Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Molecular and Cellular Biology, June 2004, p. 4895-4908, Vol. 24, No. 11
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.11.4895-4908.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
B
Degradation in B Cells
Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Department of Pharmacology,1 Department of Biochemistry, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, Wisconsin 537062
Received 30 November 2003/ Returned for modification 21 January 2004/ Accepted 2 March 2004
|
|
|---|
B activity has emerged as an important cell survival component of physiological and pathological processes, including B-cell development. In B cells, constitutive NF-
B activity includes p50/c-Rel and p52/RelB heterodimers, both of which are critical for proper B-cell development. We previously reported that WEHI-231 B cells maintain constitutive p50/c-Rel activity via selective degradation of I
B
that is mediated by a proteasome inhibitor-resistant, now termed PIR, pathway. Here, we examined the mechanisms of PIR degradation by comparing it to the canonical pathway that involves I
B kinase-dependent phosphorylation and ß-TrCP-dependent ubiquitylation of the N-terminal signal response domain of I
B
. We found a distinct consensus sequence within this domain of I
B
for PIR degradation. Chimeric analyses of I
B
and I
Bß further revealed that the ankyrin repeats of I
B
, but not I
Bß, contained information necessary for PIR degradation, thereby explaining I
B
selectivity for the PIR pathway. Moreover, we found that PIR degradation of I
B
and constitutive p50/c-Rel activity in primary murine B cells were maintained in a manner different from B-cell-activating-factor-dependent p52/RelB regulation. Thus, our findings suggest that nonconventional PIR degradation of I
B
may play a physiological role in the development of B cells in vivo. |
|
|---|
B is a family of transcription factors that regulate diverse cellular functions in response to a wide range of stimuli (19). NF-
B is typically found as a homo- or heterodimer of p50 (NF
B1), p52 (NF
B2), RelA (p65), RelB, or c-Rel. Regulation of NF-
B is mediated by a family of inhibitor molecules called I
B proteins, including I
B
, I
Bß, I
B
, I
B
/p105, I
B
/p100, and Bcl-3. Most I
B proteins associate with NF-
B dimers to cause their localization in the cytoplasm. Upon activation by a wide variety of structurally and functionally distinct signals, NF-
B dimers regulate the expression of a multitude of genes important for cell survival, inflammatory responses, and immune cell development (31). Thus, the NF-
B system serves as an important paradigm for understanding how distinct signals activate gene expression via activation of signal transduction pathways.
Inducible NF-
B activation through I
B
degradation has been studied extensively and is identified by several hallmark traits (reviewed in reference 19). Most cell types contain inactive NF-
B/I
B
complexes in their cytoplasm. Upon stimulation with a variety of inducers, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
), bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), I
B
is phosphorylated by the I
B kinase (IKK) complex on the N-terminal residues Ser32 and Ser36 (14, 38). Dually phosphorylated I
B
is directly recognized by the E3 ligase ß-transducin repeat-containing protein (ß-TrCP) (60, 70, 71). Polyubiquitin chain formation on Lys21 and/or Lys22 of I
B
is then catalyzed by ß-TrCP and leads to 26S proteasome-dependent degradation of I
B
and the release of free NF-
B heterodimers to direct transcription in the nucleus (7). This "canonical" degradation of I
B
does not require its ankyrin repeats or association with NF-
B because unrelated proteins (i.e., glutathione S-transferase [GST] and p53) could be efficiently targeted to this degradation pathway when the N and C termini of I
B
were fused to the corresponding termini of these unrelated proteins (4, 65, 68). This canonical pathway is believed to contribute to many NF-
B activation pathways (19, 31).
The specificity of ß-TrCP-dependent ubiquitylation of I
B
involves the consensus ß-TrCP recognition motif DpSG
XpS (where pS is phosphor-Ser,
is a hydrophobic amino acid, and X is any amino acid) (67). This motif is shared by a number of ß-TrCP substrates, including the I
B family members, I
B
, I
Bß, and I
B
, and the tumor suppressor ß-catenin. A recent study of the crystal structure of ß-TrCP complexed to a ß-catenin peptide revealed that phosphorylated Ser residues corresponding to Ser32 and Ser36 of I
B
and the Asp residue corresponding to Asp31 of I
B
are absolutely necessary for proper contacts. Additionally, at the corresponding Gly33 of I
B
, the binding pocket of ß-TrCP appears to accommodate only Gly (67). Thus, preclusion of I
B
recognition by ß-TrCP by mutagenesis of I
B
(60) or competition peptides (70) can efficiently inhibit canonical NF-
B activation pathways. Accordingly, pharmacological suppression of proteasome activity (42, 63) also prevents these pathways.
Recent studies have described, in addition to the canonical NF-
B activation pathway, the presence of several different alternative NF-
B activation mechanisms. For example, noncanonical IKK
-dependent processing of NF-
B2 (p100) to p52 generates active p52/RelB heterodimers by the human T-cell leukemia virus Tax protein and in developing murine B cells (53, 58, 69). Silica or pervanadate treatment of cells can also permit phosphorylation of I
B
on Tyr42, followed by dissociation from NF-
B, thereby leading to activation of NF-
B (26, 30). Additionally, calpain-dependent, but proteasome-independent, I
B
degradation has been reported during TNF signaling and calcium-regulated developmental processes (21, 45, 46). Moreover, the C terminus of I
B
contains casein kinase 2 (CK2) phosphorylation sites that regulate degradation of free I
B
via a proteasome degradation pathway (37, 51, 64). Thus, NF-
B activation mechanisms are not limited to the canonical pathway, and distinct mechanisms may play key roles in specific physiological and pathological processes.
While knowledge regarding inducible NF-
B activation pathways has been expanding extensively, as described above, less is known about the regulatory repertoires employed by constitutive NF-
B activation pathways. Although NF-
B activity was originally discovered in B cells as a constitutively nuclear factor that bound to the enhancer element of the
light-chain gene, most of the details of this pathway remain elusive (52). Recent literature suggests that there are two major NF-
B heterodimers necessary for B-cell development and survival: p50/c-Rel and p52/RelB (9, 20, 35). It has recently been shown that B-cell-activating-factor (BAFF)-dependent signaling, via the BAFF receptor, leads to the processing of NF-
B2 via a "noncanonical" pathway to generate active p52/RelB heterodimers, a critical step in B-cell development (9). While it has been shown that p50/c-Rel complexes comprise the majority of the constitutively nuclear NF-
B DNA binding complexes in murine splenic B cells (20, 40), the biochemical mechanism underlying activation of these complexes is not well understood.
In addition to that associated with B-cell development, constitutive NF-
B activity is maintained by various cancer cell types, including Reed-Sternberg cells, diffuse large-B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, breast cancers, and head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (2, 13, 16, 59). One prominent target gene for NF-
B in different cell types is the I
B
gene (8, 62). Therefore, it is puzzling that the augmented synthesis of I
B
found in cells with constitutive NF-
B activity fails to inactivate these constitutively nuclear heterodimers. One way for cells to maintain constitutive NF-
B activity is through continuous degradation of I
B
via genetic or epigenetic modifications of the canonical NF-
B activation pathway. Consistently, unrelenting IKK activity is found in several cancer cell types to maintain rapid I
B
turnover and constitutive NF-
B activity (13, 16, 18). In contrast, we have previously identified a pathway in the WEHI-231 murine B-lymphoma cell line and to some extent in normal murine splenic B cells that utilizes rapid and continuous degradation of I
B
in a proteasome-independent manner to maintain constitutive p50/c-Rel activity (17, 41, 56). Interestingly, even though the IKK phosphorylation sites and ß-TrCP recognition motifs are conserved among major I
B family members, this pathway is selective for I
B
in these B cells. Moreover, calcium chelators and calmodulin inhibitors blocked this pathway without affecting LPS-inducible I
B
degradation. While it has been suggested that CK2-dependent phosphorylation of the C-terminal sequences can lead to calpain-mediated I
B
degradation in WEHI-231 B cells (54), other studies have shown that removal of the C terminus of I
B
does not affect this degradation (56a). Here we term this constitutive I
B
degradation PIR, for proteasome inhibitor-resistant I
B
degradation, to distinguish it from other known I
B
degradation pathways.
