X-linked anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency is caused by impaired NF-kappaB signaling.

The molecular basis of X-linked recessive anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency (EDA-ID) has remained elusive. Here we report hypomorphic mutations in the gene IKBKG in 12 males with EDA-ID from 8 kindreds, and 2 patients with a related and hitherto unrecognized syndrome of EDA-ID with osteopetrosis and lymphoedema (OL-EDA-ID). Mutations in the coding region of IKBKG are associated with EDA-ID, and stop codon mutations, with OL-EDA-ID. IKBKG encodes NEMO, the regulatory subunit of the IKK (IkappaB kinase) complex, which is essential for NF-kappaB signaling. Germline loss-of-function mutations in IKBKG are lethal in male fetuses. We show that IKBKG mutations causing OL-EDA-ID and EDA-ID impair but do not abolish NF-kappaB signaling. We also show that the ectodysplasin receptor, DL, triggers NF-kappaB through the NEMO protein, indicating that EDA results from impaired NF-kappaB signaling. Finally, we show that abnormal immunity in OL-EDA-ID patients results from impaired cell responses to lipopolysaccharide, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-18, TNFalpha and CD154. We thus report for the first time that impaired but not abolished NF-kappaB signaling in humans results in two related syndromes that associate specific developmental and immunological defects.

A novel proteolytic cleavage involved in Notch signaling: the role of the disintegrin-metalloprotease TACE.

The Notch1 receptor is presented at the cell membrane as a heterodimer after constitutive processing by a furin-like convertase. Ligand binding induces the proteolytic release of Notch intracellular domain by a gamma-secretase-like activity. This domain translocates to the nucleus and interacts with the DNA-binding protein CSL, resulting in transcriptional activation of target genes. Here we show that an additional processing event occurs in the extracellular part of the receptor, preceding cleavage by the gamma-secretase-like activity. Purification of the activity accounting for this cleavage in vitro shows that it is due to TACE (TNFalpha-converting enzyme), a member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease domain) family of metalloproteases. Furthermore, experiments carried out on TACE-/- bone marrow-derived monocytic precursor cells suggest that this metalloprotease plays a prominent role in the activation of the Notch pathway.

Direct association and nuclear import of the hepatitis B virus X protein with the NF-kappaB inhibitor IkappaBalpha.

The X protein of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a transcriptional activator which is required for infection and may play an important role in HBV-associated hepatocarcinogenesis. It has been suggested that X acts as a nuclear coactivator or stimulates several signal transduction pathways by acting in the cytoplasm. One of these pathways leads to the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. A recent report indicates that X activates NF-kappaB by acting on two cytoplasmic inhibitors of this family of transcription factors: IkappaBalpha and the precursor/inhibitor p105. We demonstrate here that X directly interacts with IkappaBalpha, which is able to transport it to the nucleus by a piggyback mechanism. This transport requires a region of IkappaBalpha (the second ankyrin repeat) which has been demonstrated to be involved in its nuclear import following NF-kappaB activation. Using deletion mutants, we showed that amino acids 249 to 253 of IkappaBalpha (located in the C-terminal part of the sixth ankyrin repeat) play a critical role in the interaction with X. This small region overlaps one of the domains of IkappaBalpha mediating the interaction with the p50 and p65 subunits of NF-kappaB and is also close to the nuclear export sequence of IkappaBalpha, therefore providing a potential explanation for the nuclear accumulation of IkappaBalpha with X. This association can also be observed upon the induction of endogenous IkappaBalpha by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) treatment of Chang cells expressing X. In accordance with this observation, band shift analysis indicates that X induces a sustained NF-kappaB activation following TNF-alpha treatment, probably by preventing the reassociation of newly synthesized nuclear IkappaBalpha with DNA-bound NF-kappaB complexes.

Altered expression of tyrosine kinases of the Src and Syk families in human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-infected T-cell lines.

During the late phase of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, a severe lymphoproliferative disorder caused by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), leukemic cells no longer produce interleukin-2. Several studies have reported the lack of the Src-like protein tyrosine kinase Lck and overexpression of Lyn and Fyn in these cells. In this report we demonstrate that, in addition to the downregulation of TCR, CD45, and Lck (which are key components of T-cell activation), HTLV-1-infected cell lines demonstrate a large increase of FynB, a Fyn isoform usually poorly expressed in T cells. Furthermore, similar to anergic T cells, Fyn is hyperactive in one of these HTLV-1-infected T-cell lines, probably as a consequence of Csk downregulation. A second family of two proteins, Zap-70 and Syk, relay the signal of T-cell activation. We demonstrate that in contrast to uninfected T cells, Zap-70 is absent in HTLV-1-infected T cells, whereas Syk is overexpressed. In searching for the mechanism responsible for FynB overexpression and Zap-70 downregulation, we have investigated the ability of the Tax and Rex proteins to modulate Zap-70 expression and the alternative splicing mechanism which gives rise to either FynB or FynT. By using Jurkat T cells stably transfected with the tax and rex genes or inducibly expressing the tax gene, we found that the expression of Rex was necessary to increase fynB expression, suggesting that Rex controls fyn gene splicing. Conversely, with the same Jurkat clones, we found that the expression of Tax but not Rex could downregulate Zap-70 expression. These results suggest that the effect of Tax and Rex must cooperate to deregulate the pathway of T-cell activation in HTLV-1-infected T cells.

