Choice of STATs and other substrates specified by modular tyrosine-based motifs in cytokine receptors.

Many members of the cytokine receptor superfamily initiate intracellular signaling by activating members of the Jak family of tyrosine kinases. Activation of the same Jaks by multiple cytokines raises the question of how these cytokines activate distinct intracellular signaling pathways. Selection of particular substrates--the transcriptional activator Stat3 and protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1D--that characterize responses to the ciliary neurotrophic factor-interleukin-6 cytokine family depended not on which Jak was activated, but was instead determined by specific tyrosine-based motifs in the receptor components--gp130 and LIFR--shared by these cytokines. Further, these tyrosine-based motifs were modular, because addition of a Stat3-specifying motif to another cytokine receptor, that for erythropoietin, caused it to activate Stat3 in a ligand-dependent fashion.

Released form of CNTF receptor alpha component as a soluble mediator of CNTF responses.

The alpha component of the receptor for ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) differs from other known growth factor receptors in that it is anchored to cell membranes by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage. One possible function of this type of linkage is to allow for the regulated release of this receptor component. Cell lines not normally responsive to CNTF responded to treatment with a combination of CNTF and a soluble form of the CNTF alpha receptor component. These findings not only demonstrate that the CNTF receptor alpha chain is a required component of the functional CNTF receptor complex but also reveal that it can function in soluble form as part of a heterodimeric ligand. Potential physiological roles for the soluble CNTF receptor are suggested by its presence in cerebrospinal fluid and by its release from skeletal muscle in response to peripheral nerve injury.

Association and activation of Jak-Tyk kinases by CNTF-LIF-OSM-IL-6 beta receptor components.

A recently defined family of cytokines, consisting of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), utilize the Jak-Tyk family of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases. The beta receptor components for this cytokine family, gp130 and LIF receptor beta, constitutively associate with Jak-Tyk kinases. Activation of these kinases occurs as a result of ligand-induced dimerization of the receptor beta components. Unlike other cytokine receptors studied to date, the receptors for the CNTF cytokine family utilize all known members of the Jak-Tyk family, but induce distinct patterns of Jak-Tyk phosphorylation in different cell lines.

The protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 negatively regulates ciliary neurotrophic factor induction of gene expression.

Ciliary neurotrophic factor, along with other neuropoietic cytokines, signals through the shared receptor subunit gp130 [1-3], leading to the tyrosine phosphorylation of a number of substrates [4,5], including the transcription factors STAT1 and STAT3 and the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 [6,7] [8]. SHP-2 (also known as PTP1D, SHPTP2, Syp and PTP2C) is a positive regulatory molecule required for the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and the stimulation of gene expression in response to epidermal growth factor, insulin and platelet-derived growth factor stimulation [9-11]. We have previously shown that cytokines that signal via the gp130 receptor subunit activate transcription of the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) gene through a 180 bp cytokine response element (CyRE) [12,13]. To characterize the role of SHP-2 in the regulation of gp130-stimulated gene expression, we examined the regulation of the VIP CyRE in two systems that prevented ligand-dependent SHP-2 phosphorylation. Inhibition of SHP-2, either by mutating the tyrosine residue in gp130 that mediates the SHP-2 interaction, or by expression of dominant-negative SHP-2, resulted in dramatic increases in gp130-dependent gene expression, through the VIP CyRE and more specifically through multimerized STAT-binding sites. These data suggest that SHP-2 has a negative role in gp130 signaling by modulating STAT-mediated transcriptional activation.

Detection of receptors for interleukin-6, interleukin-11, leukemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin M, and ciliary neurotrophic factor in bone marrow stromal/osteoblastic cells.

The functional receptor complexes assembled in response to interleukin-6 and -11 (IL-6 and IL-11), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), all involve the signal transducer gp130: IL-6 and IL-11 induce homodimerization of gp130, while the rest heterodimerize gp130 with other gp130-related beta subunits. Some of these cytokines (IL-6, IL-11, and CNTF) also require a specificity-determining alpha subunit not directly involved in signaling. We have searched for functional receptor complexes for these cytokines in cells of the bone marrow stromal/osteoblastic lineage, using tyrosine phosphorylation of the beta subunits as a detection assay. Collectively, murine calvaria cells, bone marrow-derived murine cell lines (+/+LDA11 and MBA13.2), as well as murine (MC3T3-E1) and human (MG-63) osteoblast-like cell lines displayed all the previously recognized alpha and beta subunits of this family of receptors. However, individual cell types had different constellations of alpha and beta subunits. In addition and in difference to the other cell types examined, MC3T3-E1 cells expressed a heretofore unrecognized form of gp130; and MG-63 displayed an alternative form (type II) of the OSM receptor. These findings establish that stromal/osteoblastic cells are targets for the actions of all the members of the cytokine subfamily that shares the gp130 signal transducer; and suggest that different receptor repertoires may be expressed at different stages of differentiation of this lineage.