In this study, we examined the molecular requirements necessary for PIR degradation of I
B
through mutagenesis of the N-terminal IKK phosphorylation and ubiquitylation residues and ß-TrCP interaction sites of I
B
in the WEHI-231 cell background. We now provide several lines of evidence that the canonical and PIR I
B
degradation pathways diverge downstream of IKK activity. Additionally, we find that the ankyrin repeats of I
B
, but not I
Bß, contain additional information necessary to selectively target I
B
for PIR degradation. Moreover, we find that PIR I
B
degradation and constitutive activation of p50/c-Rel heterodimers in normal murine B cells do not require the same BAFF-dependent signaling pathway, via the BAFF receptor, necessary for p100 processing to p52. Therefore, our findings support the notion that the maintenance of constitutive p50/c-Rel activity occurs in a manner distinct from that for the recently elucidated BAFF-dependent NF-
B activation pathway in developing B cells.
|
|
|---|
Mice. Male and female A/J (wild-type BAFF receptor) and AW.Bcmd-2c (mutant BAFF receptor) mice were from a pathogen-free mouse colony in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin (10). The mice were maintained at 23°C with 40 to 60% humidity and 12-h light-dark cycles and were used at age 7 to 10 weeks for B-cell subset analysis. The protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (protocol A00847-4-08-99).
Chemicals.
Cycloheximide, Bay 11-7082, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), ATP, TPA, and LPS (L2880) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Benzyloxycarbonyl-aspartyl-glutamyl-valyl-aspartate (z-DEVD-fmk), benzyloxycarbonyl-tyrosyl-valanyl-alanyl-aspartate (z-YVAD-fmk), and benzyloxycarbonyl-valanyl-alanyl-aspartate (z-VAD-fmk) were purchased from Alexis Biochemicals. Benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-leucyl-leucinal (MG132) was purchased from Peptide Institute, Inc. Benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-norleucinal (calpeptin), clasto-lactacystin-ß-lactone, and human recombinant TNF-
were purchased from Calbiochem.
Antibodies.
Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against IKK
(M-280), I
B
(C-21), I
Bß (C-20), actin (C-11), c-myc (9E10), HA (Y-11), p65 (C-20), p50 (NLS), RelB (C-19), p52 (I-18), and ICAD (FL-331) were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology. A polyclonal antibody generated against p52 (06-413) was obtained from Upstate Biotechnology. A monoclonal anti-HA.11 antibody was purchased from Covance. A monoclonal antihemagglutinin (anti-HA) antibody (3F10) directly conjugated to horseradish peroxidase was purchased from Roche Molecular Biochemicals. A monoclonal anti-
-tubulin antibody was purchased from Oncogene Research. Affinipure F(ab')2 fragment goat anti-mouse IgM µ-chain-specific antibodies were purchased from Jackson Immunoresearch Laboratories. The 5432 antibody, generated against the N terminus of I
B
, was used as previously described (39). The c-Rel antibody (5071) was previously described (27). Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated protein A and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit and anti-mouse antibodies were obtained from Amersham Pharmacia Biotech.
B-cell collection and flow staining analysis.
Splenocytes were dissociated by mechanical shearing, and red blood cells (RBC) were depleted by lysing them in an RBC lysis buffer (0.15 M NH4Cl, 10 mM KHCO3, 0.1 mM EDTA [pH 7.2 to 7.4]). When B-cell purification was performed, B cells were purified by negative selection with the magnetically activated cell sorting (MACS) B-cell purification kit (Miltenyi Biotech). For comparison of NF-
B regulation in transitional B cells between the wild-type and BAFF receptor mutant backgrounds, autoreconstitution studies were initiated by subjecting A/J and AW.Bcmd-2c mice to 500 rads of sublethal irradiation in order to deplete mature splenic B cells (5). Irradiated mice were then allowed to recover for 13 days, at which point the majority of splenic B cells represented the transitional B cells, as revealed by positive surface staining of C1qRp (previously termed 493 and AA4) (1) and analyzed on a FACScan or FACScalibur using CELLQuest software (data not shown).
Mutagenesis, infections, and transfections.
Substitution mutagenesis was performed by two-step PCR using murine I
B
cDNA, and all mutant I
B
cDNAs were directly sequenced by the University of Wisconsin Biotechnology Center to verify integrity. cDNAs for murine K3R- and K5R-I
B
were kindly provided by Kei Tashiro (Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan). The cDNAs encoding various forms of I
B
were ligated into the pLHL-CA retroviral vector (64) or pLPL-CA retroviral vector. PLPL-CA was derived from pLHL-CA and the pRetro-On vector (Clontech). PLHL-CA was digested with EcoRI and XhoI to isolate the region containing the CA promoter and the multiple cloning sites. This fragment was ligated into the pRetro-On vector (Clontech) between the long terminal repeat regions and downstream of the puromycin resistance gene. The c-myc-
F-ß-TrCP cDNA was kindly provided by Zhijian Chen (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center). This cDNA was ligated into the pLPL-CA vector for use in the coimmunoprecipitation assays.
Transfection of HEK293 cells was performed by calcium phosphate precipitation as described previously (24). For experiments involving transient transfection of HEK293 cells, cells were treated with the appropriate inducers 40 to 45 h after transfection. To generate stable HEK 293 cells, cells were transfected with vectors and selected with 2 µg of puromycin (Sigma)/ml 24 to 48 h after transfection until drug-resistant pools grew up. Infections of WEHI-231 and W231.Bcl-XL cells were performed as previously described (41).
Analysis of I
B
degradation.
To measure I
B
degradation, cells were counted and 0.5 x 106 to 1 x 106 cells were placed in 1-ml wells in an incubator containing 5% CO2 for 2 to 4 h to reduce low-level, proteasome-dependent NF-
B activation associated with medium change (our unpublished observations). Cells were then treated with the appropriate chemicals for various times. Cells were pelleted at 13,000 x g for 10 s in an Eppendorf centrifuge, washed once with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pelleted again at 13,000 x g for 10 s, and stored at 70°C. Pellets were thawed, resuspended in 20 µl of PBS and 20 µl of 2x Laemmli buffer, and boiled directly for 10 to 15 min. Samples were then electrophoresed in sodium dodecyl sulfate-10 or 12.5% polyacrylamide gels, electroblotted (Bio-Rad) onto a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (Millipore), and then incubated with the appropriate antibodies as described previously (41). Western blots were analyzed by enhanced chemiluminescence as described by the manufacturer (Amersham).
To measure I
B
degradation in B cells from A/J and AW.Bcmd-2c mice, cells were counted and 0.5 x 106 to 2 x 106 cells were placed in 1-ml wells and treated similarly to WEHI-231 cells. Cells were then pelleted at 5,000 x g for 5 min in a refrigerated swinging-bucket centrifuge, washed once with PBS, pelleted again at 5,000 x g for 5 min as described above, and stored at 70°C. Pellets were thawed and subjected to Western blot analysis as described above.
