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R M Perlmutter

Publications and source records attributed to R M Perlmutter.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Impaired expansion of mouse B cell progenitors lacking Btk.

Mutations in the gene encoding the protein tyrosine kinase Btk are associated with the human B cell immunodeficiency X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA). In the mouse, a point mutation in the Btk pleckstrin homology domain segregates with a milder X-linked immunodeficiency (xid). To assess the importance of Btk function in murine lymphopoiesis, we generated multiple embryonic stem cell clones bearing a targeted disruption of the btk gene and examined their potential to produce lymphocytes in both C57BL/6 and RAG2-/- host chimeric animals. These mice provide a complementary set of in vivo competition assays that formally establish the genetic basis for the xid phenotype. Although the null mutation yields a phenotype quite similar to that of xid, it also compromises expansion of B cell precursors. Our results suggest that the murine and human consequences of Btk deficiency differ only quantitatively, and represent the same disease process.

Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase↗
PubMed1995

Control of T cell development by non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases.

Stimulation of the T cell antigen receptor leads to several possible outcomes. This is especially true in thymocytes, where ligand occupancy of the receptor may promote survival or provoke cell death. Insight into the circuitry of T cell receptor signalling has been achieved in transgenic mouse model systems. In particular, two SRC-family protein tyrosine kinases, p59fyn and p56lck, have been shown to participate in controlling mature thymocyte proliferation and immature thymocyte development, respectively. Analysis of the function of p56lck has been especially instructive and has yielded data consistent with a model in which this kinase serves as the gatekeeper at a developmental checkpoint wherein T cell receptor beta chain synthesis promotes maturation and cell division. In addition, a remarkably coherent data set supports the view that p56lck regulates allelic exclusion at the T cell receptor beta locus. Further testing of putative signalling molecules in transgenic mice promises to permit elucidation of the biochemical distinctions between positively and negatively selecting stimulation pathways active during T cell development.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

An activated lck transgene promotes thymocyte development in RAG-1 mutant mice.

Expression of the T cell receptor beta (TCR beta) chain is necessary for the transition from the CD4CD8- stage in the major alpha beta thymocyte lineage. The protein tyrosine kinase p56lck has been implicated in the regulation of early thymocyte differentiation and of allelic exclusion at the TCR beta locus. Using mice overexpressing an activated lck transgene and mice with a disruption of the lck gene, we demonstrate that p56lck participates in a pathway that regulates the expansion of the pool of CD4+CD8+ thymocytes to wild-type levels. In addition, p56lck may be involved in the down-regulation of the putative pre-TCR on CD4+CD8+ thymocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Functional dissection of p56lck, a protein tyrosine kinase which mediates interleukin-2-induced activation of the c-fos gene.

Members of the newly identified receptor family for cytokines characteristically lack the intrinsic protein tyrosine kinase domain that is a hallmark of other growth factor receptors. Instead, accumulating evidence suggests that these receptors utilize nonreceptor-type protein tyrosine kinases for downstream signal transduction by cytokines. We have shown previously that the interleukin-2 receptor beta-chain interacts both physically and functionally with a Src family member, p56lck, and that p56lck activation leads to induction of the c-fos gene. However, the mechanism linking p56lck activation with c-fos induction remains unelucidated. In the present study, we systematically examined the extent of c-fos promoter activation by expression of a series of p56lck mutants, using a transient cotransfection assay. The results define a set of the essential amino acid residues that regulate p56lck induction of the c-fos promoter. We also provide evidence that the serum-responsive element and sis-inducible element are both targets through which p56lck controls c-fos gene activation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Osteoporosis induced in mice by overproduction of interleukin 4.

Osteoporosis is a common disease in which loss of bone mass results in skeletal fragility. The development of therapies for this disorder has been hampered by the lack of a convenient animal model. Here we describe a disorder in bone homeostasis in transgenic mice that inappropriately express the cytokine interleukin 4 (IL-4) under the direction of the lymphocyte-specific proximal promoter for the lck gene. Bone disease in lck-IL-4 mice appeared to result from markedly decreased bone formation by osteoblasts, features strikingly similar to those observed in cases of severe low-turnover human involutional osteoporosis. By 2 months of age, female and male lck-IL-4 mice invariably developed severe osteoporosis of both cortical and trabecular bone. Osteoporosis was observed in two independently derived founder animals, indicating that this phenotype was directly mediated by the IL-4 transgene.

Actins↗
PubMed1993

Decreased signaling competence as a result of receptor overexpression: overexpression of CD4 reduces its ability to activate p56lck tyrosine kinase and to regulate T-cell antigen receptor expression in immature CD4+CD8+ thymocytes.

