|
Advertisement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 283, Issue 28, 19465-19477, July 11, 2008
Box 2 Region of the Oncostatin M Receptor Determines Specificity for Recruitment of Janus Kinases and STAT5 Activation*
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Although IL-6 represents one of the best studied cytokines to date, the relevance and physiological activities of OSM are less well known. OSM is predominantly secreted by activated T lymphocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils (10, 11) and seems to be involved in the regulation of the inflammatory response (12, 13). Corresponding to its name, OSM supports growth inhibition of various solid tumors (14). However, it also induces the growth of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma cells (15, 16). Because of its ability to induce TIMP-1 and TIMP-3, pro-fibrotic properties have also been attributed to OSM (17–19). Indeed, transgenic mice expressing OSM in islet β-cells develop severe fibrosis (20). Increased OSM levels have also been found in the synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients (21) and in dermal lesions of psoriasis patients (22). OSMR knock-out mice display defects in hematopoiesis and liver regeneration (23, 24).
It is commonly accepted that OSM, besides activating the MAPK and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway, is one of the strongest inducers of the JAK/STAT pathway (4, 25, 26). After ligand binding and receptor dimerization, the Janus kinase family members JAK1, JAK2, and TYK2 are activated (27, 28), consequently mediating the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues within the cytoplasmic regions of either gp130 or the OSMR. The so far prevailing perception of the further downstream STAT activation involves recruitment of the STAT factors, particularly STAT1 and STAT3, to phosphorylated tyrosine motifs via their SH2 domains. Only for STAT5 a number of studies describe a receptor tyrosine-independent activation mechanism, which involves direct binding of STAT5 to the receptor-recruited Janus kinases (29–31). However, it remains unclear to date which determinants render receptor-bound kinases susceptible for direct recruitment of STAT5.
Here we can show that the human and murine OSM receptors use distinct mechanisms to activate STAT5B. Whereas the human receptor relies on two tyrosine motifs located proximal to the box 1/box 2 region, the murine receptor can activate STAT5B receptor tyrosine-independently. This tyrosine-independent activation requires a direct interaction of STAT5B with JAK2, which is only achieved by ligation of the murine OSMR. Indeed, JAK2 can only be precipitated with the murine OSMR, but not with the human OSMR. Interestingly, a single amino acid exchange within the human box 2 region to the equivalent amino acid in the murine receptor changes the preference of the human receptor for binding JAK1 to JAK2 and allows STAT5B activation independently of the tyrosine motifs. In contrast, the activation of STAT1 and STAT3 is mediated by conserved molecular mechanisms, i.e. for STAT3 through YXXQ motifs in the cytoplasmic part of the receptors and for STAT1 directly via the Janus kinases.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
2A, 2fTGH, and U1A (kindly provided by Dr. I. M. Kerr, Cancer Research UK, London) were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (Invitrogen). All of the media were supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 100 µg/ml streptomycin, and 60 µg/ml penicillin. Stably transfected HEK293T cells were selected in medium containing 100 µg/ml hygromycin, 500 µg/ml G418, and 10 µg/ml blasticidin. The cells were grown at 37 °C in a water-saturated atmosphere containing 5% CO2. HDFs were generated as described previously (32). Transient transfections of HEK293T cells were carried out using FuGENE 6 (Roche Applied Science) according to the manufacturer's recommendations. HEK293T cells stably expressing the IL-5R
/gp130YFFFFF, as well as one of the following IL-5Rβ chimeras: β/hOSMR
1, β/hOSMR
1Y917F/Y945F, and β/hOSMR
1-YFFFFFF, were generated by two rounds of transfections: first the IL-5R
/gp130YFFFFF was integrated by transfection using FuGENE 6 and selection using G418. Thereafter, the clones were again transfected using the Flp-InTM T-RExTM system from Invitrogen according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Recombinant human IL-5 and human OSM were obtained from Cell Concepts (Umkirch, Germany), human LIF from Sigma, and murine OSM from R & D Systems (Minneapolis, MN).
Expression Vectors—The construction of the pSVL based expression plasmids encoding IL-5R chimeras
/gp130YFFFFF, β/hOSMR
1, β/hOSMR
1Y861F, and β/hOSMRbox 1/2 has been described previously (25, 28). It was demonstrated in earlier studies that chimeras containing the full-length cytoplasmic region of OSMRβ are weakly expressed (28, 33). Hence, we used truncated chimeric constructs lacking the 28 C-terminal amino acids (β/OSMR
1), which is expressed better, without losing any of the activation sites of STATs or MAPKs (28).
