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J Biol Chem, Vol. 273, Issue 43, 27809-27815, October 23, 1998
,
From the Lymphoma Research Unit, Tenovus Cancer Laboratory,
Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Rd.,
Southampton SO16 6YD, United Kingdom and the
Medical
Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road,
Cambridge CB2 2QH, United Kingdom
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ABSTRACT |
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CD22 is a key receptor on B-lymphocytes that
modulates signaling during antigenic stimulation. We have defined a
novel cytoplasmic motif in human CD22 that controls its unusually rapid
turnover at the plasma membrane. Chimeric and mutated CD22
cDNA
vectors were constructed and stably transfected in CD22-negative Jurkat T-lymphocytic cells. Two assays were employed to measure CD22
internalization: first, cytoplasmic uptake of radioiodinated anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody; and second, lethal targeting of a toxin, saporin,
into cells via CD22 using bispecific F(ab')2
([anti-CD22 × anti-saporin]) antibody. Results showed that
CD22
lacking a cytoplasmic tail was not internalized and that
replacement of the cytoplasmic tail of CD19 with that of CD22
resulted in a chimeric molecule that behaved like CD22
and
internalized rapidly. Step-wise deletion of the cytoplasmic tail of
CD22
located the internalization motif to a polar region of 11 residues (QRRWKRTQSQQ) proximal to the plasma membrane, a part of the
molecule predicted to form a coil or turn structure. Interestingly,
additional CD22 mutants showed that the two glutamine residues
sandwiching the serine are critical to internalization but that the
serine itself is not.
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INTRODUCTION |
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CD22 is a 135-kDa B-lymphocyte-specific glycoprotein and a member
of the recently described sialoadhesin family of molecules (1-3). It
is a key accessory molecule that first appears at the late pro-B-cell
stage of differentiation as a cytoplasmic protein and is then expressed
simultaneously with IgD as a surface membrane receptor on most mature
B-cells (2). Although the nature of the CD22 ligand(s) is not fully
defined, it is known to bind sialoglycoconjugate NeuAc
2-6Gal
1-4GlcNAc, which is widely distributed on
N-linked carbohydrates (3, 4). The principal function of
CD22 is to regulate B-cell responses, which is probably achieved by
recruiting key signaling molecules to the antigen receptor complex (5, 6). The cytoplasmic domain is rapidly tyrosine-phosphorylated upon
ligation of the B-cell antigen receptor and associates with a range of
intracellular signaling molecules that includes tyrosine phosphatase
SH2-domain containing tyrosine phosphatase-1, tyrosine kinases Lck and
Syk, phospholipase C-
1, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (1, 2, 7).
The importance of CD22 in modulating B-cell responses has recently been
confirmed in knockout mice, which show augmented antibody responses,
expanded peritoneal B-1 cell populations, and increased levels of
circulating autoantibodies (8-10).
In humans, two isoforms of CD22 have been identified (11, 12). A larger
species, CD22
, which has seven extracellular Ig-like domains and a
cytoplasmic domain containing 141 amino acids, and a smaller isoform,
CD22
, which has five extracellular Ig-like domains (domains 3 and 4 are deleted) and a cytoplasmic region that is 23 amino acids shorter
than that of CD22
. Although CD22
is by far the predominant
species, and the only form identified in mouse, a smaller
immunoprecipitate has been found that may correspond to the CD22
in
human (13). Both isoforms contain tyrosine residues in their
cytoplasmic tails, 3 residues in the
form and 6 in the
form.
Most of these tyrosine residues are arranged to form immunoreceptor
tyrosine-based inhibition motifs (ITIM), consisting of a 6-amino acid
stretch with the consensus sequence
(I/L/V)XYXX(L/V), and/or potential immunoreceptor
tyrosine-base activation motifs (ITAM) (12, 14-16). In addition, CD22
contains a YXXM sequence recognized by the
NH2-terminal SH2 domain of the p85 subunit of
phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Thus, CD22 has the capacity to modulate
B-cell behavior via a wide range of intracellular, tyrosine-dependant
signaling molecules.