Thymic selection of the developing T-cell repertoire occurs in immature CD4+CD8+ thymocytes, with the fate of individual thymocytes determined by the specificity of T-cell antigen receptor they express. However, T-cell antigen receptor expression in immature CD4+CD8+ thymocytes is actively down-regulated in CD4+CD8+ thymocytes by CD4-mediated tyrosine kinase signals that are generated in the thymus as a result of CD4 engagement by intrathymic ligands. In the present study we have examined the effect of CD4 overexpression in CD4+CD8+ thymocytes on activation of CD4-associated p56lck tyrosine kinase and regulation of T-cell antigen receptor expression. Augmented CD4 expression in CD4+CD8+ thymocytes did not result in commensurate increases in associated p56lck molecules, so that CD4 expression was quantitatively disproportionate to that of its associated signaling molecule p56lck. Interestingly, we found that CD4 overexpression significantly interfered with the ability of CD4 crosslinking to activate associated p56lck molecules and significantly interfered with the ability of CD4 to regulate T-cell antigen receptor expression. Thus, this study provides an example in which receptor overexpression leads to decreased receptor signaling competence.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Protein tyrosine kinase p56lck controls allelic exclusion of T-cell receptor beta-chain genes.

During T-cell development, site-specific DNA rearrangements mediating assembly of beta- and alpha-chain genes of the T-cell receptor (TCR) are developmentally ordered. In particular, assembly and expression of a complete beta-chain gene blocks further rearrangements at the beta-locus (a process referred to as allelic exclusion) and drives the generation and expansion of CD4+8+ cells. Although the mechanism used by TCR beta chains to deliver such signals is unknown, studies in transgenic animals have suggested that the lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase p56lck may impinge on a similar signalling pathway. The hypothesis that TCR beta chains deliver intracellular signals via p56lck makes an explicit prediction: that interference with p56lck function will mitigate the effects of a simultaneously expressed TCR beta chain. Here we confirm this prediction through examination of allelic exclusion in mice expressing both a functional TCR beta chain transgene and a catalytically inactive form of p56lck.

Alleles↗
PubMed1993

CD8 inhibits signal transduction through the T cell receptor in CD4-CD8- thymocytes from T cell receptor transgenic mice reconstituted with a transgenic CD8 alpha molecule.

T cell repertoire selection processes involve intracellular signaling events generated through the TCR. The CD4 and CD8 coreceptor molecules can act as positive regulators of TCR signal transduction during these developmental processes. In this report, we have used TCR transgenic mice to determine whether TCR signaling can be modulated by the CD8 coreceptor molecule. These mice express on the majority of their T cells a TCR specific for the male (H-Y) Ag presented by the H-2Db MHC class I molecule. We show that CD4-CD8-, but not CD4-CD8+, thymocytes expressing the H-Y TCR responded with high intracellular calcium fluxes to TCR/CD3 stimulation without extensive receptor cross-linking. To examine the effects of CD8 expression on intracellular signaling responses in the CD4-CD8- cells, the H-Y TCR transgenic mice were mated with transgenic mice that constitutively expressed the CD8 alpha molecule on all T cells. The expression of the CD8 alpha alpha homodimer in the CD4-CD8-thymocytes led to impaired intracellular calcium responses and less efficient protein tyrosine phosphorylation of substrates after TCR engagement. In male H-2b H-Y transgenic mice, the majority of thymocytes have been deleted with the surviving cells expressing a high density of the transgenic TCR and exhibiting either a CD4-CD8- or CD4-CD8lo phenotype. It has been postulated that these cells escaped deletion by down-regulating the CD8 molecule. In the H-Y TCR/CD8 alpha double transgenic male mice, the CD4-CD8lo cells were completely eliminated as a result of CD8 alpha expression. However, the CD4-CD8- T cells were not deleted despite normal levels of the CD8 alpha transgene expression. These results suggest that the CD4-CD8- thymocytes may not be susceptible to the same deletional mechanisms as other thymocytes expressing TCR-alpha beta.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

The protein tyrosine kinase p56lck regulates thymocyte development independently of its interaction with CD4 and CD8 coreceptors [corrected].

The lck gene encodes a lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase of the nonreceptor type that is implicated in signal transduction pathways emanating from the CD4 and CD8 coreceptors. Previous studies also support a role for p56lck in regulating T cell receptor beta gene rearrangements and, more generally, thymocyte development. Here we report that a mutant form of p56lck, which is incapable of interacting with CD4 or CD8, behaves indistinguishably from association-competent p56lck with respect to its ability to affect thymocyte maturation. The effects of p56lck remained specific in that the closely related src-family kinase p59hck was incapable of substituting for p56lck in arresting beta locus gene rearrangements. These data support the view that src-family kinases perform highly specialized and often nonoverlapping functions in hematopoietic cells, and that p56lck acts independently of its association with CD4 and CD8 to regulate thymocyte development.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Functional coupling of the src-family protein tyrosine kinases p59fyn and p53/56lyn with the interleukin 2 receptor: implications for redundancy and pleiotropism in cytokine signal transduction.

The binding of interleukin 2 (IL-2) to the IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) induces a rapid increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins. In a previous study, we have shown that p56lck (lck), a src-family protein tyrosine kinase (src-PTK), physically and functionally associates with the IL-2R beta chain (IL-2R beta). To further investigate a role of src-PTKs in IL-2 signaling, we analyzed a mouse pro-B-cell line, in which lck is not expressed detectably. We observed that in this cell line, IL-2 induces activation of at least two src-PTKs, p59fyn (fyn) and p53/56lyn (lyn). Interestingly, stimulation of this cell line with IL-3 also induces activation of src-PTKs. The activation of fyn or lyn seems to be selective for stimulation with IL-2 or IL-3 since stimulation with IL-6 fails to activate them. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the physical association of fyn with IL-2R beta. Taken together with previous results, our current study suggests that different src-PTKs, each of which is expressed in a cell-type-specific manner, can participate in the IL-2 signal transduction.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Association of p56lck with IL-2 receptor beta chain is critical for the IL-2-induced activation of p56lck.

Previous studies demonstrate that p56lck, a member of the src-family of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs), can physically associate with the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor beta chain (IL-2R beta) and that IL-2 receptor engagement stimulates p56lck activity. To examine the mechanisms underlying p56lck PTK activation by IL-2, we established a mouse pro-B cell line, BAF-B03, expressing both IL-2R beta (either the wild-type or mutant forms) and mouse p56lck at high levels. BAF-B03 cells expressing a mutant IL-2R beta chain lacking an 'acidic' region of the cytoplasmic domain, previously shown to be essential for association with p56lck, fail to induce p56lck PTK activation upon IL-2 stimulation. This suggests that the association of p56lck with the IL-2R beta chain, despite its low stoichiometry, is required for the activation of cellular p56lck PTK upon IL-2 stimulation. Intriguingly, BAF-B03 cells expressing an IL-2R beta chain which lacks a different cytoplasmic region, the 'serine-rich' region, also fail to activate p56lck in response to IL-2. Hence, physical association of p56lck with the IL-2R beta chain is not by itself sufficient to permit IL-2-mediated regulation of this PTK. Additional experiments suggest that one result of PTK activation is the accumulation of c-fos and c-jun transcripts.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

A dominant-negative transgene defines a role for p56lck in thymopoiesis.

The lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase p56lck participates in T cell signaling through functional interactions with components of the T cell antigen receptor complex and the interleukin-2 receptor. Additional insight into the function of p56lck has now been obtained through the generation of transgenic animals expressing high levels of a catalytically inactive form of this kinase (p56lckR273). Mice bearing the lckR273 transgene manifested a severe defect in the production of virtually all T lymphocytes. Those exceptional CD3+ cells that escaped the effects of the lckR273 transgene were confined primarily to the T cell subset that expresses gamma/delta T cell receptors. Remarkably, construction of a dose-response curve for the effects of the lckR273 transgene revealed that developmental arrest of thymocytes occurred at a discrete stage in the normal T cell maturation pathway, corresponding to a point at which thymoblasts ordinarily begin a series of mitotic divisions that result in expansion and maturation. These results suggest that p56lck normally regulates T cell production by metering the replicative potential of immature thymoblasts.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

In vivo dissection of lymphocyte signaling pathways.

Attempts to dissect signaling pathways leading from the T cell antigen receptor to the cell interior rely primarily on careful biochemical analysis of changes in cellular metabolism provoked by ligand. An alternative approach tests hypotheses regarding the mechanism of T cell activation by altering the representation of putative signaling molecules in otherwise normal lymphocytes using gene manipulation techniques. Rigorous implementation of this strategy has defined crucial roles for two protein tyrosine kinases, p56lck and p59fyn, in T cell signaling pathways. Working from this strong foundation, a molecular description of the T cell activation sequence may now be achievable.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Regulation of lymphocyte function by protein phosphorylation.

Variations in protein phosphorylation provide the predominant means of enzymatic regulation now known in biological systems, especially in the regulation of signal transduction from cell surface receptors. Analysis of these signaling pathways has proceeded especially rapidly in lymphocytes, in part because these cells can be isolated with relative ease and can in many cases be maintained in vitro for prolonged periods as clonal populations. During the past few years, both biochemical and genetic evidence has been adduced indicating that the antigen receptors of T and B lymphocytes associate functionally with nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinases. Similar data implicate protein tyrosine kinases in signaling from the CD4 and CD8 coreceptors and the beta chain of the IL-2 receptor. Protein serine/threonine kinases and several different phosphatases also participate in the intracellular propagation of antigen receptor-derived signals. Here we review the lymphocyte surface receptors that are believed to act by altering protein phosphorylation, the kinases and phosphatases that are believed to regulate signal transduction in lymphocytes, and the implications of these results for the broader study of cell signaling mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Molecular dissection of lymphocyte signal transduction pathways.

The earliest biochemical changes in lymphocyte activation include the accumulation of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins. This accumulation, catalyzed by specific protein tyrosine kinases, is required for subsequent cell activation. Experimental manipulation of these protein tyrosine kinases results in improved or decreased transit through the activation sequence. Analysis of transgenic animals bearing altered kinase genes permits assembly of a model for signal transduction from the T-cell antigen receptor.

Animals↗