We previously reported that some of the rare broadly reactive, HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies are polyreactive, leading to the hypothesis that induction of these types of neutralizing antibody may be limited by immunologic tolerance. However, the notion that such antibodies are sufficiently autoreactive to trigger B cell tolerance is controversial. To test directly whether rare neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies can activate immunologic tolerance mechanisms, we generated a knock-in mouse in which the Ig heavy chain (HC) variable region rearrangement (V H DJ H ) from the polyreactive and broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibody 2F5 was targeted into the mouse Igh locus. In vitro, this insertion resulted in chimeric human/mouse 2F5 antibodies that were functionally similar to the human 2F5 antibody, including comparable reactivity to human and murine self-antigens. In vivo, the 2F5 V H DJ H insertion supported development of large-and small pre-B cells that expressed the chimeric human/mouse Igμ chain but not the production of immature B cells expressing membrane IgM. The developmental arrest exhibited in 2F5 V H DJ H knock-in mice is characteristic of other knock-in strains that express the Ig HC variable region of autoreactive antibodies and is consistent with the loss of immature B cells bearing 2F5 chimeric antibodies to central tolerance mechanisms. Moreover, homozygous 2F5 V H DJ H knock-in mice support reduced numbers of residual splenic B cells with low surface IgM density, severely diminished serum IgM levels, but normal to elevated quantities of serum IgGs that did not react with autoantigens. These features are consistent with elimination of 2F5 HC autoreactivity by additional negative selection mechanism(s) in the periphery.2F5 | broadly neutralizing antibodies | B cell development | autoantigens T he development of a safe and effective vaccine for HIV-1 is a global priority. Although anti-HIV-1 CD8 T cell responses can help control the level of viral load (1), they alone do not prevent infection (2). In contrast, administration of human mAbs targeted to conserved regions of the HIV-1 envelope (Env) in nonhuman primates, before challenge with simian-HIV (SHIV) viruses, can protect against infection (3-5). However, a major obstacle preventing development of an effective HIV vaccine is the inability to induce broadly reactive neutralizing antibodies routinely (6, 7).Several hypotheses have been offered to explain the absence of effective vaccine-induced immune responses to conserved, neutralizing epitopes of the HIV-1 Env, including suppression of neutralizing antibody responses by immunologic tolerance (8, 9). This hypothesis arose from the observation that many broadly reactive neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies also react with a variety of self-antigens (8-11). This hypothesis, however, is controversial because the rare, neutralizing human mAb 2F5 reacts with low affinity to autoantigens (8-12). mAb 2F5 was derived from an HIV-1 infected subject (13, 14) and protects against SHIV challenge (5). mAb 2F5 pos...

P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) is a dimeric membrane mucin on leukocytes that binds selectins. The molecular features of PSGL-1 that determine this high affinity binding are unclear. Here we demonstrate the in vitro synthesis of a novel glycosulfopeptide (GSP-6) modeled after the extreme N terminus of PSGL-1, which has been predicted to be important for P-selectin binding. GSP-6 contains three tyrosine sulfate (TyrSO 3 ) residues and a monosialylated, core 2-based O-glycan with a sialyl Lewis x (C2-O-sLe x ) motif at a specific Thr residue. GSP-6 binds tightly to immobilized P-selectin, whereas glycopeptides lacking either TyrSO 3 or C2-O-sLe x do not detectably bind. Remarkably, an isomeric glycosulfopeptide to GSP-6, termed GSP-6, which contains sLe x on an extended core 1-based O-glycan, does not bind immobilized P-selectin. Equilibrium gel filtration analysis revealed that GSP-6 binds to soluble P-selectin with a K d of ϳ350 nM. GSP-6 (<5 M) substantially inhibits neutrophil adhesion to P-selectin in vitro, whereas free sLe x (5 mM) only slightly inhibits adhesion. In contrast to the inherent heterogeneity of post-translational modifications of recombinant proteins, glycosulfopeptides permit the placement of sulfate groups and glycans of precise structure at defined positions on a polypeptide. This approach should expedite the probing of structure-function relationships in sulfated and glycosylated proteins, and may facilitate development of novel drugs to treat inflammatory diseases involving P-selectin-mediated leukocyte adhesion.The interactions between selectins and their carbohydratebased ligands initiate adhesion of leukocytes to the vascular wall during inflammation. Although L-, E-, and P-selectin can bind a simple glycan containing sialyl Lewis x (sLe x ) 1 (NeuAc␣233Gal␤134[Fuc␣133]GlcNAc␤13 R) in a Ca 2ϩ -dependent manner, each selectin binds with higher affinity to a limited number of macromolecular ligands expressing sialylated and fucosylated glycans (1-4). P-selectin, which is expressed by activated platelets and endothelial cells, demonstrates the most discriminating ligand specificity of any selectin. It interacts predominantly with a disulfide-bonded dimeric mucin on leukocytes termed P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) (subunit mass ϳ120 kDa) (5).Each 120-kDa subunit of human PSGL-1 contains numerous sialic acids and approximately 70 extracellular Ser and Thr residues, which are potential sites for O-glycosylation, plus three potential sites for N-glycosylation (6, 7) (Fig. 1). These features suggested that the large amount of carbohydrate on the mucin might promote high avidity binding to P-selectin. However, indirect evidence suggests that the extreme N-terminal extracellular region of mature PSGL-1, which begins at residue 42, is important for high affinity binding to P-selectin (reviewed in Ref. 3). Specifically, tyrosine sulfate residues and O-glycans within that region have been considered essential for binding (Fig. 1). A monoclonal antibody directed to a peptide ep...

