The Burnham Institute, La Jolla, CA). Lck cDNA was cloned into the HindIII/EcoRI sites of pMH-Neo (21). The TSAd cDNA used in the Lck kinase studies was subcloned into the BamHI/XbaI sites of pEF-FLAG (22).
Antibodies
The mAbs used were anti-CD3
and -Lck (Santa Cruz
Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA), anti-Zap-70 (Transduction
Laboratories, Lexington, KY), anti-HA (Babco, Richmond, CA),
anti-human CD3
(OKT3, American Type Culture Collection,
Manassas, VA), anti-phosphotyrosine (4G10, Upstate Biotechnology,
Lake Placid, NY), and anti-CD28 (PharMingen, San Diego, CA). The
polyclonal Abs used were anti-PLC-
1 and -SLP-76 (Santa Cruz
Biotechnology), and anti-LAT and -SLP-76 (Upstate Biotechnology).
Antiserum raised against a synthetic peptide of 370389 aa of TSAd was
made as previously described (20). Sheep anti-mouse
Ig-coated Dynabeads were obtained from Dynal (Oslo, Norway).
Cell cultures and transfections
Jurkat T cells (clone E6.1), COS-7 cells (both from American Type Culture Collection), and Jurkat TAg cells (a gift from Dr. Tomas Mustelin, The Burnham Institute) were used. PBMC were obtained from healthy blood donors by standard gradient centrifugation and depleted of non-T cells using anti-CD14- and anti-CD19-coated Dynabeads (Dynal). Cells were cultured in RPMI 1640/10% FCS (c-RPMI). Transfections of 20 x 106 Jurkat or Jurkat TAg cells in RPMI with 540 µg of DNA were performed using a Gene Pulser (Bio-Rad, Richmond, CA) at 250 V and 960 µF. Transient transfectants were cultured in c-RPMI for 1648 h. Stable transfectants were selected and cloned by limiting dilution in c-RPMI with 7.5 mg/ml G418 (Duchefa, Haarlem, The Netherlands). Stable clones expressing TSAd (clones 1B2, 2D6, 3A3, 4B1, and 5B5) or empty vector (clone B2) were established, and similar CD3 expression verified by flow cytometry. In Lck assays, 5 x 106 COS-7 cells were transiently transfected as described above with 10 µg of each construct.
Cell stimulation, lysis, immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and luciferase assay
T cells were stimulated with 5 µg/ml OKT3 and 1 µg/ml anti-CD28 mAbs and were cross-linked with goat anti-mouse Ig-coated Dynabeads. In immunoprecipitation (IP) experiments, Jurkat TAg cells (1020 x 106 cells/IP) were washed in RPMI 1640, resuspended to 5 x 107 cells/ml, and stimulated with 5 µg/ml OKT3. Cells were lysed in 2x lysis buffer (2% Nonidet P-40, 50 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 200 mM NaCl, 40 mM NaF, 2 mM Na3VO4, 20 µg/ml leupeptin, and antipain). Lysates were precleared for 12 h with protein A/G-agarose (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and incubated with the relevant Abs overnight followed by protein A/G agarose for 2 h. IPs were separated by SDS-PAGE and blotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Immobilon-P, Millipore, Bedford, MA). Blots were probed with the indicated Abs in Tris-buffered saline/Tween 20/5% skim milk (or 2.5% BSA/2.5% skim milk for phosphotyrosine blots). Signals were detected by HRP-labeled secondary Abs (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, West Grove, PA) and Super Signal (Pierce, Rockford, IL). Activation of the IL-2 promoter requires combined stimulation with anti-CD3 and PMA (23, 24) or PMA and ionomycin. Thus, in the luciferase assay, 5 x 105 Jurkat T cells were stimulated with 5 µg/ml OKT3/25 ng/ml PMA or with PMA/5 µM ionomycin for 56 h and assayed for luciferase activity according to the manufacturers instructions (Luciferase Assay System kit; Promega, Madison, WI).
Calcium mobilization assay
Cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations in single cells were measured as previously described (25). Jurkat TAg cells (34 x 105) were incubated with 5 µM fura-2 (Teflabs, Austin, TX) for 1 h, washed twice with RPMI 1640, seeded in a 9-mm well for 10 min, and stimulated with 1 µg/ml OKT3 at 37°C. Fluorescence data were treated as previously reported (25, 26). The Ca2+ concentration was calculated as previously described (27).
Lck kinase assay
Lck activity was assayed as previously described
(28). Briefly, three quarters of Lck-IP beads were
incubated at 30°C for 15 min with 20 µCi of
[
-32P]ATP (DuPont-NEN, Boston, MA) and 10
µg Src peptide (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) in 150 µl of 25 mM HEPES (pH
7.5), 7.5 mM MgCl2, 1.5 mM
MnCl2, and 1 mM
Na3VO4. Beads were then
pelleted and 25 µl of supernatant was spotted in triplicate onto p81
phosphocellulose paper disks and washed in 1% phosphoric acid, and
associated radioactivity was determined by scintillation counting.
Results are expressed as mean counts per minute ± 1 SE. Lck
autokinase activity was assessed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography of
Lck-IP. The remaining one-quarter of Lck-IP beads was used to ascertain
equivalent precipitation of Lck by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting as
described above.
| Results and Discussion |
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Expression of TSAd mRNA is induced upon triggering of the
CD3, CD4, or CD8 molecules (20). To study the kinetics of
TSAd expression, normal peripheral blood T cells were purified and
stimulated with Abs to CD3 and CD28. Anti-CD3 mAbs induced TSAd
expression after 4 h, with maximal expression after 30 h.
Anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 stimulation resulted in a stronger and more
sustained TSAd expression, reaching maximum levels after 48 h
(Fig. 1
A). This expression
pattern indicates that the SH2D2A gene is regulated by
signals through the TCR/CD3 complex and that TSAd could be involved in
regulating TCR-mediated signaling.
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TSAd results in impaired TCR-induced tyrosine
phosphorylation of PLC-
1, SLP-76, and LAT
The adapter proteins LAT and SLP-76 are necessary for T cell
development and activation of the PLC-
1 and Ras pathways (10, 13, 29, 30). Importantly, recruitment of SLP-76 to
phosphorylated LAT seems essential for signaling downstream
of PLC-
1 (29, 31). The observation that TSAd has no
effect on PMA/ionomycin-induced IL-2 promoter activity indicates that
TSAd inhibits T cell activation upstream of Ca2+
mobilization. Indeed, Jurkat TAg cells transfected with TSAd
demonstrated abolished tyrosine phosphorylation of
PLC-
1 after CD3 triggering (Fig. 2
A), indicating that reduced
Ca2+ mobilization in TSAd transfectants is due to
improper activation of PLC-
1. Moreover, TSAd expression inhibited
anti-CD3-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of both
SLP-76 and LAT (Fig. 2
, B and C), indicating that
TSAd prevents the generation of a multimeric protein complex necessary
for activation of PLC-
1 and Ras. Together, these data point to a
negative function of TSAd on T cell signaling by modulating
protein-protein interactions close to TCR.
|
-chain association in TSAd
transfectants
The reduced LAT phosphorylation in TSAd
transfectants indicates that TSAd influences either the ZAP-70/Syk
protein kinases or the Src kinases, Lck or Fyn. Zap-70 is recruited to
phosphorylated ITAMs in the TCR/CD3 complex and is
activated by phosphorylation on
Tyr493 by Lck (3). The binding of
Zap-70 to the CD3
-chain is believed to be essential for T cell
activation, as peptides blocking the association of Zap-70 with the
CD3
-chain inhibit TCR-mediated signaling (32). To
address the ability of TSAd to regulate this proximal event, we
precipitated Zap-70 from anti-CD3-stimulated Jurkat TAg cells
stably transfected with either empty vector or TSAd.
Phosphorylation of Zap-70 after anti-CD3
stimulation was reduced in TSAd transfectants compared with empty
vector transfectants (Fig. 3
A,
upper panel). Furthermore, coprecipitation of CD3
-chains
with Zap-70 was dramatically reduced (Fig. 3
A, lower
panel). This finding could be due to reduced tyrosine
phosphorylation of the CD3
-chains, leading to
reduced recruitment and activation of Zap-70. Indeed, the tyrosine
phosphorylation of CD3
-chains precipitated from the
same lysates was reduced in TSAd transfectants (Fig. 3
B).
Furthermore, Jurkat TAg cells transiently transfected with increasing
amounts of TSAd cDNA displayed reduced levels of
tyrosine-phosphorylated CD3
-chains coprecipitating with
Zap-70 in a dose-dependent manner (Fig. 3
C). These results
suggest an ability of TSAd, either directly or indirectly, to regulate
Lck activity.
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To test the hypothesis that TSAd influences the kinase activity of
Lck, COS-7 cells were transfected with Lck together with empty vector
or TSAd. The catalytic activity of Lck immunoprecipitated from the
transfectants was measured by its capacity to
autophosphorylate and to transphosphorylate a
Src peptide. Phosphorylation of the Src peptide was
reduced 3- to 4-fold when TSAd was coexpressed with Lck (Fig. 4
A).
Autophosphorylation of Y394 in the activation loop of
Lck is necessary for its kinase activity, probably by inducing steric
changes that allow the catalytic region to fold into an active
structure (33, 34, 35). Consistent with reduced Lck activity
in COS-7 cells coexpressing Lck and TSAd, the
autophosphorylation capacity of Lck was also clearly
reduced in these transfectants (Fig. 4
B, upper
panel). Taken together, our results strongly suggest an inhibitory
effect of TSAd on Lck kinase activity. The mechanism by which this
occurs could be analogous to Cbls effect on Zap-70 and Syk
(16, 17, 18). The induction of TSAd expression in normal
peripheral blood T cells argues that TSAd is not necessary during early
activation of naive T cells, but, rather, has a function later in the
activation process. Interestingly, we have recently shown that the
SH2D2A promoter region is polymorphic, and two alleles were
found to be increased in frequency among multiple sclerosis
patients.4 These alleles displayed a lower
transcriptional activity of the SH2D2A gene, probably
resulting in reduced TSAd expression. Thus, it is possible that TSAd
contributes to a genetic variability in tuning T cell responses,
rendering some individuals more susceptible to the development of
multiple sclerosis or other autoimmune diseases.
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| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 Abbreviations used in this paper: ITAM, immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif; PTK, protein tyrosine kinase; LAT, linker for activation of T cells; PLC, phospholipase C; c-RPMI, RPMI 1640/10% FCS; IP, immunoprecipitation, immunoprecipitated; HA, hemagglutinin; SLP-76, SH2-domain-containing leukocyte-specific phosphoprotein of 76 kDa. ![]()
3 The TSAd protein is encoded by the SH2D2A gene (http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/nomenclature/searchgenes.pl). ![]()
4 K. Dai, H. F. Harbo, E. G. Celius, A. Oturai, P. S. Sørensen, L. P. Ryder, A. Sveigaard, J. Hillert, S. Fredriksom, M. Sandburg-Wollheim, et al. 2000. Multiple sclerosis is associated to a functionally active polymorphism in one SH2D2A promoter. Submitted for publication. ![]()
Received for publication April 14, 2000. Accepted for publication July 10, 2000.
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