In addition to any signaling role, CD22 shows an unusual and unexplained capability to internalize rapidly from the cell surface to the cytoplasm. Recent studies have shown that CD22 internalizes constitutively on unstimulated B-cell lines, and this is followed by degradation without detectable recycling (17). This internalization probably explains, at least in part, the success achieved when CD22 has been employed as a target molecule for delivering toxins into neoplastic B-cells using antibody immunotoxins (18, 19) and bispecific antibodies (BsAbs)1 (20-22). We find BsAbs with specificity for CD22 and the ribosome-inactivating protein, saporin ([anti-CD22 × anti-saporin]), is unusually effective at delivering saporin into neoplastic B-cells and thereby inhibiting protein synthesis and eradicating tumors in animals (21) and patients (22). Most other membrane molecules do not work as efficiently (20). In the present study, we have investigated the molecular structure of the cytoplasmic domain of CD22 and identified a new motif that controls its internalization from the cell surface and may account for its unusual immunotherapeutic properties.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Human Cell Lines-- The Burkitt's lymphoma cell line Daudi and the acute T-cell leukemia cell line Jurkat were used in these studies. Both lines were maintained in RPMI 1640 medium containing 10% fetal calf serum (Life Technologies, Inc.) and supplemented with 1 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 IU/ml benzyl penicillin, and 100 µg/ml streptomycin sulfate. Cells were maintained continuously in the logarithmic phase of growth by passage at regular intervals.
Antibodies and Preparation of Bispecific Antibodies-- The mAbs used in this study include anti-CD19 (RFB9) (20), anti-CD22 mAb (4KB128) (23), anti-CD38 mAb (AT13/5) (24), and anti-saporin mAb (anti-sap1 and anti-sap5) (25). Hybridoma cells were expanded in stationary culture using 5% supplemented Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Life Technologies, Inc.) and IgG purified using protein A affinity chromatography as described previously (26). Bispecific F(ab')2 heterodimers were constructed using well established procedures in which Fab' fragments from two different mAbs are cross-linked via their hinge region SH groups using the bis-maleimide linker o-phenylenedimaleimide (26).
cDNA and Construction of CD22 Mutants--
cDNA clones
of human CD19 and CD22
were kind gifts from Dr. Brian Seed. The CD19
clone provided, which will be called CD19BS throughout this
paper, is not the full-length, wild type transcript, but a truncated
version that has its cytoplasmic domain reduced from the normal 242 to
148 amino acids long (27). Fortunately, for the present study we were
only interested in CD19BS as a control surface protein that
could be engineered into a chimeric protein containing the
extracellular and transmembrane region of CD19BS and the
cytoplasmic tail of CD22
.
molecule is a minor isoform of CD22
that may not be expressed in normal B-cells. Because of its truncated
cytoplasmic domain and reduced number of tyrosines, it is likely to
have a number of signaling properties that are different from those of
the predominant CD22
isoform. For the purposes of this study, the
membrane proximal regions of the molecule that control internalization
(see under "Results") are identical in CD22
and CD22
.
Both CD19BS and CD22
cDNA clones were subcloned into
pcDNA3 (Invitrogen, San Diego, CA) using the
HindIII-NotI sites for CD19BS and the
XhoI site for CD22
. Deletion of the CD22
cytoplasmic tail was accomplished by PCR using primer pairs 22
F
(TTGAATCTCGAGACGCGGAAACAGGCTTGCAC) and 22
cytR
(TCGCTAGATCTAGAGCCCACAGATTGCCAGGA).
To delete the whole cytoplasmic tail, a stop codon (TAG) was
introduced after Leu510 in the transmembrane region. PCR
was performed in a Protocol Thermal Cycler (AMS Biotechnology Ltd.)
using CD22
full-length cDNA as template. All reagents were from
the Repli-Pack kit (Boehringer Mannheim). The PCR construct generated
contained both the extracellular and transmembrane domains and was then
subcloned into pGEM-T vector (Promega, Madison, WI) for sequencing and
into expression vector pcDNA3 for transfection.
