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Biomedical subjects

A Weiss

Publications and source records attributed to A Weiss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

ZAP-70: a 70 kd protein-tyrosine kinase that associates with the TCR zeta chain.

Protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) play an integral role in T cell activation. Stimulation of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) results in tyrosine phosphorylation of a number of cellular substrates. One of these is the TCR zeta chain, which can mediate the transduction of extracellular stimuli into cellular effector functions. We have recently identified a 70 kd tyrosine phosphoprotein (ZAP-70) that associates with zeta and undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation following TCR stimulation. Here we report the isolation of a cDNA clone encoding ZAP-70. ZAP-70 represents a novel PTK and is expressed in T and natural killer cells. Moreover, tyrosine phosphorylation and association of ZAP-70 with zeta require the presence of src family PTKs and provide a potential mechanism by which the src family PTKs and ZAP-70 may interact to mediate TCR signal transduction.

Amino Acid Sequence

Angiographic findings in the coronary arteries after thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction.

The angiographic appearance of the coronary arteries was examined in 308 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who received high-dose intravenous thrombolytic therapy. Coronary angiography was performed on day 7 after admission to the hospital. Patients had an average of 2.4 discrete arterial narrowings or obstructions. The narrowings were proximal and related to bifurcations. Four fifths of the culprit arteries were patient; 104 (34%) had a ruptured plaque, 22 (7%) had an ulcerated plaque, and in 190 (62%) the lesions were eccentric. Patients differed from a comparable, previously studied, control series of 302 patients with chronic stable angina pectoris who had more extensive disease. They had 5.7 narrowings/patient, also located proximally and at bifurcations, but more widely distributed in the coronary tree. Patients with AMI who are suitable for thrombolysis have a unique coronary angiographic picture. The data confirm that AMI is caused by sudden rupture of a localized atheromatous plaque that initiates an obstructive thrombotic cascade.

Angina Pectoris

Genetic evidence for the involvement of the lck tyrosine kinase in signal transduction through the T cell antigen receptor.

Signaling through the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) results both in rapid increases in tyrosine phosphorylation on a number of proteins and in the activation of the phosphatidylinositol pathway. It is not clear how stimulation of the TCR leads to these signaling events. Mutants of the Jurkat T cell line have been previously isolated that fail to show increases in calcium following receptor stimulation. Analysis of one of these mutants, JCaM1, which is defective in the induction of tyrosine phosphorylation, revealed a defect in the expression of functional lck tyrosine kinase. The lack of lck activity was caused in part by a splicing defect. Expression of the lck cDNA in JCaM1 restores the ability of the cell to respond to TCR stimulation. These results indicate that lck is required for normal signal transduction through the TCR.

Cell Line

Restoration of T cell receptor-mediated signal transduction by transfection of CD45 cDNA into a CD45-deficient variant of the Jurkat T cell line.

The TCR is a multimeric structure comprised of distinct Ag recognition and signal transduction components. Although none of the molecules that make up the TCR possess intrinsic protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) activity, stimulation of T cells via the TCR results in the rapid appearance of newly tyrosine phosphorylated proteins in cell lysates. Evidence suggests ligation of the TCR induces activation of a PTK that may be a member of the src family. One early consequence of this TCR-mediated PTK activation is the phosphorylation of the gamma 1 isoform of phospholipase C. This phosphorylation event is associated with increased enzymatic activity resulting in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5 bisphosphate into two second messengers, inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate and diacylglycerol. Recently, our laboratory and others have isolated mutant T cells that lack surface expression of CD45, the major surface tyrosine phosphatase expressed on lymphoid cells. Stimulation of the TCR on these cells fails to result in the expected activation events. We demonstrate that reconstitution of surface expression of the 180-kDa isoform of CD45 by gene transfer into a CD45-deficient mutant of the Jurkat T cell leukemic line restores the ability of the TCR to couple fully to its signal transduction machinery. These results support the role of CD45 tyrosine phosphatase activity in regulating the TCR-activated PTK.

Antigens, CD

CD28 and T cell antigen receptor signal transduction coordinately regulate interleukin 2 gene expression in response to superantigen stimulation.