Coimmunoprecipitation assays.
For ß-TrCP/I
B
coimmunoprecipitation experiments using HEK293 cells, cell pellets were resuspended in small amounts of PBS (10% of the final lysis buffer volume), lysed in a lysis buffer (20 mM Tris [pH 7.0], 250 mM NaCl, 3 mM EDTA, 3 mM EGTA, 0.5% NP-40, 2 mM dithiothreitol [DTT]) containing protease inhibitors (0.5 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 1 µg of leupeptin/ml, 16 µg of aprotinin/ml) and phosphatase inhibitors 20 mM ß-glycerolphosphate, 1 mM sodium orthovanadate, 10 mM p-nitrophenylphosphate, 10 mM sodium fluoride), and spun at 13,000 x g in an Eppendorf centrifuge at 4°C. Equal protein amounts were separated for immunoprecipitation. Twenty percent of each immunoprecipitation volume was allocated separately, 2x Laemmli buffer was added, and the samples were boiled to examine input levels by Western blot analysis. The anti-c-myc antibody was added to the lysates for 1 h at 4°C, and then protein G-Sepharose beads (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) were added and the samples were rotated for an additional 3 to 4 h at 4°C for immunoprecipitation reactions. Immunoprecipitates were washed three times in excess immunoprecipitation buffer. Laemmli buffer (2x) was added to the beads and boiled, and the entire sample was analyzed by Western blotting as described previously (41).
To examine I
B
/NF-
B interactions in W231.Bcl-XL cells, cell pellets were lysed as described above, equal amounts of extracts were separated for each immunoprecipitation, and 20% of the input was set aside and analyzed as described above. The appropriate antibodies and protein G-Sepharose beads were added to immunoprecipitate the NF-
B/I
B complexes. Immunoprecipitates were rotated overnight at 4°C, washed three times with excess lysis buffer, boiled in 2x Laemmli buffer, and analyzed by Western blotting.
EMSA and in vitro kinase assays.
W231.Bcl-XL cells and primary B cells were counted, and 2 x 106 cells were placed in 1-ml wells and allowed to rest for 2 to 4 h in a 5% CO2 incubator at 37°C. Cells were then treated with the appropriate chemicals and spun down as described above. For electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) with whole-cell extracts, cell pellets were lysed in Totex buffer (20 mM HEPES [pH 7.9], 350 mM NaCl, 20% glycerol, 1% NP-40, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.5 mM EDTA, 0.1 mM EGTA, 0.5 mM DTT) containing protease inhibitors, spun down at 13,000 x g in an Eppendorf centrifuge for 10 min at 4°C, and subjected to an EMSA as described previously (40). For EMSA with nuclear extracts, cell pellets were first lysed in buffer A (10 mM HEPES [pH 7.9], 1.5 mM MgCl2, 10 mM KCl, 0.5 mM DTT) containing protease inhibitors and spun at room temperature for 10 s in an Eppendorf centrifuge at 13,000 x g. The remaining nuclear pellet was lysed in buffer C (20 mM HEPES, 25% glycerol, 0.45 M NaCl, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM DTT) containing protease inhibitors for 30 min on ice and then spun at 13,000 x g for 10 min in an Eppendorf centrifuge at 4°C and the supernatant was removed and used as the nuclear extract. The Ig
-
B oligonucleotide probe was as described previously (40). In vitro kinase assays were performed as described previously (23).
|
|
|---|
B
degradation requires the IKK phosphorylation sites, but not the N-terminal ubiquitylation sites, of I
B
.
Although the PIR pathway and canonical NF-
B activation possess differential proteasome requirements for I
B
degradation, we wanted to determine whether both degradation pathways required the upstream IKK phosphorylation sites in I
B
. We have previously reported that a mutant I
B
with Ser-to-Ala substitutions (S32/36A-I
B
) at both the 32 and 36 positions underwent constitutive proteolysis in the WEHI-231 cells (41). We have found that this degradation was associated with an inadvertent apoptotic process introduced by the assay condition (see Fig. S1 in the supplemental material). To eliminate this apoptosis-associated I
B
degradation, we generated the W231.Bcl-XL cell line, stably expressing the antiapoptotic Bcl-XL gene, and found that S32/36A-I
B
was resistant to PIR degradation, similar to what was found for the LPS-inducible pathway (Fig. 1B, lanes 5 to 8). Additionally, PIR I
B
degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells was also prevented by the inhibition of IKK activity (Fig. 1E to G). Degradation of similarly introduced wild-type I
B
and the endogenous version served as positive controls in these experiments. These results suggested that both IKK activity and the IKK phosphorylation sites were important for PIR I
B
degradation in these cells.
![]() View larger version (49K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. IKK phosphorylation sites, but not N-terminal ubiquitylation sites, are necessary for PIR I B degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells. (A) Diagram of serine and lysine mutant I B s examined. SRD, signal response domain region of I B containing the inducible IKK phosphorylation and ß-TrCP ubiquitylation sites. (B) C-terminally HA-tagged wild-type (WT) I B and S32/36A- and K3R-I B mutant I B s were stably expressed in W231.Bcl-XL cells and left untreated or treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide (Cx)/ml for 3 h or 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min. Cell extracts were analyzed by Western blotting. (C) W231.Bcl-XL cells stably expressing C-terminally HA-tagged K5R-I B were treated with either 25 µg of cycloheximide/ml for 3 h in the absence or presence of clasto-lactacystin ß-lactone (10 µM; Lact) or DMSO or with 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min in the absence of or after pretreatment with clasto-lactacystin ß-lactone (10 µM) or DMSO. Whole-cell pellets were analyzed by Western blotting. One-fourth and one-half of the untreated samples (OT) were loaded to approximate the amount of degraded protein. (D) W231.Bcl-XL cells stably expressing a C-terminally HA-tagged K5R-I B were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide/ml for 3 h or 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min. Whole-cell pellets were analyzed by Western blotting. P-Exo, slower-migrating phospho-K5R-I B band. (E) W231.Bcl-XL cells were treated with either 20 µM Bay 11-7082 or DMSO (0.1%) for 3 h. For the LPS-treated samples, W231.Bcl-XL cells were left untreated or pretreated with Bay 11-7082 or DMSO for 30 min followed by 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min. Whole-cell lysates were subjected to immune complex kinase assays using an anti-IKK antibody to immunoprecipitate the IKK complex. The immunoprecipitated IKK complex was subjected to a kinase assay using GST-I B (1-66) as a substrate. Phosphorylation of GST-I B (I B -P) was measured by autoradiography, while the levels of IKK and GST-I B were measured by Western blot analysis. (F) W231.Bcl-XL cells were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide/ml in the absence or presence of Bay 11-7082 or DMSO (0.1%) for 3 h. For the LPS-treated samples, W231.Bcl-XL cells were left untreated or pretreated with Bay 11-7082 for 30 min, followed by 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min. Cell extracts were measured for I B levels by Western blot analysis. (G) W231.Bcl-XL cells were treated as in panel E, except that 25 µM Bay 11-7082 was used. Whole-cell lysates were prepared and equal protein amounts were subjected to EMSA.