To replace the cytoplasmic region of CD19BS with that of
CD22
, a two-step recombinant PCR strategy was used (28). In this method, a pair of chimeric PCR primers was designed to span the chimeric junctions. The 5'-half of one chimeric primer, 19/22
F (CAACGTCGCTGGAGCTTAAGATGAAGAATGCCCA), bound to the 3'-end of the transmembrane region of the antisense strand of CD19BS
cDNA between base pairs 939 and 954, whereas the 3'-half of the primer bound to the 5'-end of the cytoplasmic region of the antisense strand of CD22
cDNA (base pairs 1622-1638). A second chimeric primer, 19/22
R (TGGGCATTCTTCATCTTAAGCTCCAGCGACGTTG),
the complimentary oligonucleotide to 19/22
F, was made so that
its 5'-end bound to the sense strand of CD22
between base pairs 1622 and 1638 and the 3'-end recognized the sense strand of
CD19BS between base pairs 939 and 954. Appropriate end
primers, 19F (TCATCAAGCTTGGAGAGTCTGACCACCATGC) and
22
R (TCGGAGATCTCCCTGGCCCCCGCTGCCCCAG) were also
designed to hybridize with the 5'-end of the antisense strand of the
full-length CD19BS cDNA (base pairs 1-30) and the
3'-end of the sense strand of CD22
cDNA (base pairs 2072-2093),
respectively. In the first PCR, 2 separate products corresponding to
the CD19BS extracellular region and transmembrane domain
(CD19BS
cyt) and the CD22
cytoplasmic domain
(CD22
cyt) were generated using the respective primer pairs of [19F + 19/22
R] and [19/22
F + 22
R]. These PCR fragments were
extracted from agarose gels using Qiaex gel extraction kit (Qiagen
GmbH, Hilden, Germany), and then 100 ng of each was used in a second
PCR. Initially, this reaction was carried out for 10 cycles without end
primers (19F and 22
R) or DNA template. End primers were then added,
and a further 10 cycles were completed to give a full-length chimeric CD19 construct with CD22 cytoplasmic region. The chimeric construct (CD19
cyt/22
cyt) was then cloned into pGEM-T vector via
HindIII and BamHI sites for sequencing and
further subcloned into eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3 via
HindIII and NotI.
To delete individual tyrosine residues Tyr556,
Tyr566, and Tyr600, 3' primers containing stop
codons were used to amplify CD22
template with the 5' primer 22F via
PCR. This yielded deletion mutants (CD22
Y
556, CD22
Y
566, and
CD22
Y
600) in which stop codons replaced the respective tyrosine
residues. Deletion mutants CD22
Q513, CD22
G524, and
CD22
E527 were constructed in a similar manner using 3' primer to
respectively replace the corresponding amino acid residues with stop
codons. Mutations of Ser521 to Ala521 and
Gln520/Gln522 to
Leu520/Leu522 were carried out using 3' primers
containing the corresponding changes in the codons. The sequences of
all constructs were confirmed by dideoxy DNA sequencing (Sequenase,
version 2.0, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). All constructs were then
subcloned into pCINEO mammalian expression vector (Promega)
for transfection.
Transfection of Jurkat Cells-- Jurkat cells were transfected with cDNA constructs by electroporation based on the procedure described by Andreason and Evans (29). Approximately 5 × 106 cells were pelleted, resuspended in a total volume of 0.8 ml with RPMI, and loaded into a 4-mm electroporation cuvette together with 50 µg of DNA. After standing for 5 min on ice, cells were electroporated at 300 V, 960 microfarads using a Gene Pulser (Bio-Rad), and then the cuvette was returned to an ice bath for a further 10 min without mixing. The cells were then left at room temperature for 10 min before adding 30 ml of complete RPMI medium. For the next 48-72 h, the cells were cultured in 75-cm2 flasks under standard conditions at 37 °C in a moist atmosphere of 5% CO2 before being transferred to 96-well plates in complete medium containing 1 mg/ml Geneticin (Life Technologies, Inc.). Emerging colonies were tested for surface expression by flow cytometry (described previously; Ref. 24) after 3-4 weeks, and positive cells were cloned by limiting dilution.
