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Department of Pathology and
School of Nursing, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Recently, a novel immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)3-bearing transmembrane adapter molecule called DAP12 was identified and cloned by Lanier et al. (4). DAP12 was expressed on the cell surface of NK cells and associated noncovalently with the killer cell-activating receptors (KARs) (4, 5, 6, 7). Although the expression of KARs is restricted to NK and T cell subsets (reviewed in Ref. 8), DAP12 transcription is distributed among a wide variety of cell types, including peripheral blood granulocytes, monocytes, and dendritic cells (4, 6, 9).
Independently in our laboratory, during the course of exploring the molecular mechanism underlying the growth requirement of a CTLL-2 derived subline (named CTL(-)) which has no need of exogenous IL-2 for its growth, we have identified a novel ITAM-containing molecule. The DNA sequence of the gene was same as that of DAP12. The transcript was easily detected in macrophage cell lines in addition to CTL(-), but not in cell lines with T or B cell characteristics (our unpublished observations). Even though reports on the DAP12 molecule of NK cells are accumulating (10, 11, 12), little is known about the effects of DAP12 on macrophage lineage.
In this report we first demonstrated the precise expression pattern of the DAP12 protein on various cell lines and tissues in the presence or the absence of stimulation. Secondly, to explore the function of DAP12 in macrophage differentiation, we used mouse myeloid leukemic M1 cells, which can be induced to differentiate into macrophages by treatment with various agents, including LPS, phorbol ester, and various cytokines (13, 14). We established an M1 FLAG-DAP12 transfectant and investigated the importance of signal transduction via the DAP12 molecule for M1 cell differentiation into a macrophage.
| Materials and Methods |
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BALB/c mice were bred in our facility and used at 610 wk of age. 1029 and 8072, myeloid cell lines of C3H/He origin, were made available by Dr. N. Tada (Tokai University, Isehara, Japan). P388D1 and J774-1, macrophage cell lines derived from DBA/2 and BALB/c, respectively, were provided by Dr. K. Tomonari (Fukui Medical School, Fukui, Japan). The M1 cell line was obtained from Riken Gene Bank (Wakou, Japan). CTLL-2 was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA) and has been maintained with exogenous IL-2. The CTL(-) line was established from CTLL-2 by gradual omission of exogenous IL-2 from the culture medium, and it has been maintained under IL-2-free conditions. Cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 medium (Nissui Seiyaku, Tokyo, Japan) supplemented with 10% FCS and 5 x 10-5 M 2-ME.
Antibodies
Rabbit anti-mouse DAP12 polyclonal Ab was generated by immunizing a rabbit (Japanese White) with the glutathione-S-transferase-mouse DAP12 cytoplasmic domain fusion protein (DAP12 CY). The fusion protein was produced as described previously (15). Anti-CD11b mAb (M1/70) and anti-CD11c mAb (N418) were purchased from Chemicon (Temecula, CA). Anti-B7-2 mAb (GL-1), anti-CD16/CD32 (2.4G2), and anti-CD14 mAb (rmC5-3) were purchased from PharMingen (San Diego, CA). Anti-MHC class II mAb K24.64 culture supernatant (16) was prepared in our laboratory.
Immunoprecipitation, electrophoresis, and blotting
Cells were lysed in lysis buffer (0.5% Triton X-100, 50 mM Tris (pH 7.2), 140 mM NaCl, and 10 mM EDTA) containing the protease inhibitor cocktail Complete Mini (Roche, Mannheim, Germany). Lysates were clarified by centrifugation and immunoprecipitated with Ab bound to rProtein A-Sepharose Fast Flow (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden) for 12 h at 4°C. The resulting immunocomplexes were washed and run on 412% NuPage bis-Tris SDS-PAGE gels (Novex, San Diego, CA) under reducing conditions. Proteins were then blotted onto Immobilon-P (Millipore, Bedford, MA), blocked in 5% skim milk or 3% BSA, and probed with rabbit anti-DAP12 Ab or anti-FLAG mAb (M2; Sigma, St. Louis, MO) followed by donkey anti-rabbit IgG-HRP (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) or sheep anti-mouse IgG-HRP (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). The ECL system (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) was used for detection. Tyrosine phosphorylation was examined using the following lysis buffer: 1% digitonin, 0.1% Triton X-100, 50 mM Tris (pH 7.2), 140 mM NaCl, 10 mM EDTA with protease inhibitor mixture, sodium fluoride, and sodium orthovanadate. Immunoblots were probed with anti-phosphotyrosine (anti-PY) mAb (4G10; Upstate Biotechnology, Lake Placid, NY) followed by anti-mouse IgG-HRP.
