The CD45 tyrosine phosphatase regulates phosphotyrosine homeostasis and its loss reveals a novel pattern of late T cell receptor-induced Ca2+ oscillations.

CD45 is a transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase implicated in T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-mediated activation. In T cell variants expressing progressively lower levels of CD45 (from normal to undetectable), CD45 expression was inversely related to spontaneous tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple proteins, including the TCR zeta chain, and was directly correlated with TCR-driven phosphoinositide hydrolysis. The Ca2+ response in these cells was altered in an unexpected fashion. Unlike wild-type cells, stimulated CD45- cell populations did not manifest an early increase in intracellular Ca2+, but did exhibit a delayed and gradual increase in mean intracellular Ca2+. Computer-aided fluorescence imaging of individual cells revealed that CD45- cells experienced late Ca2+ oscillations that were not blocked by removal of extracellular Ca2+. CD45 revertants had the signaling properties of wild-type cells. Thus, CD45 has a profound influence on both TCR-mediated signaling and phosphotyrosine homeostasis, and its loss reveals a novel role for this tyrosine phosphatase in Ca2+ regulation.

Regulation of TCR signaling by CD45 lacking transmembrane and extracellular domains.

The CD45 protein is a transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase that is required for normal T cell receptor (TCR)-mediated signaling. A chimeric complementary DNA encoding the intracellular enzymatically active portion of murine CD45 preceded by a short amino-terminal sequence from p60c-src was transfected into CD45- T cells. Expression of this chimeric protein corrected most of the TCR signaling abnormalities observed in the absence of CD45, including TCR-mediated enhancement of tyrosine kinase activity and Ca2+ flux. Thus, the enzymatically active intracellular portion of CD45 is sufficient to allow TCR transmembrane signaling.

Structural mutations of the T cell receptor zeta chain and its role in T cell activation.

T cell hybridomas that express zeta zeta, but not zeta eta, dimers in their T cell receptors (TCRs) produce interleukin-2 (IL-2) and undergo an inhibition of spontaneous growth when activated by antigen, antibodies to the receptor, or antibodies to Thy-1. Hybridomas without zeta and eta were reconstituted with mutated zeta chains. Cytoplasmic truncations of up to 40% of the zeta molecule reconstituted normal surface assembly of TCRs, but antigen-induced IL-2 secretion and growth inhibition were lost. In contrast, cross-linking antibodies to the TCR activated these cells. A point mutation conferred the same signaling phenotype as did the truncations and caused defective antigen-induced tyrosine kinase activation. Thus zeta allows the binding of antigen/major histocompatibility complex (MHC) to alpha beta to effect TCR signaling.

CD45 tyrosine phosphatase activity and membrane anchoring are required for T-cell antigen receptor signaling.

T cells that lack the CD45 transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase have a variety of T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling defects that are corrected by reexpression of wild-type CD45 or its intracytoplasmic domains. In this study, a chimeric molecule containing the myristylation sequence of Src and the intracellular portion of CD45, previously shown to restore function in CD45- T cells, was mutagenized to determine if membrane-associated CD45 tyrosine phosphatase activity is required to restore TCR-mediated signaling in CD45- T cells. Abolition of enzymatic activity by substitution of a serine for a critical cysteine in the first catalytic domain resulted in failure of this molecule to restore TCR signaling. Another mutation, in which a single amino acid substitution destroyed the myristylation site, resulted in failure of the chimeric molecule to partition to the plasma membrane. Although expressed at high levels and enzymatically active, this form of intracellular CD45 also failed to restore normal signaling in CD45- T cells. These findings strongly suggest that CD45's function in TCR signaling requires its proximity to membrane-associated tyrosine phosphatase substrates.

Tyrosine kinase-regulated and inositol phosphate-independent Ca2+ elevation and mobilization in T cells.

Perturbation of the T cell antigen-specific receptor leads to a series of signaling events that includes a rapid increase in phosphoinositide hydrolysis, intracellular Ca2+, and tyrosine phosphorylation. We have examined the function of tyrosine phosphorylation in isolation by introducing the v-src tyrosine kinase into a T cell hybridoma. T cell receptor-mediated increases in phosphoinositide hydrolysis and, in particular the generation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, were comparable between v-src+ and v-src- cells. Unexpectedly, the v-src+ cells exhibited spontaneously elevated intracellular Ca2+ and exaggerated Ca2+ increases when stimulated via the T cell receptor. The enhanced Ca2+ response was not due to tyrosine phosphorylation of the T cell receptor itself, since the phenotype was evident in T cell receptor zeta chain-/v-src+ cells as well. These results demonstrate that an active protein tyrosine kinase can markedly affect intracellular Ca2+ handling by a process independent of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate production and T cell receptor tyrosine phosphorylation and raise the possibility that tyrosine kinases may directly regulate T cell receptor-mediated changes in intracellular Ca2+.

Mutagenesis of T cell antigen receptor zeta chain tyrosine residues. Effects on tyrosine phosphorylation and lymphokine production.

Occupancy of the T cell antigen receptor triggers a complex set of events that culminate in cellular activation. It is clear that tyrosine kinases play important roles in this process. The zeta subunit of the T cell antigen receptor is a 16-kDa transmembrane structure that exists primarily as a disulfide-linked homodimer. On receptor activation, a subset of zeta molecules undergo tyrosine phosphorylation. To evaluate this process and the role of zeta phosphorylation in T cell activation, site-specific mutagenesis of the intracytoplasmic tyrosines of zeta has been carried out. Analysis of cells expressing these mutant zeta subunits demonstrated that multiple tyrosines underwent phosphorylation in response to receptor engagement, and that the four most carboxyl tyrosines were most crucial to this process. Despite abnormalities in phosphorylation induced by the mutations, lymphokine production in these transfectants was unaffected. Hence, although zeta is a prominent substrate for a receptor-activated tyrosine kinase, neither the mutation of individual tyrosines nor the alteration of the phosphorylation state of the molecule substantively affected the coupling of T cell receptor activation to lymphokine production. These findings raise questions regarding the role of zeta phosphorylation in T cell activation.