The additional point-mutated constructs containing the amino acid substitutions Y837F/Y839F, P813A, and F820C were generated by polymerase chain reaction using the respectively mutated oligonucleotides with the cDNA for β/hOSMR
1 or β/hOSMRbox 1/2 as a template, respectively. The C-terminal deletion mutants β/mOSMR
1 and β/mOSMRbox 1/2 were generated by polymerase chain reaction using the cDNA for murine OSMR as a template (kindly provided by M. Tanaka, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan). The sense oligonucleotide incorporates an EcoRI site and the antisense oligonucleotides incorporate an in-frame termination codon followed by the recognition site for BamHI. They retain 191 and 65 amino acids of the murine OSMR cytoplasmic tail, respectively, and were subcloned into the EcoRI/BamHI-digested expression plasmid pSVL-IL-5Rβ/hOSMR
1 to generate the constructs encoding pSVL-β/mOSMR
1 and pSVL-β/mOSMRbox 1/2. The human/murine OSMR chimeras were generated by standard PCR techniques, and the sequences are depicted in Fig. 3C. The pcDNA5/FRT/TO plasmids for β/hOSMR
1, β/hOSMR
1-Y917F/Y945F, and β/hOSMR-
1YFFFFFF were generated by transferring a NotI/EcoRV fragment from the pSVL constructs to the modified vector pcDNA5/FRT/TO (Invitrogen) containing an inverted multiple cloning site. The integrity of all constructs was verified by DNA sequence analysis using an ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyzer (PerkinElmer Life Science). The expression plasmid for STAT5B was kindly provided by W. Doppler (University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria).
Cell Lysis, Immunoprecipitation, and Western Blotting—HDFs, MEFs, fibrosarcoma cells, and HEK293T cells were stimulated for the indicated periods of time with 1–100 ng/ml LIF, 1–100 ng/ml human OSM, 20 ng/ml murine OSM, and 10 ng/ml IL-5. A 30-min preincubation with the pharmacological inhibitor AG490 (Calbiochem, Darmstadt, Germany) was used as indicated to inhibit activation of JAK2. HDFs were preincubated with LIF-05 (kindly provided by Prof. Dr. J. Heath, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK) to inhibit signal transduction via the LIFR (34). Immediately after stimulation, the cells were lysed in Triton lysis buffer (20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 1% Triton X-100, 1 mM EDTA, 10 mM NaF, 1 mM Na3VO4, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 3 µg/ml pepstatin, 5 µg/ml aprotinin, and 5 µg/ml leupeptin) as described previously (25). All of the steps of cell lysis were performed at 4 °C using ice-cold buffers. The proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE in 10% gels, followed by electroblotting onto a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane (PALL, Dreieich, Germany). Western blot analysis was conducted using the indicated antibodies and the enhanced chemiluminescence kit (Amersham Biosciences) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Before reprobing, the blots were stripped in 2% SDS, 100 mM β-mercaptoethanol in 62.5 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.7) for 20 min at 70 °C.
|
-STAT1 (E-23), polyclonal STAT5B (C-17), polyclonal SOCS3 (C-20), polyclonal IRF-1 (C-20), and monoclonal Lamin-A/C antibody from Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA) were used for detection. The horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies were purchased from Dako (Hamburg, Germany). Peptide Precipitation Assay and Immunoblot Analysis—The amino acid sequences of the used peptides were published previously (26). 0.003 µmol of the biotinylated peptides were immobilized by incubation with 10 µl of NeutrAvidin-coupled agarose (Pierce). For STAT5B precipitation, HEK293T cells overexpressing STAT5B were lysed in 500 µl of lysis buffer (150 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris/HCl, 0.1 mM EDTA, 10% glycerol, 0.5% Nonidet P-40, pH 8.0, supplemented with Na3VO4 (1 mM), pepstatin (3 µg/ml), leupeptin (5 µg/ml), aprotinin (5 µg/ml), and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (1 mM)). Endogenous STAT1 and STAT3 or overexpressed STAT5B were precipitated by incubation of total cell lysates with the immobilized peptides at 4 °C overnight. Precipitates were then washed three times with 1 ml of lysis buffer. The precipitated proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE and transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane. STAT proteins were detected with antisera recognizing the proteins irrespective of their activation.