Activation of an immune response requires intercellular contact between T lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells (APC). Interaction of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) with antigen in the context of major histocompatibility molecules mediates signal transduction, but T cell activation appears to require the induction of a second costimulatory signal transduction pathway. Recent studies suggest that interaction of CD28 with B7 on APC might deliver such a costimulatory signal. To investigate the role of CD28 signal transduction during APC-dependent T cell activation, we have used Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) presented by a B7-positive APC. We used anti-B7 monoclonal antibodies and a mutant interleukin 2 (IL-2) promoter construct, unresponsive to CD28-generated signals, in transient transfection assays to examine the contribution of the CD28-B7 interaction to IL-2 gene activation. These studies indicate that the CD28-regulated signal transduction pathway is activated during SE stimulation of T cells and plays an important role in SE induction of IL-2 gene expression through its influence upon the CD28-responsive element contained within the IL-2 gene promoter. This effect is particularly profound in the activation of the IL-2 gene in peripheral blood T cells.

Antigen-Presenting Cells

Tyrosine phosphorylation of vav proto-oncogene product containing SH2 domain and transcription factor motifs.

Activation of receptor-linked and cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinases is crucial in the control of normal and abnormal cell growth and differentiation. Some substrates of protein tyrosine kinases such as phospholipase C gamma and ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP) contain sequences homologous to the src protein domains SH2 and SH3 (refs 3-9). The proto-oncogene vav is expressed in haematopoietic cells and its product Vav contains sequence motifs commonly found in transcription factors, such as helix-loop-helix, leucine-zipper and zinc-finger motifs and nuclear localization signals, as well as a single SH2 and two SH3 domains. Here we show that stimulation of T-cell antigen receptor on normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes or on human leukaemic T cells, and the crosslinking of IgE receptors on rat basophilic leukaemia cells, both promote the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues in Vav. Moreover, activation of the receptor for epidermal growth factor leads to marked tyrosine phosphorylation of Vav in cells transiently expressing vav, and Vav associates with the receptor through its SH2 domain. We propose that vav encodes a new class of substrates whose tyrosine phosphorylation may provide a mechanism for direct signal transduction linking receptors at the cell surface to transcriptional control.

3T3 Cells

New insights into T-cell antigen receptor structure and signal transduction.

Recent studies have provided insights into how the complex structure of the T-cell antigen receptor relates to its signal transduction function. Both the CD3 and zeta subunits contain functioning signaling modules that regulate the activation of tyrosine kinases and phosphorylation of cellular substrates.

Amino Acid Sequence

The protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor herbimycin A, but not genistein, specifically inhibits signal transduction by the T cell antigen receptor.

Several lines of evidence implicate a regulatory tyrosine phosphorylation in the activation of phospholipase C (PLC) by the T cell antigen receptor (TCR). These include studies using inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs). In Jurkat T cells expressing the heterologous human muscarinic receptor (HM1), PLC activity can be induced by either the TCR or HM1. HM1 activates PLC via a guanine nucleotide binding protein. We have studied the selectivity of the effects of the PTK inhibitors, herbimycin A and genistein, in this system. The results indicate that these inhibitors have different mechanisms of action, and suggest that herbimycin A, but not genistein, is a specific inhibitor of PTKs in T cells. Herbimycin A markedly inhibited both the resting and induced levels of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins, including the gamma 1 isozyme of PLC and the zeta chain of the TCR, and prevented activation of PLC by anti-TCR mAb. Herbimycin A did not inhibit activation of PLC by HM1. Genistein had a much less pronounced effect than herbimycin A on the appearance of tyrosine phosphoproteins. Moreover, genistein inhibited activation of PLC by both the TCR and HM1, and inhibition was only partial. Genistein was cytotoxic and markedly inhibited protein synthesis in both Jurkat cells and human peripheral lymphocytes. Herbimycin A was not cytotoxic. These findings confirm the role of a regulatory tyrosine phosphorylation in activation of PLC by the TCR. Herbimycin A was a selective inhibitor of a subclass of PTKs in Jurkat cells. In contrast, inhibition of signal transduction and later events in T cells by genistein may be due to effects other than direct inhibition of PTK activity.

Benzoquinones

Regulation of T-cell lymphokine gene transcription by the accessory molecule CD28.

T-cell activation results in the production of multiple lymphokines. Efficient lymphokine gene expression appears to require both T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) signal transduction and an uncharacterized second or costimulatory signal. CD28 is a T-cell differentiation antigen that can generate intracellular signals that synergize with those of the TCR to increase T-cell activation and interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene expression. In these studies, we have examined the effect of CD28 signal transduction on granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin 3 (IL-3), and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) promoter activity. Stimulation of CD28 in the presence of TCR-like signals increases the activity of the GM-CSF, IL-3, and IFN-gamma promoters by three- to sixfold. As previously demonstrated for the IL-2 promoter, the IL-3 and GM-CSF promoters contain distinct elements of similar sequence which specifically bind a CD28-induced nuclear complex. Mutation of the CD28 response elements in the IL-3 and GM-CSF promoters abrogates the CD28-induced activity without affecting phorbol ester- and calcium ionophore-induced activity. UV cross-linking indicates that the CD28-induced nuclear complex contains polypeptides of approximately 35, 36, and 44 kDa. These studies indicate that the TCR and CD28-regulated signal transduction pathways coordinately regulate the transcription of several lymphokines and that the influence of CD28 signals on transcription is mediated by a common complex.

