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L Graeve

Publications and source records attributed to L Graeve.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Interleukin-6-type cytokine signalling through the gp130/Jak/STAT pathway.

The family of cytokines signalling through the common receptor subunit gp130 comprises interleukin (IL)-6, IL-11, leukaemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin M, ciliary neurotrophic factor and cardiotrophin-1. These so-called IL-6-type cytokines play an important role in the regulation of complex cellular processes such as gene activation, proliferation and differentiation. The current knowledge on the signal-transduction mechanisms of these cytokines from the plasma membrane to the nucleus is reviewed. In particular, we focus on the assembly of receptor complexes after ligand binding, the activation of receptor-associated kinases of the Janus family, and the recruitment and phosphorylation of transcription factors of the STAT family, which dimerize, translocate to the nucleus, and bind to enhancer elements of respective target genes leading to transcriptional activation. The important players in the signalling pathway, namely the cytokines and the receptor components, the Janus kinases Jak1, Jak2 and Tyk2, the signal transducers and activators of transcription STAT1 and STAT3 and the tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 [SH2 (Src homology 2) domain-containing tyrosine phosphatase] are introduced and their structural/functional properties are discussed. Furthermore, we review various mechanisms involved in the termination of the IL-6-type cytokine signalling, namely the action of tyrosine phosphatases, proteasome, Jak kinase inhibitors SOCS (suppressor of cytokine signalling), protein inhibitors of activated STATs (PIAS), and internalization of the cytokine receptors via gp130. Although all IL-6-type cytokines signal through the gp130/Jak/STAT pathway, the comparison of their physiological properties shows that they elicit not only similar, but also distinct, biological responses. This is reflected in the different phenotypes of IL-6-type-cytokine knock-out animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Internalization of the interleukin 6 signal transducer gp130 does not require activation of the Jak/STAT pathway.

Signalling receptors often undergo receptor-mediated endocytosis. In many cases this internalization is stimulated by ligand binding and activation of intrinsic receptor tyrosine kinases, resulting in a receptor down-regulation. We have analysed whether internalization of the interleukin 6 signal transducer gp130 is dependent on the activation of receptor-associated Jak kinases. By using a chimaeric receptor system we found that receptor mutants that lack box1 and therefore are not capable of activating Jak and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) proteins are still endocytosed efficiently. A chimaeric receptor with the recently identified dileucine internalization motif being replaced by two alanine residues was not efficiently internalized but still capable of recruiting STATs. Furthermore an antagonistic antibody that inhibits the signalling of all interleukin-6-type cytokines via gp130 was internalized as efficiently as an agonistic one that activates the Jak/STAT pathway. Our findings suggest that the endocytosis of gp130 is signal-independent.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Interleukin-6 and related cytokines: effect on the acute phase reaction.

The acute phase response is the answer of the organism to disturbances of its physiological homeostasis. It consists of a local and a systemic reaction. The latter is characterized by dramatic changes in the concentration of some plasma proteins called acute phase proteins. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been identified in vitro and in vivo as the major hepatocyte stimulating factor. Subsequently, additional hepatocyte stimulating factors, such as leukemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin-M, interleukin-11 and ciliary neurotrophic factor have been discovered. IL-t and related cytokines belong to the so-called alpha-helical cytokine family characterized by four antiparallel helices. IL-6 and IL-6-type cytokines exert their action via plasma membrane receptor complexes consisting of specific cytokine binding subunits and a common signal transducing protein gp130. In this presentation we focus on structure/function studies of IL-6, its receptor subunits gp80 and gp130, the internalization of the ligand/receptor complex and a recently elucidated signal transduction pathway. We have shown that protein tyrosine kinases of the JAK family are associated with the cytoplasmic domain of gp130 and are activated in response to IL-6. Subsequently, the transcription factors--named STATs (signal transducers and activators of transcription)--STAT1 alpha and STAT3 are transiently recruited to the cytoplasmic domain of gp130, where they become tyrosine phosphorylated by JAK kinases. In addition to the tyrosine phosphorylation we have observed that IL-6 also induces a serine phosphorylation of STAT3. This modification occurs with a delayed time-course as compared to the tyrosine phosphorylation and is inhibited by the protein kinase inhibitor H7. We propose that the STAT3 serine phosphorylation is required for transactivation of IL-6 target genes which is also inhibited by H7.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1997

A single STAT recruitment module in a chimeric cytokine receptor complex is sufficient for STAT activation.

