title: Involvement of TLR4/MD-2 complex in species-specific lipopolysaccharide-mimetic signal transduction by Taxol.
abstract: Taxol, an antitumor agent derived from a plant, mimics the action of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice, but not in humans. The LPS-mimetic activity of Taxol is not observed in LPS-hyporesponsive C3H/HeJ mice which possess a point mutation in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4); therefore, TLR4 appears to be involved in both Taxol and LPS signaling. In addition, TLR4 was recently shown to physically associate with MD-2, a molecule that confers LPS-responsiveness on TLR4. Here we examined whether or not TLR4/MD-2 complex mediates a Taxol-induced signal by using transformants of the mouse pro-B cell line, Ba/F3, expressing mouse TLR4 alone, both mouse TLR4 and mouse MD-2, and both mouse MD-2 and mouse TLR4 lacking the cytoplasmic portion. Our results demonstrated that co-expression of mouse TLR4 and mouse MD-2 was required for Taxol responsiveness, and that the TLR4/MD-2 complex is the shared molecule in Taxol and LPS signal transduction in mice. We also found that mouse MD-2, but not human MD-2, is involved in Taxol signaling, suggesting that MD-2 is responsible for the species-specific responsiveness to Taxol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akashi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shimazu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishijima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008050:Lipid A / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology*; D051218:Lymphocyte Antigen 96; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D018716:Molecular Mimicry / Q000276:immunology*; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000276:immunology*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; C088580:B 464; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C495377:LY96 protein, human; D008050:Lipid A; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D051218:Lymphocyte Antigen 96; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C495345:TLR4 protein, human; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; D017239:Paclitaxel