|
B
degradation is mediated in a PIR manner in both WEHI-231 and W231.Bcl-XL cells, there must be a divergence point between the canonical and PIR degradation pathways upstream of the proteasome degradation step. Thus, we next investigated the requirement for N-terminal lysine residues in I
B
whose ß-TrCP-dependent ubiquitylation leads to proteasome-dependent degradation in canonical pathways (19). Since we found a mutant I
B
with Arg substituted at both Lys21 and Lys22 to be efficiently degraded by the control canonical LPS pathway (24), we next utilized a mutant I
B
K3R-I
B
(Fig. 1A), containing Lys21, -22, and -67 mutated to Arg. Surprisingly, K3R-I
B
was still susceptible to both types of degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells (Fig. 1B, lanes 9 to 12), suggesting that alternative Lys residues compensated for the lack of these three lysines. Therefore, we used K5R-I
B
, containing Lys21, -22, -38, -47, and -67 mutated to Arg and stably expressed it in W231.Bcl-XL cells. K5R-I
B
was completely resistant to LPS-inducible degradation (Fig. 1C, lane 7). However, it was still sensitive to PIR degradation (Fig. 1C, lanes 4 and 5). Moreover, on a high-percentage gel that was run for a prolonged period to separate the I
B
phosphorylated isoforms, the stable K5R-I
B
underwent signal-dependent phosphorylation, as evidenced by the characteristic migration shift found in cells treated with LPS (Fig. 1D, lane 3). This demonstrated that the lack of LPS-dependent degradation was due to the lack of ubiquitylation, not IKK-dependent phosphorylation. In contrast, K5R-I
B
underwent PIR degradation without the appearance of a slower-migrating phosphorylated form (Fig. 1D, lane 2). Thus, the N-terminal Lys residues required for canonical degradation were not absolutely required for PIR degradation, suggesting that these degradation pathways diverge at the ubiquitylation step.
Mutations at Asp31 of I
B
further reveal differences between PIR and LPS-inducible I
B
degradation pathways in W231.Bcl-XL cells.
Because canonical and PIR forms of I
B
degradation appeared to diverge primarily at the level of ubiquitylation, we wanted to determine whether or not recognition by the E3 ligase ß-TrCP was involved in the PIR degradation pathway. The recent crystal structure of ß-TrCP (67) revealed that an Asp residue corresponding to Asp31 of I
B
is critical for recognition by ß-TrCP. To examine the requirement for this site in PIR and LPS-inducible I
B
degradation, we generated the conservative mutant I
B
D31E-I
B
and stably expressed it in W231.Bcl-XL cells. This mutant I
B
was still susceptible to PIR (albeit less efficiently than wild-type I
B
) and LPS-inducible (at a level similar to that for wild-type I
B
) degradation (Fig. 2E), suggesting that either acidic amino acid could be tolerated at this position for both pathways. Subsequently, we mutated Asp31 to a drastically different amino acid, Phe. Surprisingly, we found that D31F-I
B
was completely resistant to PIR degradation but was still susceptible to LPS-inducible degradation in these cells (Fig. 2F). This result suggested that it might be possible to isolate other mutant I
B
s that reveal differences between PIR and LPS-inducible I
B
degradation pathways by amino acid replacement of the Asp31 residue. Therefore, we mutated residue 31 in I
B
to all of the remaining amino acids individually. We found that substitution of any other amino acid at this position rendered I
B
resistant to PIR degradation with the exception of partial degradation exhibited by D31V-I
B
(Fig. 2V). Very surprisingly, all of the mutant I
B
s except D31A- and D31Q-I
B
were still tolerated by the LPS-inducible and proteasome-dependent degradation pathways (Fig. 2). In all of these analyses, degradation of the endogenous I
B
protein served as a positive control for comparison.
![]() View larger version (72K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. Mutations at Asp31 reveal differences between PIR and LPS-inducible I B degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells. W231.Bcl-XL cells expressing the indicated D31 mutant I B s (each mutant I B is indicated with the amino acid abbreviation located to the left of each set of blots) were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide (Cx)/ml in the absence or presence of MG132 (10 µM; MG) for the indicated times. These cells were also treated with 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min in the absence of or after pretreatment with 10 µM MG132. Whole-cell pellets were examined for I B degradation by Western blot analysis. Actin was also examined as a loading control in all cases (some data not shown). OT, untreated sample.
|
B
s was potentially due to some unusual LPS-specific event in W231.Bcl-XL cells. In Fig. 3A, we observed that IgM cross-linking and treatment with TPA also led to inducible degradation of both D31E- and D31F-I
B
. Moreover, inhibition of degradation by treatment with the proteasome inhibitors MG132 and clasto-lactacystin ß-lactone, but not with the calpain inhibitor calpeptin (Fig. 3B), indicated that degradation occurred through the proteasome pathway. Furthermore, inhibition of LPS-inducible D31G-I
B
degradation by Bay 11-7082 (Fig. 3C, lanes 7 and 11) suggested that this pathway was also IKK dependent. Therefore, I
B
could be inducibly degraded in a manner dependent on both IKK activity and the proteasome with a different sequence specificity of ß-TrCP recognition in W231.Bcl-XL cells than what was suggested by the recently described crystal structure (67).
![]() View larger version (49K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. Inducible degradation of Asp31 mutant I B s occurs by multiple inducers and is inhibited by proteasome and IKK inhibitors in W231.Bcl-XL cells. (A) W231.Bcl-XL cells stably expressing D31E- and D31F-I B were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide (Cx)/ml in the absence or presence of MG132 (10 µM) for 3 h. To measure inducible degradation, cells were treated with 20 µg of LPS/ml, 10 µg of Affinipure F(ab')2 fragment goat anti-mouse IgM µ chain specific/ml, or 50 nM TPA for 30 min in the absence of MG132 or after pretreatment with 10 µM MG132. Whole-cell pellets were examined by Western blot analysis. OT, untreated sample. (B) W231.Bcl-XL cells stably expressing D31F-I B were left untreated or treated with 20 µg of LPS/ml in the absence of MG132 or after pretreatment with 10 µM MG132 (MG), 1 to 20 µg of calpeptin/ml, or 1 to 10 µM clasto-lactacystin ß-lactone. Whole-cell pellets were examined by Western blot analysis. (C) W231.Bcl-XL cells stably expressing D31G-I B were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide/ml for 0 to 3 h. To measure inducible degradation, cells were treated with 20 µg of LPS/ml in the absence of MG132 or after pretreatment with 10 µM MG132, 20 µg of calpeptin (Calp)/ml, 10 µM clasto-lactacystin ß-lactone (Lact), or 25 µM Bay 11-7082 (Bay).
|
B
degradation pathways diverge at the point of ß-TrCP recognition.
Because PIR and LPS-inducible I
B
degradation possessed differential sensitivities to mutagenesis of the N-terminal Lys and Asp31 residues in W231.Bcl-XL cells, we next examined whether these two pathways also displayed differential requirements for other residues within the ß-TrCP consensus sequence. We introduced a series of mutations in the ß-TrCP recognition motif of I
B
(DpSG
XpS) that could be used to determine whether PIR and canonical I
B
degradation pathways diverge at the point of ß-TrCP recognition (Fig. 4A). We chose conservative and nonconservative substitutions at each amino acid position and analyzed them as described above. We found a number of mutant I
B
s with mutations in this motif that could still undergo PIR degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells, including G33A-, L34I-, L34R- D35E-, and D35G-I
B
(Fig. 4B to D). Interestingly, G33R-I
B
could not support PIR degradation (Fig. 4B, bottom). Furthermore, the same mutant I
B
s that underwent PIR degradation were also susceptible to LPS-inducible degradation in the W231.Bcl-XL cells. In addition to the surprising data obtained from the Asp31 mutant I
B
s, degradation of the nonconservative mutant I
B
L34R-I
B
was still permitted by both pathways. We thus questioned whether our observations of LPS-inducible degradation in W231.Bcl-XL were representative of the canonical, ß-TrCP-dependent I
B
degradation.
