Jun NH2-terminal kinase is constitutively activated in T cells transformed by the intracellular parasite Theileria parva.

When T cells become infected by the parasite Theileria parva, they acquire a transformed phenotype and no longer require antigen-specific stimulation or exogenous growth factors. This is accompanied by constitutive interleukin 2 (IL-2) and IL-2 receptor expression. Transformation can be reversed entirely by elimination of the parasites using the specific drug BW720c. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase and jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) are members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, which play a central role in the regulation of cellular differentiation and proliferation and also participate in the regulation of IL-2 and IL-2 receptor gene expression. T. parva was found to induce an unorthodox pattern of mitogen-activated protein kinase expression in infected T cells. JNK-1 and JNK-2 are constitutively active in a parasite-dependent manner, but have altered properties. In contrast, extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 is not activated even though its activation pathway is functionally intact. Different components of the T cell receptor (TCR)-dependent signal transduction pathways also were examined. The TCRzeta or CD3epsilon chains were found not to be phosphorylated and T. parva-transformed T cells were resistant to inhibitors that block the early steps of T cell activation. Compounds that inhibit the progression of T cells to proliferation, however, were inhibitory. Our data provide the first example, to our knowledge, for parasite-mediated JNK activation, and our findings strongly suggest that T. parva not only lifts the requirement for antigenic stimulation but also entirely bypasses early TCR-dependent signal transduction pathways to induce continuous proliferation.

Cloning, sequencing and expression of the bovine CD3 epsilon and TCR-zeta chains, two invariant components of the T-cell receptor complex.

CD3 epsilon and the zeta-chain of the bovine T-cell receptor (TCR) are two invariant molecules with an important role in signal transduction via the TCR/CD3 complex. The nucleotide sequence of a bovine CD3 epsilon cDNA clone containing the complete coding sequence was determined and the deduced amino acid (aa) sequence compared to that of other species. The cytoplasmic domains of the different CD3 epsilon clearly show a higher degree of conservation than the extracellular domains. Bovine CD3 epsilon produced in Escherichia coli using different bacterial expression vectors was recognised by antibodies (Ab) directed against the intracytoplasmic domain of human CD3 epsilon. A partial bovine TCR zeta-chain cDNA was generated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers that were based on sequences that are conserved between different species; 3' and 5' RACE-PCR were carried out to obtain the complete TCR zeta-chain cDNA sequence. A comparison of the predicted TCR zeta-chain aa sequence reveals that the GDP/GTP-binding motif, which is conserved in other species, shows marked differences in the bovine and ovine TCR zeta-chains. In contrast to CD3 epsilon, the short extracellular domain of the TCR zeta-chain is 100% conserved between the different species and the transmembrane domain also shows a high degree of identity. Ab were raised against the TCR zeta-chain, produced as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein in E. coli, and were used in Western blot analysis to further characterise TCR zeta-chain expression in T-cells. The regents provide valuable tools for the study of signal transduction pathways in normal and transformed bovine T-cells.