title: Physical and functional interactions between Drosophila TRAF2 and Pelle kinase contribute to Dorsal activation.
abstract: Signaling through the Toll receptor is required for dorsal/ventral polarity in Drosophila embryos, and also plays an evolutionarily conserved role in the immune response. Upon ligand binding, Toll appears to multimerize and activate the associated kinase, Pelle. However, the immediate downstream targets of Pelle have not been identified. Here we show that Drosophila tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 2 (dTRAF2), a homologue of human TRAF6, physically and functionally interacts with Pelle, and is phosphorylated by Pelle in vitro. Importantly, dTRAF2 and Pelle cooperate to activate Dorsal synergistically in cotransfected Schneider cells. Deletion of the C-terminal TRAF domain of dTRAF2 enhances Dorsal activation, perhaps reflecting the much stronger interaction of the mutant protein with phosphorylated, active Pelle. Taken together, our results indicate that Pelle and dTRAF2 physically and functionally interact, and that the TRAF domain acts as a regulator of this interaction. dTRAF2 thus appears to be a downstream target of Pelle. We discuss these results in the context of Toll signaling in flies and mammals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: E Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Skolnik
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Manley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051379:Mice; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D047992:TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 2; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D047992:TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 2; C079896:pll protein, Drosophila; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases