BALB- and Harvey-murine sarcoma virus transformation of a novel lymphoid progenitor cell.

BALB- and Harvey-murine sarcoma viruses (MSV) comprise a family of retroviruses whose mouse- and rat-derived onc genes are closely related. These viruses induce sarcomas and erythroleukemias in susceptible animals. An in vitro colony assay that detects transformation of lymphoid cells by Abelson-murine leukemia virus was used to demonstrate that BALB- and Harvey-MSV transform a novel hematopoietic cell both in culture and in vivo. Bone marrow colony formation was sarcoma virus dependent, followed single-hit kinetics, and required the presence of mercaptoethanol in the agar medium. BALB- and Harvey-MSV-induced colonies could be established in culture as continuous cell lines that demonstrated unrestricted self-renewal capacity and leukemogenicity in vivo. The cells had a blast cell morphology and lacked detectable markers of mature cells within the myeloid or erythroid series. They also lacked detectable immunoglobulin mu chain or Thy-1 antigen, markers normally associated with committed cells of the B and T lymphoid lineages, respectively. However, the transformants contained very high levels of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), an enzyme believed to be specific to early stages within the lymphoid differentiation pathway. This phenotype distinguishes these BALB- and Harvey-MSV transformants from any previously reported hematopoietic targets of transforming retroviruses, including the pre-B lymphoid cell transformed by Abelson-MuLV under identical assay conditions. These newly identified lymphoid progenitor cell transformants may provide an important means of studying early stages of lymphoid ontogeny and the possible role of TdT in lymphoid development.

Relationships between B cell and myeloid differentiation. Studies with a B lymphocyte progenitor line, HAFTL-1.

A cell line, HAFTL-1, derived by in vitro transformation of fetal liver cells with v-Ha-ras, was found to have molecular and phenotypic characteristics of pro-B cells recently committed to the Ly-1+ B cell differentiation pathway. Stimulation of these cells with LPS resulted in their differentiation within either the B or myelomonocytic lineages. Thus, lines derived from LPS-stimulated HAFTL-1 cells were shown to be clonally related, as evidenced by common v-ras integrations, but to exhibit characteristics of pre-B cells (ThB expression, continuing DJ heavy chain rearrangements) or mature macrophages (expression of Mac-1 and Mac-2, lysozyme and nonspecific esterase production, phagocytosis) while maintaining their Ly-1+ phenotype. These results suggest that events resulting in the irrevocable commitment to a single lineage occur late in differentiation, at least within the pathway yielding Ly-1+ B cells and a proposed subpopulation of Ly-1+ monocytes and macrophages. Final commitment to these lineages is carefully orchestrated, as evidenced by restricted expression of Ly-5 isoforms and production of IgH transcripts.

Murine hematopoietic cells with pre-B or pre-B/myeloid characteristics are generated by in vitro transformation with retroviruses containing fes, ras, abl, and src oncogenes.

In vitro infection of bone marrow or fetal liver cells with retroviruses containing fes, abl, ras, or src oncogenes resulted in the transformation of early B lineage cells. All cell lines tested possessed rearrangements at the Ig heavy chain locus and some had rearrangements at the K chain locus. The majority of the lines corresponded phenotypically to Lyb-2+, Ly-5(B220)+, ThB- large pre-B cells, although some were classified as pro-B cells because of their Lyb-2+, Ly-17+, Ly-5(B220)- phenotype. We identified two cell lines that contained subpopulations of cells that coexpressed the B lineage antigens Lyb-2 and Ly-5(B220) and the myeloid lineage antigen Mac-1. Single-cell FMF cloning of these subpopulations showed that Mac-1+ cells were derived from Mac-1- cells and that these Mac-1+-cloned cells further differentiated into cells with phenotypic and functional characteristics of mature macrophages.

Expression of the 6C3 antigen on murine hematopoietic neoplasms. Association with expression of abl, ras, fes, src, erbB, and Cas NS-1 oncogenes but not with myc.

