Transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) receptor signaling regulates kinase networks and phosphatidylinositol metabolism during T-cell activation.

The cytokine content in tissue microenvironments shapes the functional capacity of a T cell. This capacity depends on the integration of extracellular signaling through multiple receptors, including the T-cell receptor (TCR), co-receptors, and cytokine receptors. Transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) signals through its cognate receptor, TGFßR, to SMAD family member proteins and contributes to the generation of a transcriptional program that promotes regulatory T-cell differentiation. In addition to transcription, here we identified specific signaling networks that are regulated by TGFßR. Using an array of biochemical approaches, including immunoblotting, kinase assays, immunoprecipitation, and flow cytometry, we found that TGFßR signaling promotes the formation of a SMAD3/4-protein kinase A (PKA) complex that activates C-terminal Src kinase (CSK) and thereby down-regulates kinases involved in proximal TCR activation. Additionally, TGFßR signaling potentiated CSK phosphorylation of the P85 subunit in the P85-P110 phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) heterodimer, which reduced PI3K activity and down-regulated the activation of proteins that require phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3) for their activation. Moreover, TGFßR-mediated disruption of the P85-P110 interaction enabled P85 binding to a lipid phosphatase, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), aiding in the maintenance of PTEN abundance and thereby promoting elevated PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels in response to TGFßR signaling. Taken together, these results highlight that TGF-ß influences the trajectory of early T-cell activation by altering PI3K activity and PtdIns levels.

Csk Regulates Blood Pressure by Controlling the Synthetic Pathways of Aldosterone.

BACKGROUND: Blood pressure is regulated by a network of diverse physiological pathways. The C-terminal Src kinase (CSK) locus (15q24) is associated with blood pressure in various ethnic groups. It was recently reported thatCskinsufficiency increases blood pressure through Src. The mechanisms of hypertension inCsk+/-mice are examined further in this study.Methods and Results:To identify a causal component responsible for hypertension inCsk+/-, the heart rate was measured by electrocardiogram and plasma volume by Evans blue dilution. Plasma volume increased inCsk+/-compared with wild-types, while the heart rate did not change. Plasma sodium and aldosterone levels rose consistently inCsk+/-vs. wild-types, and spironolactone, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, reduced blood pressure. The amounts of Sgk1 and Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) increased in the kidney ofCsk+/-compared with wild-types. It was also found that Cyp11b2 (aldosterone synthase) was upregulated in the adrenal glands ofCsk+/-, and that Csk was enriched in the zona glomerulosa of adrenals, the major site of aldosterone production in the normal mouse. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study identify a physiological pathway by which blood pressure is regulated, in which the insufficiency ofCskinduces aldosterone production with zonal specificity in the adrenal glands, increasing sodium reabsorption and plasma volume and thus resulting in hypertension.

C-terminal Src kinase-mediated EPIYA phosphorylation of Pragmin creates a feed-forward C-terminal Src kinase activation loop that promotes cell motility.

Pragmin is one of the few mammalian proteins containing the Glu-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Ala (EPIYA) tyrosine-phosphorylation motif that was originally discovered in the Helicobacter pylori CagA oncoprotein. Following delivery into gastric epithelial cells by type IV secretion and subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation at the EPIYA motifs, CagA serves as an oncogenic scaffold/adaptor that promiscuously interacts with SH2 domain-containing mammalian proteins such as the Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP2) and the C-terminal Src kinase (Csk), a negative regulator of Src family kinases. Like CagA, Pragmin also forms a physical complex with Csk. In the present study, we found that Pragmin directly binds to Csk by the tyrosine-phosphorylated EPIYA motif. The complex formation potentiates kinase activity of Csk, which in turn phosphorylates Pragmin on tyrosine-238 (Y238), Y343, and Y391. As Y391 of Pragmin comprises the EPIYA motif, Pragmin-Csk interaction creates a feed-forward regulatory loop of Csk activation. Together with the finding that Pragmin and Csk are colocalized to focal adhesions, these observations indicate that the Pragmin-Csk interaction, triggered by Pragmin EPIYA phosphorylation, robustly stimulates the kinase activity of Csk at focal adhesions, which direct cell-matrix adhesion that regulates cell morphology and cell motility. As a consequence, expression of Pragmin and/or Csk in epithelial cells induces an elongated cell shape with elevated cell scattering in a manner that is mutually dependent on Pragmin and Csk. Deregulation of the Pragmin-Csk axis may therefore induce aberrant cell migration that contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis.

Development of FRET Biosensor to Characterize CSK Subcellular Regulation.

C-terminal Src kinase (CSK) is the major inhibitory kinase for Src family kinases (SFKs) through the phosphorylation of their C-tail tyrosine sites, and it regulates various types of cellular activity in association with SFK function. As a cytoplasmic protein, CSK needs be recruited to the plasma membrane to regulate SFKs' activity. The regulatory mechanism behind CSK activity and its subcellular localization remains largely unclear. In this work, we developed a genetically encoded biosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to visualize the CSK activity in live cells. The biosensor, with an optimized substrate peptide, confirmed the crucial Arg107 site in the CSK SH2 domain and displayed sensitivity and specificity to CSK activity, while showing minor responses to co-transfected Src and Fyn. FRET measurements showed that CSK had a relatively mild level of kinase activity in comparison to Src and Fyn in rat airway smooth muscle cells. The biosensor tagged with different submembrane-targeting signals detected CSK activity at both non-lipid raft and lipid raft microregions, while it showed a higher FRET level at non-lipid ones. Co-transfected receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatase alpha (PTPα) had an inhibitory effect on the CSK FRET response. The biosensor did not detect obvious changes in CSK activity between metastatic cancer cells and normal ones. In conclusion, a novel FRET biosensor was generated to monitor CSK activity and demonstrated CSK activity existing in both non-lipid and lipid raft membrane microregions, being more present at non-lipid ones.