Increased expression of CNTF receptor alpha in denervated human skeletal muscle.

The functional receptor for ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is comprised of a CNTF binding entity termed CNTF receptor alpha (CNTFRalpha), and 2 signaling molecules called LIF receptor beta and gp130. CNTFRalpha can be released from the cell surface; the soluble form can confer CNTF responsiveness to cells. CNTFRalpha has recently been localized to several nonneuronal cell types including rat skeletal muscle fibers. In this study we examined the expression pattern of CNTFRalpha in normal, denervated and dystrophic human muscle. In muscle biopsies from 12 normal subjects, 16 cases of neurogenic muscular atrophy, 4 cases of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and 4 cases of limb girdle dystrophy, CNTFRalpha mRNA levels were determined by Northern blotting. Transcript levels were significantly increased in cases of neurogenic atrophy compared to normal controls and dystrophic muscle. By nonradioactive in situ hybridization, CNTFRalpha transcripts were detected in the sarcoplasm of both normal sized and atrophic muscle fibers. In addition, soluble CNTFRalpha was elevated 4.4-fold in the urine of ALS patients compared to normal adults. These results suggest that the expression of CNTFRalpha in human skeletal muscle fibers is regulated by innervation. This regulation appears to be selective, because CNTFRalpha mRNA was not increased in dystrophic human muscle. Increased CNTFRalpha could confer higher sensitivity to CNTF during neurodegeneration or nerve fiber regeneration.

Preferential S-sulfonate formation in lung and aorta.

S-sulfonate (S-SO-3) compounds have previously been identified as metabolites of sulfite in the plasma of several species of mammals [6--8]. We now report the formation of non-diffusible and relatively stable S-sulfonates in the aorta and lung lobes of rabbits exposed intravenously to constant arterial sulfite concentrations of approx. 550 microM. Under these conditions the kinetics of S-SO-3 formation were first order with coefficients in the range of 0.3--0.4 h-1 and asymptotic concentrations of approx. 900 and 9000 nmol S-SO-3/g dry wt. of lung and aorta respectively. The kinetics of this reaction in aorta tissue were closely approximated in vitro. Clearance of S-SO-3 from both lungs and aorta appeared to be first order with a half-life of 2--3 days.

Comparative effects of aminoglycosides on renal cortical and urinary phospholipids in the rat.

We examined the relationship between the nephrotoxicity potential of four aminoglycosides and the capacity of the drugs to induce a renal cortical phospholipidosis. Sprague-Dawley rats were injected subcutaneously with neomycin, gentamicin, tobramycin, or netilmicin, 100 mg/kg per day, for 1 to 4 days, and phospholipid accumulation in the renal cortex and phospholipid excretion in the urine were measured. The rank order of the drug-induced renal cortical phospholipidosis was netilmicin greater than tobramycin greater than gentamicin greater than neomycin. This order is the reverse of the previously established nephrotoxicity potentials of these drugs. Conversely, the rank order according to peak urinary excretion of phospholipids was gentamicin greater than neomycin greater than tobramycin greater than netilmicin. The rank order of the total urinary phospholipid excretion during the 4 days of the study was neomycin greater than or equal to gentamicin greater than tobramycin greater than or equal to netilmicin. Urinary phospholipid excretion may prove to be a sensitive indicator of aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity.

Effect of netilmicin on the phospholipid composition of subcellular fractions of rat renal cortex.

The purpose of this study was to determine the subcellular site(s) of the renal cortical phospholipidosis induced by aminoglycosides. For this purpose we injected male Sprague-Dawley rats s.c. with netilmicin, containing tracer quantities of [3H]netilmicin, at 100 mg/kg/day for 2 days; control rats were injected with saline. Twenty-four hours after the second injection of drug the rats were sacrificed and the renal cortex was fractionated by differential ultracentrifugation and Percoll gradient density techniques to obtain purified lysosomes, mitochondria, microsomes, brush border membranes and basolateral membranes. The total phospholipid content of the renal cortex was 300 +/- 5 nmol/mg of protein in control rats and 340 +/- 5 nmol/mg of protein in netilmicin-injected rats. The total phospholipid content of the lysosomal fraction of netilmicin rats, which was enriched in myeloid bodies and [3H]netilmicin, was 91% greater than that of control rats and reflected significant increases of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol. This pattern is identical to that reported previously for the rat renal cortical phospholipidosis induced by aminoglycosides. The total phospholipid contents of the mitochondrial, microsomal, brush border membrane and basolateral membrane fractions of netilmicin-injected rats were higher by approximately 10% than the respective fractions of control rats and each fraction exhibited a significant increase of one or more of the four phospholipids elevated in the renal cortical homogenate and in the lysosomal fraction. The data indicate that the myeloid body is the primary source of the lysosomal phospholipidosis induced by netilmicin which provides support for the hypothesis that the lysosomal phospholipidosis is secondary to aminoglycoside-induced inhibition of phospholipid degradation. In addition the findings of increased phospholipid content and altered phospholipid composition of the other subcellular fractions raise the possibility that aminoglycoside antibiotics cause a more generalized disturbance of phospholipid metabolism characterized by altered synthesis as well as degradation in renal proximal tubular cells.

[3H]netilmicin binding constants and phospholipid composition of renal plasma membranes of normal and diabetic rats.

We examined the hypothesis that the decreased renal accumulation of aminoglycosides in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus is due to decreased membrane binding of drug consequent to reduced membrane content of the putative aminoglycoside receptor, phosphatidylinositol. Renal brush border membrane (BBM) and basolateral membrane (BLM) vesicles were prepared from normal and diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats by differential centrifugation and Percoll gradient techniques which yielded relatively pure membrane fractions as assessed by measurements of marker enzymes and by electron microscopy. Binding of [3H]netilmicin to plasma membranes was performed using a fast filtration technique. Scatchard analysis of the binding data indicated that netilmicin bound to a single class of receptors on BBM and BLM from normal rats with an affinity constant of 33 +/- 2 X 10(3)M-1 and 23 +/- 2 X 10(3)M-1, respectively. The maximal binding capacity of BLM (70 +/- 4 nmol/mg of protein) was significantly greater (P less than .01) than that of BBM (38 +/- 1 nmol/mg of protein). The affinity constants and maximal binding capacities of BBM and BLM from diabetic rats were not significantly different from those of normal rats. Moreover, 2 days of gentamicin injections at 100 mg/kg/day for 2 days had no appreciable effect on these binding parameters in either group. In control rats the total phospholipid content of BLM (785 +/- 19 nmol/mg of protein) was significantly greater (P less than .01) than that of BBM (592 +/- 19 nmol/mg of protein) and reflected significantly greater quantities of sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Enhancing leptin response by preventing SH2-containing phosphatase 2 interaction with Ob receptor.

Leptin is an adipocyte-derived cytokine that regulates food intake and body weight via interaction with its Ob receptor (ObR). Serum leptin levels are chronically elevated in obese humans, suggesting that obesity may be associated with leptin resistance and the inability to generate an adequate ObR response. Evidence suggests that transcriptional activation of target genes by STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) in the hypothalamus is a critical pathway that mediates leptin's action. Herein we report that activation of ObR induces the tyrosine phosphorylation of the tyrosine phosphatase SH2-containing phosphatase 2 (SHP-2) and demonstrate that Tyr986 within the ObR cytoplasmic domain is essential to mediate phosphorylation of SHP-2 and binding of SHP-2 to ObR. Surprisingly, mutation of Tyr986 to Phe, which abrogates SHP-2 phosphorylation and binding to the receptor, dramatically increases gene induction mediated by STAT3. Our findings indicate that SHP-2 is a negative regulator of STAT3-mediated gene induction after activation of ObR and raise the possibility that blocking the interaction of SHP-2 with ObR could overcome leptin resistance by boosting leptin's weight-reducing effects in obese individuals.