The monoclonal antibody 6C3 was used to test a wide variety of murine hematopoietic neoplasms for cell surface expression of a 160 kD glycoprotein (gp160(6C3)) previously shown to be expressed by neoplastic pre-B and some B lymphocytes transformed by Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV). This antigen was expressed on many pre-B and B cell lymphomas, but not on A-MuLV-transformed fibroblasts, T cell lymphomas, or myelomonocytic leukemias, gp160(6C3) was expressed by most early B-lineage spontaneous tumors, and early B tumors induced by replication-defective MuLV-containing oncogenes the products of which are associated with the cytoplasmic aspect of the plasma membrane, i.e., fes, abl, H-ras, bas, src, erbB, and Cas NS-1. By comparison, none of the early B lineage lymphomas induced by the "nuclear" oncogene avian v-myc MuLV, or arising in mice transgenic for a murine c-myc gene, or later B cell lineage stages bearing translocations of the c-myc locus expressed this antigen.

Biological function of PDGF-induced PI-3 kinase activity: its role in alpha PDGF receptor-mediated mitogenic signaling.

The tyrosine phosphorylation sites in the human alpha PDGF receptor (alpha PDGFR) required for association with PI-3 kinase have been identified as tyrosines 731 and 742. Mutation of either tyrosine substantially reduced PDGF-induced PI-3 kinase activity but did not impair the receptor-mediated mitogenic response. We sought to determine whether PDGF-induced PI-3 kinase activity could be further ablated so as to exclude a low threshold requirement for PDGFR signal transduction. Thus, we mutated both tyrosine 731 and 742 and expressed the double mutant (Y731F/Y742F) in 32D hematopoietic cells. In such transfectants, PDGF induced no detectable receptor-associated or anti-P-Tyr recoverable PI-3 kinase activity. Under the same conditions, neither mobility shift of raf-1 nor tyrosine phosphorylation of either PLC gamma or MAP kinase was impaired. 32D transfectants expressing the double mutant showed wild-type alpha PDGFR levels of mitogenic and chemotactic responses to PDGF. To examine the effect of the double mutation in cells that normally respond to PDGF, we generated chimeras in which the cytoplasmic domains of wild-type alpha PDGFR, Y731F, and Y731F/Y742F were linked to the extracellular domain of colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) receptor (fms). After introduction of the chimeric receptors into mouse NIH/3T3 fibroblasts, the ability of CSF-1 to stimulate growth of these transfectants was examined. Our data show that all these chimeric receptors exhibited similar abilities to mediate CSF-1-stimulated cell growth. These findings lead us to conclude that PDGF-induced PI-3 kinase activity is not required for PDGF-stimulated mitogenic pathway in both NIH/3T3 fibroblasts and 32D hematopoietic cells.

Specific receptor detection by a functional keratinocyte growth factor-immunoglobulin chimera.

Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) are encoded by at least four distinct highly conserved genes, and alternative splicing generates multiple gene products. The close relationship among different FGFRs has greatly increased the difficulty in generating specific immunochemical probes. As an alternative strategy, we constructed a fusion protein comprising keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and an IgG1 Fc domain (HFc). The chimeric molecule was efficiently secreted from transfectants as a disulfide-linked dimer that bound KGFRs with high affinity. Moreover, the KGF-HFc, like native KGF, induced DNA synthesis by epithelial cells implying normal functional receptor activation. Because it retained the convenient detection properties of an immunoglobulin, it was possible to use the KGF-HFc in ligand-mediated histochemical analysis of KGFRs. Flow cytometry revealed KGF-HFc chimera detection of the KGFR, an alternative FGFR2 product, but not FGFR1 (flg) or FGFR2 (bek). Histochemical analysis of normal skin demonstrated the specific localization of KGFRs within the spinous layer, a zone of epithelial cell differentiation. KGFRs were also localized to epithelial cells within a specific region of the hair follicle, and they were not detectable in cells of the sweat gland. Tissue sections of soft palate and tonsil, two examples of nonkeratinizing epithelium, revealed staining of stratum spinosum and some staining of the basal cell layer as well. Neither salivary gland epithelium nor lymphoid cells were positive. The ciliated epithelium of the trachea exhibited KGFR expression in intermediate and basal cell layers. In striking contrast to the normal pattern of staining in the adjacent epithelium, a squamous cell carcinoma of skin lacked detectable KGFRs. Our present findings suggest that growth factor-Ig fusion proteins may be generally applicable in ligand-mediated histochemical detection and localization of growth factor receptors.

erbB-2 is a potent oncogene when overexpressed in NIH/3T3 cells.

A wide variety of human tumors contain an amplified or overexpressed erbB-2 gene, which encodes a growth factor receptor-like protein. When erbB-2 complementary DNA was expressed in NIH/3T3 cells under the control of the SV40 promoter, the gene lacked transforming activity despite expression of detectable levels of the erbB-2 protein. A further five- to tenfold increase in its expression under influence of the long terminal repeat of Moloney murine leukemia virus was associated with activation of erbB-2 as a potent oncogene. The high levels of the erbB-2 product associated with malignant transformation of NIH/3T3 cells were observed in human mammary tumor cells that overexpressed this gene. These findings demonstrate a new mechanism for acquisition of oncogenic properties by genes encoding growth factor receptor-like proteins and provide a functional basis for the role of their overexpression in the development of human malignancies.

IRS-1: essential for insulin- and IL-4-stimulated mitogenesis in hematopoietic cells.

Although several interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent cell lines proliferate in response to IL-4 or insulin, the 32D line does not. Insulin and IL-4 sensitivity was restored to 32D cells by expression of IRS-1, the principal substrate of the insulin receptor. Although 32D cells possessed receptors for both factors, they lacked the IRS-1--related protein, 4PS, which becomes phosphorylated by tyrosine in insulin- or IL-4--responsive lines after stimulation. These results indicate that factors that bind unrelated receptors can use similar mitogenic signaling pathways in hematopoietic cells and that 4PS and IRS-1 are functionally similar proteins that are essential for insulin- and IL-4--induced proliferation.

EGF receptor and erbB-2 tyrosine kinase domains confer cell specificity for mitogenic signaling.

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) can efficiently couple with mitogenic signaling pathways when it is transfected into interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent 32D hematopoietic cells. When expression vectors for erbB-2, which is structurally related to EGFR, or its truncated counterpart, delta NerbB-2, were introduced into 32D cells, neither was capable of inducing proliferation. This was despite overexpression and constitutive tyrosine kinase activity of their products at levels associated with potent transformation of fibroblast target cells. Thus, EGFR and erbB-2 couple with distinct mitogenic signaling pathways. The region responsible for the specificity of intracellular signal transduction was localized to a 270-amino acid stretch encompassing their respective tyrosine kinase domains. Thus, tissue- or cell-specific regulation of growth factor receptor signaling can occur at a point after the initial interaction of growth factor with receptor. Such specificity in signal transduction may account for the selection of certain oncogenes in some malignancies.

Signal transduction through the EGF receptor transfected in IL-3-dependent hematopoietic cells.

An expression vector for the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor was introduced into the 32D myeloid cell line, which is devoid of EGF receptors and absolutely dependent on interleukin-3 (IL-3) for its proliferation and survival. Expression of the EGF receptor conferred the ability to utilize EGF for transduction of a mitogenic signal. When the transfected cells were propagated in EGF, they exhibited a more mature myeloid phenotype than was observed under conditions of IL-3-directed growth. Moreover, exposure to EGF led to a rapid stimulation of phosphoinositide metabolism, while IL-3 had no detectable effect on phosphoinositide turnover either in control or EGF receptor-transfected 32D cells. Although the transfected cells exhibited high levels of functional EGF receptors, they remained nontumorigenic. In contrast, transfection of v-erbB, an amino-terminal truncated form of the EGF receptor with constitutive tyrosine kinase activity, not only abrogated the IL-3 growth factor requirement of 32D cells, but caused them to become tumorigenic in nude mice. These results show that a naïve hematopoietic cell expresses all of the intracellular components of the EGF-signaling pathway necessary to evoke a mitogenic response and sustain continuous proliferation.

Myeloid cell transformation by ras-containing murine sarcoma viruses.

BALB and Harvey murine sarcoma viruses contain ras transforming genes capable of altering the proliferation and differentiation of cells within the erythroid and lymphoid lineages (W. D. Hankins and E. M. Scolnick, Cell 26:91-97, 1981; J. H. Pierce and S. A. Aaronson, J. Exp. Med. 156:873-887, 1982; E. M. Scolnick et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 1:68-74). The present studies demonstrate hematopoietic targets of ras-containing viruses within the myeloid lineage. Diffuse colonies were induced by BALB or Harvey marine sarcoma virus infection of murine bone marrow cells. Generally, these colonies were made up of relatively mature macrophages which exhibited increased self-renewal capacity but eventually underwent terminal differentiation in culture. Cells from one BALB murine sarcoma virus-induced colony displayed phenotypic markers of more immature myelomonocytic cells. This colony, designated BAMC1, readily established as a continuous cell line and was highly malignant in vivo. Exposure of these cells to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate led to the induction of a more mature myeloid phenotype, which was associated with decreased growth potential in vitro and in vivo. The effects of the inducing agent were not mediated by an alteration in the level of expression of the ras-coded p21 transforming protein. Our present findings extend the spectrum of targets whose growth is altered by ras-containing retroviruses to cells at several stages of differentiation within each of the major hematopoietic lineages.

