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BRIEF REPORT
From the Division of Tumor Immunology, Department of
Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and
Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
While cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) negatively
regulates T-cell receptor (TCR)-driven interleukin (IL)-2
production and proliferation, little is known regarding whether the
coreceptor has the capacity to inhibit other events, such as Fas ligand
(FasL) expression and antigen-induced cell death (AICD). In this study, it is shown that CTLA-4 expressed in a T-cell hybridoma can
elicit a potent block of FasL expression and AICD. Inhibition occurred independently of CTLA-4 blockage of IL-2 production and was partially reversed by a single mutation in the cytoplasmic YVKM motif. These findings indicate that CTLA-4 can block TCR signaling prior to bifurcation of signals leading to IL-2 production and apoptosis.
(Blood. 2001;97:1134-1137) Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4)
negatively regulates T-cell activation initiated by ligation of T-cell
receptor (TCR) Despite its immunologic importance, the molecular basis for
CTLA-4 function has yet to be established. Multiple intracellular proteins, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
(PI3-K),19,20 the tyrosine phosphatase
SHP-2,21,22 as well as the clathrin-associated adaptor protein complexes AP-223-26 and
AP-127 interact with the cytoplasmic domain. PI3-K, AP-1
and AP-2 bind directly to the GVYVKM motif, while the SHP-2 association
appears to be indirect, possibly mediated through another protein such
as PI3-K.28 PI3-K binds a tyrosyl-phosphorylated
version of the motif,19 while AP-1/AP-2 complexes bind to
an extended version of the nonphosphorylated sequence that includes
additional N-terminal residues.23-26 The AP-2 tetramer
regulates trafficking and endocytosis of the coreceptor from the cell
surface.24,26 AP-1 acts to ensure steady-state levels of
intracellular CTLA-4 by shuttling the receptor to lysosomes for
degradation.27 Further downstream, CTLA-4 engagement has been reported to block extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Jun
NH2-terminal kinase activity29 and the induction
of IL-2 transcription.30-32
TCR/CD3 ligation induces antigen-induced cell death (AICD) as mediated
by Fas (CD95/APO-1) and Fas ligand (CD95L) interactions and the
activation of caspases, a process that ensures the elimination of
self-reactive thymocytes and peripheral blood
lymphocytes.33-36 Although AICD operates in
CTLA-4 Cells, reagents, and antibodies
Stimulation assay
Apoptosis measurements The samples were fixed with propidium iodide (PI) staining buffer (sodium citrate 0.1%, sodium dodecyl sulfate 1%, 50 µg/mL PI) overnight at 4°C. Apoptosis was analyzed on an Epics XL flow cytometry system (Coulter, Hialeah, FL) by gating on the subdiploid population below the G1 peak.
Stable transfectants of the T-cell hybridoma DC27.10 were
initially generated that express either wild-type human CTLA-4
(CTLA-4 WT), or a mutant form with a substituted cytoplasmic
tyrosine at position 201 in the YVKM motif (Y201-F).27
Both CTLA-4 WT and Y201-F express the coreceptor at moderate levels
with stable expression of TCR/CD3 and CD28 (Figure
1A). To assess whether CTLA-4 could
influence the ability of the TCR
The cytoplasmic tail of CTLA-4 has a tyrosine-based motif YVKM that binds several intracellular signaling proteins.19-22 Mutation of the tyrosine within the YVKM sequence renders the motif unable to bind to these proteins. Disruption of the YVKM motif rendered CTLA-4 significantly less effective in blocking AICD (Figure 1B-C). A titration of anti-CTLA-4 showed that this partial blockage in Y201-F was observed only at the highest concentration of anti-CTLA-4 (Figure 1C). This partial inhibition was also observed with anti-CD3 × CD28 cross-linking (Figure 1D). These observations indicate that the optimal blockage of AICD by CTLA-4 is dependent on an intact YVKM motif. CTLA-4 inhibition of IL-2 production is a hallmark of the blockage
effects on T-cell activation.6,7 Indeed, IL-2 production was inhibited by anti-CTLA-4 in a dose-dependent manner of 2 to 10 µg/ml of antibody on the CTLA-4 WT cells, albeit slightly less than
observed for AICD (Figure 2A). To control
for the possibility that the loss of IL-2 contributed to AICD,
exogenous recombinant IL-2 was added in excess to cultures with
anti-CD3 plus anti-CTLA-4 (Figure 2B). Under these conditions, IL-2
did not restore the induction of cell death, indicating that CTLA-4
blockage of AICD was not due to its blockage of IL-2.