Cell Fractionation—All of the fractionation and centrifugation steps were performed at 4 °C using ice-cold buffers. Cytoplasmic, membrane, and nuclear fractions were prepared using protocols described in detail before (35).
RT-PCR—Total RNA was isolated from HEK293T cells stimulated for the indicated times with 20 ng/ml IL-5 using the RNeasy columns (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. RT and PCR were performed with 1 µg of total cell RNA using a Onestep RT-PCR kit (Qiagen). Detection of specific mRNA for IRF-1, SOCS3, and CIS (cytokine-inducible SH2 domain-containing protein) was achieved by using primers designed to amplify at least one exon (across one intron/exon border to exclude contamination of cDNA with genomic DNA). Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was used as an internal standard (36). Amplification was carried out with 35 cycles of 40 s of denaturation at 94 °C, 30 s of annealing at 58 °C, and 30 s of extension at 72 °C. The amplification was terminated with an extension step of 10-min duration at 72 °C after the last cycle. PCR products were separated on 1% agarose gels and stained with ethidium bromide.
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Dose- and Receptor-dependent STAT5 Phosphorylation—HDF express gp130, the LIFR as well as the OSMR (not shown) and therefore formation of the type I as well as the type II receptor complex in response to OSM stimulation is possible. To compare the potential of the LIFR and the OSMR to activate STAT5, we stimulated HDF with increasing concentrations of OSM and LIF. Although 1 ng of OSM/ml is sufficient to induce a clearly detectable STAT5 activation (Fig. 1B, lane 7), a concentration of >50 ng/ml LIF was necessary to activate STAT5 (lane 1). To examine whether OSM-induced STAT5 activation is preferentially mediated by LIFR or can also be initiated through the OSMR, we pretreated the cells with LIF-05, a mutated form of LIF that is still able to bind the LIFR but cannot recruit gp130 (34). Therefore, the LIFR cannot be used, and signaling by OSM can only occur through the type II receptor complex (gp130/OSMR). Interestingly, the OSM-induced STAT5 phosphorylation shows no reduction (Fig. 1C, lane 4) and therefore has to be transduced via the OSMR, whereas the LIF-mediated STAT5 activation is completely absent (Fig. 1C, lane 8).
|
or β chains, respectively. By stimulating transfected cells with IL-5, we induced receptor complex formation and initiated gp130- and OSMR-mediated signal transduction. To focus on the OSMR-initiated signaling, we prevented gp130 tyrosine-based signal transduction by point mutating all five tyrosines C-terminal of box 1/2 (
/gp130YFFFFF). Using this chimeric receptor system, we can show that, as expected, STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation occurs through Tyr917/Tyr945, both of which are located within typical STAT3 consensus motifs (p)YXXQ. Mutation of Tyr917/Tyr945 within the OSMR completely abrogates STAT3 phosphorylation (Fig. 2A, top panel, lane 4) and consequently the induction of the STAT3 target gene SOCS3 on RNA and protein level (Fig. 2A, middle and bottom panel). In striking contrast, these two tyrosines are dispensable for STAT1 activation (Fig. 2B, top panel, lane 4) and the induction of the classical STAT1 target gene IRF-1 as demonstrated both on RNA and protein level (Fig. 2B, middle and bottom panel). Indeed, even point mutation of all tyrosines located C-terminally of box 1/2 of the OSMR did not lead to the abrogation of STAT1 activation (Fig. 2B, top panel, lane 6). Thus, in contrast to STAT3, activation of STAT1 occurs independently of receptor tyrosine recruitment sites.
In the case of STAT5B, activation cannot occur tyrosine independently (Fig. 2C, lane 8). The receptors of well known STAT5 activators such as erythropoietin, IL-2, or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor contain characteristic Y
X
-STAT5-binding motifs (
, hydrophobic residue). Interestingly, the tyrosines Tyr837/Tyr839 of the OSMR are located within such a motif, and we therefore tested whether these tyrosines might serve as STAT5 recruitment sites. Indeed, mutation of the double tyrosine motif Tyr837/Tyr839 completely abrogated OSMR-mediated STAT5B tyrosine phosphorylation (Fig. 2C, compare lanes 2 and 4). Cells expressing an OSMR Y861F variant served as a negative control, because the Tyr861 residue is known as the specific recruitment site for the adapter protein Shc and therefore important for MAPK but not for STAT activation (25). Indeed, IL-5-induced STAT5 phosphorylation occurs normally (Fig. 2C, lane 6). To investigate the importance of the Tyr837/Tyr839-mediated STAT5B phosphorylation on target gene expression, we analyzed the RNA levels of the STAT5-responsive gene cis (cytokine-inducible protein with SH2 domain). Indeed stimulation through the OSMR allowed transcription of the cis gene (Fig. 2D, lane 2), whereas no RNA is detectable in the cells expressing the Y837F/Y839F mutated OSMR (Fig. 2D, lane 4). With no reliable CIS antibodies available, the protein levels could not be analyzed.
To confirm our observations by an independent approach, we performed peptide precipitations with peptides encompassing OSMR tyrosine motifs to precipitate STAT1, STAT3, or STAT5, either endogenously or overexpressed in HEK293T cells. We used peptides containing all tyrosine motifs C-terminal to the box 1/2 region in the intracellular part of the OSMR except Y978, which is the second last amino acid in the OSMR and therefore unable to support a receptor/SH2 domain-containing protein interaction. Fig. 2E strongly supports our findings using mutated receptors; STAT5B can be precipitated with phosphorylated Tyr837 or Tyr839. The single tyrosines within the double motifs seem to be redundant in this process. None of the tested phosphotyrosine-containing peptides deduced from the OSMR sequence is able to interact with STAT1, and STAT3 does interact with the tyrosines Tyr917 and Tyr945. Biacore analyses using a purified STAT3-SH2 domain and peptides encompassing each of the two phosphorylated tyrosine motifs (Tyr(P)917 or Tyr(P)945) showed that both tyrosines bind STAT3 with similar affinities (data not shown).
The Murine OSMR Relies on Receptor-bound Janus Kinases to Activate STAT5—When comparing the sequences of the OSMR from various species, one notices that in contrast to the conserved recruitment sites for STAT3 in all receptors, the murine and rat receptors lack the double tyrosine motif responsible for the STAT5 phosphorylation in its human counterpart (Fig. 3). Nonetheless, human fibroblasts and murine fibroblasts elicit equal STAT5 tyrosine phosphorylation kinetics in response to the respective OSM (Fig. 4A, top panel) and consequently an indistinguishable expression of the STAT5 target gene cis (Fig. 4B). Because the murine OSMR does not contain any additional tyrosine motifs compared with the human receptor, we hypothesized that in contrast to the human receptor, the murine OSMR might be capable of STAT5 activation in a tyrosine-independent fashion. To test this assumption, we transfected HEK293T cells with either the human or the murine receptor (hOSMR
1 or mOSMR
1) or shortened variants containing only the box 1/2 region and therefore lacking all tyrosine motifs. As expected from the previous experiment, both long versions of the human and the murine wild-type receptors initiate STAT5B activation after stimulation with IL-5 (Fig. 4C, top panel, lanes 2 and 6). Whereas the human OSMRbox 1/2 is not able to mediate STAT5B tyrosine phosphorylation anymore, because it lacks the crucial double tyrosine motif (Fig. 4C, lane 4), the murine OSMRbox 1/2 still supports phosphorylation of STAT5B (Fig. 4C, lane 8). Transient transfection of the same constructs into murine fibroblasts resulted in the same activation profile (supplemental Fig. S2). In contrast, activation of STAT1 and STAT3 occurs via similar molecular mechanisms for the murine and the human OSMR: STAT1 tyrosine-independently and STAT3 depending on the tyrosine motifs (Fig. 4C, lanes 4 and 8).
|
Closer inspection of the 18 amino acids present in the human and murine box 2 region revealed two prominent differences between both species: P813A and F820C. These residues were point-mutated in the human receptor to their murine counterparts and again expressed transiently in HEK293T cells along with IL-5R
/gp130-YFFFFF. Intriguingly, the single point mutation of Phe820 to cysteine allowed the shortened human OSMR to fully activate STAT5B identical to the phosphorylation observed for the murine receptor variant (Fig. 4F, compare lanes 4 and 6). The proline to alanine mutation had no effect on STAT5B activation (Fig. 4F, lane 8).
