Cloning of two genes that are specifically expressed in activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Appearance of granule-associated molecules during activation of cytolytic T-lymphocyte precursors by defined stimuli

Lysis of target cells by cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) is associated with the exocytosis of cytoplasmic granules. Purified granules from CTL cell lines contain a pore-forming protein (perforin), tree serine esterases, granzyme A (60,000 MW), granzyme B (29,000 MW), and granzyme C (27,000 MW). We have compared the kinetics of appearance of cytolytic activity with that of perforin and granzyme A activity during activation of lymphocytes from normal animals with leukoagglutinin (LA) and recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2). Unstimulated lymph node cells do not express any of these activities, which appear between Day 3 and Day 4 of stimulation and increase rapidly to reach a pronounced peak on Day 6. On Day 7 all the activities are considerably lower, even though the cells still proliferate exponentially. There is a good correlation between the kinetics of appearance of all of these activities. Using antisera against perforin and against granzyme C, one can detect positive cytoplasmic granules in a small fraction of cells on Day 3; by Day 5, 80-90% of the cells are stained. This proportion decreases again on Day 7.

Granzymes, a family of serine proteases released from granules of cytolytic T lymphocytes upon T cell receptor stimulation

The cytolytic potential of T effector cells appears to be intimately related to the presence of proteins stored in specialized cytoplasmic granules. A striking biological property of isolated granules is their lytic activity for a variety of target cells in a nonrestricted manner. Proteins contained within these granules of CTLs are specifically released upon target cell recognition. We have isolated and characterized six granule-associated proteins in two murine CTL lines in addition to the pore-forming and target membrane-disrupting perforin. Six full length cDNA clones have been identified in a CTL-specific cDNA expression library which code for the granule-associated serine esterases, designated as granzymes A to F. Granzymes A and B represent the genuine proteins encoded by the H factor/CTLA-3 cDNA and the CTLA-1/CCPI cDNA, respectively. The covalent amino acid structures of all six granzymes show the hallmarks for serine proteases and are highly related to that of rat mast cell protease I and II and cathepsin G, which have been found in granules of mast cells and neutrophilic granulocytes, respectively. The primary translation products are processed by removal of a hydrophobic signal peptide and a two residue-long propeptide at the amino-terminus. Immuno-electron microscopy shows that granzymes and perforin are stored together within secretory granules of CTLs. Simultaneous release of at least two of these granzymes has been observed during degranulation of a murine CTL line by anti-T3 antibodies. The biological role, particularly the proteolytic events elicited by granzyme A and other granzymes in the context of target cell recognition, are not known at present. It is unlikely that they form a proteolytic activation cascade together with pore-forming proteins analogous to the complement system. The strictly regulated secretion of granzymes and the lack of measurable enzymatic activity in the case of granzymes B, C, E and F towards a variety of synthetic substrates suggest a highly specific function for each of them.

Perforin-dependent and -independent pathways of cytotoxicity mediated by lymphocytes

There is little doubt at the present time that both perforin-dependent and -independent pathways are important in mediating the cytotoxicity associated with lymphocytes. The cell distribution of perforin, initially thought to include both CTL and NK cells, now must be viewed with caution because all previous biochemical studies on CTL have been conducted with cell lines propagated in long-term cultures in the presence of T cell growth factors (IL-2 and perhaps some still undefined factors). Under these conditions, CTL are known to assume a broader, NK-like specificity in target cell killing and may thus differ significantly from primary CTL generated in the body. Accordingly, perforin does not seem to be present in primary CTL activated directly through mixed lymphocyte reactions. It remains to be shown how primary CTL lyse target cells in vivo. Initial studies conducted in several laboratories have already provided some clues. It now seems that even in cultured, perforin-containing CTL, the perforin pathway is not an obligatory mechanism required for target cell killing. Other pathways, possibly involving TNF/lymphotoxin-like molecules, may play a direct role in this type of cytotoxicity. Other still unidentified factors now also need to be sought, including membrane polypeptides that may develop cytotoxicity directly upon cell contact and binding. Although from the studies reviewed here it is clear now that perforin has a more limited role in cell killing than originally proposed, it is still intriguing that it should share structural and functional homologies with complement proteins, drawing paradoxical analogies between two systems (the cellular and the humoral immune systems) which have evolved to become specialized to carry out separate immunological tasks. The cloning of the genes for perforin and for all the C proteins that comprise the MAC should reveal important information on how these genes originated and then diverged during evolution. The cellular distribution of other granule products, such as serine esterases, also must be viewed with caution. A serine esterase activity was initially thought to be CTL-specific. This information stimulated an intensive research activity in many laboratories that resulted in both the purification of a serine esterase family and the cloning of several serine esterase transcripts. It is becoming clear from recent evidence that this group of enzymes is not truly CTL-specific and therefore would not be expected to develop any function rendered absolutely necessary for cytolysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

A differential molecular biology search for genes preferentially expressed in functional T lymphocytes: the CTLA genes

One approach to the isolation of molecules involved in T cell-mediated cytolysis stems from the postulate of a possible correlation between molecular phenotype and molecular functional involvement. Accordingly, CTL-specific molecules have been looked for, using a strategy based on the differential screening of a subtracted cDNA library. This led to the isolation and characterization of the following structures, expressed mostly (but no exclusively) in CTLs and inducible upon lymphocyte activation: CTLA-1 and CTLA-3 (serine-proteases), CTLA-4 (a member of the Ig superfamily) and CTLA-2 alpha and beta (homologues to the proregion of cysteine-proteases). The theoretical and practical limitations and the prospects of this type of approach are discussed.

Comparative molecular model building of two serine proteinases from cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Two genes that are expressed when precursor cytotoxic T lymphocytes are transformed to T killer cells have been cloned and sequenced. The derived amino acid sequences, coding for cytotoxic cell protease 1 (CCP1) and Hannuka factor (HF) are highly homologous to members of the serine proteinase family. Comparative molecular model building using the known three-dimensional structures and the derived amino acid sequences of the lymphocyte enzymes has provided useful structural information, especially in predicting the conformations of the substrate binding sites. In applying this modelling procedure, we used the X-ray structures of four serine proteinases to provide a structurally based sequence alignment: alpha-chymotrypsin (CHT), bovine trypsin (BT), Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT), and rat mast cell protease 2 (RMCP2). The root mean square differences in alpha-carbon atom positions among these four structures when compared in a pairwise fashion range from 0.79 to 0.97 A for structurally equivalent residues. The sequences of the two lymphocyte enzymes were then aligned to these proteinases using chemical criteria and the superimposed X-ray structures as guides. The alignment showed that the sequence of CCP1 was most similar to RMCP2, whereas HF has regions of homology with both RMCP2 and BT. With RMCP2 as a template for CCP1 and the two enzymes RMCP2 and BT as templates for HF, the molecular models were constructed. Intramolecular steric clashes that resulted from the replacement of amino acid side chains of the templates by the aligned residues of CCP1 and HF were relieved by adjustment of the side chain conformational angles in an interactive computer graphics device. This process was followed by energy minimization of the enzyme model to optimize the stereochemical geometry and to relieve any remaining unacceptably close nonbonded contacts. The resulting model of CCP1 has an arginine residue at position 226 in the specificity pocket, thereby predicting a substrate preference for P1 aspartate or glutamate residues. The model also predicts favorable binding for a small hydrophobic residue at the P2 position of the substrate. The primary specificity pocket of HF resembles that of BT and therefore predicts a lysine or arginine preference for the P1 residue. The arginine at position 99 in the model of HF suggests a preference for aspartate or glutamate side chains in the P2 position of the substrate. Both CCP1 and HF have a free cysteine in the segment of polypeptide 88 to 93.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The inducible cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated gene transcript CTLA-1 sequence and gene localization to mouse chromosome 14

Classical phenomenological approaches to the study of the mechanism of T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity have now given way to a search for molecules involved in this function; this is attempted either by subcellular and biochemical fractionation of material from cytotoxic cells, or through the characterization of molecules recognized by cytotoxicity-inhibiting monoclonal antibodies Molecules having a role in cytotoxicity may also be identified by detecting the corresponding messenger RNA transcripts. Such an approach may include, as a first step, the search for transcripts as specific as possible to cytotoxic T cells; only secondarily can their actual relevance to cytotoxicity be investigated. We report here the preparation and systematic screening of a differential complementary DNA bank, in which we detected three distinct messenger RNA transcripts (CTLA-1, CTLA-2 and CTLA-3) present in various cytotoxic T cells but not (or less so) in a range of non-cytotoxic lymphoid cells. We describe the co-inducibility of these transcripts and of cytotoxicity in thymocytes and hybridoma cells, the sequence of CTLA-1 cDNA, its protein homology with serine esterases and the localization of the corresponding gene to mouse chromosome 14.

Cloning of a cDNA for a T cell-specific serine protease from a cytotoxic T lymphocyte

A new serine protease was encoded by a clone isolated from a murine cytotoxic T-lymphocyte complementary DNA library by an RNA-hybridization competition protocol. Complementary transcripts were detected in cytotoxic T lymphocytes, spleen cells from nude mice, a rat natural killer cell leukemia, and in two of eight T-helper clones (both cytotoxic), but not in normal mouse kidney, liver, spleen, or thymus, nor in several tested T- and B-cell tumors. T-cell activation with concanavalin A plus interleukin-2 induced spleen cells to express this gene with kinetics correlating with the acquisition of cytolytic capacity. The nucleotide sequence of this gene encoded an amino acid sequence of approximately 25,700 daltons, with 25 to 35 percent identity to members of the serine protease family. The active site "charge-relay" residues (His57, Asp102, and Ser195 of the chymotrypsin numbering system) are conserved, as well as the trypsin-specific Asp (position 189 in trypsin). A Southern blot analysis indicated that this gene is conserved in humans, mouse, and chicken. This serine protease may have a role in lymphocyte lysis and a "lytic cascade."

Novel serine proteases encoded by two cytotoxic T lymphocyte-specific genes

Genes that are expressed exclusively in cytotoxic T cells should encode proteins that are essential for target cell lysis in cell-mediated immune responses. The sequences of two cytotoxic T lymphocyte-specific complementary DNA's (cDNA's) suggest that the two genes encode serine proteases. A full-length cDNA corresponding to one of the genes was isolated and sequenced. The predicted protein resembles serine proteases in that it includes all the residues that form the catalytic triad of the active site of serine proteases. Moreover, it has sequence characteristics thought to occur only in rat mast cell protease type II. These results are in accord with the view that a protease cascade plays a key role in cytotoxic T-cell activation.