![]() View larger version (48K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 4. Some alterations in the ß-TrCP recognition sequences of I B are still permitted by the PIR I B degradation pathway. (A) Diagram displaying the positions of mutations in the mutant I B s analyzed (amino acids 31 to 36 of I B and amino acids 18 to 23 of I Bß). (B to D) C-terminally HA-tagged mutant I B s with the indicated ß-TrCP recognition site mutations were stably expressed in W231.Bcl-XL cells. These cells were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide (Cx)/ml for 0 to 3 h in the absence or presence of MG132 (10 µM; MG) or with 20 µg of LPS/ml in the absence of MG132 or after pretreatment with 10 µM MG132. Whole-cell pellets were analyzed by Western blotting.
|
B
s were indeed recognized by ß-TrCP in a manner dependent on phosphorylation at Ser32 and Ser36 residues, we employed a coimmunoprecipitation method that allowed us to trap phosphorylated I
B
associated with ß-TrCP (23). Since transient cotransfection of ß-TrCP and I
B
resulted in phosphorylation-independent association (data not shown), we needed to generate HEK293 cell lines stably expressing the mutant I
B
s; then either c-myc-
F-ß-TrCP or an empty vector was transiently transfected for coimmunoprecipitation studies. Cells were then either left untreated or treated with TNF-
in the presence of MG132. Under these conditions, ß-TrCP failed to interact with wild-type I
B
in the absence of a signal but efficiently interacted after TNF-
/MG132 treatment (Fig. 5A). We next evaluated whether mutant I
B
s that exhibited differential degradation patterns under PIR and LPS-inducible degradation conditions in W231.Bcl-XL cells could also display differential recognition by ß-TrCP. Interestingly, we found that association of D31E-I
B
with ß-TrCP was markedly less than that of wild-type I
B
(Fig. 5B, compare lanes 2 and 4), a result that is consistent with the critical requirement of the Asp at position 31 predicted by the crystal structure (67). We next examined the association of ß-TrCP with several Asp31 mutant I
B
s and the other ß-TrCP consensus sequence mutant I
B
s described above. Consistent with the prediction from the crystal structure (67), none of the Asp31 substitutions that we tested were tolerated for inducible association with ß-TrCP (Fig. 5F). Strikingly, G33A-I
B
completely failed to interact with ß-TrCP (Fig. 5C, compare lanes 2 and 4), even though this substitution introduced a very modest change in the amino acid side chain. The crystal structure indicated that there is very little room in the ß-TrCP recognition pocket for any substitution at this position (67). Accordingly, G33R-I
B
did not interact at all (Fig. 5C). In contrast, a replacement of Leu34 with Ile or a change of the hydrophobicity by replacement with Arg did not impair association with ß-TrCP (Fig. 5D, lane 6). Both D35E- and D35G-I
B
also efficiently interacted (Fig. 5E). The data from these studies are summarized in Table 1. Additionally, we found that S36T permitted PIR degradation and ß-TrCP recognition but that S32T did not (data not shown). These observations together demonstrated that (i) PIR degradation of mutant I
B
s did not strictly correlate with their ß-TrCP interaction properties, as exemplified by the differential effects of D31E- and G33A-I
B
; (ii) the N-terminal consensus motif for PIR degradation is (D/E)-(p)S-(G/A)-X-X-(p)(S/T), where (p) indicates that direct observation of phosphorylation at these sites has not yet been established during this degradation process; and (iii) signal-inducible degradation of mutant I
B
s could occur via an alternative pathway that did not absolutely require an intact ß-TrCP recognition sequence in W231.Bcl-XL cells. These findings indicated that PIR degradation did not utilize direct interaction of the ß-TrCP E3 ubiquitin ligase with I
B
. This conclusion was also supported by the lack of the requirement for the N-terminal ubiquitylation Lys residues and resistance to various proteasome inhibitors of PIR degradation. Nevertheless, because of the similarities of the consensus motifs for PIR degradation, (D/E)-(p)S-(G/A)-X-X-(p)(S/T), and ß-TrCP interaction, DpSG
XpS (67), these studies suggest that a protein with a distinct but somewhat related specificity of interaction may be involved in diverting I
B
to PIR degradation and away from the canonical pathway.
![]() View larger version (61K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 5. Many alterations in the ß-TrCP recognition motif of I B are not tolerated for its association with ß-TrCP. (A) C-terminally HA-tagged wild-type (WT) I B was stably expressed in HEK 293 cells. c-myc- F-ß-TrCP or vector alone was then transiently transfected. Approximately 40 to 45 h after transfection, cells were left untreated or treated with 10 ng of TNF- /ml for 30 min after pretreatment with 10 µM MG132 for 30 min (T+M). Whole-cell lysates were prepared. Equal protein amounts were used for the immunoprecipitations and 20% of that amount was used for the input analysis. ß-TrCP-associated complexes were precipitated with anti-c-myc antibodies and protein G beads. Coimmunoprecipitation was examined by Western blot (WB) analysis. Immunoprecipitates were first examined with an anti-HA antibody for coimmunoprecipitation of HA-tagged proteins and subsequently examined for coimmunoprecipitation of endogenous I B with an anti-I B antibody. OT, untreated sample. (B to F) The indicated C-terminally HA-tagged mutant I B s were stably expressed in HEK293 cells. Coimmunoprecipitation of the mutant I B s with ß-TrCP was analyzed by the same method used for panel A.
|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Summary of stably expressed mutant I B s analyzed for PIR-mediated degradation, LPS-inducible degradation, and ß-TrCP interactiona
|
B
/I
Bß proteins reveal that the ankyrin region of I
B
contains information necessary for PIR degradation.
While our data thus far supported the notion that the N terminus of I
B
contains a consensus motif for PIR degradation, I
Bß also contains this primary structure. Yet, only I
B
is targeted to PIR degradation, whereas I
Bß is spared (41). Thus, it was possible that the above consensus sequence was incomplete and that the subtle differences in the N-terminal sequences between these two proteins dictated their susceptibility to PIR degradation. To determine whether the N-terminal domain of I
B
contained the full information necessary for PIR degradation, we generated a chimeric protein by replacing the N terminus of I
Bß with the corresponding I
B
sequence (Fig. 6A,
ßß) based on the NF-
B/I
B
and NF-
B/I
Bß cocrystal structures (25, 28, 36). As a control, we also generated the reciprocal mutant I
B
(ß
). Since free I
B
is known to undergo proteasome-dependent degradation via a pathway distinct from PIR degradation (33, 43, 51), we initially used the ability of these C-terminally HA-tagged chimeras to stably interact with NF-
B in W231.Bcl-XL cells as a measure of their ability to fold correctly. We found that both
ßß and ß
efficiently associated with c-Rel and p65 (see Fig. S2B in the supplemental material). The degradation assay indicated that
ßß underwent rapid turnover when stably expressed in W231.Bcl-XL cells (Fig. 6B, top). However, this degradation was highly sensitive to the proteasome inhibitor MG132. In the same extracts, PIR degradation of endogenous I
B
remained highly resistant to MG132 treatment while degradation of endogenous I
Bß was sensitive. In contrast, ß
degradation was slower than that of the endogenous I
B
but remained MG132 resistant (Fig. 6C, top). These results showed (i) that the N-terminal sequence of I
B
could enhance degradation in the context of the I
Bß ankyrin repeats and the C terminus but that this targeting was incomplete for PIR degradation and (ii) that the N-terminal I
Bß sequence could support PIR degradation in the context of the I
B
ankyrin repeats and C terminus, even though it was not as efficient as the N-terminal I
B
sequence. These findings indicated that the principal mechanism behind I
B
selectivity of PIR degradation resided outside of the relatively conserved N-terminal sequence.