DAP12 expression vectors
The cDNA encoding DAP12 was originally cloned as an ITAM-containing molecule by PCR subtraction between CTL(-) and CTLL-2 cell lines. The CTL(-) line was established as a subline of CTLL-2, showing IL-2-independent growth as described above.
A cDNA containing the CD8 leader segment, followed by the FLAG peptide epitope (DYKDDDDK) and joined to the extracellular, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic regions of mouse DAP12 was constructed using the above cDNA as a template and the PCR overlap extension method (17). The primers used were: 5'-GCGAATTCCGCGTCATGGCCTTACCAGTGA-3' (5'CD8), 5'-CCTCTAGAGGGGACAGAAATGGTACAATGT-3' (3'DAP12), and overlapping primers, 5'-GTCATCGTCGTCCTTGTAGTCCGGCCTGGCGGCGTGGAG-3', 5'-CTCCACGCCGCCAGGCCGGACTACAAGGACGACGATGAC-3', 5'-TACAAGGACGACGATGACAAGCAGAGTGACACTTTCCCA-3', and 5'-TGGGAAAGTGTCACTCTGCTTGTCATCGTCGTCCTTGTA-3'. The PCR fragment was first cloned into the pCR2.1 vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA), then the sequence was confirmed and subcloned into the pME18S neo expression vector. Similarly, the DAP12 cytoplasmic fragment was cloned in-frame into the pGEX-KG vector (15). pME18S neo and pGEX-KG were provided by Dr. K. Maruyama (Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan) and Dr. J. E. Dixon (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN), respectively.
Transfection
M1 cells were stably transfected by electroporation (Gene Pulsor, Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). To obtain the FLAG-DAP12 (FDAP) M1 transfectant, M1 cells were transfected with pME18S neo-FLAG-DAP12. pME18S neo-B2 M7 (18) was used as the control G418-resistant clone. In either case, a pulse was delivered to 800 µl of suspension containing 1 x 107 cells and 30 µg of plasmid DNA. After 48 h, cells were subjected to selection in growth medium containing 0.5 mg/ml of geneticin (G418). Resistant clones were isolated and selected by limiting dilution.
Assays for differentiation
M1 cells were cultured with 10 µg/ml of LPS from Escherichia coli serotype 0111:B4 for 3 days. In the case of CSF, cells were cultured with 50 ng/ml of GM-CSF, M-CSF, or G-CSF (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN) for 8 days.
Assays for differentiation by DAP12 signaling
To immobilize Abs, the SonicSeal Slide Wells (Nalge Nunc International, Naperville, IL) were incubated with anti-FLAG mAb (M2; 20 µg/ml in PBS; Sigma) or isotype control of mouse IgG1 (20 µg/ml in PBS; Chemicon) overnight at 4°C and washed with culture medium twice. M1 or FDAP-M1 cells were incubated with or without LPS (10 µg/ml; Sigma) overnight (1014 h) and washed with culture medium before being transferred to Ab-coated SonicSeal Slide Wells. Cells were cultured on the SonicSeal Slide Well coated with anti-FLAG mAb (M2) or mouse IgG1 isotype control for 4 days. Cells were stained with hematoxylin-eosin or were used for flow cytometry analysis and Western blotting.
Flow cytometry
Cells (1 x 106) were incubated with saturating amounts of primary mAbs for 30 min in staining buffer (PBS, 1% FCS, and 0.1% sodium azide) at 4°C. As a second Ab, FITC-donkey anti-rat IgG (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, West Grove, PA), FITC-rabbit anti-mouse IgG (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark), FITC-goat anti-hamster IgG (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories), or avidin-FITC (Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems, San Jose, CA) was used. Dead cells were gated out by using 2 µg/ml of propidium iodide at the last step of staining.
| Results |
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To gain a more precise knowledge of the expression pattern of
DAP12 protein, we performed Western blotting analysis on a variety of
cell lines and organs (Fig. 1
). DAP12
protein was strongly expressed in macrophage cell lines such as P388D1
and J774-1 as well as CTL(-), an autonomous growing CTLL-2 subline
from which we first cloned DAP12 gene by PCR subtraction analysis. In
agreement with the finding of DAP12 expression in macrophage cell
lines, DAP12 protein was found in lung, liver, thymus, lymph node,
spleen, and peritoneal macrophages, but not in brain, kidney, or
testis. DAP12 in each organ was formed by dual bands, but the amount of
the predominant band differs from one organ to another. For example, in
the lung it is the upper band, while in the thymus it is the lower one
(Fig. 1
B). This may be due to modification of DAP12 at
different activation states. Compared with other organs, the m.w. of
DAP12 protein in bone marrow is slightly smaller. This finding suggests
a difference in glycosylation or another modification of DAP12 between
bone marrow and other organs.
