title: Interleukin-2 signal transduction in human NK cells: multisite phosphorylation and activation of the tyrosine kinase p56lck.
abstract: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) potently stimulates natural killer (NK) cell proliferation and cytotoxic function. However, the molecular mechanisms by which IL-2 delivers activation signals from the IL-2 receptor to the NK cell interior are incompletely understood. Previous studies demonstrated that IL-2 stimulation induced the tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple proteins in NK cells, together with a prominent reduction in the electrophoretic mobility of p56lck. The present studies indicate that IL-2 induces a rapid (< or = 1 min) increase in the catalytic activity of p56lck, as measured by increases in protein tyrosine kinase activity in vitro. Furthermore, in response to IL-2, p56lck itself undergoes complex alterations in serine and tyrosine phosphorylation. Cyanogen bromide cleavage maps indicate that IL-2 stimulates a pronounced increase in the phosphorylation of the NH2-terminal region of p56lck containing multiple known sites of serine phosphorylation. In addition, IL-2 induced a marked increase in the phosphorylation of a COOH-terminal peptide containing the regulatory Tyr-505 residue of p56lck. These results suggest that p56lck serves as a substrate for both protein serine and tyrosine kinases activated during stimulation of this cell type with IL-2. Furthermore, these results indicate that the pleiotropic effects of IL-2 on NK cell physiology are initiated and regulated by a complex and multitiered interaction of different protein kinases including p56lck.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota 55905.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Einspahr
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Dick
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Leibson
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000502:physiology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000502:physiology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D019860:Lymphocyte Specific Protein Tyrosine Kinase p56(lck); D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010768:Phosphoserine / Q000378:metabolism; D019000:Phosphotyrosine; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D010768:Phosphoserine; D019000:Phosphotyrosine; D014443:Tyrosine; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D019860:Lymphocyte Specific Protein Tyrosine Kinase p56(lck)