AICD in T-cell hybridomas is mediated by the expression of Fas
(CD95/APO-1), the expression of FasL (CD95L), and the activation of
caspases.33,34 To investigate whether CTLA-4 blocks AICD by means of an inhibitory effect on FasL expression, cells were incubated with anti-CD3 in the presence or absence of anti-CTLA-4 followed by staining for FasL surface expression. Under these conditions, anti-CTLA-4 coligation caused a 4- to 5-fold reduction in
the level of FasL expression (Figure 3A).
This level of inhibition correlated well with the overall reduction of
AICD (Figure 1A-D). Fas expression was also reduced, but to a lesser
extent and less reproducibly (data not shown). The blockage of FasL
expression was observed reproducibly in 4 experiments. To confirm that
the AICD in our hybridomas was mediated by Fas/FasL binding, blocking anti-FasL antibodies were added to cultures and found to completely inhibit cell death (Figure 3B). CTLA-4 therefore impinges on
TCR-induced apoptosis by blocking the expression of FasL.
Our findings provide the first evidence that CTLA-4 has the capacity to block TCR-signaling events that lead to FasL expression and AICD. Scheipers and Reiser44, however, have reported a role of CTLA-4 in the promotion of AICD. In their study, concanavalin A (ConA) is used as a stimulating agent instead of direct TCR cross-linking. It may be that stimulating with ConA and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies delivers different signals than using antibodies to directly cross-link the TCR with CTLA-4. Our study was not intended to address the physiological relevance of CTLA-4 on antigen-induced cell death, but rather to serve as a model to examine the point of blockage by CTLA-4 in the signaling cascade. With this perspective, our findings suggest that the coreceptor can block TCR signaling prior to the bifurcation of signals leading to FasL and IL-2 production (Figure 3C). Further CTLA-4 can block TCR signaling events that result in both positive (eg, IL-2 production) and negative outcomes (ie, apoptosis). Although the nature of signals that distinguish these events is unknown, p56lck and NF-AT have been reported to regulate both FasL and IL-2 expression.39 Other transcription factors, c-Myc, Egr 2, and Egr 3, have been implicated in FasL expression.40-42 In our system, the inhibitory effect of FasL expression and AICD must be an active process since it depends on the integrity of the cytoplasmic tail of the receptor (ie, YVKM motif). This contrasts with previous studies that demonstrated anti-CTLA-4 rescue of thymocytes from cell death by blockage of negative signaling.43 In this context, our cellular assay could be used as an assay to distinguish between antibodies that operate by actively generating negative signals vs those that simply block engagement of the receptor with CD80/CD86. Further analysis will also be needed to define which of these associated proteins regulates the blockage of AICD and IL-2 production.
Submitted July 24, 2000; accepted October 5, 2000.
Supported by National Institutes of Health grant 5P01AI35297, funding from the Fundação para a Ciência e Technologia Praxis XXI/BD/9652/1996, and a doctoral fellowship (S.d.R.D.) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Technologia Praxis XXI/BD/9652/1996, Portugal.
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. Therefore, and solely to indicate this fact, this article is hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. section 1734.
Reprints: Christopher E. Rudd, Division of Tumor Immunology, Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail: christopher_rudd{at}dfci.harvard.edu.
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