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To examine the role of DAP12 in macrophages, several FDAP-M1
clones were established as described (Fig. 3
A). As shown in Fig. 3
B, uninduced FDAP-M1 cells revealed massive FLAG-DAP12
protein expression. Consistent with Fig. 2
A, LPS-induced
FDAP-M1 cells express a large amount of endogenous DAP12 as well as
FLAG-DAP12. It has been reported previously that DAP12 alone cannot be
expressed on the cell surface, but it requires an associate molecule,
such as the NK cell-activating receptor, for cell surface expression
(7). Although uninduced FDAP-M1 cells had massive amounts
of FLAG-DAP12 protein in their cytoplasm, they were not transported to
the cell surface (Fig. 3
C). After LPS induction, FLAG-DAP12
became expressed at the cell surface with the aid of newly induced,
possible associate molecule.
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Next, we investigated whether stimulation through DAP12 affects
differentiation of M1 cells into macrophages. As noted previously in
Fig. 3
C, FLAG-DAP12 protein alone could not be expressed on
cell surface; therefore, we pretreated FDAP-M1 cells with
LPS overnight before stimulation by immobilized anti-FLAG
mAb to induce expression of the associate molecule of DAP12 on the cell
surface. After stimulation with anti-FLAG mAb, hematoxylin-eosin
staining of FDAP-M1 transfectants on the SonicSeal Slide Well showed
dramatic changes to a macrophage-like morphology (Fig. 4
B), similar to human
monocytes stimulated with M-CSF (19). Nonspecific esterase
staining was positive on these macrophage-like cells (data not shown).
Compared with LPS-supported macrophage (Fig. 4
F), cells that
had undergone differentiation by stimulation through DAP12 showed
marked spreading out of adherent cells, with elongation and spindle
shape. No morphological change was observed in pME18S
neo-B2M7-transfected M1 cells with LPS pretreatment plus anti-FLAG mAb
(data not shown). Interestingly, stimulation via DAP12 produced a large
number of giant cells that had abundant cytoplasm, and multiple nuclei
were scattered on the slide (Fig. 4
E). Even smaller cells
appeared to have two or more nuclei; thus, a notable number of
mirror-image cells and giant cells were detectable (Fig. 4
E,
upper left panel). Although LPS-supported macrophage showed
a few giant cells, the rate of giant cell formation was low.
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In an attempt to confirm DAP12 signaling, we performed anti-PY
(phosphotyrosine) blotting during FLAG-DAP12 cross-linking using
anti-FLAG mAb (M2). As shown in Fig. 6
, FLAG-DAP12 is phosphorylated in
FDAP-M1 cells constitutionally (Fig. 6
B, lanes
14, bands b1 and b2). Interestingly, an
additional 17-kDa phosphorylated molecule (Fig. 6
B,
lane 3, bands a1 and a2) was
coimmunoprecipitated only when FDAP-M1 cells had been stimulated with
anti-FLAG mAb. Immunoprecipitation by anti-PY mAb (4G10) showed
a significant amount of FLAG-DAP12 after stimulation with anti-FLAG
mAb (M2; Fig. 6
C, lane 3, bands b1 and
b2). In contrast, overnight pretreatment with LPS or
stimulation with control mouse IgG1 did not give rise to these bands.
Coated anti-FLAG mAb without cross-linked secondary Abs brought
about the same result (data not shown). These observation suggests that
signal transduction via DAP12 plays a important role in our system of
M1 terminal differentiation.
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| Discussion |
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In this report we demonstrated that DAP12 protein was detected in many
organs and cell lines that are involved in the immune response (Fig. 1
). In view of the significant amount of DAP12 expression in peritoneal
macrophages, the DAP12 protein should also be expressed in alveolar
macrophages of the lung and Kupffer cells in the liver. Although
microglial cells share properties with macrophages (20),
we could not detect DAP12 protein in the brain. Considering one case of
DAP12 expression in a neural cell line (6), the
expression of DAP12 on macrophage-like cells possibly depends on their
activation state or differentiation stage. Moreover, we found that
DAP12 in bone marrow has a lower m.w. than that in other organs. Even
though there was an increase in the macrophage type of DAP12 following
LPS stimulation in bone marrow, the amount of the smaller type of DAP12
was almost unchanged. One possible explanation is that these two types
of DAP12 have different roles in regulating the immune response or
differentiation.
