title: Genetic basis of hypo-responsiveness of A/J mice to interleukin-3.
abstract: Hematopoietic progenitor cells of the A/J strain of mice show a pronounced defect in the ability to form colonies or proliferate in response to interleukin-3 (IL-3). Comparison of immunoblots of A/J mast cells and of mast cells from the C57BL/6 strain that respond normally to IL-3 showed that, in both strains, a 125-kD band of the expected size was recognized by an antibody against the beta chain of the IL-3 receptor, the AIC2A molecule. However, in the C57BL/6 cells, there was an additional 110-kD species not seen in cells of the A/J strain. Analyses using bone marrow-derived mast cells from a panel of A/J x C57BL/6 and A/J x C57BL/6 recombinant inbred (RI) mice showed that the hypo-responsiveness to IL-3 is governed by a single gene. However, the absence of this 110-kD species in the A/J strain did not co-map with IL-3 hypo-responsiveness but did indeed map to the AIC2A genetic locus. These data show that this trait in the A/J strain was due to a polymorphism of the AIC2A gene unrelated to IL-3 hypo-responsiveness. Typing of the RI strains for the markers D14Mit98, D14Mitl4, and D14Mit133 mapped the locus determining hypo-responsiveness to IL-3 to the subtelomeric region of chromosome 14, the region that also bears the gene encoding the alpha chain of the IL-3 receptor (lL-3Ralpha). Immunofluorescence analyses indicated that IL-3Ralpha protein was undetectable on fresh bone marrow cells from A/J mice, although clearly detectable on cells from the responder C57BL/6 strain. However, IL-3Ralpha was readily detectable at normal levels on A/J mast cells generated by culture of A/J bone marrow cells in a combination of IL-3 and steel factor. Moreover, IL-3Ralpha on these A/J mast cells appears to be functional in that IL-3 stimulation of these cells results in tyrosine phosphorylation events characteristic of IL-3 signaling, including tyrosine phosphorylation of the beta chain of the IL-3 receptor, Jak-2 kinase, and SHPTP2. Collectively, these data indicate that the hypo-responsiveness of A/J mice to IL-3 is due to a defect in the gene encoding IL-3Ralpha and that, although this defect gives rise to reduced expression of alpha chain on primary bone marrow cells, this defect is not absolute and that, under certain circumstances, A/J cells can express functional receptors.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Leslie
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jalbert
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Orban
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Welham
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Duronio
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Schrader
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D015870:Gene Expression; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008805:Mice, Inbred A / Q000235:genetics*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D016185:Receptors, Interleukin-3 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013045:Species Specificity; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007377:Interleukin-3; D016185:Receptors, Interleukin-3; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019089:Stem Cell Factor