Internalization of 125I-Labeled mAbs by Transfected Cells-- Anti-CD19 and -CD22 mAbs were trace radiolabeled using carrier free 125I (Radiochemical Center, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) and IODO-BEADS (Pierce) as oxidizing reagents according to the manufacturer's instructions. The radioimmunoassays for evaluating surface binding and internalization of the 125I-labeled mAbs were carried out by a method based on that described by Pelchen-Mattews et al. (30). Cells (107/ml) were incubated with 125I-labeled mAb (2 µg/ml) at 4 °C for 1 h to allow binding and then warmed to 37 °C to allow internalization. Aliquots were taken at various intervals, washed twice in 10% supplemented RPMI medium before centrifugation at 13,000 rpm for 45 s through a cold solution of 5% bovine serum albumin (in phosphate-buffered saline) and counting the radioactivity bound to the pellet. For the internalized count, the medium in the second wash was replaced by a HCl-titrated buffered RPMI medium (pH2.0), which removes surface bound activity and thus allows the internalized 125I-antibodies to be measured and surface binding estimated by subtraction of the internalization counts from the total counts.
[3H]Leucine Uptake by Cells Cultured with BsAb·Saporin Complexes-- We have established that a BsAb that is designed to recognize a toxin, such as saporin, and a suitable cell surface molecule will target the toxin to the cells and allow efficient internalization so that the cells are killed. Protein synthesis levels in target cells exposed to BsAb·saporin complexes were assessed by measuring incorporation of [3H]leucine uptake according to methods described previously (20). Briefly, transfected Jurkat cells (1 × 105/well) were cultured for 24 h in 96-well, flat-bottomed plates with 200 µl of leucine-free RPMI medium containing 1 µg/ml BsAb and the required concentration of saporin. Each well was then pulsed with [3H]leucine (1 µCi/well) for 16 h, and the incorporation of radioactivity into protein was assessed by harvesting the cells onto glass fibers, washing, and counting. Throughout the work, a mixture of two BsAbs was used as described previously (25). Each pair of reagents was selected to bind to the cell via a single epitope on CD19, CD22, or CD38 and to the saporin via two different epitopes. This maneuver allows the BsAb·saporin complexes to be captured bivalently and, due to their increased avidity, bind 20 times more avidly to the target cells than with a single BsAb (25).
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RESULTS |
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Transfection of Jurkat T-cells with Human CD19BS and
CD22
--
We decided to investigate the molecular basis of CD22
internalization and in particular the structural features of the
cytoplasmic tail that control delivery into the cell. Our strategy was
to construct a panel of CD22
cDNA containing vectors in which
the cytoplasmic tail of CD22
had been selectively altered. These vectors were used to make stable tranfectants of CD22-negative Jurkat
cells, which were then investigated, after cloning, for their ability
to internalize the newly expressed CD22
.
was
spliced onto the extracellular and transmembrane region of CD19
(CD19
cyt/22
cyt), together with a range of CD22
mutants
containing truncated cytoplasmic tails and molecules in which certain
amino acids were changed.
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molecules. As shown
in Fig. 2, both wild type
CD19BS (Fig. 2A) and CD22
(Fig.
2C) were expressed at easily detectable levels, showing that
neither surface B-cell marker required associated B-cell restricted
molecules for their expression. The CD22
clone was employed as a
positive control for assessing CD22
internalization throughout the
remainder of this investigation, whereas CD19BS Jurkat
cells provided our negative controls (see below). Fig. 2 also shows the
levels of mutated CD22
expression for the other transfectants. With
the exception of one clone, CD22
cyt (Fig. 2J), which
gave only weak immunofluorescence staining, relative to other
transfectants, all cells expressed levels of surface CD22
that were
as high as or even higher than that of CD22
generally expressed on
normal B-cells and B-cell lines (data not shown). The expression of all
the constructs was also confirmed by immunoprecipitation of Nonidet
P-40 lysates of the radioiodinated transfectants (results not
shown).
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The Cytoplasmic Tail of CD22
Controls Its Endocytosis--
To
investigate whether the cytoplasmic tail of CD22
controlled its
internalization, we compared the uptake of 125I-labeled
mAbs by Daudi cells and by Jurkat cells transfected with CD22
,
CD22
cyt, CD19BS, and CD19
cyt/22
cyt (Fig.
3). Cells were incubated with
radiolabeled anti-CD22 or anti-CD19 mAb for 1 h at 4 °C and
then warmed to 37 °C for various intervals. The cells were then
acid-washed to remove surface bound mAb, and therefore, any increase in
the cell-associated radioactivity must be due to the endocytosis of the
antigen-antibody complex. The results show that both Daudi cells
(CD22
+) and CD22
-expressing Jurkat cells accumulated
125I-labeled anti-CD22 mAb at a similar rate (Fig.
3A). There was a sharp initial uptake of mAb in the first
2 h, after which the level remained quite steady. The accumulation
of intracellular 125I-labeled mAb by these cells was
accompanied by a corresponding loss of surface-associated mAb. In
contrast, the Jurkat cells expressing the CD22
cyt, in which the
cytoplasmic region of the molecule had been removed (Fig. 1), were
unable to accumulate significant levels of intracelluar radiolabel, and
the mAb remained on the surface of the cells. This result is consistent
with the cytoplasmic tail playing a central role in CD22
turnover at
the cell surface and with immunoelectron microscopy data that showed that CD22
is strongly clustered around coated pits in transfected Jurkat cells but that following removal of the cytoplasmic tail the
truncated molecules are evenly distributed along the plasma membrane
(data not shown).
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cytoplasmic tail in mediating
internalization was confirmed using cells expressing the chimeric CD19
cyt/22
cyt molecule in which the CD22
cytoplasmic tail had been grafted onto the extracellular and transmembrane domains of
CD19BS (Fig. 3B). Whereas CD19 (endogenous
expression on Daudi cells) and CD19BS (transfected Jurkat)
were relatively poor at taking up radioiodinated anti-CD19 mAb, once
the cytoplasmic tail of CD19BS was replaced by that of
CD22
, it behaved like the intact CD22
and internalized mAb very
effectively. In fact, for reasons that are not understood, uptake of
125I-labeled mAb by this chimeric molecule was quicker and
more extensive than by the transfected CD22
. These results suggest
that there is an internalization signal within the cytoplasmic region
of CD22
.
The Cytoplasmic Tail of CD22 Controls Effective Delivery of Toxin
into Target Cells--
For the next stage of this investigation we
used the Jurkat transfectants as target cells in an assay which
measures the cytotoxicity of a toxin, saporin, when delivered to the
cells via CD19BS or CD22
. In the assay, cells are
exposed to a BsAb ([anti-CD22 × anti-saporin] or
[anti-CD19 × anti-saporin]) at 1 µg/ml together with saporin
at various concentrations for 24 h at 37 °C, during which
period the BsAb·saporin complexes are taken up by the transfectants according to the readiness of the target antigen (CD22
or
CD19BS) to internalize. The cultures were then pulsed for a
further 12 h with [3H]leucine to establish the level
of protein synthesis in any surviving cells. As a positive control to
show that all Jurkat cells, transfected or not, were sensitive to
killing with BsAb·saporin complexes, we used a BsAb directed at CD38
([anti-CD38 × anti-saporin]), which is expressed constitutively
by these T-cells.