One of the remarkable morphological changes after DAP12
stimulation is a distinct aptitude for cell fusion in differentiated M1
cells (Fig. 4
, B and E). Previous studies
demonstrated that monocyte/macrophages differentiated into
multinucleated giant cells after induction by various cytokines,
bacteria, and their combinations, including IL-4, M-CSF, GM-CSF, and
Calmette-Guérin bacillus (21, 22, 23). Although, the
precise mechanism is still unknown, it seems that up-regulation of
adhesion molecule by stimulation of DAP12 plays an important role in
giant cell formation. Lemaire et al. (21) have shown that
endogenous IL-6 increases multinucleated giant cell formation in rat
alveolar macrophages following stimulation by GM-CSF. M1 cells can also
be induced to differentiate into macrophages by IL-6 alone (13, 24), hinting at the possibility that DAP12 signaling affects
endogenous transcripts of IL-6 during differentiation. In our system
although transcripts of IL-6 were up-regulated during pretreatment with
LPS, no remarkable increase in IL-6 transcripts was detected after
stimulation with anti-FLAG mAb (data not shown). However, the
possibility, that signaling via DAP12 influenced the IL-6/Janus
kinase/Stat cascade, which is known as one of the major pathways in M1
cell differentiation (24, 25), still remains.
In FDAP-M1 cells we observed DAP12 expression on the cell surface only
after LPS stimulation (Fig. 3
C), and we presumed that the
association of DAP12 with newly induced proteins enabled the complex to
be transferred to the cell surface. DAP12 has a negatively charged
aspartic acid in its transmembrane region, which has been thought to
bind with a positively charged lysine or arginine residue in the
transmembrane region of KARs (4). Paired Ig-like receptors
and Ig-like transcripts families, preferentially expressed in mouse and
human myeloid cells, also have a positively charged arginine residue
(26, 27). Nevertheless, it has been reported that
molecules of Ig-like transcript/paired Ig-like receptor families
associate with the Fc receptor
-chain (26, 28), but not
with DAP12, although they share structural homology (28, 29). Recently, a novel C-type lectin, myeloid DAP12-associating
lectin-1, was cloned by Bakker et al. (29) as a
DAP12-associating receptor in myeloid cells. However, we could not
detect myeloid DAP12-associating lectin-1 transcripts in cDNA from
LPS-stimulated M1 cells (data not shown), suggesting the presence of
other DAP12-associating receptors in M1 cells. While we were preparing
this manuscript, other associate molecules of DAP12 in myeloid cells,
signal regulatory protein-ß1 and triggering receptor-1 expressed on
myeloid cells, were reported (30, 31). We have not
examined the expression of signal regulatory protein-ß1 or triggering
receptor-1 expressed on myeloid cells in M1 cells, but they would be
possible candidates for the associate molecule of DAP12 in M1
cells.
Finally, we investigated the phosphorylation of DAP12 and its possible
associate proteins after DAP12 cross-linking. Several bands, two
corresponding to DAP12 (Fig. 6
, bands b1 and b2)
and two with slower mobility (17 kDa), were observed (Fig. 6
B, bands a1 and a2). As those slowly
migrating two bands were barely detected by anti-FLAG mAb (M2; Fig. 6
, A and C), although they were
immunoprecipitated with the same anti-FLAG mAb (Fig. 6
, A and B), these 17-kDa molecules may be
DAP12-associated phosphorylated proteins but not DAP12 itself.
Additionally, as shown in Fig. 6
C, DAP12 was detected in the
immunoprecipitate by anti-PY mAb only when FDAP-M1 cells had been
stimulated with anti-FLAG mAb, although constitutional DAP12
phosphorylation was seen in Fig. 6
B. These observations
suggest that anti-PY mAb (4G10) could not interact with PY residues
of DAP12 strongly enough to bring down the molecule, and it is, in
fact, a coimmunoprecipitate of other phosphorylated associate molecules
such as the 17-kDa phosphorylated band. Alternatively, these two 17-kDa
bands may indeed be the phosphorylated DAP12 described in other reports
(4, 32). In any event these phosphorylated bands were seen
only after DAP12 cross-linking. Thus, it is conceivable that signaling
through DAP12 has an important role in M1 differentiation for
macrophages. A recent report by McVicar et al. (10)
clearly demonstrated the preferential use of Syk tyrosine kinase
following Ly49D cross-linking. It is expected that Syk tyrosine kinase
would be recruited to DAP12 tyrosine residues in our system of M1
differentiation.
In conclusion, this is the first report of the possible role of DAP12 in terminal differentiation of the M1 leukemic cell line. Additional experiments are necessary to determine the unknown receptor on M1 cells and the precise signaling pathway via DAP12 during differentiation.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Naoko Aoki, Department of Pathology, Asahikawa Medical College, Higashi 2-1-1, Midorigaoka, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan. ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: ITAM, immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif; FDAP, FLAG-DAP12; KAR, killer cell-activating receptor; DAP12 CY, DAP12 cytoplasmic domain fusion protein; PY, phosphotyrosine. ![]()
Received for publication March 14, 2000. Accepted for publication July 14, 2000.
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