The HIV-1 broad neutralizing antibody (bnAb) 2F5 has been shown to be poly/self-reactive in vitro, and we previously demonstrated that targeted expression of its VDJ rearrangement alone was sufficient to trigger a profound B cell developmental blockade in 2F5 VH knockin (KI) mice, consistent with central deletion of 2F5 H chain-expressing B cells. Here, we generate a strain expressing the entire 2F5 bnAb specificity, 2F5 VHxVL KI mice, and find an even higher degree of tolerance control than observed in the 2F5 VH KI strain. Although B-cell development was severely impaired in 2F5 VHxVL KI animals, we demonstrate rescue of their B-cells when cultured in IL-7/BAFF. Intriguingly, even under these conditions, most rescued B-cell hybridomas produced mAbs that lacked HIV-1 Envelope (Env) reactivity due to editing of the 2F5 L chain, and the majority of rescued B-cells retained an anergic phenotype. Thus, when clonal deletion is circumvented, κ editing and anergy are additional safeguards preventing 2F5 VH/VL expression by immature/transitional B-cells. Importantly, 7% of rescued B-cells retained 2F5 VH/VL-expression and secreted Env-specific mAbs with HIV-1 neutralizing activity. This “partial” rescue was further corroborated in vivo, as reflected by the anergic phenotype of most rescued B-cells in 2F5 VHxVL KI × Eμ-bcl2 tg mice, and significant (yet modest) enrichment of Env-specific B-cells and serum Igs. The rescued 2F5 mAb-producing B-cell clones in this study are the first examples of in vivo-derived bone marrow precursors specifying HIV-1 bnAbs, and provide a starting point for design of strategies aimed at rescuing such B-cells.

Developing an HIV-1 vaccine has been hampered by the inability of immunogens to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) that protect against infection. Previously, we used knockin (KI) mice expressing a prototypical gp41-specific bnAb, 2F5, to demonstrate that immunological tolerance triggered by self-reactivity of the 2F5 H chain, impedes bnAb induction. Here, we generate KI models expressing H chains from two other HIV-1 Abs: 4E10 (another self-/polyreactive, α-gp41 bnAb) and 48d (an α-CD4 inducible, non-polyreactive Ab), and find a similar developmental blockade consistent with central B-cell deletion in 4E10, but not in 48d VH KI mice. Furthermore, in KI strains expressing the complete 2F5 and 4E10 Abs as BCRs, we find that residual splenic B-cells arrest at distinct developmental stages, yet exhibit uniformly low surface Ig densities, elevated basal activation, profoundly muted responses to BCR ligation, and when captured as hybridoma mAb lines, maintain their dual (gp41/lipid) affinities and capacities to neutralize HIV-1, establishing a key role for anergy in suppressing residual 2F5 or 4E10-expressing B-cells. Importantly, serum IgGs from naïve 2F5 and 4E10 KI strains selectively eliminate gp41 and lipid binding, respectively, suggesting B-cells expressing 2F5 or 4E10 as BCRs exhibit specificity for a distinct spectrum of host antigens, including selective interactions by 2F5 BCR+ B-cells (i.e., and not 4E10 BCR+ B-cells) with residues in self-antigen(s) that mimic its gp41 neutralization epitope.