molecule is highly effective
at delivering BsAb·saporin complexes, giving an IC50 for
saporin of approximately 2 × 10
10 M, a
value close to that achieved with the anti-CD38 BsAb. This showed that
saporin delivered by both anti-CD22 and anti-CD38 BsAbs was
approximately 2500-fold more toxic than saporin alone (5 × 10
7 M). The increase in the toxicity of
CD22-specific BsAbs on the CD22
-transfected Jurkat cells was similar
to that observed when B-cell lines were treated with this reagent (20),
suggesting that the transfected CD22
molecules behave similarly to
native CD22
on B-cells. In contrast, when the tail of CD22
was
removed and the truncated molecule expressed in the
CD22
cyt-transfected cells, then the same anti-CD22 BsAb was
completely unable to increase saporin toxicity. This result is
important because it is consistent with the internalization data shown
in Fig. 3 and shows that the rate at which a molecule is internalized
from the cell surface is a key feature in determining whether it will
make an effective target for antibody delivery of toxins.
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cyt/22
cyt were
hypersensitive, with an IC50 for saporin that was
below 10
11 M.
A Turn Structure Motif Is Essential for Internalization--
To
investigate whether the cytoplasmic tail tyrosine residues of CD22
are involved in the internalization, CD22
-mutants were constructed
in which the cytoplasmic tail was truncated fractionally by introducing
a stop codon at the tyrosine residues (CD22
Y556, CD22
Y566,
and CD22
Y600) using PCR-directed mutagenesis. The three
constructs were expressed at a high level in Jurkat cells (Fig. 2).
Cytotoxicity assays showed that these truncated CD22
molecules were
all equally as good as the unmutated CD22
at delivering BsAb·saporin complexes into the cells (Fig. 1), showing that the carboxyl-terminal end of the cytoplasmic tail is not directly involved
in the internalization motif.
cytoplasmic tail
(Gln513-Gln523 and
Asn528-Gln532). To determine whether a turn
motif is involved in the endocytosis process, truncated CD22
mutants
were constructed, using PCR-directed mutagenesis, in which a stop codon
was introduced at positions Gln513 (CD22
Q513),
Gly524 (CD22
G524), and Glu527
(CD22
Q527) to yield mutants with two amino acids in the cytoplasm or just one of the turns (Fig. 1). These mutants were transfected and
selected in Jurkat cells (Fig. 2), and the resulting clones were tested
in cytotoxicity assays. The results (Fig.
5) showed that with two amino acids
remaining in the cytoplasmic tail (CD22
Q513), saporin toxicity
was not enhanced by the presence of CD22-specific BsAbs, demonstrating
that the surface CD22 molecule was no longer active for delivery. This
result was the same as that obtained using the cytoplasmic deleted
mutant, CD22
cyt, even though the expression levels were different
(Fig. 2.). This indicated that the motif for internalization lies
further to the COOH-terminal end of the molecule. Interestingly, the
deletion mutants CD22
G524 and CD22
E527, which each contain
one predicted turn in the cytoplasm, were fully active in this assay.
Thus, in the presence of BsAbs, the IC50 values for saporin
toxicity were 1.5 × 10
10 and 5.5 × 10
10 M, respectively, with these two
transfectants (Fig. 5.), comparable to those seen with the CD22
transfectant (Fig. 4) or Daudi cells (20) and indicate quite clearly
that the internalization motif of CD22 lies between residues 512 and
523, just under the membrane.
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Mutagenesis of the Internalization Motif--
The 11-amino acid
turn structure motif in CD22 is unusual in that, unlike most other
internalization signals described, it contains no tyrosine residues
(33). Examination of the sequence (QRRWKRTQSQQ), however, showed the
presence of a serine bearing a hydroxyl group at position 521. It is
possible that serine replaces a tyrosine residue in this motif and that
the hydroxyl group of both amino acids may play a similar role in the
internalization signal. To investigate this, a mutant was constructed
in which Ser521 was mutated to Ala521 (Fig. 1),
and its ability to endocytose was determined in the cytotoxicity assay.
