The Tec Kinase-Regulated Phosphoproteome Reveals a Mechanism for the Regulation of Inhibitory Signals in Murine Macrophages.

Previous work has shown conflicting roles for Tec family kinases in regulation of TLR-dependent signaling in myeloid cells. In the present study, we performed a detailed investigation of the role of the Tec kinases Btk and Tec kinases in regulating TLR signaling in several types of primary murine macrophages. We demonstrate that primary resident peritoneal macrophages deficient for Btk and Tec secrete less proinflammatory cytokines in response to TLR stimulation than do wild-type cells. In contrast, we found that bone marrow-derived and thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal macrophages deficient for Btk and Tec secrete more proinflammatory cytokines than do wild-type cells. We then compared the phosphoproteome regulated by Tec kinases and LPS in primary peritoneal and bone marrow-derived macrophages. From this analysis we determined that Tec kinases regulate different signaling programs in these cell types. In additional studies using bone marrow-derived macrophages, we found that Tec and Btk promote phosphorylation events necessary for immunoreceptor-mediated inhibition of TLR signaling. Taken together, our results are consistent with a model where Tec kinases (Btk, Tec, Bmx) are required for TLR-dependent signaling in many types of myeloid cells. However, our data also support a cell type-specific TLR inhibitory role for Btk and Tec that is mediated by immunoreceptor activation and signaling via PI3K.

Protein kinase PKN1 represses Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in human melanoma cells.

Advances in phosphoproteomics have made it possible to monitor changes in protein phosphorylation that occur at different steps in signal transduction and have aided the identification of new pathway components. In the present study, we applied this technology to advance our understanding of the responses of melanoma cells to signaling initiated by the secreted ligand WNT3A. We started by comparing the phosphopeptide patterns of cells treated with WNT3A for different periods of time. Next, we integrated these data sets with the results from a siRNA screen that targeted protein kinases. This integration of siRNA screening and proteomics enabled us to identify four kinases that exhibit altered phosphorylation in response to WNT3A and that regulate a luciferase reporter of ß-catenin-responsive transcription (ß-catenin-activated reporter). We focused on one of these kinases, an atypical PKC kinase, protein kinase N1 (PKN1). Reducing the levels of PKN1 with siRNAs significantly enhances activation of ß-catenin-activated reporter and increases apoptosis in melanoma cell lines. Using affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry, we then found that PKN1 is present in a protein complex with a WNT3A receptor, Frizzled 7, as well as with proteins that co-purify with Frizzled 7. These data establish that the protein kinase PKN1 inhibits Wnt/ß-catenin signaling and sensitizes melanoma cells to cell death stimulated by WNT3A.

WIKI4, a novel inhibitor of tankyrase and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling.

The Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway controls important cellular events during development and often contributes to disease when dysregulated. Using high throughput screening we have identified a new small molecule inhibitor of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, WIKI4. WIKI4 inhibits expression of ß-catenin target genes and cellular responses to Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in cancer cell lines as well as in human embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that WIKI4 mediates its effects on Wnt/ß-catenin signaling by inhibiting the enzymatic activity of TNKS2, a regulator of AXIN ubiquitylation and degradation. While TNKS has previously been shown to be the target of small molecule inhibitors of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, WIKI4 is structurally distinct from previously identified TNKS inhibitors.

Temporal analysis of HIV envelope sequence evolution and antibody escape in a subtype A-infected individual with a broad neutralizing antibody response.

The origin of broadly neutralizing HIV-specific antibodies and their relation to HIV evolution are not well defined. Here we examined virus evolution and neutralizing antibody escape in a subtype A infected individual with a broad, cross subtype, antibody response. The majority of envelope variants isolated over the first approximately 5 years after infection were poorly neutralized by contemporaneous plasma that neutralized variants from earlier in infection, consistent with a dynamic process of escape. The majority of variants could be neutralized by later plasma, suggesting these evolving variants may have contributed to the elicitation of new antibody responses. However, some variants from later in infection were recognized by plasma from earlier in infection, including one notably neutralization-sensitive variant that was sensitive due to a proline at position 199 in V2. These studies suggest a complex pattern of virus evolution in this individual with a broad NAb response, including persistence of neutralization-sensitive viruses.

The first hypervariable region of the gp120 Env glycoprotein defines the neutralizing susceptibility of heterologous human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates to neutralizing antibodies elicited by the SF162gp140 immunogen.

Current vaccine efforts to elicit cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) focus on the engineering of soluble mimetics of the trimeric HIV Env glycoprotein (commonly termed gp140 immunogens). Such immunogens are thought to be more effective than previously tested monomeric gp120 immunogens at eliciting cross-reactive NAbs. Still, the breadth of neutralizing antibody responses elicited by gp140 immunogens is narrow. Understanding why antibodies elicited by gp140 immunogens fail to neutralize a wide range of heterologous primary HIV isolates is necessary for improving the design of such immunogens. We previously reported that antibodies elicited in macaques by SF162 Env-derived gp140 immunogens fail to neutralize several heterologous "neutralization-resistant" primary HIV type 1 isolates, such as JRFL, ADA, and YU2. Here we show that by replacing the V1 region of Env on these heterologous viruses with that of SF162, we render them highly susceptible to neutralization by the SF162gp140-elicited antibodies. We observed that viral neutralization was mediated not only by vaccine-elicited anti-V1 but also by anti-V3 antibodies and antibodies directed against as yet unidentified Env regions, depending on the heterologous Env background. Our study indicates that common neutralization epitopes are differentially exposed on diverse primary HIV isolates and that the V1 loop contributes to this differential exposure. Therefore, the antibody responses elicited by soluble gp140 immunogens will have to overcome several distinct obstacles in order to neutralize diverse primary HIV isolates.