Novel Munc13-4 mutations in children and young adult patients with haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Familial haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterised by constitutive defects in cellular cytotoxicity resulting in fever, hepatosplenomegaly and cytopenia, and the outcome is fatal unless treated by chemoimmunotherapy followed by haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Since 1999, mutations in the perforin gene giving rise to this disease have been identified; however, these account only for 40% of cases. Lack of a genetic marker hampers the diagnosis, suitability for transplantation, selection of familial donors, identification of carriers, genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis. Mutations in the Munc13-4 gene have recently been described in patients with FHL. We sequenced the Munc13-4 gene in all patients with haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis not due to PRF1 mutations. In 15 of the 30 families studied, 12 novel and 4 known Munc13-4 mutations were found, spread throughout the gene. Among novel mutations, 2650C-->T introduced a stop codon; 441del A, 532del C, 3082del C and 3226ins G caused a frameshift, and seven were mis sense mutations. Median age of diagnosis was 4 months, but six patients developed the disease after 5 years of age and one as a young adult of 18 years. Involvement of central nervous system was present in 9 of 15 patients, activity of natural killer cells was markedly reduced or absent in 13 of 13 tested patients. Chemo-immunotherapy was effective in all patients. Munc13-4 mutations were found in 15 of 30 patients with FHL without PRF1 mutations. Because these patients may develop the disease during adolescence or even later, haematologists should include FHL2 and FHL3 in the differential diagnosis of young adults with fever, cytopenia, splenomegaly and hypercytokinaemia.

The immunological synapse of CTL contains a secretory domain and membrane bridges.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) rapidly destroy their targets. Here we show that although target cell death occurs within 5 min of CTL-target cell contact, an immunological synapse similar to that seen in CD4 cells rapidly forms in CTL, with a ring of adhesion proteins surrounding an inner signaling molecule domain. Lytic granule secretion occurs in a separate domain within the adhesion ring, maintaining signaling protein organization during exocytosis. Live and fixed cell studies show target cell plasma membrane markers are transferred to the CTL as the cells separate. Electron microscopy reveals continuities forming membrane bridges between the CTL and target cell membranes, suggesting a possible mechanism for this transfer.

Normal and abnormal secretion by haemopoietic cells.

The secretory lysosomes found in haemopoietic cells provide a very efficient mechanism for delivering the effector proteins of many immune cells in response to antigen recognition. Although secretion shows some similarities to the secretion of specialized granules in other secretory cell types, some aspects of secretory lysosome release appear to be unique to melanocytes and cells of the haemopoietic lineage. Mast cells and platelets have provided excellent models for studying secretion, but recent advances in characterizing the immunological synapse allow a very fine dissection of the secretory process in T lymphocytes. These studies show that secretory lysosomes are secreted from the centre of the talin ring at the synapse. Proper secretion requires a series of Rab and cytoskeletal elements which play critical roles in the specialized secretion of lysosomes in haemopoietic cells.

Rab27a is required for regulated secretion in cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Rab27a activity is affected in several mouse models of human disease including Griscelli (ashen mice) and Hermansky-Pudlak (gunmetal mice) syndromes. A loss of function mutation occurs in the Rab27a gene in ashen (ash), whereas in gunmetal (gm) Rab27a dysfunction is secondary to a mutation in the alpha subunit of Rab geranylgeranyl transferase, an enzyme required for prenylation and activation of Rabs. We show here that Rab27a is normally expressed in cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), but absent in ashen homozygotes (ash/ash). Cytotoxicity and secretion assays show that ash/ash CTLs are unable to kill target cells or to secrete granzyme A and hexosaminidase. By immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, we show polarization but no membrane docking of ash/ash lytic granules at the immunological synapse. In gunmetal CTLs, we show underprenylation and redistribution of Rab27a to the cytosol, implying reduced activity. Gunmetal CTLs show a reduced ability to kill target cells but retain the ability to secrete hexosaminidase and granzyme A. However, only some of the granules polarize to the immunological synapse, and many remain dispersed around the periphery of the CTLs. These results demonstrate that Rab27a is required in a final secretory step and that other Rab proteins also affected in gunmetal are likely to be involved in polarization of the granules to the immunological synapse.

