The chemokine CXCL12 generates costimulatory signals in T cells to enhance phosphorylation and clustering of the adaptor protein SLP-76

Sci Signal. 2013 Jul 30;6(286):ra65. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2004018.

Abstract

The CXC chemokine CXCL12 mediates the chemoattraction of T cells and enhances the stimulation of T cells through the T cell receptor (TCR). The adaptor SLP-76 [Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing leukocyte protein of 76 kD] has two key tyrosine residues, Tyr(113) and Tyr(128), that mediate signaling downstream of the TCR. We investigated the effect of CXCL12 on SLP-76 phosphorylation and the TCR-dependent formation of SLP-76 microclusters. Although CXCL12 alone failed to induce SLP-76 cluster formation, it enhanced the number, stability, and phosphorylation of SLP-76 microclusters formed in response to stimulation of the TCR by an activating antibody against CD3, a component of the TCR complex. Addition of CXCL12 to anti-CD3-stimulated cells resulted in F-actin polymerization that stabilized SLP-76 microclusters in the cells' periphery at the interface with antibody-coated coverslips and increased the interaction between SLP-76 clusters and those containing ZAP-70, the TCR-associated kinase that phosphorylates SLP-76, as well as increased TCR-dependent gene expression. Costimulation with CXCL12 and anti-CD3 increased the extent of phosphorylation of SLP-76 at Tyr(113) and Tyr(128), but not that of other TCR-proximal components, and mutation of either one of these residues impaired the CXCL12-dependent effect on SLP-76 microcluster formation, F-actin polymerization, and TCR-dependent gene expression. The effects of CXCL12 on SLP-76 microcluster formation were dependent on the coupling of its receptor CXCR4 to G(i)-family G proteins (heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins). Thus, we identified a costimulatory mechanism by which CXCL12 and antigen converge at SLP-76 microcluster formation to enhance T cell responses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actins / metabolism
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • CD3 Complex / metabolism
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Chemokine CXCL12 / metabolism*
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Jurkat Cells
  • Mice
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Mutation
  • Phosphoproteins / metabolism*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Receptors, CXCR4 / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction
  • Spleen / cytology
  • T-Lymphocytes / cytology
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Tyrosine / chemistry
  • ZAP-70 Protein-Tyrosine Kinase / metabolism

Substances

  • Actins
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • CD3 Complex
  • CXCL12 protein, human
  • CXCR4 protein, human
  • Chemokine CXCL12
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Receptors, CXCR4
  • SLP-76 signal Transducing adaptor proteins
  • Tyrosine
  • ZAP-70 Protein-Tyrosine Kinase