Efficient coupling with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, but not phospholipase C gamma or GTPase-activating protein, distinguishes ErbB-3 signaling from that of other ErbB/EGFR family members.

Recombinant expression of a chimeric EGFR/ErbB-3 receptor in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts allowed us to investigate cytoplasmic events associated with ErbB-3 signal transduction upon ligand activation. An EGFR/ErbB-3 chimera was expressed on the surface of NIH 3T3 transfectants as two classes of receptors possessing epidermal growth factor (EGF) binding affinities comparable to those of the wild-type EGF receptor (EGFR). EGF induced autophosphorylation in vivo of the chimeric receptor and DNA synthesis of EGFR/ErbB-3 transfectants with a dose response similar to that of EGFR transfectants. However, the ErbB-3 and EGFR cytoplasmic domains exhibited striking differences in their interactions with several known tyrosine kinase substrates. We demonstrated strong association of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity with the chimeric receptor upon ligand activation comparable in efficiency with that of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor, while the EGFR exhibited a 10- to 20-fold-lower efficiency in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase recruitment. By contrast, both phospholipase C gamma and GTPase-activating protein failed to associate with or be phosphorylated by the ErbB-3 cytoplasmic domain under conditions in which they coupled with the EGFR. In addition, though certain signal transmitters, including Shc and GRB2, were recruited by both kinases, EGFR and ErbB-3 elicited tyrosine phosphorylation of distinct sets of intracellular substrates. Thus, our findings show that ligand activation of the ErbB-3 kinase triggers a cytoplasmic signaling pathway that hitherto is unique within this receptor subfamily.

Transformation of NIH 3T3 cells by overexpression of the normal coding sequence of the rat neu gene.

While the normal human erbB-2 gene is potently transforming when overexpressed in NIH 3T3 cells, its rat homolog, the neu gene, seems to acquire transforming properties only upon alteration of its coding sequence. In this study, we compared the effects of different levels of expression of normal erbB-2 and neu in NIH 3T3 cells. Our results revealed that the normal rat neu gene acts as a potent oncogene when sufficiently overexpressed in NIH 3T3 cells.

Different structural alterations upregulate in vitro tyrosine kinase activity and transforming potency of the erbB-2 gene.

Compared with normal erbB-2 gp185, mutant erbB-2 proteins generated by mutations either in the transmembrane domain or by NH2-terminal deletion are able to transform NIH 3T3 cells at a 10- to 100-fold greater efficiency. Mutant proteins of both classes show increased tyrosine kinase activity, suggesting that an abnormal level of receptor-associated tyrosine kinase activity is a major determinant of erbB-2 oncogenic potential.

Stimulation of the platelet-derived growth factor beta receptor signaling pathway activates protein kinase C-delta.