F820C Mutation of the Human OSMR Box 2 Region Changes Receptor Preference from JAK1 to JAK2 Recruitment—To delineate the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the capacity of the murine OSMR to activate STAT5 receptor tyrosine independently, we examined the activation profile of JAK1 and JAK2 in response to stimulation through the human or murine OSMR. Although both receptors result in an equivalent tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK1 (Fig. 5A, top panel), double tyrosine-phosphorylated and therefore activated JAK2 is better detectable when activating the murine receptor (Fig. 5A, bottom panel). Likewise, murine OSM activated JAK2 much better in MEF than human OSM in HDF (Fig. 4A, middle panel), whereas JAK1 was activated equally well (bottom panel). Furthermore, exchange of F820 to cysteine did not only change the STAT5 activation mode, but additionally allowed a much stronger JAK2 tyrosine phosphorylation than the native human receptor (Fig. 4F, middle panel). The JAK1 activation profile remained unchanged (Fig. 4F, bottom panel).
Therefore, we hypothesized that the human and murine OSMR differ in their potential to recruit JAK1 or JAK2, respectively, and that mutation of Phe820 to cysteine changes the affinity of the human receptor for JAK2. Indeed, we can coimmunoprecipitate endogenous JAK2 with the murine OSMR and with the human OSMR F820C variant (Fig. 5B, lanes 4–7).
Finally, we were interested whether STAT5B is directly recruited by JAK2 and performed coimmunoprecipitation studies between the Janus kinases and the transcription factor. No association of JAK1 and STAT5B can be observed, neither in response to stimulation of the human receptor nor when the murine receptor has been activated (Fig. 5C, upper panel). In contrast, JAK2 could be coimmunoprecipitated with STAT5B in response to stimulation of the murine receptor but not when activating the human receptor (Fig. 5C, lower panel, compare lanes 3 and 5).
JAK2 Deficiency or Inhibition Strongly Reduces STAT5 Tyrosine Phosphorylation—Phosphorylation of receptor tyrosines is a prerequisite to transform them into docking sites for SH2 domain-containing proteins. Because the human OSMR can bind JAK1, JAK2, and TYK2, we examined the involvement of each particular kinase in the activation process of individual STATs in more detail. Therefore, we stimulated human fibrosarcoma cell lines lacking either JAK1 (U4C), JAK2 (
2A), or TYK2 (U1A) with increasing concentrations of OSM. Parental cells (2C4 or 2fTGH) activate STAT1, STAT3, and STAT5 (Fig. 6A, lanes 1–6 and 19–24). Although 1 ng/ml is sufficient to activate STAT3, a concentration of 2.5 ng/ml is required to activate STAT1 and STAT5. Deficiency in JAK1 abrogates the cells ability to activate STAT5 and STAT1 and markedly reduces the activation of STAT3 (Fig. 6A, lanes 7–12). Interestingly, deficiency of JAK2 differentially affects the STAT activation. STAT1 is activated as well as in the parental cells, but STAT3 and STAT5 tyrosine phosphorylation is strongly reduced (Fig. 6A, lanes 13–18). Deficiency in TYK2 expression has no effect on the OSM-induced phosphorylation of STAT1, STAT3, or STAT5 (Fig. 6A, lanes 25–30).
Our findings concerning the role of the individual tyrosine kinases for the activation of STAT molecules were confirmed through the use of specific inhibitors against the different Janus kinases. The JAK inhibitor 1, directed against all three kinases, blocks the OSM-mediated activation of STAT1 and STAT3 (data not shown). In contrast to that, the incubation of human fibrosarcoma wild-type cells with AG490, a more selective inhibitor of JAK2, leads to efficient suppression of the OSM-induced STAT5 phosphorylation already at low concentrations (Fig. 6B, upper panel), whereas STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation appeared to be affected at higher concentrations of AG490 (Fig. 6B, lower panel).
To further investigate the apparent involvement of JAK2 also in the activation process of STAT5 through the human OSMR complex, we monitored a potential interaction of JAK1 and JAK2 in human cells. Therefore, we immunoprecipitated JAK1 from human and murine fibroblasts and screened for coprecipitated JAK2. Indeed, in HDF, but not in MEF, JAK1 recruits JAK2 (Fig. 6C, lane 2).