Complementation cloning of NEMO, a component of the IkappaB kinase complex essential for NF-kappaB activation.

We have characterized a flat cellular variant of HTLV-1 Tax-transformed rat fibroblasts, 5R, which is unresponsive to all tested NF-kappaB activating stimuli, and we report here its genetic complementation. The recovered full-length cDNA encodes a 48 kDa protein, NEMO (NF-kappaB Essential MOdulator), which contains a putative leucine zipper motif. This protein is absent from 5R cells, is part of the high molecular weight IkappaB kinase complex, and is required for its formation. In vitro, NEMO can homodimerize and directly interacts with IKK-2. The NEMO cDNA was also able to complement another NF-kappaB-unresponsive cell line, 1.3E2, in which the protein is also absent, allowing us to demonstrate that this factor is required not only for Tax but also for LPS, PMA, and IL-1 stimulation of NF-kappaB activity.

The Notch1 receptor is cleaved constitutively by a furin-like convertase.

The Notch receptor, which is involved in numerous cell fate decisions in invertebrates and vertebrates, is synthesized as a 300-kDa precursor molecule (p300). We show here that proteolytic processing of p300 is an essential step in the formation of the biologically active receptor because only the cleaved fragments are present at the cell surface. Our results confirm and extend recent reports indicating that the Notch receptor exists at the plasma membrane as a heterodimeric molecule, but disagree as to the nature of the protease that is responsible for the cleavage that takes place in the extracellular region. We report here that constitutive processing of murine Notch1 involves a furin-like convertase. We show that the calcium ionophore A23187 and the alpha1-antitrypsin variant, alpha 1-PDX, a known inhibitor of furin-like convertases, inhibit p300 processing. When expressed in the furin-deficient Lovo cell line, p300 is not processed. In vitro digestion of a recombinant Notch-derived substrate with purified furin allowed mapping of the processing site to the carboxyl side of the sequence RQRR (amino acids 1651-1654). Mutation of these four amino acids (and of two secondary dibasic furin sites located nearby) completely abolished processing of the Notch1 receptor.

Expression of human cytomegalovirus ppUL83 (pp65) in a stable cell line and its association with metaphase chromosomes.

Astrocytoma cells were transfected with an expression vector for the structural phosphoprotein ppUL83 (pp65) of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). Once made, pp65 showed the same characteristics as naturally produced protein and was stable for several days in astrocytoma cells, as it is during HCMV replication in fibroblasts. In permanently transfected cells, pp65 was homogeneously dispersed in the cell nucleus and showed a preferential methanol-stable association with condensed chromatin throughout cell division. Furthermore, pp65 could be detected bound to metaphase-arrested chromosomes in pp65-expressing astrocytoma cells, and in fibroblasts and astrocytoma cells during productive virus infection.

The CXC chemokine SDF-1 is the ligand for LESTR/fusin and prevents infection by T-cell-line-adapted HIV-1.

A putative chemokine receptor that we previously cloned and termed LESTR has recently been shown to function as a co-receptor (termed fusin) for lymphocyte-tropic HIV-1 strains. Cells expressing CD4 became permissive to infection with T-cell-line-adapted HIV-1 strains of the syncytium-inducing phenotype after transfection with LESTR/fusin complementary DNA. We report here the indentification of a human chemokine of the CXC type, stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1), as the natural ligand for LESTR/fusin, and we propose the term CXCR-4 for this receptor, in keeping with the new chemokine-receptor nomenclature. SDF-1 activates Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with CXCR-4 cDNA as well as blood leukocytes and lymphocytes. In cell lines expressing CXCR-4 and CD4, and in blood lymphocytes, SDF-1 is a powerful inhibitor of infection by lymphocyte-tropic HIV-1 strains, whereas the CC chemokines RANTES, MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta, which were shown previously to prevent infection with primary, monocyte-tropic viruses, are inactive. In combination with CC chemokines, which block the infection with monocyte/macrophage-tropic viruses, SDF-1 could help to decrease virus load and prevent the emergence of the syncytium-inducing viruses which are characteristic of the late stages of AIDS.

Stably expressed antisense RNA to cytomegalovirus UL83 inhibits viral replication.

The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) open reading frame UL83 encodes a phosphoprotein of 64 to 68kDa (pp65) which is a major constituent of this virion and dense bodies. To determine the importance of the HCMV gene in the virus cycle, we studied HCMV replication in astrocytoma cells stably transfected with a retroviral vector carrying an antisense UL83 cDNA. Reverse transcription-PCR detected antisense RNA in the cytoplasm. The steady-state level of a 4-kb RNA containing coding sequences for pp65 was significantly reduced after infection of antisense cells. Concomitant with this, levels of expression of pp65 and pp71 (UL82) were severely reduced. Extracellular HCMV production was almost completely blocked, irrespective of the multiplicity of infection or the time after infection studied. The block occurred at an early phase, since immediate-early protein synthesis occurred normally, while several late proteins (e.g., pp150 [ppUL32] and assembly protein [UL80]) were absent or strongly inhibited. Normal replication of herpes simplex virus and of a pp65 deletion mutant of HCMV (RVAd65), lacking target sequences of antisense RNA, demonstrated the specificity of the block for wild-type HCMV in the antisense-stabilized cells and indicated that the block was not due to indirect interference with cellular genes. Our results appear to contradict those of Schmolke et al (S. Schmolke, H.F. Kern, P. Drescher, G. Jahn, and B. Plachter, J. Virol. 69:5959-5968, 1995), which show that UL83 is a nonessential gene for HCMV replication in vitro. This contradiction is discussed in light of the fact that the 4-kb mRNA, which codes for pp65 and was targeted in UL83-antisense cell lines, may be a bicistronic mRNA which also codes for pp71 (UL82). Thus, interference of expression from the genes encoding pp65 and pp71 by blocking of this putative bicistronic message leads to severe impairment of viral replication.

Human cytomegalovirus carries serine/threonine protein phosphatases PP1 and a host-cell derived PP2A.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpesvirus, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. When studying hyper-immediate-early events after contact between CMV virions and the cell membrane, we observed a hypophosphorylation of cellular proteins within 10 min. This can be explained in part by our finding that purified CMV contains serine/threonine protein phosphatase activities. Biochemical analyses indicate that this protein phosphatase activity has all characteristics of type 1 and 2A protein phosphatases (PP1 and PP2A). Specifically, PP1 accounts for approximately 30% and PP2A accounts for the remaining 70% of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity found. CMV produced in astrocytoma cells stably expressing an amino-terminally tagged PP2A catalytic subunit contained tagged enzyme, thus demonstrating the cellular origin of CMV-associated PP2A. PP2A is specifically found inside the virus, associated with the nucleocapsid fraction. Western blot (immunoblot) analysis of purified virus revealed the presence of the catalytic subunits of PP2A and PP1. Furthermore, the catalytic subunit of PP2A appears to be complexed to the regulatory subunits PR65 and PR55, which is also the most abundant configuration of this enzyme found in the host cells. Incubation of virus with okadaic acid before contact of CMV with cells prevented hypophosphorylation of cellular proteins, thus demonstrating the role of CMV-associated phosphatases in this phenomenon. CMV can thus transport an active enzyme from one cell to another.

Human cytomegalovirus infection induces transcription and secretion of transforming growth factor beta 1.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can elicit a transitory, but profound, immunodepression in immunocompetent individuals. Cytopathogenic destruction of CMV-infected leukocytes alone does not seem sufficient to explain this phenomenon, which suggests that immune system mediators (cytokines) may play a role in amplifying local modifications wrought by CMV infection. We reported previously that transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) stimulates CMV replication (J. Alcami, C. V. Paya, J. L. Virelizier, and S. Michelson, J. Gen. Virol. 74:269-274, 1993). Since TGF-beta 1 can have profound negative effects on cell growth and immune responses, we investigated the induction of TGF-beta 1 following CMV infection of permissive fibroblasts. TGF-beta 1 promoter was activated by immediate-early (IE) proteins in the absence of infection and transactivated at 5 and 9 h after infection. TGF-beta 1 mRNA increased during the early phase of infection, suggesting that this phenomenon is due to enhanced transcription of the TGF-beta 1 gene. A comparative study of the influence of CMV infection and IE protein expression on TGF-beta 1 promoter function in permissive cells pointed to a possible cooperative role between IE proteins and protein(s) expressed during the early phase of viral infection. Induction of TGF-beta 1 by CMV infection could modify infected cells individually, surrounding tissues, and systemic immune reactions to the advantage of virus replication by both upregulating CMV replication and downregulating host immune responses.

NF-kappa B-dependent induction of the NF-kappa B p50 subunit gene promoter underlies self-perpetuation of human immunodeficiency virus transcription in monocytic cells.

The molecular mechanisms underlying the sustained nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B observed in U937 monocytic cells chronically infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were studied. The activity of the promoter regulating the synthesis of the p105 precursor of the NF-kappa B p50 subunit was enhanced in these cells. Deletions in this promoter indicated that this upregulation was mediated through the NF-kappa B- but not the AP-1-binding motif, by bona fide p50/p65 heterodimers. Analysis of cytosolic extracts indicated that NF-kappa B levels were increased in HIV-infected cells. In contrast to the transient NF-kappa B activation induced by phorbol ester, the permanent NF-kappa B translocation induced by HIV infection was not dependent on PKC isoenzymes alpha and beta as shown by the use of a specific inhibitor (GF 109203X). These observations indicate that during chronic HIV infection of U937 cells, continuous NF-kappa B (p50/p65) translocation results in p105 promoter upregulation with subsequent cytosolic NF-kappa B accumulation, ready for further translocation. This HIV-mediated mechanism results in a self-perpetuating loop of NF-kappa B production.