Fratricide among CD8(+) T lymphocytes naturally infected with human T cell lymphotropic virus type I.

Infection and gene expression by the human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in vivo have been thought to be confined to CD4(+) T lymphocytes. We show here that, in natural HTLV-I infection, a significant proportion of CD8(+) T lymphocytes are infected by HTLV-I. Interestingly, HTLV-I-specific but not Epstein-Barr virus-specific CD8(+) T lymphocytes were shown to be infected. Furthermore, HTLV-I protein expression in naturally infected CD8(+) T lymphocytes renders them susceptible to fratricide mediated by autologous HTLV-I-specific CD8(+) T lymphocytes. Fratricide among virus-specific CTLs could impair the immune control of HTLV-I and possibly other lymphotropic viruses.

Sorting out the multiple roles of Fas ligand.

Fas ligand can both be used by the immune system to initiate cell death, and be used by non-lymphoid cells to evade death. Recent work has shown that Fas ligand is differentially sorted in different cell types. Here we present the viewpoint that the differential sorting plays an important part in determining the role of Fas ligand in different cells.

Analysis of the lysosomal storage disease Chediak-Higashi syndrome.

Chediak-Higashi syndrome (CHS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of human, mouse (beige) and other mammalian species. The same genetic defect was found to result in the disease in all species identified, permitting a positional cloning approach using the mouse model beige to identify the responsible gene. The CHS gene was cloned and mutations identified in affected species. This review discusses the clinical features of CHS contrasting features seen in similar syndromes. The possible functions of the protein encoded by the CHS/beige gene are discussed, along with the alterations in cellular physiology seen in mutant cells.

Secretory lysosome biogenesis in cytotoxic T lymphocytes from normal and Chediak Higashi syndrome patients.

The lytic proteins mediating target cell killing are stored in the lysosomes of activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and are secreted upon recognition of a target cell. These secretory lysosomes cannot be detected in resting T lymphocytes. Interaction of a resting cell with a target cell activates de novo formation of secretory lysosomes. CTL clones in culture mimic this behaviour, and so provide an ideal system for studying secretory lysosome biogenesis and maturation. In the genetic disease, Chediak Higashi syndrome (CHS), all lysosomes in the cells are enlarged and reduced in number compared with wild-type (WT) cells. We have used CTL from this disease to study secretory lysosome biogenesis and maturation. We show that at early stages after activation the secretory lysosomes are identical in WT and mutant cells, and that delivery of proteins to the secretory lysosome along the biosynthetic and endocytic pathways is normal in the mutant cells. With time, the lysosomes in the mutant cells aggregate, become larger and fewer in number and eventually form giant structures. Our results show that the initial steps of secretory lysosome formation are normal in CHS, but that the organelles subsequently fuse together during cell maturation to form the giant secretory lysosomes.

Anterograde and retrograde traffic between the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi complex.

The transfer of newly synthesized membrane proteins moving from the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) to the Golgi complex has been studied by electron microscopy in HEp-2 cells transfected with cDNAs for chimeric proteins. These proteins consist of a reporter enzyme, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), anchored to the transmembrane domains of two integral membrane proteins, the transferrin receptor and sialyl-transferase. The chimeras are distributed throughout the nuclear envelope, RER, vesicular tubular clusters (VTCs) and a network of tubules in the cis-Golgi area. At 20 degrees C tubules containing chimera connect the RER to the VTCs and to the cis-Golgi network. On transfer to 37 degrees C in the presence of dithiothreitol (DTT), the chimeras are seen to move from the RER and through the Golgi stack. With this temperature shift the direct connections with the RER are lost and free vesicles form; some of these vesicles contain HRP reaction product which is much more concentrated than in the adjacent RER while others lack reaction product entirely. In cells expressing SSHRPKDEL, DAB reaction product remains distributed throughout the RER, the VTCs, and the cis-Golgi network for prolonged periods in the presence of DTT and almost all of the vesicles which form at 37 degrees C are DAB-positive. Together these observations demonstrate that all three chimeras are transported from the RER to the cis-Golgi in free, 40-60-nm vesicles at 37 degrees C. They also suggest that the retrograde traffic which carries SSHRPKDEL back to the RER is probably mediated by vesicles with a similar morphology but which, in cells expressing membrane-anchored chimeras, lack detectable reaction product.

