Effects of phorbol ester on mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase activity in wild-type and phorbol ester-resistant EL4 thymoma cells.

Phorbol ester-sensitive and -resistant EL4 thymoma cell lines differ in their ability to activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in response to phorbol ester. Treatment of wild-type EL4 cells with phorbol ester results in the rapid activations of MAPK and pp90rsk kinase, a substrate for MAPK, while neither kinase is activated in response to phorbol ester in variant EL4 cells. This study examines the activation of MAPK kinase (MAPKK), an activator of MAPK, in wild-type and variant EL4 cells. Phosphorylation of a 40-kDa substrate, identified as MAPK, was observed following in vitro phosphorylation reactions using cytosolic extracts or Mono Q column fractions prepared from phorbol ester-treated wild-type EL4 cells. MAPKK activity coeluted with a portion of the inactive MAPK upon Mono Q anion-exchange chromatography, permitting detection of the MAPKK activity in fractions containing both kinases. This MAPKK activity was present in phorbol ester-treated wild-type cells, but not in phorbol ester-treated variant cells or in untreated wild-type or variant cells. The MAPKK from wild-type cells was able to activate MAPK prepared from either wild-type or variant cells. MAPKK activity could be stimulated in both wildtype and variant EL4 cells in response to treatment of cells with okadaic acid. These results indicate that the failure of variant EL4 cells to activate MAP kinase in response to phorbol ester is due to a failure to activate MAPKK. Therefore, the step that confers phorbol ester resistance to variant EL4 cells lies between the activation of protein kinase C and the activation of MAPKK.

Phosphorylation of CD20 in cells from a hairy cell leukemia cell line. Evidence for involvement of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II.

Hairy cell leukemia is an uncommon B cell lymphoproliferative disease of unknown etiology. We previously observed that CD20, a membrane protein involved in B cell activation, is hyperphosphorylated on hairy cells and that these cells have unusually high levels of intracellular free Ca2+. Therefore, we used a hairy cell line, HCLL-7876, to study the potential involvement of Ca(2+)-activated protein kinases in CD20 phosphorylation. Addition of the Ca2+ ionophore, ionomycin, increased CD20 phosphorylation both in activated B cells and in cells from the hairy cell line; addition of EGTA to either cell type decreased basal levels of CD20 phosphorylation. Ionomycin treatment of these cells resulted in increased kinase activity of cytosolic extracts toward syntide-2, a synthetic peptide substrate for calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaM-KII), with kinetics similar to those of CD20 phosphorylation in the cell line. CD20 isolated from the cell line was a substrate for purified CaM-KII in vitro. Phosphopeptide maps of CD20 from untreated hairy cells or ionomycin-treated HCLL-7876 cells were similar to maps of CD20 that had been phosphorylated in vitro by CaM-KII. These results suggest that the unusually high levels of intracytoplasmic Ca2+ in hairy cells may enhance the phosphorylation of key surface proteins.

Insulin regulates serine/threonine phosphorylation in activated human B lymphocytes.

Activation of either dense tonsilar B lymphocytes or the B lymphoblastoid cell line T5-1 with Staphylococcus aureus, Cowan strain I, induced surface expression of insulin receptors. Addition of insulin to these activated cells resulted in subsequent phosphorylation of the B cell surface protein CD20, the functions to regulate B cell activation. The cytoplasmic domains of CD20 contain multiple serine and threonine residues, of which at least two are followed by acidic sequences typical of substrate sites favored by casein kinase II. Tryptic mapping of CD20 isolated from intact cells treated with insulin showed increased phosphorylation on peptides having similar migration to those phosphorylated by casein kinase II in vitro. Treatment of tonsilar B cells or T5-1 cells with phorbol esters or in vitro phosphorylation by purified protein kinase C did not result in phosphorylation of peptides phosphorylated by casein kinase II, suggesting that protein kinase C is not directly involved in CD20 phosphorylation in the response to insulin. Phosphorylation of CD20 cannot be triggered by insulin in resting B cells, as the insulin receptor is expressed only after entry into the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Thus, distinct regulation of activation pathways are available to resting as opposed to activated B lymphocytes.

Rescue from anti-IgM-induced programmed cell death by the B cell surface proteins CD20 and CD40.