Surprisingly, this substitution did not affect delivery of
BsAb·saporin complexes (Fig. 6),
indicating that although serine might have replaced tyrosine in the
position of the internalization motif in CD22
, the mechanism of
internalization/endocytosis of CD22
involves interaction with
structures other than the side group of a determinant amino acid.
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motif, 8 are polar or positively charged (Fig.
7). Such a cluster of polar amino acids
clearly suggests that a charged interaction (hydrogen bonding or
electrostatic interaction) is likely to be important for
internalization. Comparison with tyrosine-containing motifs has shown
that amino acids either side of the tyrosine tend to be more
prominently polar and also important for function. It was thus
decided to make a CD22
mutant with amino acid changes on
either side of the serine. This mutant, CD22Q520L/Q522L (Fig. 2), had a
cytoplasmic tail truncated at amino acid 526 with Gln520
and Gln522 mutated to leucine residues. Cytotoxicity assay
results with this mutant showed that it had a greatly reduced ability
to deliver saporin in the presence of BsAb (Fig. 6). The
IC50 value for saporin toxicity was only 3.3 × 10
8 M in the presence BsAb, compared with
2.1 × 10
10 M for the CD22
transfectants, confirming the previous proposal that polar amino acids
are important.
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DISCUSSION |
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CD22 plays a key role in the regulation of B-cell responses to antigen (1, 2). One relatively unexplored mechanism of controlling CD22 function and ensuring that it provides accessory signals at the appropriate time is by restricting its cellular localization, i.e. making sure that CD22 is at the right place at the right time. Recently, Sherbina et al. (36) have shown that following stimulation of the B-cell antigen receptor, intracellular CD22 moves rapidly from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane, resulting in a 50-100% increase in surface expression within 5 min of stimulation. In addition to membrane delivery, it is clear that CD22 also undergoes rapid and constitutive internalization from the plasma membrane (17). Shan and Press (17) have reported that CD22 is turning over at the cell surface with a t1/2 of less than 1 h, that internalization occurs regardless of anti-CD22 mAb binding, and that the CD22, once internalized, is transported to lysosomes for degradation rather than being recycled back to the plasma membrane as occurs with many lymphocyte receptors (17). Although it is unclear why CD22 transport is controlled in this way, it obviously has enormous potential for regulating its function.
In the current study, we have investigated the structural basis of
CD22
internalization using chimeric and mutated constructs expressed
in Jurkat T-cells. The results show that the cytoplasmic tail of
CD22
controls its endocytosis into the cells. CD22
molecules without a cytoplasmic tail were not internalized and hence failed to
deliver radioactive mAb or BsAb·saporin complexes inside the cell.
Furthermore, when the cytoplasmic region of a second B-cell marker,
CD19, was replaced by that of CD22
, the resulting chimeric molecule
behaved like CD22
and internalized efficiently (Fig. 1). Step-wise
deletion located the endocytosis motif to an 11-amino acid sequence
(QRRWKRTQSQQ) proximal to the plasma membrane: provided this short
peptide remained on the truncated CD22
, it performed perfectly well
in delivering toxin BsAb·saporin complexes into the transfected
cells. A complete list of all the constructs, together with data on
deliver BsAb·saporin complexes into transfected cells for cell
killing, is summarized in Fig. 1. Because the predominant CD22
isoform has the same membrane proximal 11-amino acid sequence, it seems
reasonable to assume that this motif controls internalization of both
CD22
and CD22
isoforms. Interestingly, the mouse CD22 molecule
shows a very similar sequence in this region (37), with just four
conserved amino acid differences, and consequently may perform the same
function.
Typically plasma membrane receptors are moved into early endosomes via
clathrin-coated pits and vesicles (38). Our immunoelectron microscopy
data confirm that CD22
is strongly clustered around coated-pits.
