Src family protein tyrosine kinases induce autoactivation of Bruton's tyrosine kinase.

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is tyrosine phosphorylated and enzymatically activated following ligation of the B-cell antigen receptor. These events are temporally regulated, and Btk activation follows that of various members of the Src family of protein tyrosine kinases, thus raising the possibility that Src kinases participate in the Btk activation process. We have evaluated the mechanism underlying Btk enzyme activation and have explored the potential regulatory relationship between Btk and Src protein kinases. We demonstrate in COS transient-expression assays that Btk can be activated through intramolecular autophosphorylation at tyrosine 551 and that Btk autophosphorylation is required for Btk catalytic functions. Coexpression of Btk with members of the Src family of protein tyrosine kinases, but not Syk, led to Btk tyrosine phosphorylation and activation. Using a series of point mutations in Blk (a representative Src protein kinase) and Btk, we show that Src kinases activate Btk through an indirect mechanism that requires membrane association of the Src enzymes as well as functional Btk SH3 and SH2 domains. Our results are compatible with the idea that Src protein tyrosine kinases contribute to Btk activation by indirectly stimulating Btk intramolecular autophosphorylation.

Superantigen-induced CD4+ T cell tolerance is associated with DNA methylation and histone hypo-acetylation at cytokine gene loci.

Anergy is an important mechanism of peripheral tolerance in which T cells lose the capacity to produce proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFNgamma). To determine whether the induction of T-cell anergy in vivo is associated with epigenetic changes that oppose cytokine gene expression, we measured DNA methylation and histone acetylation at the IL2 and IFNgamma loci in CD4+ T cells from mice tolerant to a viral superantigen. Tolerant T cells exhibited more DNA methylation and less histone acetylation at the regulatory regions of the IL2 and IFNgamma genes than effector T cells, which are able to produce IL-2 and IFNgamma. These data show that T-cell anergy in this model is associated with epigenetic modifications that oppose gene expression, and suggest that these mechanisms may be important in the maintenance of tolerance.

Nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinase involvement in signal transduction and immunodeficiency disease.

The nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) have been grouped into 10 different enzyme families based on predicted amino acid sequences. As the number of enzymes belonging to the nonreceptor class of PTK is increasing, one challenge is to determine how these various classes of PTKs interact within the cell to promote signal transduction. Herein, the activation of four classes of nonreceptor PTKs is discussed in relation to their interactions with each other as well as with other signaling molecules during the process of lymphocyte surface antigen receptor-mediated activation. Recent findings of nonreceptor PTK loss-of-function mutations in different immunodeficiency diseases has revealed the important contribution of this group of enzymes to lymphocyte development.

Palmitylation of Src family tyrosine kinases regulates functional interaction with a B cell substrate.

Palmitylation of Src family tyrosine kinases has been shown to play a role in directing their membrane localization. Here we demonstrate that palmitylation can also regulate recognition and tyrosine phosphorylation of the B cell Src kinase substrate Ig alpha. Blk and Src, which are not palmitylated, phosphorylate co-expressed Ig alpha in Cos cells, whereas palmitylated Src kinases do not. Addition of a palmitylation site to Blk abrogates its phosphorylation of the substrate, while mutation of Fyn's palmitylation sites results in recognition and phosphorylation of Ig alpha. These results indicate that palmitylation, a reversible protein modification, aids in regulating recognition of physiologic substrates by Src family tyrosine kinases.

Reconstitution of the B cell antigen receptor signaling components in COS cells.

To elucidate interactions occurring between B cell protein tyrosine kinases and the signaling components of the B cell antigen receptor, we have co-transfected into COS cells individual tyrosine kinases together with chimeric cell surface receptors containing the cytoplasmic domains of Ig alpha or Ig beta. Of the tyrosine kinases transfected (Lyn, Blk, Hck, Syk, Fyn), only Blk was able to phosphorylate and subsequently associate with cotransfected Ig alpha and Ig beta chimeras in vivo. Association between Blk and the Ig alpha and Ig beta cytoplasmic domains was shown by mutational analyses to be the result of an SH2-phosphotyrosine interaction. We identified the tyrosine residues of the Ig alpha and Ig beta cytoplasmic domains was shown by mutational analyses to be the result of an SH2-phosphotyrosine interaction. We identified the tyrosine residues of the Ig alpha and Ig beta cytoplasmic domains phosphorylated by Blk. The enzymatic activity and membrane association of Blk were required for the observed phosphorylation of the Ig alpha and Ig beta chimeras. Sequences within the amino-terminal unique domain of Blk are responsible for recognition and subsequent phosphorylation of the Ig alpha chimera since transfer of the unique region of Blk to Fyn results in the chimeric kinase's ability to phosphorylate the cytoplasmic domain of Ig alpha. These findings indicate that the unique domain of Src family kinases may direct recognition of certain substrates leading to their phosphorylation.

Temporal differences in the activation of three classes of non-transmembrane protein tyrosine kinases following B-cell antigen receptor surface engagement.

We evaluated in WEHI 231 B cells the time-dependent responses of Lyn, Blk, Btk, Syk, and three members of the Jak family of protein tyrosine kinases following antibody-mediated surface engagement of the B-cell antigen receptor. Our results show that the enzyme activities of Lyn and Blk were stimulated within seconds of antigen receptor engagement and correlated with the initial tyrosine phosphorylation of the Ig alpha and Ig beta subunits of the B-cell antigen receptor. Btk enzyme activity was also transiently stimulated and was maximal at approximately 5 min after B-cell receptor surface binding. Syk activity gradually increased to a maximum at 10-30 min following receptor ligation and was found to parallel the association of Syk with the tyrosine phosphorylated Ig alpha and Ig beta subunits of the receptor. While the specific activities of the Jak1, Jak2, and Tyk2 protein tyrosine kinases were unaltered following B-cell receptor ligation, the abundance of Jak1 and Jak2 were increased 3- to 4-fold within 10 min of receptor engagement. These results demonstrate that multiple families of non-transmembrane protein tyrosine kinases are temporally regulated during the process of B-cell antigen receptor-initiated intracellular signal transduction.