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Human and murine OSM differ with respect to their used receptor complexes. Human OSM can signal via the type I receptor complex (gp130/LIFR) as well as via the type II receptor complex (gp130/OSMR), whereas murine OSM is limited to the type II receptor complex (7, 8). Here we find evolutionary distinct mechanisms for the human and murine OSMR to activate STAT5, whereas the activation mode of STAT1 and STAT3 appears to be conserved.
Because murine OSM activates STAT5 in MEFs (Fig. 4A), the specific LIF inhibitor LIF-05 only suppresses the LIF-induced STAT5 phosphorylation but not the one mediated by OSM (Fig. 1C), and OSM activates STAT5 in the human melanoma cell line A375, which only expresses the type II receptor complex (data not shown), we concluded that the strong OSM-induced activation of STAT5 relies on the involvement of the OSMR. This hypothesis is supported by a study in which homodimerized G-CSFR/OSMR chimeras granulocyte colony-stimulating factor were able to activate STAT5 (37). We identified the double tyrosine motif Tyr837/Tyr839 within the intracellular human OSMR region as a recruitment site for STAT5B. These tyrosines are located within the motif PNYLYLLP, which is in accordance with the STAT5 activation motif DXpY
X
described by May et al. (39), differing only in the acidic amino acid N-terminal to the tyrosine residue. Further receptor systems in which a tyrosine-based STAT5 recruitment has been shown include the growth hormone receptor (40–42), erythropoietin receptor (43–45) and the IL-2 receptor β-chain (46). Particularly, the similarity with a STAT5-binding motif within the erythropoietin receptor (Tyr431) LKYLYLVVS is remarkable (47). Interestingly, the double tyrosine motif is not conserved between man and mouse. It is found in the human, chimp, rhesus macaque, bovine, equine, and canine OSMR sequences but is absent in the rodents mouse and rat. Rather than being mutated, a precise deletion of three amino acids (YLY) is found (see alignment, Fig. 3). Therefore, previous studies trying to elucidate the molecular mechanism of how OSM leads to STAT5 activation failed because only tyrosine residues conserved between human and murine OSMR were investigated (37).
|
Mutagenesis analyses of the box 1/2 region identified the murine box 2 as the decisive region whether the receptor could activate STAT5 independent of receptor tyrosines (Fig. 4E, lane 4), and within the human box 2 region a single amino acid exchange (F820C) was sufficient to change the STAT5B activation mode (Fig. 4F, lane 6). With regard to our observation that the murine receptor preferentially activates JAK2, we therefore hypothesized that the phenylalanine 820 in the human receptor prevents efficient recruitment of JAK2 to the human receptor. Consequently, the point mutation of this phenylalanine to the respective amino acid in the murine receptor (cysteine) resulted in a human OSMR that efficiently activated and recruited JAK2 (Fig. 5B, lane 7).
Finally, we could show that STAT5B can directly interact with JAK2 in response to ligation of the murine OSMR. No interaction of STAT5B with JAK1 could be observed. The first evidence for a direct binding of STAT5 to one of the Janus kinases came from yeast two-hybrid screens using the kinase-like domain of JAK1 or JAK2 as baits. Of three million transformants, two positive clones identified STAT5 as binding partner of the JAK kinase-like domain (29). Most importantly, a genetic fusion of the kinase domain of JAK2 to the N-terminal region of the ETS family transcription factor TEL has been shown to activate STAT5 (30). This TEL/JAK2 fusion is the result of a chromosomal translocation and has been identified as the cause of a number of human leukemia (48, 49). Additionally, artificial replacement of the EGF receptor intracellular region by the kinase domain of JAK2 resulted in a ligand-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT5 (31). According to structure predictions, the kinase-like and kinase domains of JAK2 should have similar folds because only catalytically, but not structurally important amino acids are exchanged between both domains. This could explain why interactions of STAT5 with the kinase-like domain (29) or the kinase domain (30, 31) were observed.