![]() View larger version (40K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 6. The ankyrin repeats of I B are essential for PIR degradation. (A) Schematic representation of the I B /I Bß chimeric proteins used. , sequences derived from I B ; ß, sequences derived from I Bß; HA, HA tag. Association of the different chimeras with NF- B is listed. (B and C) W231.Bcl-XL cells stably expressing the mutant I B /I Bß proteins were treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide (Cx)/ml in the absence or presence of MG132 (10 µM; MG) for 3 h. To examine canonically inducible degradation, cells were left untreated or pretreated with 10 µM MG132 for 30 min, followed by treatment with 20 µg of LPS/ml for 30 min. One-fourth and one-half of the untreated (OT) samples were loaded (Fig. 6B) to evaluate the amount of protein degraded. Whole-cell pellets were analyzed by Western blotting.
|
B
, further chimeric proteins from I
B
and I
Bß were generated as outlined in Fig. 6A. Once again, efficient association between c-Rel and p65 was used to assess proper folding. While
ß
and ßß
associated with NF-
B proteins efficiently, 
ß and ß
ß did not (see Fig. S2 in the supplemental material). The analysis of constitutive degradation of the former two mutant I
B
s (Fig. 6B and C, bottom), along with the N-terminal swap mutant I
B
s described above, suggested that the presence of the ankyrin repeats of I
B
was essential for targeting to the PIR pathway (summarized in Table 2). Moreover, the presence of the C-terminal PEST domain of I
B
or I
Bß had no impact on PIR degradation. All of the chimeric proteins were susceptible to LPS-inducible degradation, indicating that the differential effects of these mutant I
B
s were selective for PIR degradation. Thus, in contrast to the dispensability of the ankyrin repeats for canonical degradation (4, 65, 68), this domain of I
B
was found to be essential for targeting it to PIR degradation. |
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 2. Summary of stably expressed I B /I Bß chimeras analyzed for PIR-mediated and classical degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells
|
B
degradation does not require the same BAFF receptor-dependent signals required for p100 processing.
Recent studies have suggested that BAFF receptor signaling is critical for mature B-cell development via processing of p100 to p52 to form active p52/RelB heterodimers (9). In these studies A/WySnJ mice that harbor a mutation in the BAFF receptor were utilized to demonstrate the requirement for BAFF receptor signaling in p100 processing and the generation of mature B cells, similar to what is found for NF
B1/NF
B2-deficient mice (9, 50). In addition to a mutation in the Bcmd-1/BAFF receptor locus, A/WySnJ mice carry an additional mutation in the Bcmd-2 locus that is responsible for the enhanced mastocytosis observed in A/WySnJ mice (10). We thus employed AW.Bcmd-2c congenic mice that are defective only at the Bcmd-1/BAFF receptor locus but wild type at the Bcmd-2 locus. These mice allowed us to examine whether constitutive p50/c-Rel activity and PIR I
B
degradation occurred in the absence of BAFF receptor-dependent signals required to mediate p100 processing.
First, splenocytes were isolated from both A/J and AW.Bcmd-2c mice which have been autoreconstituted by sublethal radiation to capture mostly the transitional B cells in the spleen for direct comparison (1). When constitutive NF-
B activity was analyzed by EMSAs, it was found that cells from the AW.Bcmd-2c mice had constitutive p50/c-Rel activity (Fig. 7A), which was surprisingly similar to that of the A/J counterpart, especially for the c-Rel component. As a control, we verified that p100 processing to p52 was indeed markedly reduced in B cells isolated from the AW.Bcmd-2c mice relative to that in B cells from A/J mice, while the expression levels of all other known NF-
B family members were similar (Fig. 7B). Moreover, constitutive I
B
degradation occurred in B cells of both lines of mice at similar levels and was resistant to inhibition by the proteasome inhibitor MG132 (Fig. 7C). Finally, similar to the results for the W231.Bcl-XL cell line, we found that PIR I
B
degradation in B cells from both wild-type and mutant mice was sensitive to the IKK inhibitor Bay 11-7082. Our findings are consistent with the model in which neither PIR I
B
degradation nor constitutive p50/c-Rel activity requires the same BAFF receptor-dependent signaling events that are required for p100 processing.
![]() View larger version (67K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 7. Constitutive p50/c-Rel activity and PIR I B degradation do not require intact BAFF receptor signaling. (A) Splenocytes from A/J and AW.Bcmd-2c radiation-induced autoreconstituted mice were isolated, and nuclear extracts were subjected to EMSA. The indicated antibodies were added for supershift analysis. (B) B cells were isolated from A/J and AW.Bcmd-2c radiation-induced autoreconstituted mice by MACS purification, and whole-cell pellets were subjected to Western blot analysis for expression of the indicated NF- B and I B family members. (C) B cells were isolated from A/J and AW.Bcmd-2c mice by MACS purification from splenocytes and treated with 25 µg of cycloheximide (Cx)/ml for the indicated times in the absence or presence of MG132 (10 µM; MG), Bay 11-7082 (25 µM; BAY), or DMSO (0.1% DM). For the LPS samples, cells were left untreated (OT) or pretreated with either 10 µM MG132 (MG) or 25 µM Bay 11-7082 for 1 h, followed by treatment with 20 µg of LPS/ml for 2 h. Whole-cell pellets were analyzed by Western blotting.
|
|
|
|---|
B
degradation pathway in WEHI-231 B cells that is proteasome inhibitor resistant (41). In this study we provide evidence that PIR I
B
degradation is mediated by an IKK-dependent, but ß-TrCP-independent, mechanism thereby explaining the lack of requirement for the N-terminal ubiquitylation sites and proteasome activity for I
B
degradation in these cells. Our analysis indicated that the PIR degradation pathway differs from the well-established canonical pathway (Fig. 8) in a significant way. While canonical IKK-dependent phosphorylation of I
B
and I
Bß leads to their recognition and ubiquitylation by ß-TrCP and subsequent degradation by the 26S proteasome (31, 55, 66), PIR degradation requires IKK activity but did not appear to require direct association with this E3 ubiquitin ligase. Consistently, a different consensus sequence for PIR degradation from that required for ß-TrCP recognition emerged through these mutagenesis studies. This suggests that a molecule other than ß-TrCP may potentially guide I
B
to PIR degradation. It is also important that this difference of E3 involvement may be due to the potential lack of direct phosphorylation of I
B
by IKK in the PIR pathway, even though the IKK activity is apparently critical. Despite the ease of its detection in the canonical pathway, we were unable to observe it in the PIR pathway.