The murine myeloid progenitor cell line 32D was recently shown to undergo monocytic differentiation when protein kinase C-delta (PKC-delta) was overexpressed and activated by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (H. Mischak, J.H. Pierce, J. Goodnight, M.G. Kazanietz, P.M. Blumberg, and J.F. Mushinski, J. Biol. Chem. 268:20110-20115, 1993). Tyrosine phosphorylation of PKC-delta occurred when PKC-delta-transfected 32D cells were stimulated by TPA (W. Li, H. Mischak, J.-C. Yu, L.-M. Wang, J.F. Mushinski, M.A. Heidaran, and J.H. Pierce, J. Biol. Chem. 269:2349-2352, 1994). In order to elucidate the role played by PKC-delta in response to activation of a receptor tyrosine kinase, we transfected platelet-derived growth factor beta receptor (PDGF-beta R) alone (32D/PDGF-beta R) or together with PKC-delta (32D/PDGF-beta R/PKC-delta) into 32D cells. NIH 3T3 cells which endogenously express both PDGF-alpha R and PDGF-beta R were also transfected with PKC-delta (NIH 3T3/PKC-delta). Like TPA treatment, PDGF-BB stimulation caused striking phosphorylation of PKC-delta in vivo and translocation of some PKC-delta from the cytosol fraction to the membrane fraction in both cell systems. Some of the phosphorylation induced by PDGF-BB treatment was found to be on a tyrosine residue(s). Tyrosine-phosphorylated PKC-delta was observed only for the membrane fraction after stimulation with PDGF-BB or TPA. The enzymatic activity of PKC-delta in the membrane fraction also increased after stimulation with TPA or PDGF, providing a positive correlation between PKC-delta tyrosine phosphorylation and its activation. Overnight treatment of 32D/PDGF-beta R/PKC-delta cells with PDGF-BB induced monocytic differentiation as judged by an increase in expression of cell surface macrophage differentiation markers. PDGF-BB had much weaker effects on 32D/PDGF-beta R cell differentiation, suggesting that increased PKC-delta expression enhanced monocytic differentiation. These results indicate that PKC-delta is a downstream molecule in the PDGFR signaling pathway and may play a pivotal role in PDGF-beta R-mediated cell differentiation.

Insulin-like growth factor I synergizes with interleukin 4 for hematopoietic cell proliferation independent of insulin receptor substrate expression.

In the present study, we investigated the potential role of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) receptor (IGF-IR) in cell proliferation by overexpressing it in 32D myeloid progenitor cells. The overexpression of IGF-IR caused the transfectants to proliferate in response to IGF-I in the absence of insulin receptor substrate (IRS) expression. The activation of overexpressed wild-type IGF-IR, but not that of an ATP-binding mutant of IGF-IR, resulted in the increased tyrosine phosphorylation of several intracellular proteins, including SHC, Src homology 2-containing inositol-5-phosphatase, protein kinase C-delta, and Erk2. Grb2 association with SHC and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity was also enhanced in response to IGF-I stimulation. Interestingly, the stimulation of the IGF-IR transfectants with interleukin 4 (IL-4) also resulted in strong mitogenesis independent of IRS expression. Moreover, IGF-I and/or IL-4 induced long-term cell growth of the IGF-IR transfectants. IL-4 was able to synergize with IGF-I for DNA synthesis, even in the parental 32D cells and a pro-B-cell line, Baf3, indicating the physiological importance of the two growth factors in hematopoietic cell proliferation. IL-4 stimulation of the IGF-IR transfectants resulted in enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of SHC, Erk2, and signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) proteins. Both IL-4 and IGF-I were able to induce c-myc early response gene expression, and this expression was maximal in the presence of both factors. Finally, we demonstrated that a MAPK kinase inhibitor was able to suppress mitogenesis of the IGF-IR transfectants in response to IGF-I and/or IL-4. Together, our results suggest that IL-4 synergizes with IGF-I for hematopoietic cell proliferation, likely through cross talk between SHC/Grb2/MAPK and STAT6 pathways and through c-myc gene up-regulation.

The carboxy-terminal domains of erbB-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor exert different regulatory effects on intrinsic receptor tyrosine kinase function and transforming activity.

The erbB-2 gene product, gp185erbB-2, displays a potent transforming effect when overexpressed in NIH 3T3 cells. In addition, it possesses constitutively high levels of tyrosine kinase activity in the absence of exogenously added ligand. In this study, we demonstrate that its carboxy-terminal domain exerts an enhancing effect on erbB-2 kinase and transforming activities. A premature termination mutant of the erbB-2 protein, lacking the entire carboxy-terminal domain (erbB-2 delta 1050), showed a 40-fold reduction in transforming ability and a lowered in vivo kinase activity for intracellular substrates. When the carboxy-terminal domain of erbB-2 was substituted for its analogous region in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) (EGFR/erbB-2COOH chimera), it conferred erbB-2-like properties to the EGFR, including transforming ability in the absence of epidermal growth factor, elevated constitutive autokinase activity in vivo and in vitro, and constitutive ability to phosphorylate phospholipase C-gamma. Conversely, a chimeric erbB-2 molecule bearing an EGFR carboxy-terminal domain (erbB-2/EGFRCOOH chimera) showed reduced transforming and kinase activity with respect to the wild-type erbB-2 and was only slightly more efficient than the erbB-2 delta 1050 mutant. Thus, we conclude that the carboxy-terminal domains of erbB-2 and EGFR exert different regulatory effects on receptor kinase function and biological activity. The up regulation of gp185erbB-2 enzymatic activity exerted by its carboxy-terminal domain can explain, at least in part, its constitutive level of kinase activity.

