Productive interaction of a T lymphocyte with an antigen-presenting cell results in the clustering of the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) and the recruitment of a large signalling complex to the site of cell-cell contact. Subsequent signal transduction resulting in cytokine gene expression requires the activation of one or more of the multiple isoenzymes of serine/threonine-specific protein kinase C (PKC). Among the several PKC isoenzymes expressed in T cells, PKC-theta is unique in being rapidly recruited to the site of TCR clustering. Here we show that PKC-theta is essential for TCR-mediated T-cell activation, but is dispensable during TCR-dependent thymocyte development. TCR-initiated NF-kappaB activation was absent from PKC-theta(-/-) mature T lymphocytes, but was intact in thymocytes. Activation of NF-kappaB by tumour-necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-1 was unaffected in the mutant mice. Although studies in T-cell lines had suggested that PKC-theta regulates activation of the JNK signalling pathway, induction of JNK was normal in T cells from mutant mice. These results indicate that PKC-theta functions in a unique pathway that links the TCR signalling complex to the activation of NF-kappaB in mature T lymphocytes.

Intestinal T cells and group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) control the composition of the microbiota and gut immune responses. Within the gut there coexists ILC3 subsets which either express or lack the Natural cytoxicity receptor (NCR) NKp46. We identify here the transcriptional signature associated with the T-bet-dependent differentiation of NCR− ILC3 into NCR+ ILC3. Contrary to the prevailing view, we show by conditional deletion of the key ILC3 genes Stat3, Il22, Tbx21 and Mcl1 that NCR+ ILC3 were redundant for the control of mouse colonic infections with Citrobacter rodentium in the presence of T cells. However, NCR+ ILC3 were essential for cecum homeostasis. Our data show that interplay between intestinal ILC3 and adaptive lymphocytes results in robust complementary fail-safe mechanisms ensuring gut homeostasis.

Chemokine receptors serve as portals of entry for certain intracellular pathogens, most notably human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Myxoma virus is a member of the poxvirus family that induces a lethal systemic disease in rabbits, but no poxvirus receptor has ever been defined. Rodent fibroblasts (3T3) that cannot be infected with myxoma virus could be made fully permissive for myxoma virus infection by expression of any one of several human chemokine receptors, including CCR1, CCR5, and CXCR4. Conversely, infection of 3T3-CCR5 cells can be inhibited by RANTES, anti-CCR5 polyclonal antibody, or herbimycin A but not by monoclonal antibodies that block HIV-1 infection or by pertussis toxin. These findings suggest that poxviruses, like HIV, are able to use chemokine receptors to infect specific cell subtypes, notably migratory leukocytes, but that their mechanisms of receptor interactions are distinct.

CD4+CD25+ human regulatory T cells (Treg cells), which express the transcription factor FoxP3, suppress T cell activation. In this study, we sought to define cellular and molecular mechanisms of human Treg cell differentiation. A subset of human naive CD4+ T cells that are CD25+ express high levels of FoxP3. We show that upon activation through the TCR, these FoxP3-expressing naive T cells (termed TNreg cells) greatly expand in vitro. Expanded TNreg cells acquire a full Treg phenotype with potent suppressive activity and display low IL-2 production upon TCR stimulation. TNreg cells in which FoxP3 expression was reduced through RNA interference lost their suppressive activity, but retained their low IL-2 secretion in response to TCR stimulation. Furthermore, in support of the notion that TNreg cells represent a separate lineage of naive cells, we found that they were more susceptible to HIV infection as compared with naive CD4+ T cells. Based on these findings, we propose that TNreg cells are precursors for human Treg cells and that these cells require a high level of FoxP3 expression to maintain their suppressive function. Accordingly, modulation of TNreg cell numbers during infections such as HIV may disrupt human Treg cell development, and contribute to chronic immune activation.

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CD45 is an abundant, highly glycosylated transmembrane protein-tyrosine phosphatase expressed on hematopoietic cells. Herein we demonstrate that two proteins of 116 kDa and 80 kDa copurify with CD45 from mouse T cells. Microsequence analysis of the 116-kDa protein revealed high similarity to an incomplete human open reading frame that has been suggested to correspond to the catalytic ␣-subunit of glucosidase II. We determined the nucleotide sequence of the mouse cDNA and observed that it encodes a protein product nearly identical to its human homologue and shares an active site consensus sequence with Family 31 glucosidases. Amino acid sequencing of the 80-kDa protein, followed by molecular cloning, revealed high homology to human and bovine cDNAs postulated to encode the ␤-subunit of glucosidase II. Antisera developed to the mouse ␤-subunit allowed us to demonstrate that the interaction between CD45 and glucosidase II can be reconstituted in vitro in an endoglycosidase H-sensitive manner. The strong interaction between glucosidase II and CD45 may provide a paradigm for investigating novel aspects of the biology of these proteins.CD45 is a high molecular mass (ϳ180-ϳ220 kDa) transmembrane protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) 1 expressed in abundance on all cells of hematopoietic lineage (1). Although CD45 is encoded by a single gene, alternative splicing of the mRNA allows for the generation of at least eight distinct isoforms of the molecule based on variable usage of exons 4 -6, which encode a region of the amino-terminal ectodomain. Of particular interest, and experimental utility, is the observation that these isoforms are expressed in a cell type-specific and differentiation stage-specific manner. The variable exon repertoire expressed by different isoforms is known to greatly influence the charge properties of CD45 since the region encoded by these exons contains multiple sites for O-linked glycosylation (2). CD45 also possesses 11-18 putative N-linked glycosylation sites, which are subject to cell-specific controls, conferring further microheterogeneity upon CD45 (3). It has been estimated that approximately one third of the total molecular weight of mature CD45 is contributed by carbohydrates, which vary qualitatively and quantitatively depending on the particular cell and isoform(s) expressed (3).The cytoplasmic domain of CD45 is identical among all isoforms and encodes two tandem PTP domains, at least one of which possesses intrinsic activity (1). A series of studies in CD45-deficient cell lines (1) and, more recently, in CD45 genedisrupted mice (4, 5) have revealed that CD45 functions as a key regulator of maturation and activation pathways in lymphocytes. One mechanism through which CD45 appears to function is by regulating the activity of various members of the Src family of protein-tyrosine kinases (1). Despite the advances that have been made, questions remain regarding many aspects of the biology of CD45. For example, it is not known whether certain, as yet unidentified, factors are responsible for...

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Antibodies to either CD3 or CD45 have been shown to induce dramatic changes in cell morphology, increased tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins, and the association of a subset of these proteins with the tyrosine kinase Lck. The current study was initiated to determine the identity of the tyrosine-phosphorylated 70 -80 kDa protein that becomes Lck-associated after stimulation with anti-CD45 or anti-CD3. We demonstrate that the cytoskeletal protein paxillin becomes tyrosine-phosphorylated when cells are plated on immobilized antibodies specific for CD45 or CD3. Only tyrosine-phosphorylated paxillin is associated with Lck, suggesting that the association is through the SH2 domain of Lck. Consistent with this we demonstrate that the SH2 domain of Lck binds tyrosine-phosphorylated paxillin. In contrast, the association of paxillin with the FAK-related kinase Pyk2 was found to be constitutive and not altered by the phosphorylation of either protein. Finally, we establish that the phosphorylation of paxillin is dependent on the expression of Lck. Taken together, these results demonstrate that paxillin is physically associated with kinases from two different families in T cells and suggest that paxillin may function as an adaptor protein linking cellular signals with cytoskeletal changes during T cell activation.T cells have been shown to undergo dramatic changes in cell morphology, coincident with cytoskeletal rearrangements, upon activation (1, 2). A number of studies over the past few years have indicated that protein tyrosine phosphorylation and the formation of focal adhesions, the sites of contact between integrins on the cell surface and extracellular matrix, are tightly linked (3, 4). It is plausible that some of the phosphorylation events that are observed upon T cell activation regulate cytoskeletal reorganization, leading to the observed changes in cell morphology.CD45 is a protein-tyrosine phosphatase expressed on all cells of hematopoietic origin (5). We have previously demonstrated that antibodies to CD45 induce rapid and dramatic changes in T cell morphology (6). Coincident with these changes in morphology is an increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins at approximately 70 kDa and 120 kDa and an association of these proteins with the Src-related protein-tyrosine kinase Lck (6). Phosphorylation of these proteins also occurs upon stimulation through the T cell receptor (6). Furthermore, phosphorylation of these proteins is enhanced when both anti-CD45 and anti-CD3 are coimmobilized, suggesting that engagement of CD45 or CD3 stimulates the phosphorylation of an overlapping set of proteins (6). The identification of these proteins might therefore provide insight into the regulation of T cell activation.Phosphorylation of a Src-related kinase at its negative regulatory site results in the intramolecular interaction of the phosphorylated residue with the SH2