Tyrosine O-sulfation, a common post-translational modification in eukaryotes, is mediated by Golgi enzymes that catalyze the transfer of the sulfuryl group from 3-phosphoadenosine 5-phosphosulfate to tyrosine residues in polypeptides. We recently isolated cDNAs encoding human and mouse tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-1 (Ouyang, Y. B., Lane, W. S., and Moore, K. L. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 95, 2896 -2901). Here we report the isolation of cDNAs encoding a second tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase (TPST), designated TPST-2. The human and mouse TPST-2 cDNAs predict type II transmembrane proteins of 377 and 376 amino acid residues, respectively. The cDNAs encode functional N-glycosylated enzymes when expressed in mammalian cells. In addition, preliminary analysis indicates that TPST-1 and TPST-2 have distinct specificities toward peptide substrates. The human TPST-2 gene is on chromosome 22q12.1, and the mouse gene is in the central region of chromosome 5. We have also identified a cDNA that encodes a TPST in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that maps to the right arm of chromosome III. Thus, we have identified two new members of a class of membrane-bound sulfotransferases that catalyze tyrosine O-sulfation. These enzymes may catalyze tyrosine O-sulfation of a variety of protein substrates involved in diverse physiologic functions.Tyrosine O-sulfation is a post-translation modification of membrane and secretory proteins that occurs in all eukaryotic organisms (1-3). Many proteins have been shown to contain tyrosine sulfate. Among these are proteins involved in inflammation (4, 5) and hemostasis (6 -12), subcellular matrix proteins (13-17), and many others (2, 3). Tyrosine O-sulfation is known to be important for the biological function of coagulation factors VIII and V (7,8,18,19), P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (4), platelet glycoprotein Ib␣ (9, 10), complement factor C4 (5), and hirudin (20). However, a functional role for tyrosine Osulfation has not been established for the majority of the proteins known to have this modification.Tyrosine O-sulfation is mediated by tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase (TPST), 1 which catalyzes the transfer of the sulfuryl group from 3Ј-phosphoadenosine 5Ј-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to tyrosine residue(s) within highly acidic motifs of polypeptides (2, 21). Biochemical evidence indicates that the enzyme is a membrane-associated protein with a lumenally oriented active site localized in the trans-Golgi network (22, 23). We recently purified a TPST from rat liver microsomes and cloned human and mouse cDNAs that encode this enzyme activity, which we now designate TPST-1 (24). The human and mouse TPST-1 cDNAs encode N-glycosylated proteins of 370 amino acids with type II transmembrane topology and are broadly expressed in mammalian tissues as assessed by Northern blotting. In this paper we report the molecular cloning and expression of human and mouse cDNAs encoding a second mammalian TPST, designated TPST-2, and a TPST from the nematode Caenorhabditi elegans, designated TPST-A. ...

Tyrosine O-sulfation is a common posttranslational modification of proteins in all multicellular organisms. This reaction is mediated by a Golgi enzyme activity called tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase (TPST) that catalyzes the transfer of sulfate from 3-phosphoadenosine 5-phosphosulfate to tyrosine residues within acidic motifs of polypeptides. Tyrosine O-sulfation has been shown to be important in protein-protein interactions in several systems. For example, sulfation of tyrosine residues in the leukocyte adhesion molecule P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1) is required for binding to P-selectin on activated endothelium. In this report we describe the purification of TPST from rat liver microsomes based on its affinity for the N-terminal 15 amino acids of PSGL-1. We have isolated human and mouse TPST cDNAs that predict type II transmembrane proteins of 370 amino acid residues with almost identical primary structure. The human cDNA encodes a fully functional N-glycosylated enzyme with an apparent molecular mass of Ϸ54 kDa when expressed in mammalian cells. This enzyme defines a new class of Golgi sulfotransferases that may catalyze tyrosine O-sulfation of PSGL-1 and other protein substrates involved in diverse physiologic functions including inflammation and hemostasis.

A human cytoplasmic signaling protein has been cloned that possesses the same structural arrangement of SH3-SH2-SH3 domains as Grb2. This protein is designated Grap for Grb2-related adaptor protein. The single 2.3-kilobase (kb) grap transcript was expressed predominantly in thymus and spleen, while the ubiquitously expressed grb2 gene produced two mRNA species of 3.8 and 1.5 kb. Grap and Grb2 consist of 217 amino acids and share 59% amino acid sequence identity, with highest homology in the N-terminal SH3 domain. The GrapSH2 domain interacts with ligand-activated receptors for stem cell factor (c-kit) and erythropoietin (EpoR). Grap also forms a stable complex with the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein via its SH2 domain in K562 cells. Furthermore, Grap is associated with a Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor mSos1, primarily through its N-terminal SH3 domain. These results show that a family of Grb2-like proteins exist and couple signals from receptor and cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases to the Ras signaling pathway.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a cellular pathway involved in normal cell turnover, developmental tissue remodeling, embryonic development, cellular homeostasis maintenance and chemical-induced cell death. Caspases are a family of intracellular proteases that play a key role in apoptosis. Aberrant activation of caspases has been implicated in human diseases. In particular, numerous findings implicate Caspase-6 (Casp6) in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and Huntington disease (HD), highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of Casp6 biology and its role in brain development. The use of targeted caspase-deficient mice has been instrumental for studying the involvement of caspases in apoptosis. The goal of this study was to perform an in-depth neuroanatomical and behavioral characterization of constitutive Casp6-deficient (Casp6-/-) mice in order to understand the physiological function of Casp6 in brain development, structure and function. We demonstrate that Casp6-/- neurons are protected against excitotoxicity, nerve growth factor deprivation and myelin-induced axonal degeneration. Furthermore, Casp6-deficient mice show an age-dependent increase in cortical and striatal volume. In addition, these mice show a hypoactive phenotype and display learning deficits. The age-dependent behavioral and region-specific neuroanatomical changes observed in the Casp6-/- mice suggest that Casp6 deficiency has a more pronounced effect in brain regions that are involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as the striatum in HD and the cortex in AD.