![]() View larger version (16K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 8. PIR I B degradation. The model depicts the cis elements required for canonical versus PIR I B degradation.
|
B
degradation pathways that are distinct from PIR I
B
degradation have been identified. Studies have suggested that basal degradation of I
B
requires the C-terminal CK2-dependent phosphorylation sites and the ankyrin repeats, but this basal degradation is proteasome dependent and N terminus independent (33, 37, 51, 64). Calpain-mediated degradation has been associated with a number of NF-
B activation processes, including TNF-
in HepG2 cells, neoplastic cell development, and Her-2/neu regulation in breast cancer cells (21, 45, 46). It has also been observed that TNF-
-induced mitochondrial I
B
degradation is, at least partially, dependent on calpain (11). Serum deprivation can also promote phosphorylation- and ubqiuitylation-independent lysosomal degradation of I
B
(12). Moreover, caspase-dependent N-terminal cleavage of I
B
has also been observed to occur at Asp31 (3, 48). In contrast, PIR I
B
degradation requires both the N terminus and ankyrin repeats of I
B
. Furthermore, a mutant I
B
lacking the C-terminal PEST domain was still susceptible to PIR degradation, and the calpain inhibitor PD150606 (which targets the calcium binding domain of calpain) failed to block PIR degradation, indicating that calpain is unlikely to be directly involved in PIR degradation (56a). Moreover, D31E-I
B
still undergoes PIR degradation, suggesting that caspase-dependent cleavage of I
B
C-terminal to Asp31 is not involved in this pathway. Finally, from this study and our previous observations, PIR I
B
degradation is not sufficiently inhibited by proteasome, calpain, lysosomal, or caspase inhibitors, suggesting that PIR degradation of I
B
may occur through an alternative degradation pathway (41, 56, 56a).
While certain N-terminal residues of I
B
were critical for PIR degradation, these residues are conserved in I
Bß, a non-PIR degradation substrate in WEHI-231 and W231.Bcl-XL cells. Our chimeric studies using I
B
and I
Bß indicated that this N-terminal consensus sequence was insufficient for complete targeting to the PIR pathway. It has been reported that the canonical pathway requires the N terminus or both the N and C termini of I
B
but not the ankyrin repeats (4, 65, 68, 72). In contrast, PIR I
B
degradation was strictly dependent on its ankyrin repeats, even though it was supported by the N terminus of either I
B
or I
Bß. This dependence was so specific to the I
B
ankyrin repeats that even those of I
Bß could not substitute. Although the mechanism by which this specificity is carried out is unclear, previous studies have reported that differences in the ankyrin repeats of I
B
and I
Bß lead to their different patterns of nuclear localization and NF-
B inhibition (6, 57). These studies suggested that the ankyrin repeats of I
B
and I
Bß have the capacity to perform different tasks. The major difference in ankyrin repeat structure between I
B
and I
Bß is the presence of a loop between ankyrin repeats 3 and 4 of I
Bß (25, 28, 36). When we analyzed the PIR degradation susceptibility of mutant I
B
s with the I
Bß loop introduced between ankyrin repeats 3 and 4 or mutant I
B
/I
Bß chimeras with the loop deleted, we were unable to observe a strict correlation between the absence of the loop domain and susceptibility to PIR degradation (S. O'Connor, unpublished observations). These results indicate that finer mapping of the ankyrin repeat domain is required to uncover the sequences required to target I
B
to PIR degradation. Moreover, our findings suggest that a molecular component(s) that recognizes I
B
likely detects both the N-terminal consensus sequence and an I
B
ankyrin repeat-specific motif to mediate PIR degradation (Fig. 8). Alternatively, we cannot rule out the possibility that different molecular components recognize the N terminus and the ankyrin repeats of I
B
for PIR degradation.
Interestingly, during these studies, we uncovered an alternative inducible I
B
degradation pathway in W231.Bcl-XL cells. We found that mutant I
B
s that could not associate with ß-TrCP were still capable of undergoing inducible IKK-dependent and proteasome-mediated degradation by multiple distinct inducers in W231.Bcl-XL cells. Although this observation forced us to analyze ß-TrCP association of mutant I
B
s in the stable HEK293 cell system, it revealed that ß-TrCP association is not absolutely required for proteasome-dependent inducible I
B
degradation in W231.Bcl-XL cells. These findings raise the possibility that certain cells may adopt an alternative proteasome-dependent I
B
degradation pathway when ß-TrCP function is disrupted. These findings may have a bearing on a resistance mechanism against future drugs that target ß-TrCP for therapeutic intervention of NF-
B pathways.
While the above structure-function analyses suggested that PIR degradation is regulated by an unprecedented mechanism, the physiological relevance of this pathway was elusive. Importantly, our studies revealed that PIR I
B
degradation and constitutive p50/c-Rel activity in primary B cells do not rely on the same BAFF receptor signaling mechanism that is required for IKK
-dependent p100 processing and generation of p52/RelB heterodimers. Genetic studies indicated that this BAFF receptor signaling pathway is critical for the survival of transitional B cells (9, 29, 53). However, additional genetic studies revealed that IKKß and NEMO, components not required for the p100 processing pathway, are also critical for proper development of B cells at the same transitional stages (44). Moreover, nfkb1/ c-rel/ double-knockout mice also displayed a deficiency of some of the same transitional B cells (e.g., a lack of marginal-zone B cells) (47), indicating that the development of these transitional B cells depends on nonredundant activities of p52/RelB and p50/c-Rel NF-
B complexes. Additionally, the development of CD5+ B1 B cells that primarily reside in the peritoneum was severely compromised in mice deficient for NF-
B1/c-Rel (47) (and also reported to be reduced in conditional IKKß- and NEMO-deficient mice [44]). However, these cells were not reduced in mice lacking BAFF or containing the mutant BAFF receptor (A/WySnJ) (34, 50), indicating that p50/c-Rel complexes have an additional function distinct from that of p52/RelB in the generation of the B1 B-cell repertoire. Consistent with this notion, B1 B-cell lines, such as CH31 and CH33, are known to exhibit continuous, rapid I
B
degradation and nuclear c-Rel complexes, similar to the WEHI-231 cell line (15, 40). Thus, our analysis of the PIR degradation pathway may lead to understanding the biochemical mechanism and ultimately the physiological signal(s) that controls p50/c-Rel activation during development of both transitional B cells and the B1 B-cell subset.
Elucidation of PIR I
B
degradation may also have implications for understanding constitutive NF-
B activity in a number of cancer cells. Several cancer cell types rely on constitutive NF-
B activity, via rapid I
B
degradation, for cell survival (13, 32, 61). The proteasome inhibitor PS-341 (Velcade, bortezomib) is approved for treatment of multiple myelomas and is undergoing further clinical tests (49). While treatment with PS-341 is thought to inhibit constitutive NF-
B activity maintained via canonical proteasome-mediated degradation of I
B
, many patients are resistant or develop resistance to this treatment (22, 49). It is also possible that certain fractions of human malignancies may switch from the canonical, proteasome-dependent pathway to the PIR I
B
degradation pathway to maintain a constitutive NF-
B survival pathway in the face of continuous proteasome inhibitor treatment. We have seen this type of switch to maintain constitutive NF-
B activation during pre-B-cell differentiation in vitro (17). Thus, it will be of great interest to determine whether or not PIR I
B
degradation is employed in Velcade-resistant multiple myelomas and other human malignancies.
In summary, the present study has revealed a novel mechanism of IKK-dependent I
B
degradation that does not rely on ß-TrCP-mediated ubiquitylation or proteasomal degradation. We found that unique features of I
B
present in the N-terminal domain and the ankyrin repeats make it susceptible to PIR degradation (Fig. 8). Furthermore, this continuous PIR degradation occurs in B cells in the absence of functional BAFF receptor-dependent signaling. Further dissection of the PIR degradation pathway may prove fruitful for improving our understanding of both the regulatory mechanisms involved in different NF-
B complexes in normal B cell development and events associated with the development of proteasome inhibitor resistance in cancer cells.
