Antigen stimulation of immune cells triggers Ca2+ entry through Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels, promoting the immune response to pathogens by activating the transcription factor NFAT. We have previously shown that cells from patients with one form of hereditary severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) syndrome are defective in store-operated Ca2+ entry and CRAC channel function. Here we identify the genetic defect in these patients, using a combination of two unbiased genome-wide approaches: a modified linkage analysis with single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays, and a Drosophila RNA interference screen designed to identify regulators of store-operated Ca2+ entry and NFAT nuclear import. Both approaches converged on a novel protein that we call Orai1, which contains four putative transmembrane segments. The SCID patients are homozygous for a single missense mutation in ORAI1, and expression of wild-type Orai1 in SCID T cells restores store-operated Ca2+ influx and the CRAC current (I(CRAC)). We propose that Orai1 is an essential component or regulator of the CRAC channel complex.

Stimulation of immune cells causes depletion of Ca2+ from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stores, thereby triggering sustained Ca2+ entry through store-operated Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels, an essential signal for lymphocyte activation and proliferation. Recent evidence indicates that activation of CRAC current is initiated by STIM proteins, which sense ER Ca2+ levels through an EF-hand located in the ER lumen and relocalize upon store depletion into puncta closely associated with the plasma membrane. We and others recently identified Drosophila Orai and human Orai1 (also called TMEM142A) as critical components of store-operated Ca2+ entry downstream of STIM. Combined overexpression of Orai and Stim in Drosophila cells, or Orai1 and STIM1 in mammalian cells, leads to a marked increase in CRAC current. However, these experiments did not establish whether Orai is an essential intracellular link between STIM and the CRAC channel, an accessory protein in the plasma membrane, or an actual pore subunit. Here we show that Orai1 is a plasma membrane protein, and that CRAC channel function is sensitive to mutation of two conserved acidic residues in the transmembrane segments. E106D and E190Q substitutions in transmembrane helices 1 and 3, respectively, diminish Ca2+ influx, increase current carried by monovalent cations, and render the channel permeable to Cs+. These changes in ion selectivity provide strong evidence that Orai1 is a pore subunit of the CRAC channel.

Stimulation of immune cells triggers Ca2؉ entry through store-operated Ca 2؉ release-activated Ca 2؉ channels, promoting nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NFAT. Through genome-wide RNA interference screens in Drosophila, we and others identified olf186-F (Drosophila Orai, dOrai) and dStim as critical components of store-operated Ca 2؉ entry and showed that dOrai and its human homologue Orai1 are pore subunits of the Ca 2؉ release-activated Ca 2؉ channel. Here we report that Orai1 is predominantly responsible for store-operated Ca 2؉ influx in human embryonic kidney 293 cells and human T cells and fibroblasts, although its paralogue Orai3 can partly compensate in the absence of functional Orai1. All three mammalian Orai are widely expressed at the mRNA level, and all three are incorporated into the plasma membrane. In human embryonic kidney 293 cells, Orai1 is glycosylated at an asparagine residue in the predicted second extracellular loop, but mutation of the residue does not compromise function. STIM1 and Orai1 colocalize after store depletion, but Orai1 does not associate detectably with STIM1 in glycerol gradient centrifugation or coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Glutamine substitutions in two conserved glutamate residues, located within predicted transmembrane helices of Drosophila Orai and human Orai1, greatly diminish store-operated Ca 2؉ influx, and primary T cells ectopically expressing mutant E106Q and E190Q Orai1 proteins show reduced proliferation and cytokine secretion. Together, these data establish Orai1 as a predominant mediator of store-operated calcium entry, proliferation, and cytokine production in T cells. Ca2ϩ is a key second messenger in intracellular signaling pathways. In lymphocytes, specialized store-operated Ca 2ϩ channels known as CRAC 5 channels are required for sustained Ca 2ϩ influx across the plasma membrane (1). The resulting prolonged elevation of intracellular free Ca 2ϩ entry is essential for sustained nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NFAT, a small family of proteins whose activation is critical for a productive immune response (2). NFAT proteins reside in the cytoplasm of resting lymphocytes in a highly phosphorylated form and translocate to the nucleus upon dephosphorylation by the Ca 2ϩ /calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine phosphatase calcineurin (2, 3). In the nucleus, NFAT proteins bind to promoters and regulatory regions of a large number of cytokine genes and other activation-associated genes, thereby mediating the activation, proliferation, and differentiation of T cells, B cells, and other immune system cells.Although the notion of Ca 2ϩ influx through "store-operated" Ca 2ϩ channels was first proposed in 1986 (4, 5), the molecular identity of the proteins involved in this process remained unknown until the advent of large-scale RNAi-based screens. The first components of the pathway to be identified were Drosophila Stim (dStim) and its human homologues STIM1 and STIM2 through large-scale (albeit not genome-wide) RNAibased screens ...