Programmed cell death (PCD), or apoptosis, is characterized by several morphologic alterations and eventual cleavage of nuclear DNA into oligonucleo-some-length fragments. We defined a human B cell line, Ramos, that responds with PCD following ligation of surface IgM. Of the DNA in Ramos cells 3%-10% was fragmented as early as 4 h after IgM ligation. Propidium iodide staining demonstrated that 20%-40% of Ramos cells became apoptotic by 18 h and further established that cells transiting into the S phase of the cell cycle were susceptible to PCD. Addition of several agents to the Ramos cells abrogated anti-IgM-induced PCD, including the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). In contrast to the effect of PMA, the 4 alpha PMA isomer of PMA neither activated protein kinase C (PKC) nor rescued the cells from anti-IgM-induced PCD, confirming a role for PKC in negating apoptosis. To explore the effect of physiologic signals on anti-IgM-induced PCD, antibodies against the CD20 or CD40 molecules were added in concert with anti-IgM. Both CD20 and CD40 synergize with anti-IgM to augment proliferation but neither molecule activates PKC in Ramos cells. Both anti-CD20 and anti-CD40 reduced the number of cells undergoing anti-IgM-induced PCD. Unlike the effect of anti-CD40, addition of anti-CD20 to anti-IgM-stimulated cells negated PCD only in a subset of cells. Maximal rescue occurred following the addition of anti-CD40 and occurred by 4 h and at least up to 20 h of culture. These data show that (a) PCD can be initiated in B cells entering the S phase of the cell cycle, (b) PCD can be triggered by engagement of surface IgM in the absence of ancillary signals or PKC activation, and (c) rescue from PCD can occur by several mechanisms, either PKC dependent or PKC independent.

Baboon T cell lymphomas expressing the B cell-associated surface proteins CD40 and Bgp95.

Papio hamadryas baboons in the Sukhumi colony develop enzootic outbreaks of malignant lymphomas with an incidence of about 1.5% per year among adults of the high-risk stock. We investigated the surface phenotypes of cells from normal and lymphomatous animals using antibodies against human lymphocyte antigens. We found that more than 80% of the lymphomas that developed during the last 3 years were characterized histologically to be of the peripheral T cell type. Generally, the lymphomatous cells also expressed high levels of MHC class II DR protein, CD18 (LFA-1 beta chain), and CD45RO. Surprisingly, these cells also expressed on their surface two proteins previously characterized as being relatively B cell-restricted: CD40 and Bgp95. These proteins were never found on the peripheral blood T cells from normal animals. The expression of these two gene products was confirmed by RNA blotting and immunoprecipitation. In most cases, the two B cell-associated proteins were expressed on the predominant T cell subsets; we found both B cell proteins on CD4+, CD8+ as well as on the CD4/8 double-positive cells when these subsets were expressed at high levels. About 90% of these animals are seropositive for Herpesvirus papio and human T cell leukemia virus-1 (HTLV-1) before developing outright lymphomas. In all of the lymphoma samples, HTLV-1 tax DNA sequences were detected by PCR amplification. Whether or not HTLV-1 or the Herpesvirus papio gene products influence the surface expression of CD40 and Bgp95 remains to be determined.

Activation of messenger-independent protein kinases in wild-type and phorbol ester-resistant EL4 thymoma cells.

Phorbol esters, acting via activation of the protein kinase C family of protein serine/threonine kinases, are able to exert profound effects on various cellular functions. In this study, we used the EL4 thymoma cell line to study the potential role of "downstream" protein serine/threonine kinases in cellular responses to phorbol esters. In wild-type EL4 cells, addition of phorbol ester caused a rapid activation of kinase activity toward RRLSSLRA (S6P). This increased activity was maintained for at least 15 min but diminished to control levels by 60 min. Activation of a myelin basic protein (MBP) kinase was also seen in response to phorbol ester. In a variant EL4 cell line in which phorbol ester does not induce interleukin 2 transcription, phorbol ester failed to activate either the S6P kinase or MBP kinase. Partial purification of the activated S6P and MBP kinases from wild-type cells showed that they represent separate enzymes that are distinct from protein kinase C. Although the variant cells had reduced levels of protein kinase C as compared with the wild-type cells, the amount of membrane-bound enzyme increased in response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate in both wild-type and variant cells. Treatment of intact cells with phorbol ester resulted in phosphorylation of some of the same protein substrates in both cell lines. Okadaic acid, a phosphatase inhibitor, increased S6P and MBP kinase activities in both wild-type and variant cells. Thus, phorbol ester failed to activate the S6P and MBP kinases in the variant cells even though these cells express activatable protein kinase C, S6P kinase, and MBP kinase. Two protein kinase inhibitors, staurosporine and H-7, inhibited the activity of all three kinases in vitro, while a peptide inhibitor (PKC 19-31) showed specificity for protein kinase C. In summary, these results suggest that activation of messenger-independent protein kinases may be critical for certain protein kinase C-dependent responses.