Brefeldin A inhibits the formation of constitutive secretory vesicles and immature secretory granules from the trans-Golgi network.

The effects of brefeldin A (BFA) on membrane traffic between the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and the plasma membrane were investigated in intact PC12 cells and in a cell-free system derived from PC12 cells. In intact cells, BFA caused a virtually complete block of constitutive secretion, as indicated by the lack of release from, and accumulation in, the cells of a [35S]sulfate-labeled heparan sulfate proteoglycan (hsPG). Pulse-chase experiments with [35S]sulfate followed by subcellular fractionation showed that this block was due to the inhibition of formation of constitutive secretory vesicles (CSVs) from the TGN. BFA did not block the depolarization-induced release of [35S]sulfate-labeled chromogranin B (CgB) and secretogranin II (SgII) from secretory granules formed prior to the addition of the drug, showing that BFA does not block secretory granule fusion with the plasma membrane. The presence of BFA did, however, prevent the appearance of [35S]sulfate-labeled CgB and SgII in secretory granules, indicating that the drug inhibits the formation of secretory granules from the TGN. Evidence for a direct block of vesicle formation by BFA was obtained using a cell-free system derived from [35S]sulfate-labeled PC12 cells. In this system, low concentrations of BFA (5 micrograms/ml) inhibited the formation of the hsPG-containing CSVs and that of the SgII-containing secretory granules from the TGN to the same extent (50-60%) as, and in a non-additive manner with, the nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue GTP gamma S. Consistent with the inhibitory effects of BFA on vesicle formation from the TGN, BFA treatment of intact PC12 cells led to the hypersialylation of CgB, which presumably was due to the increased residence time of the protein in the TGN. In conclusion, our data are consistent with, and allow the generalization of, the concept that the BFA-induced block of anterograde membrane traffic results from the inhibition of vesicle formation from a donor compartment.

Biogenesis of secretory granules.

The biogenesis of secretory granules in endocrine, neuroendocrine, and exocrine cells is thought to involve a selective aggregation of the regulated secretory proteins into a dense-cored structure. The dense-core is then enveloped by membrane in the trans-Golgi network and buds, forming an immature secretory granule. The immature secretory granule then undergoes a maturation process which gives rise to the mature secretory granule. The recent data on the processes of aggregation, budding and maturation are summarized here. In addition, the current knowledge about the mature secretory granule is reviewed with emphasis on the biogenesis of the membrane of this organelle.

Two membrane-bound forms of tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase as revealed by phase partitioning in Triton X-114.

Tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase (TPST) is a membrane-associated enzyme of the trans Golgi network that catalyzes the posttranslational sulfation of a variety of secretory and membrane proteins. We have analyzed the membrane association of TPST in Golgi-enriched fractions from bovine adrenal medulla using carbonate treatment (pH 11) and Triton X-114 phase partitioning. TPST was not extracted by carbonate. Triton X-114 phase partitioning revealed that, unexpectedly, TPST from non-carbonate-treated membranes was present in both, a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic form with apparent sedimentation coefficients of approximately 13 and approximately 6, respectively. Extraction of membranes with carbonate converted the hydrophilic form TPST to the hydrophobic form. Addition of the carbonate extract to TPST solubilized from carbonate-treated membranes converted the hydrophobic form of the enzyme to the hydrophilic form. This conversion of TPST was specific in that it was not observed for the bulk of the proteins present in the carbonate-treated membranes. The factor in the carbonate extract responsible for this conversion, referred to as "phase-transfer factor", (i) was precipitable with ammonium sulfate and polyethylene glycol, (ii) was non-dialyzable, (iii) was not extracted from membranes by 0.5 M NaCl, and (iv) appeared to be more abundant than TPST itself. These results show that TPST is an integral membrane protein and suggested that the enzyme may exist in a complex with a peripheral membrane protein. Moreover, a phase-transfer factor was also observed in another system, PC12 cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)