Identified signal sequences for entry into or formation of
clathrin-coated pits are degenerate and quite variable, making it
difficult to define precise motifs (33, 36, 38). However, generally
they fall in to two classes. The most common are tetra- or hexapeptides
containing an aromatic residue, usually tyrosine or phenylalanine (33),
placed in the context of one or more amino acids with largely
hydrophobic side chains. Typical examples would include
FDNPVY for low-density lipoprotein
receptor (39), YKYSKV for CD-mannose
6-phosphate receptor (40), and YXRF
for the transferrin receptor (31). The second general class of control signals involves adjacent leucine-type residues, which include dileucine or leucine plus a small hydrophobic residue near the carboxyl
terminus of the cytoplasmic domain. The current list of receptors using
these motifs is quite short and tends to include leukocyte receptors,
such as Fc receptor and CD74 (invariant chain of MHC class II) (41).
Clearly the CD22 control sequence, QRRWKRTQSQQ, does not fall easily
into either group and may represent a novel class, or more likely a
modified member of the tyrosine-based signaling motifs. A comprehensive
investigation by Ktistakis et al. (34) has defined two
salient features required for function of these structures: first, they
contain residues that show a preference to "break" regular
structure in protein domains; and second, they have a high
concentration of polar or positively charged residues on both sides of
the tyrosine. A schematic representation of the endocytic
tyrosine-based signals is shown in Fig. 7A. This generic
internalization signal consists of 8-10 cytoplasmic amino acids with
the tyrosine residue present in the membrane distal portion of the
sequence. There appears to be a strong preference for certain types of
amino acid at specific positions, suggesting that the orientation of
the motif with respect to the membrane is critical and that it is
independent of polarity of the protein, and, for both type I and II
transmembrane proteins, extends 6 amino acids membrane proximal and 2 residues membrane distal to the tyrosine. The most critical amino acids
appear to be located at positions +2, +1,
1,
4, and
6 with
respect to the tyrosine. It is thought that the amino acids that
disturb regular structure may be required to disrupt the polypeptide
chain after it leaves the transmembrane sequence and provide a fairly
extended structure immediately proximal to the membrane. Structural
predictions on these internalization motifs suggest that the polar
groups either side of the tyrosine generate hydrogen-bonded tight
turns, membrane proximal to the tyrosine. It is thus predicted that the
recognition sequence for the clathrin adapter protein complex-2 is
simply a small surface loop (34).
Using the Garnier-Gibrat-Robson prediction algorithm (42), we found that the CD22 motif (Gln513-Gln523) showed a preference for a turn structure that was strikingly similar to that for a known tyrosine-based signal (Fig. 7B). It is highly polar and basic and differs from the schematic tyrosine-based motif only in a switch of serine for tyrosine. Mutagenesis studies on tyrosine-based motifs have shown that the tyrosine residue can be substituted with phenylalanine or tryptophan, suggesting that any aromatic residue could suffice for the internalization signaling (43). Surprisingly, in the present study, investigation to determine whether the serine was critical to the CD22 motif showed that it was not, and substituting the serine with alanine did not influence internalization of BsAb·saporin complexes in cytotoxicity assays (Fig. 6). However, in contrast, mutating the polar groups either side of the serine completely destroyed function and prevented saporin toxicity, suggesting that polarity was critical for internalization. Numerous questions remain about this newly defined internalization motif and its interaction with the endocytic pathway. However, it appears that internalization is more dependent on charge and secondary structure than on linear sequence, and this is consistent with CD22 associating with the clathrin-associated adapter, clathrin adapter protein complex-2, or an clathrin adapter protein complex-2-like molecule that recognizes the membrane proximal, charged loop for constituent delivery of CD22 into the cell.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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We thank Brian Seed and Ivan Stamenkovic for the kind gift of CD19 and CD22 cDNA and George Stevenson and Mark Marsh for helpful discussion.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* This work was supported with funds from the Tenovus Cancer Charity, Cardiff, United Kingdom and the Leukaemia Research Fund.The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
§ To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 44-1703-796910; Fax: 44-1703-704061.
The abbreviations used are: BsAb, bispecific antibody; mAb, monoclonal antibody; PCR, polymerase chain reaction.
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REFERENCES |
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