We established a system of receptor chimeras that enabled us to induce heterodimerization of different cytoplasmic tails. Fusion constructs were created that are composed of the extracellular parts of the interleukin-5 receptor alpha and beta chains, respectively, and the transmembrane and intracellular parts of gp130, the signal transducing chain of the interleukin-6 receptor complex. In COS-7 transfectants we observed a dose-dependent interleukin-5-inducible STAT1 activation for which the presence of both the alpha and the beta chain chimera was needed. No STAT activity was detected if one of the cytoplasmic tails of the receptor complex was deleted, indicating that STAT activity resulted from a receptor dimer rather than from higher receptor aggregates. We further investigated whether dimerization of STAT1 depends on the juxtaposition of two STAT recruitment modules in a receptor complex. We show that a receptor dimer with only a single STAT1 docking site was still able to lead to STAT1 activation. This indicates that the formation of a paired set of STAT binding sites in a receptor complex is not the prerequisite for STAT factor dimerization. Our findings are discussed in view of alternative STAT dimerization models.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

A complex of the soluble interleukin-6 receptor and interleukin-6 is internalized via the signal transducer gp130.

In human body fluids a soluble form of the interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) has been found which together with interleukin-6 (IL-6) acts agonistically on cells expressing the signal transducer gp130. The means by which the sIL-6R is removed from the circulation is unknown. Here, we show that a complex of 125I-labelled recombinant sIL-6R and IL-6 is internalized by MDCK cells stably transfected with gp130 and by human hepatoma cells HepG2 that endogenously express the IL-6R and gp130. We further show that most of the internalized sIL-6R is degraded within lysosomes. Our studies suggest that cells expressing gp130 are capable of endocytosing an IL-6/sIL-6R complex, thereby removing both from the circulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Oncostatin M differentially regulates tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 gene expression in human synovial lining cells.

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) 1, 2 and 3 are related proteins that can form complexes with all known matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). They inhibit the action of MMPs on extracellular matrix components. The balance of MMPs and TIMPs is important for tissue remodeling and its disturbance is believed to play a crucial role in pathophysiological processes such as tumor metastasis, destruction of cartilage and fibrosis. Cytokines and growth factors were found to regulate TIMPs and MMPs in a complex manner. In order to better understand the role of TIMPs in inflammatory joint diseases we have studied in vitro the regulation of TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 by inflammatory cytokines in cultured human synovial lining cells. We found that transforming growth factor beta 1 as well as interleukin-1 beta induce gene expression of both TIMP-1 and TIMP-3. In contrast, oncostatin M, an interleukin-6-type cytokine produced by activated T-lymphocytes and monocytes, had a differential effect on TIMP mRNA levels. After oncostatin M treatment, TIMP-1 expression was up-regulated but basal, as well as interleukin-1 beta-induced, TIMP-3 expression was inhibited. Interleukin-6 itself had no effect on synovial lining cells but a complex of interleukin-6 and the soluble interleukin-6 receptor induced activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) factors in these cells and regulated TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 expression in a similar fashion as oncostatin M. Since TIMP-3 is matrix-associated whereas TIMP-1 is found in many body fluids, the role of oncostatin M during inflammatory processes might be to promote ECM degradation in the local environment but to prevent it systemically.

Blotting, Northern↗
PubMed1996

Comparative study on the phosphotyrosine motifs of different cytokine receptors involved in STAT5 activation.