Our results rather exclude a possible direct JAK2/STAT5 interaction within the human OSM signal transduction. Neither the OSMR
1YFFFFFF (Fig. 2C) nor the OSMR
1box 1/2 (Fig. 4C) constructs are able to induce a STAT5 phosphorylation via Janus kinases. A supporting role for JAK2 for the human OSMR-mediated signal transduction, however, is evident. In comparison with wild-type cells, a strongly reduced STAT5 tyrosine phosphorylation is detectable in hOSM-stimulated JAK2-deficient human fibrosarcoma cells (
2A) (Fig. 6A). In accordance with these findings, the STAT5 phosphorylation via JAK2 can be reduced to approximately 50% by the JAK2 inhibitor AG490 at a low concentration (Fig. 6B).
As published in previous studies for IL-6 (50), in human cells JAK1 also seems to play the predominant role in STAT activation in response to OSM. No tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1 or STAT5 and only a strongly reduced phosphorylation of STAT3 can be detected in JAK1 deficient human fibrosarcoma cells (U4C).
We therefore postulate that in the human system both receptors gp130 and OSMR preferentially bind and activate JAK1. JAK2, however, plays an important supporting role in the STAT3 and STAT5 activation process and can be recruited to the receptor complex through an interaction with JAK1 (Fig. 6C). In the case of the murine receptor system, gp130 appears to recruit JAK1, whereas the murine OSMR seems to preferentially bind JAK2, which after activation can directly bind and activate STAT5.
The evolutionary different mechanisms to activate STAT5 by the murine versus the human OSMR are unique and cannot be observed for STAT1 or STAT3. As predicted, STAT3 activation is mediated by the tyrosine motifs Tyr917 (YVSQ) as well as Tyr945 (YKMQ) within the OSMR (Fig. 2, A and E), both of which are highly conserved and found in all of the species analyzed so far (Fig. 3). These tyrosine motifs resemble the well defined STAT3-recruiting consensus sequence YXXQ (51, 52). These findings fit to the results of Kuropatwinski et al. (37) showing that a truncated OSMR, comprising only the 142 membrane-proximal amino acids and therefore lacking the tyrosines Tyr917 and Tyr945, cannot activate STAT3 to the normal extent. Interestingly, OSM stimulation of JAK1-deficient fibrosarcoma cells still allows a minor STAT3 activation (Fig. 6A). Taking in consideration that in JAK1-/- cells the cell surface levels of gp130 and the OSMR are significantly reduced (supplemental Fig. S3 and Ref. 33), this remaining STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation is remarkable. These data are in line with a recent study by Haan et al. (53) in which JAK1-deficient fibrosarcoma cells reconstituted with a kinase-inactive mutant of JAK1 can activate STAT3 in response to OSM.
|
|
Taken together, whereas the ability of the OSMR to activate STAT1 and STAT3 is evolutionary conserved, two distinct molecular mechanisms for receptor-mediated STAT5 activation have evolved: a receptor-tyrosine dependent and an independent mechanism. Studying the determinants for this difference, we show for the first time that a single amino acid exchange within the cytokine receptor box 1/2 region is sufficient to change the receptor's preference for recruitment of a specific Janus kinase and subsequently changes the mode of STAT activation. This finding contributes to a more detailed understanding of how specificity among cytokine receptors can be generated.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Figs. S1–S3. ![]()
1 Both authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
2 Present address: Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute, Protein Phosphorylation Laboratory, London WC2A3PX, UK. ![]()
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Present address: Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum, Universität Würzburg, Versbacher Str. 9, 97078 Würzburg, Germany. Tel.: 49-931-201-48722; Fax: 49-931-201-48702; E-mail: heike.hermanns{at}virchow.uni-wuerzburg.de.
4 The abbreviations used are: OSM, oncostatin M; OSMR, OSM receptor; HDF, human dermal fibroblasts; IL, interleukin; IRF, interferon regulatory factor; JAK, Janus kinase; LIF, leukemia inhibitory factor; LIFR, LIF receptor; MEF, mouse embryonic fibroblasts; SOCS, suppressor of cytokine signaling; STAT, signal transducer and activator of transcription; gp, glycoprotein; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; RT, reverse transcription. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
C. Hintzen, C. Haan, J. P. Tuckermann, P. C. Heinrich, and H. M. Hermanns Oncostatin M-Induced and Constitutive Activation of the JAK2/STAT5/CIS Pathway Suppresses CCL1, but Not CCL7 and CCL8, Chemokine Expression J. Immunol., November 15, 2008; 181(10): 7341 - 7349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| All ASBMB Journals | Molecular and Cellular Proteomics |
| Journal of Lipid Research | ASBMB Today |