Recombinant CD200 protein does not bind activating proteins closely related to CD200 receptor.

CD200 (OX2) is a cell surface glycoprotein that interacts with a structurally related receptor (CD200R) expressed mainly on myeloid cells and is involved in regulation of macrophage and mast cell function. In mouse there are up to five genes related to CD200R with conflicting data as to whether they bind CD200. We show that mouse CD200 binds the inhibitory receptor CD200R with a comparable affinity (Kd = 4 microM) to those found for the rat and human CD200 CD200R interactions. CD200 gave negligible binding to the activating receptors, CD200RLa, CD200RLb, and CD200RLc, by direct analysis at the protein level using recombinant monomeric and dimeric fusion proteins or to CD200RLa and CD200RLb when expressed at the cell surface. An additional potential activating gene, CD200RLe, found in only some mouse strains also did not bind CD200. Thus, the CD200 receptor family consists of both activatory and inhibitory members like several other paired ligand receptors, such as signal regulatory protein, killer cell Ig-like receptor/KAR, LY49, dendritic cell immunoreceptor/dendritic cell immunoactivating receptor, and paired Ig-like type 2 receptor. Although the ligand for the inhibitory product is a widely distributed host protein, the ligands of the activating forms remain to be identified, and one possibility is that they are pathogen components.

The CD200 receptor is a novel and potent regulator of murine and human mast cell function.

CD200R is a member of the Ig supergene family that is primarily expressed on myeloid cells. Recent in vivo studies have suggested that CD200R is an inhibitory receptor capable of regulating the activation threshold of inflammatory immune responses. Here we provide definitive evidence that CD200R is expressed on mouse and human mast cells and that engagement of CD200R by agonist Abs or ligand results in a potent inhibition of mast cell degranulation and cytokine secretion responses. CD200R-mediated inhibition of FcepsilonRI activation was observed both in vitro and in vivo and did not require the coligation of CD200R to FcepsilonRI. Unlike the majority of myeloid inhibitory receptors, CD200R does not contain a phosphatase recruiting inhibitory motif (ITIM); therefore, we conclude that CD200R represents a novel and potent inhibitory receptor that can be targeted in vivo to regulate mast cell-dependent pathologies.

Ras-induced serine phosphorylation of the focal adhesion protein paxillin is mediated by the Raf-->MEK-->ERK pathway.

Cells transformed by Ras and Raf display dramatic alterations in cell morphology, adhesion, and intracellular architecture. Consequently, we investigated whether Ras or Raf might influence the behavior of proteins known to be involved in the assembly and integrity of focal adhesion complexes that play a crucial role in many of these processes. We identified Raf-induced serine phosphorylation of the adaptor protein paxillin in a variety of cell types. Raf-induced paxillin serine phosphorylation had no effect on paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation and occurred regardless of whether cells were attached or maintained in suspension. Two sites of serine phosphorylation--S126 and S130--were identified. Mutation of these serines to alanine, either alone or in combination, inhibited the ability of Raf to induce paxillin phosphorylation. These data indicate that paxillin is a target for phosphorylation downstream of the Ras-activated Raf-->MEK pathway. However, we have no evidence to suggest that ERK1/2 are the kinases responsible for Raf-induced paxillin phosphorylation. Furthermore, we did not detect any alterations in the binding of paxillin to a number of focal adhesion proteins following either activation of the Raf-->MEK-->ERK pathway or expression of the S126A/S130A form of paxillin in mammalian cells.