Deletion or substitution within the alpha platelet-derived growth factor receptor kinase insert domain: effects on functional coupling with intracellular signaling pathways.

The tyrosine kinase domains of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1)/c-fms receptors are interrupted by kinase inserts (ki) which vary in length and amino acid sequence. To define the role of the ki in the human alpha PDGF receptor (alpha PDGFR), we generated deletion mutants, designated alpha R delta ki-1 and alpha R delta ki-2, which lacked 80 (710 to 789) and 95 (695 to 789) amino acids of the 104-amino-acid ki region, respectively. Their functional characteristics were compared with those of the wild-type alpha PDGFR following introduction into a naive hematopoietic cell line, 32D. Biochemical responses, including PDGF-stimulated PDGFR tyrosine phosphorylation, phosphatidylinositol (PI) turnover, and receptor-associated PI-3 kinase activity, were differentially impaired by the deletions. Despite a lack of any detectable receptor-associated PI-3 kinase activity, 32D cells expressing alpha R delta ki-1 showed only partially impaired chemotactic and mitogenic responses and were capable of sustained proliferation in vitro and in vivo under conditions of autocrine stimulation by the c-sis product. 32D transfectants expressing the larger ki deletion (alpha R delta ki-2) showed markedly decreased or abolished biochemical and biological responses. However, insertion of the highly unrelated smaller c-fms (685 to 750) ki domain into alpha R delta ki-2 restored each of these activities to wild-type alpha PDGFR levels. Since the CSF-1R does not normally induce PI turnover, the ability of the c-fms ki domain to reconstitute PI turnover in the alpha R delta ki-2 transfectant provides evidence that the ki domain of the alpha PDGFR does not directly couple with this pathway. Taken together, all od these bindings imply that their ki domains have evolved to play very similar roles in the known signaling functions PDGF and CSF-1 receptors.

Induction of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF) receptor by granulocyte CSF increases the differentiative options of a murine hematopoietic progenitor cell.

32DC13(G) is an interleukin-3-dependent murine hematopoietic precursor cell line which differentiates into neutrophilic granulocytes upon exposure to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) but ceases to proliferate and dies when exposed to granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF. Surface receptors for GM-CSF are undetectable on 32DC13(G) cells but can be induced by priming the cells with G-CSF. Exposure of the G-CSF-primed cells to GM-CSF then results in the generation of monocytes as well as granulocytes. The acquired competence to respond to GM-CSF remains irreversibly encoded in the primed cells, although the GM-CSF receptor can be down regulated by interleukin-3. This phenomenon suggests a mechanism by which hematopoietic precursors may obtain additional receptors, thereby increasing their differentiative potential.

Cloning of murine Stat6 and human Stat6, Stat proteins that are tyrosine phosphorylated in responses to IL-4 and IL-3 but are not required for mitogenesis.

By searching a database of expressed sequences, we identified a member of the signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stat) family of proteins. Human and murine full-length cDNA clones were obtained and sequenced. The sequence of the human cDNA was identical to the recently published sequence for interleukin-4 (IL-4)-Stat (J. Hou, U. Schindler, W.J. Henzel, T.C. Ho, M. Brasseur, and S. L. McKnight, Science 265:1701-1706, 1994), while the murine Stat6 amino acid and nucleotide sequences were 83 and 84% identical to the human sequences, respectively. Using Stat6-specific antiserum, we demonstrated that Stat6 is rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated following stimulation of appropriate cell lines with IL-4 or IL-3 but is not detectably phosphorylated following stimulation with IL-2, IL-12, or erythropoietin. In contrast, IL-2, IL-3, and erythropoietin induce the tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat5 while IL-12 uniquely induces the tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat4. Inducible tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat6 requires the membrane-distal region of the IL-4 receptor alpha chain. This region of the receptor is not required for cell growth, demonstrating that Stat6 tyrosine phosphorylation does not contribute to mitogenesis.