Several cytokines and growth factors activate transcription of their target genes via the JAK/STAT signalling pathway. It has been shown that the interaction between SH2 domains of STAT factors and receptor phosphotyrosine residues plays an essential role in the specific recruitment of STATs. For STAT5, however, the importance of receptor tyrosines is still controversial. Using a chimeric receptor system in COS-7 cells, we studied the activation of STAT5 through the interleukin-6 signal transducer gp130. In contrast to previous reports, we did not detect gp130-mediated STAT5 activation. However, STAT5 activation was achieved when tyrosine motifs of other cytokine receptors were fused to the membrane-proximal part of gp130. The comparison of the relative potency of different tyrosine motifs revealed that hydrophobic amino acids, preferentially leucine, in positions +1 and +3, and an aspartate residue in position -1 or -2 with respect to the tyrosine are likely to be required for efficient STAT5 recruitment. In summary, we show here for the first time that phosphotyrosine motifs can confer the ability to activate STAT5 to a heterologous receptor.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Differential activation of acute phase response factor/STAT3 and STAT1 via the cytoplasmic domain of the interleukin 6 signal transducer gp130. I. Definition of a novel phosphotyrosine motif mediating STAT1 activation.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and gamma-interferon (IFNgamma) activate an overlapping set of genes via the Jak/STAT pathway. However, at least in human cells, a differential activation of STAT transcription factors was observed: IL-6 activates both acute phase response factor (APRF)/STAT3 and STAT1, whereas IFNgamma leads only to STAT1 activation. All STATs cloned so far contain SH2 domains. Since all cytokine receptors using the Jak/STAT pathway were found to be tyrosine-phosphorylated after ligand binding, it has been proposed that specific phosphotyrosine modules within the cytoplasmic domain of the receptor chains recruit different STAT factors. We have analyzed by mutational studies and by phosphopeptide competition assays which of the tyrosine modules of the IL-6 signal transducer gp130 are capable of recruiting either APRF or STAT1. We found that two of the four tyrosine modules that are important for APRF activation also activate STAT1. For these modules, we propose the new consensus sequence YXPQ. We further present evidence that STAT1 is activated independently from APRF suggesting that gp130 contains multiple independent STAT binding sites. We compare the APRF and STAT1 activation motifs of gp130 with the STAT1 activation motif of the IFNgamma receptor and demonstrate that the specificity of activation can be changed from APRF to STAT1 and vice versa by only two point mutations within a tyrosine module. These data strongly support the concept that the activation of a specific STAT is determined mainly by the phosphotyrosine module. The significance of these findings for other receptor systems is discussed.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1996

Differential activation of acute phase response factor/Stat3 and Stat1 via the cytoplasmic domain of the interleukin 6 signal transducer gp130. II. Src homology SH2 domains define the specificity of stat factor activation.

Distinct yet overlapping sets of STAT transcription factors are activated by different cytokines. One example is the differential activation of acute phase response factor (APRF, also called Stat3) and Stat1 by interleukin 6 and interferon-gamma. Interleukin 6 activates both factors while, at least in human cells, interferon-gamma recruits only Stat1. Stat1 activation by interferon-gamma is mediated through a cytosolic tyrosine motif, Y440, of the interferon-gamma receptor. In an accompanying paper (Gerhartz, C., Heesel, B., Sasse, J., Hemmann, U., Landgraf, C., Schneider-Mergener, J., Horn, F., Heinrich, P. C., and Graeve, L. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 12991-12998), we demonstrated that two tyrosine motifs within the cytoplasmic part of the interleukin 6 signal transducer gp130 specifically mediate APRF activation while two others can recruit both APRF and Stat1. By expressing a series of Stat1/APRF domain swap mutants in COS-7 cells, we now determined which domains of Stat1 and APRF are involved in the specific recognition of phosphotyrosine motifs. Our data demonstrate that the SH2 domain is the sole determinant of specific STAT factor recruitment. Furthermore, the SH2 domain of Stat1 is able to recognize two unrelated types of phosphotyrosine motifs, one represented by the interferon-gamma receptor Y440DKPH peptide, and the other by two gp130 YXPQ motifs. By molecular modeling, we propose three-dimensional model structures of the Stat1 and APRF SH2 domains which allow us to explain the different binding preferences of these factors and to predict amino acids crucial for specific peptide recognition.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1996

A di-leucine motif and an upstream serine in the interleukin-6 (IL-6) signal transducer gp130 mediate ligand-induced endocytosis and down-regulation of the IL-6 receptor.

The interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor complex is composed of two different subunits, the IL-6 binding protein (IL-6R, gp80) and the signal transducing component gp130. Our previous studies revealed that the 10-amino acid sequence TQPLLDSEER within the intracellular domain of gp130 is crucial for the efficient internalization of IL-6. Since this sequence contains a putative di-leucine internalization motif, we further analyzed this region by constructing two additional deletions and a series of point mutants. Analyses of these mutants showed that the di-leucine pair (Leu-145 and Leu-146) is essential for ligand internalization, with leucine 145 being less resilient to exchanges. Furthermore, when a chimeric protein (Tac-STQPLL) composed of the Tac antigen fused to the hexapeptide STQPLL of gp130 was studied, we found that this sequence is sufficient to mediate endocytosis and lysosomal targeting of the chimera. Mutational analysis of three serine residues upstream of the di-leucine motif revealed that mutation of serine 139 to an alanine reduces the initial internalization rate by 50%. This finding suggests that a serine phosphorylation may be important for rapid endocytosis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Identification of the interleukin-6/oncostatin M response element in the rat tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) promoter.

The rat tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) gene is expressed in rat hepatocytes, and this expression is up-regulated by interleukin 6 (IL-6). We report here the cloning of the 5' flanking region of the rat TIMP-1 gene and identification of an IL-6/oncostatin M (OSM) response element at -64 to -36 which functions in hepatic cells. Within this element we have identified two functional binding sites for transcription factors AP-1 (activatory protein-1) and STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription). IL-6/OSM stimulation induces binding of a protein, identified as STAT3, to the IL-6/OSM response element, while binding of the AP-1 protein was constitutive. Binding sites for both AP-1 and STAT3 are necessary for full responsiveness of the TIMP-1 promoter to IL-6/OSM, as shown by deletion and mutation analysis. Furthermore, the entire IL-6/OSM response element conferred responsiveness onto a heterologous promoter, whereas this has not been observed when AP-1 and STAT elements were separately tested.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Expression of a biologically active murine tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in baculovirus-infected insect cells. Purification and tissue distribution in the rat.

Murine tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (mTIMP-1) was expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells (Sf9). The protein secreted into the culture medium was purified to homogeneity by means of heparin-Sepharose CL-6B and FPLC. The purified protein showed metalloproteinase-inhibitory activity in two independent assays: reverse zymography and inhibition of collagenase activity. Digestion of the recombinant TIMP-1 with peptide-N-glycanaseF revealed that both N-glycosylation sites are used. 125I-mTIMP-1 intraveneously injected into a male Sprague Dawley rat disappeared within 2 min from the circulation. 5 min after injection more than 50% of the 125I-mTIMP-1 were found in the liver and 20% in the kidneys. At later times, trichloroacetic-acid-soluble material accumulated in the intestinal tract.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) in rat liver cells is increased by lipopolysaccharide and prostaglandin E2.

To explore the functional role of TIMP-2 in liver, we determined TIMP-2 mRNA levels in primary rat hepatocytes and in total rat liver. Rat hepatocytes constitutively express TIMP-2 mRNA at a low level. Incubation with dexamethasone, prostaglandin E2 and a combination of inflammatory cytokines leads to an up-regulation of TIMP-2 mRNA. In rats in vivo we found a dramatic increase of TIMP-2 expression after intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide. Compared to our previous findings on TIMP-1 we conclude that TIMP-2 mRNA expression is regulated in a distinct and partially opposite manner. Over-production of TIMP-2 could inhibit the activity of metalloproteinases and thus lead to matrix accumulation. Dysregulation of TIMP-2 synthesis might be involved in the development of liver fibrosis.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

TIMP-1 protein expression is stimulated by IL-1 beta and IL-6 in primary rat hepatocytes.

Degradation of extracellular matrix proteins is performed by metalloproteinases which are inhibited by tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP). We expressed the murine TIMP-1 protein in E. coli and prepared a polyclonal antiserum against the recombinant protein. Using this antiserum we studied the biosynthesis and glycosylation of murine TIMP-1 protein in COS-7 cells transfected with a TIMP-1 expression plasmid by metabolic labeling and indirect immunofluorescence studies. In primary rat hepatocytes we show for the first time that TIMP-1 protein expression is up-regulated upon stimulation with IL-1 beta and IL-6. Since TIMP-1 is induced during the acute phase reaction it could possibly be involved in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis.

Acute-Phase Reaction↗