Tumor necrosis factor receptor type 1 (TNF-R1) contains a cytoplasmic death domain that is required for the signaling of TNF activities such as apoptosis and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) activation. Normally, these signals are generated only after TNF-induced receptor aggregation. However, TNF-R1 self-associates and signals independently of ligand when overexpressed. This apparent paradox may be explained by silencer of death domains (SODD), a widely expressed approximately 60-kilodalton protein that was found to be associated with the death domain of TNF-R1. TNF treatment released SODD from TNF-R1, permitting the recruitment of proteins such as TRADD and TRAF2 to the active TNF-R1 signaling complex. SODD also interacted with death receptor-3 (DR3), another member of the TNF receptor superfamily. Thus, SODD association may be representative of a general mechanism for preventing spontaneous signaling by death domain-containing receptors.

The receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTP) mu and RPTP kappa have a modular ectodomain consisting of four fibronectin type III-like repeats, a single Ig-like domain, and a newly identified N-terminal MAM domain. The function of the latter module, which comprises about 160 amino acids and is found in diverse transmembrane proteins, is not known. We previously reported that both RPTP mu and RPTP kappa can mediate homophilic cell interactions when expressed in insect cells. Here we show that despite their striking structural similarity, RPTP mu and RPTP kappa fail to interact in a heterophilic manner. To examine the role of the MAM domain in homophilic binding, we expressed a mutant RPTP mu lacking the MAM domain in insect Sf9 cells. Truncated RPTP mu is properly expressed at the cell surface but fails to promote cell-cell adhesion. Homophilic cell adhesion is fully restored in a chimeric RPTP mu molecule containing the MAM domain of RPTP kappa. However, this chimeric RPTP mu does not interact with either RPTP mu or RPTP kappa. These results indicate that the MAM domain of RPTP mu and RPTP kappa is essential for homophilic cell-cell interaction and helps determine the specificity of these interactions.

Receptor tyrosine phosphatases (R-PTPases) feature PTPase domains in the context of a receptor-like transmembrane topology. The R-PTPase R-PTP-kappa displays an extracellular domain composed of fibronectin type III motifs, a single immunoglobulin domain, as well as a recently defined MAM domain (Y.-P. Jiang, H. Wang, P. D'Eustachio, J.M. Musacchio, J. Schlessinger, and J. Sap, Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2942-2951, 1993). We report here that R-PTP-kappa can mediate homophilic intercellular interaction. Inducible expression of the R-PTP-kappa protein in heterologous cells results in formation of stable cellular aggregates strictly consisting of R-PTP-kappa-expressing cells. Moreover, the purified extracellular domain of R-PTP-kappa functions as a substrate for adhesion by cells expressing R-PTP-kappa and induces aggregation of coated synthetic beads. R-PTP-kappa-mediated intercellular adhesion does not require PTPase activity or posttranslational proteolytic cleavage of the R-PTP-kappa protein and is calcium independent. The results suggest that R-PTPases may provide a link between cell-cell contact and cellular signaling events involving tyrosine phosphorylation.

We describe a new member of the receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase family, R-PTP-K. cDNA cloning predicts that R-PTP-K is synthesized from a precursor protein of 1,457 amino acids. Its intracellular domain displays the classical tandemly repeated protein tyrosine phosphatase homology, separated from the transmembrane segment by an uncharacteristically large juxtamembrane region. The extracellular domain of the R-PTP-K precursor protein contains an immunoglobulin-like domain and four fibronectin type III-like repeats, preceded by a signal peptide and a region of about 150 amino acids with similarity to the Xenopus A5 antigen, a putative neuronal recognition molecule (S. Takagi, T. Hsrata, K. Agata, M. Mochii, G. Eguchi, and H. Fujisawa, Neuron 7:295-307, 1991). Antibodies directed against the intra-and extracellular domains reveal that the R-PTP-k precursor protein undergoes proteolytic processing, following which both cleavage products remain associated. By site-directed mutagenesis, the likely cleavage site was shown to be a consensus sequence for cleavage by the processing endopeptidase furin, located in the fourth fibronectin type III-like repeat. In situ hybridization analysis indicates that expression of R-PTP-K in the central nervous system is developmentally regulated, with highest expression seen in actively developing areas and, in the adult, in areas capable of developmental plasticity such as the hippocampal formation and cerebral cortex. The mouse R-PTP-K gene maps to chromosome 10, at approximately 21 centimorgans from the centromere.Tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins is involved in an increasing number of cellular signalling events. It was originally implicated in signalling by paracrine-or autocrineacting growth factors and by endocrine hormones such as insulin (see reference 51 for a review). It is now clear that this posttranslational modification is also involved in diverse processes such as the activation of cells of the immune system by antigens (19), signalling by lymphokines (13, 25), and cellular differentiation and survival (10,35,46). In view of the diversity of processes in which tyrosine phosphorylation is involved, it is not surprising that links are also emerging with the process of cell adhesion and cell-cell contact. The Src protein has long been known to be concentrated in focal contacts of fibroblasts (31), and intercellular adhesion junctions have been shown to correspond to sites of increased tyrosine phosphorylation and to be subject to its control (48). Attachment of cells to a fibronectin substrate leads to activation of a tyrosine kinase designated Fak (12). Moreover, it has been shown that cross-linking of cell adhesion molecules leads to changes in tyrosine phosphorylation (1).Most of the processes in which tyrosine phosphorylation is implicated involve the transduction of a signal through the cell membrane. In its best-understood fashion, this can occur through dimerization-mediated activation of members of the receptor tyrosine kinase family by soluble ligands (re...