B
clones, Zhijian Chen for providing c-myc-
F-ß-TrCP, Bradley Seufzer for technical support, Cindy Chan for the construction of some mutant I
B
s, and the Miyamoto lab members for helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by funding from an American Heart Association Predoctoral fellowship to S.O.; NIH training grant (T32GM07215) for S.O., S.D.S., and I.J.A.; and NIH R01-CA77474, NIH R01-CA81065, and the Shaw Scientist Award from the Milwaukee Foundation to S.M.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://mcb.asm.org/. ![]()
|
|
|---|
B-RelA activation is required for proliferation and survival of Hodgkin's disease tumor cells. J. Clin. Investig. 100:2961-2969.[Medline]
B-
inhibits its cleavage by caspase CPP32 in vitro. J. Biol. Chem. 272:29419-29422.
B
is regulated by transferable N- and C-terminal domains. Mol. Cell. Biol. 17:3021-3027.
B-Ras binds to the unique insert within the ankyrin repeat domain of I
Bß and regulates cytoplasmic retention of I
Bß x NF-
B complexes. J. Biol. Chem. 278:23101-23106.
B
to the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Genes Dev. 9:1586-1597.
B
activity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:28-32.
B2 in maturing B cells. Nat. Immunol. 3:958-965.[CrossRef][Medline]
B and I
B
are found in the mitochondria. Evidence for regulation of mitochondrial gene expression by NF-
B. J. Biol. Chem. 278:2963-2968.
B is a substrate for a selective pathway of lysosomal proteolysis. Mol. Biol. Cell 9:1995-2010.
B activity is required for survival of activated B cell-like diffuse large B cell lymphoma cells. J. Exp. Med. 194:1861-1874.
B kinase that activates the transcription factor NF-
B. Nature 388:548-554.[CrossRef][Medline]
B in B cells in the absence of I
B degradation. J. Immunol. 163:269-277.
B
of nuclear factor-
B in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma inhibits survival, proinflammatory cytokine expression, and tumor growth in vivo. Cancer Res. 59:3468-3474.
B
degradation mechanisms mediates constitutive NF-
B activation in mature B cells. J. Immunol. 164:4762-4767.
B involves activation of the I
B kinase
(IKK
) and IKKß cellular kinases. Mol. Cell. Biol. 18:5157-5165.
B puzzle. Cell 109(Suppl.):S81-S96.[CrossRef][Medline]
B complexes changes during B-cell development. Cell Growth Differ. 5:1321-1331.[Abstract]
B
proteolysis mediated by cytosolic m-calpain. A mechanism parallel to the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway for nuclear factor-
b activation. J. Biol. Chem. 274:787-794.
B as a therapeutic target in multiple myeloma. J. Biol. Chem. 277:16639-16647.
B activation by UV radiation and topoisomerase inhibitors. Mol. Cell. Biol. 22:5813-5825.
B activation by camptothecin. A linkage between nuclear DNA damage and cytoplasmic signaling events. J. Biol. Chem. 275:9501-9509.
B.I
B complexes. J. Biol. Chem. 275:32800-32806.
B-
activates NF-
B without proteolytic degradation of I
B-
. Cell 86:787-798.[CrossRef][Medline]
B sites. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:3715-3719.
B
/NF-
B complex. Cell 95:749-758.[CrossRef][Medline]
B kinase alpha is essential for mature B cell development and function. J. Exp. Med. 193:417-426.
B activation through tyrosine phosphorylation of I
B-
in RAW264.7 macrophages. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 169:59-65.[CrossRef][Medline]
]B activity. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 18:621-663.[CrossRef][Medline]
B in cancer: from innocent bystander to major culprit. Nat. Rev. Cancer 2:301-310.[CrossRef][Medline]
B inhibitor I
B
in vivo. EMBO J. 15:6716-6726.[Medline]
B/Rel family proteins during B-cell terminal differentiation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 14:5349-5359.
Bß x NF-
B p65 homodimer complex. J. Biol. Chem. 278:23094-23100.
B
at S-283, S-289, S-293, and T-291 and is required for its degradation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:899-906.
B kinases essential for NF-
B activation. Science 278:860-866.
B
degradation is responsible for constitutive NF-
B activity in mature murine B-cell lines. Mol. Cell. Biol. 14:3276-3282.
B-binding complexes during murine B-cell differentiation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:5056-5060.
B
proteolytic pathway in WEHI231 immature B cells. Mol. Cell. Biol. 18:19-29.
B1 precursor protein and the activation of NF-
B. Cell 78:773-785.[CrossRef][Medline]
B-bound I
B
. J. Biol. Chem. 275:21278-21286.
B kinase signaling is essential for maintenance of mature B cells. J. Exp. Med. 196:743-752.
B and confers resistance to apoptosis. J. Biol. Chem. 276:37102-37108.
B via a PI3-kinase/Akt pathway involving calpain-mediated degradation of I
B-
that can be inhibited by the tumor suppressor PTEN. Oncogene 20:1287-1299.[CrossRef][Medline]
B1 and c-Rel reveals that overlapping roles for these transcription factors in the B cell lineage are restricted to the activation and function of mature cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:4514-4519.
B
that functions as a stable inhibitor of NF-
B. J. Biol. Chem. 274:20664-20670.
B
by casein kinase II occurs preferentially at serine 293: requirement for degradation of free I
B
. Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:3554-3559.
of a second, evolutionary conserved, NF-
B signaling pathway. Science 293:1495-1499.
B
. J. Immunol. 167:4919-4925.
B
, I
Bß, and I
B
mediated by the F-box protein FWD1. J. Biol. Chem. 274:28169-28174.
B regulation in WEHI-231 B cells. Mol. Pharmacol. 61:177-185.
B
degradation and NF-
B activation pathway in WEHI-231 B cells. Biochem. J., in press.
B proteins control NF-
B activity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:49-54.
B/Rel expression and the pathogenesis of breast cancer. J. Clin. Investig. 100:2952-2960.[Medline]
B
by the F-box protein Slimb/ß-TrCP. Genes Dev. 13:284-294.
B/Rel involves phosphorylation and degradation of I
B
and RelA (p65)-mediated induction of the c-rel gene. Mol. Cell. Biol. 14:7377-7384.
B controls expression of inhibitor I
B
: evidence for an inducible autoregulatory pathway. Science 259:1912-1915.
B and stabilizes a newly phosphorylated form of I
B-
that is still bound to NF-
B. EMBO J. 13:5433-5441.[Medline]
B
: association with NF-
B and the PEST sequence in I
B
are not required. Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:6037-6045.
B
in response to inducers of NF-
B activity. Mol. Cell. Biol. 15:5339-5345.
Bß. J. Biol. Chem. 274:29591-29594.
B
is mediated by an inducible destruction box that can be transferred to NF-
B, bcl-3 or p53. Nucleic Acids Res. 26:1724-1730.
B-inducing kinase regulates the processing of NF-
B2 p100. Mol. Cell 7:401-409.[CrossRef][Medline]
-B cellular function via specific targeting of the I-
-B-ubiquitin ligase. EMBO J. 16:6486-6494.[CrossRef][Medline]
B
-ubiquitin ligase. Nature 396:590-594.[CrossRef][Medline]
B by IKK
and IKKß: discrimination between free and NF-
B-bound substrate. Science 281:1360-1363.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2010 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»