Antigens, CD

Prognostic significance of granular cell content in renal cell carcinoma.

The relation between survival and tumor cell type in renal cell carcinomas was reviewed in 79 cases. The mean follow-up period was 10 years. Tumors were classified into 5 groups according to the percentage of granular cells: group 1, 0-5%; group 2, 6-20%; group 3, 21-40%; group 4, 41-80%, and group 5, over 80%. Half of the patients (50.6%) revealed less than 5% of granular cells, and almost two thirds of the patients (64.64%) had less than 20% of granular cells. Our results showed a lack of correlation between the percentage of granular cell in the tumor and long-term survival (chi 2 p > 0.9 after 10 years). When the data were analyzed in groups of patients with the same clinical stage or nuclear grading, no significant correlation between the percentage of granular cells and long-term survival was found. However, the short-term survival, up to 3 years after diagnosis, was significantly higher for patients with tumors containing less than 20% of granular cells (64.6% in comparison to 46.4% survival for patients with over 20% granular cells; chi 2 p = 0.1). In addition, our data showed a significant correlation between the survival of patients and nuclear grading (chi 2 p < 0.003) as well as the surgical staging of the tumor (chi 2 p < 0.001).

Carcinoma, Renal Cell

Gram-negative bacterial pneumonia with secondary aspergillosis in an AIDS patient.

A 40-year-old, HIV-infected female patient received antibiotic treatment for a urinary tract infection. After the initial success of therapy and a symptom-free period, she developed pneumonia with septic shock and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In spite of intensive care and respirator therapy with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), she died of infectious toxic shock. Autopsy findings showed relapsing, gram-negative, bacterial pneumonia (morphologically compatible with Klebsiella pneumonia) and secondary, invasive aspergillosis. The pathogenesis and epidemiology of these unusual complications of AIDS are discussed.

AIDS-Related Complex

The zeta chain is associated with a tyrosine kinase and upon T-cell antigen receptor stimulation associates with ZAP-70, a 70-kDa tyrosine phosphoprotein.

Stimulation of the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) leads to tyrosine phosphorylation of a number of cellular proteins, including phospholipase C (PLC) gamma 1 and the TCR zeta chain. We describe here a 70-kDa tyrosine phosphoprotein (ZAP-70) that associates with zeta within 15 sec following TCR stimulation. The phosphorylation of ZAP-70 and its association with zeta is independent of the other TCR chains since stimulation of a functional CD8/zeta chimeric receptor in a TCR-negative T cell leads to coprecipitation of ZAP-70 with the chimeric protein. In a Jurkat cell expressing the TCR and the CD8/zeta chimeric protein, tyrosine phosphorylation and association of ZAP-70 occurs exclusively with the stimulated receptor complex. In addition, a tyrosine kinase that does not appear to be fyn associates with the cytoplasmic domain of zeta and phosphorylates zeta and ZAP-70 in vitro.

Amino Acids

Functional activation of the T-cell antigen receptor induces tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma 1.

Stimulation of the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR), which itself is not a protein-tyrosine kinase (PTK), activates a PTK and phospholipase C (PLC). Using the human T-cell leukemic line Jurkat and normal peripheral blood lymphocytes, we demonstrate that stimulation of the TCR specifically induces the recovery of PLC activity in eluates from anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates. Stimulation of the human muscarinic receptor, subtype 1, when expressed in Jurkat activates PLC through a guanine nucleotide binding protein but does not induce the recovery of PLC activity in eluates from anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates. Western blot analysis reveals that PLC-gamma 1 is tyrosine-phosphorylated in response to TCR stimulation. Nearly all of the PLC activity recovered in eluates from anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates was depleted by anti-PLC-gamma 1 antibodies. Stimulation of the TCR on mutants derived from Jurkat that are defective in TCR-induced PLC activation results in markedly reduced, if any, PLC activity recovered in phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates and in no detectable PLC-gamma 1 tyrosine phosphorylation. Thus, the TCR functions like PTK growth factor receptors, but through an indirect interaction, to induce tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1. Since other studies have implicated two members of the src family of PTKs in TCR-mediated signal transduction, our findings suggest that the induction of tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1 by a mechanism involving a src-like kinase may be the means by which the TCR regulates PLC activity in T cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal