Tyrosine phosphorylation of a c-Src-like protein is increased in membranes of CD4- CD8- T lymphocytes from lpr/lpr mice

Fyn and Lck tyrosine kinases regulate tyrosine phosphorylation of p105CasL, a member of the p130Cas docking protein family, in T-cell receptor-mediated signalling

We have previously shown that engagement of the T-cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 complex with anti-CD3 antibody induces tyrosine phosphorylation of p105CasL (CasL), a member of the p130Cas docking protein family. In the present work, we attempted to determine which protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) regulate TCR-mediated phosphorylation of CasL. We show here that an association between CasL and two types of Src family PTKs, Fyn and Lck, is induced by anti-CD3 cross-linking of human H9 T cells. In contrast, ZAP-70, another PTK that also plays a critical role in the TCR signalling, failed to bind CasL, even after anti-CD3 stimulation. In vitro kinase assays revealed that Fyn and Lck, but not ZAP-70, were capable of phosphorylating CasL. Moreover, we found that CasL was constitutively hyperphosphorylated in vivo in splenocytes of MRL-MP-lpr/lpr mice, in which overproduction and excessive activation of Fyn and Lck have previously been shown to occur. Constitutive in vivo binding of CasL to both kinases was also demonstrated in lpr splenocytes. These results strongly suggest that CasL is a substrate for Fyn and Lck PTKs in TCR signal transduction.

Impaired plasma membrane targeting of Grb2-murine son of sevenless (mSOS) complex and differential activation of the Fyn-T cell receptor (TCR)-zeta-Cbl pathway mediate T cell hyporesponsiveness in autoimmune nonobese diabetic mice

Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse thymocytes are hyporesponsive to T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-mediated stimulation of proliferation, and this T cell hyporesponsiveness may be causal to the onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice. We previously showed that TCR-induced NOD T cell hyporesponsiveness is associated with a block in Ras activation and defective signaling along the PKC/Ras/MAPK pathway. Here, we report that several sequential changes in TCR-proximal signaling events may mediate this block in Ras activation. We demonstrate that NOD T cell hyporesponsiveness is associated with the (a) enhanced TCR-beta-associated Fyn kinase activity and the differential activation of the Fyn-TCR-zeta-Cbl pathway, which may account for the impaired recruitment of ZAP70 to membrane-bound TCR-zeta; (b) relative inability of the murine son of sevenless (mSOS) Ras GDP releasing factor activity to translocate from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane; and (c) exclusion of mSOS and PLC-gamma1 from the TCR-zeta-associated Grb2/pp36-38/ZAP70 signaling complex. Our data suggest that altered tyrosine phosphorylation and targeting of the Grb2/pp36-38/ZAP70 complex to the plasma membrane and cytoskeleton and the deficient association of mSOS with this Grb2-containing complex may block the downstream activation of Ras and Ras-mediated amplification of TCR/CD3-mediated signals in hyporesponsive NOD T cells. These findings implicate mSOS as an important mediator of downregulation of Ras signaling in hyporesponsive NOD T cells.

Phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity associated with c-Src in large multimeric complexes isolated from adrenal medullary chromaffin cells

Chromaffin cells, which secrete catecholamines in response to acetylcholine, express high levels of the Src-family tyrosine kinases. These kinases contain protein-protein interaction domains which bind signal transduction proteins that participate in a variety of cellular processes. To determine if signalling proteins bind c-Src in chromaffin cells, we examined c-Src immunocomplexes for co-precipitating proteins. We discovered a phosphotyrosine phosphatase (PTPase; EC 3.1.3.48) activity which associates with specific subcellular pools of c-Src in vivo and which preferentially binds the SH2 (Src homology 2) domain of c-Src in vitro. Known PTPases were not identified by blotting of c-Src immunocomplexes with a panel of anti-PTPase antibodies, suggesting that the PTPase may be a novel family member. The c-Src-PTPase complex is enriched in the plasma membrane fraction and exists in several large complexes, as revealed by gel-filtration analysis. This PTPase activity is altered rapidly following stimulation by secretagogues, decreasing within 30 s and returning to basal levels by 60 s of stimulation. Both the subcellular localization and rapid activity changes suggest that the c-Src-associated PTPase may function in early signalling events emanating from the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. In support of this is the co-precipitation of a PTPase activity with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and co-chromatography of this receptor with one or the c-Src-PTPase complexes.

Structural elements that regulate pp59c-fyn catalytic activity, transforming potential, and ability to associate with polyomavirus middle-T antigen

Except for its unique amino-terminal region (residues 1 through 83), which possibly dictates substrate recognition, pp59c-fyn bears a high degree of homology with other members of the src family of tyrosine kinases. Here we show that the carboxy terminus of pp59c-fyn is necessary for stable middle-T-antigen association, that pp59c-fyn is normally phosphorylated on both serine and tyrosine residues, and that Tyr-531 and Tyr-420 are phosphorylation sites in vivo and in vitro, respectively. Analysis of a spontaneously generated mutant encoding a truncated form of pp59c-fyn and of variants specifically mutated at the Tyr-531 and Tyr-420 phosphorylation sites indicates that pp59c-fyn has regulatory elements analogous to those that have already been identified for other src-like tyrosine kinases. However, further examination of the pp59c-fyn variants suggests the likelihood of additional means by which its activities might be regulated. Although alteration of Tyr-531 to phenylalanine (531F) in pp59c-fyn results in a protein which is more active enzymatically that the wild type, the enhancement is much less than that for the analogous variant of pp60c-src. Furthermore, contrary to results of similar experiments on other src-like proto-oncogene products, 531F did not induce transformation of NIH 3T3 cells. Studies involving pp59c-fyn-pp60c-src chimeras in which the unique amino-terminal sequences (residues 1 through 83) of the two kinases were precisely interchanged implied that the inability of 531F to induce transformation is probably not caused by the absence of substrates for pp59c-fyn in NIH 3T3 cells but rather by the insufficient enhancement of pp59c-fyn kinase activity. It is therefore probable that the kinase and transforming activities of pp59c-fyn are repressed by additional regulatory elements possibly located in the amino-terminal half of the molecule.