ORAI1 is a pore subunit of the store-operated Ca 2؉ release-activated Ca 2؉ (CRAC) channel. To examine the physiological consequences of ORAI1 deficiency, we generated mice with targeted disruption of the Orai1 gene. The results of immunohistochemical analysis showed that ORAI1 is expressed in lymphocytes, skin, and muscle of wild-type mice and is not expressed in Orai1 ؊/؊ mice. Orai1 ؊/؊ mice with the inbred C57BL/6 background showed perinatal lethality, which was overcome by crossing them to outbred ICR mice. Orai1 ؊/؊ mice were small in size, with eyelid irritation and sporadic hair loss resembling the cyclical alopecia observed in mice with keratinocyte-specific deletion of the Cnb1 gene. T and B cells developed normally in Orai1 ؊/؊ mice, but B cells showed a substantial decrease in Ca 2؉ influx and cell proliferation in response to B-cell receptor stimulation. Naïve and differentiated Orai1 ؊/؊ T cells showed substantial reductions in store-operated Ca 2؉ entry, CRAC currents, and cytokine production. These features are consistent with the severe combined immunodeficiency and mild extraimmunological symptoms observed in a patient with a missense mutation in human ORAI1 and distinguish the ORAI1-null mice described here from a previously reported Orai1 gene-trap mutant mouse which may be a hypomorph rather than a true null.Ca 2ϩ is a universal second messenger that regulates a multitude of cellular functions, including secretion, muscle contraction, ion channel function, and gene expression (5). In many nonexcitable cells, Ca 2ϩ influx occurs through "storeoperated" Ca 2ϩ channels which open in response to depletion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca 2ϩ stores (40). Physiologically, this occurs when ligand binds to receptors, such as G protein-coupled receptors, immunoreceptors, and receptor tyrosine kinases, that are coupled to the activation of phospholipase C. The resulting production of inositol trisphosphate leads to efflux of Ca 2ϩ from the ER through inositol trisphosphate receptors and decreased Ca 2ϩ concentration in the ER lumen. This decrease directly regulates the opening of storeoperated Ca 2ϩ channels in the plasma membrane (26). In lymphocytes and other immune system cells, the major route of Ca 2ϩ influx is through store-operated Ca 2ϩ releaseactivated Ca 2ϩ (CRAC) channels. CRAC currents (I CRAC ) were first identified in T cells and mast cells (20,21,27,53), and Ca 2ϩ influx through CRAC channels is known to be essential for T-cell activation (8, 25). Mutant Jurkat tumor T-cell lines lacking functional CRAC channels cannot be activated properly (7); moreover, T cells obtained from three independent families of patients with hereditary severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) were shown to be severely deficient in store-operated Ca 2ϩ entry and the CRAC channel current, I CRAC (10,13,23,36). T-cell responses, particularly proliferation and cytokine production in vitro in response to T-cell receptor stimulation, were strongly impaired in patients from two of these families, explaining their SC...

An important step in the herpesvirus life cycle is the switch from latency to lytic reactivation. In order to study the life cycle of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), we developed a gene expression system in KSHV-infected primary effusion lymphoma cells. This system uses Flp-mediated efficient recombination and tetracycline-inducible expression. The Rta transcriptional activator, which acts as a molecular switch for lytic reactivation of KSHV, was efficiently integrated downstream of the Flp recombination target site, and its expression was tightly controlled by tetracycline. Like stimulation with tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA), the ectopic expression of Rta efficiently induced a complete cycle of viral replication, including a well-ordered program of KSHV gene expression and production of infectious viral progeny. A striking feature of Rtamediated lytic gene expression was that Rta induced KSHV gene expression in a more powerful and efficient manner than TPA stimulation, indicating that Rta plays a central, leading role in KSHV lytic gene expression. Thus, our streamlined gene expression system provides a novel means not only to study the effects of viral gene products on overall KSHV gene expression and replication, but also to understand the natural viral reactivation process.

Precise regulation of the NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) family of transcription factors (NFAT1-4) is essential for vertebrate development and function. In resting cells, NFAT proteins are heavily phosphorylated and reside in the cytoplasm; in cells exposed to stimuli that raise intracellular free Ca2+ levels, they are dephosphorylated by the calmodulin-dependent phosphatase calcineurin and translocate to the nucleus. NFAT dephosphorylation by calcineurin is countered by distinct NFAT kinases, among them casein kinase 1 (CK1) and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3). Here we have used a genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) screen in Drosophila to identify additional regulators of the signalling pathway leading from Ca2+-calcineurin to NFAT. This screen was successful because the pathways regulating NFAT subcellular localization (Ca2+ influx, Ca2+-calmodulin-calcineurin signalling and NFAT kinases) are conserved across species, even though Ca2+-regulated NFAT proteins are not themselves represented in invertebrates. Using the screen, we have identified DYRKs (dual-specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation regulated kinases) as novel regulators of NFAT. DYRK1A and DYRK2 counter calcineurin-mediated dephosphorylation of NFAT1 by directly phosphorylating the conserved serine-proline repeat 3 (SP-3) motif of the NFAT regulatory domain, thus priming further phosphorylation of the SP-2 and serine-rich region 1 (SRR-1) motifs by GSK3 and CK1, respectively. Thus, genetic screening in Drosophila can be successfully applied to cross evolutionary boundaries and identify new regulators of a transcription factor that is expressed only in vertebrates.

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