Dahlenborg, K.

Function of Bruton's tyrosine kinase during B cell development is partially independent of its catalytic activity (Article)

2003-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Tec family member Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase that transduces signals from the pre-B and B cell receptor (BCR). Btk is involved in pre-B cell maturation by regulating IL-7 responsiveness, cell surface phenotype changes, and the activation of lambda L chain gene rearrangements. In mature B cells, Btk is essential for BCR-mediated proliferation and survival. Upon BCR stimulation, Btk is transphosphorylated at position Y551, which promotes its catalytic activity and subsequently results in autophosphorylation at position Y223 in the Src homology 3 domain. To address the significance of Y223 autophosphorylation and the requirement of enzymatic activity for Btk function in vivo, we generated transgenic mice that express the autophosphorylation site mutant Y223F and the kinase-inactive mutant K430R, respectively. We found that Y223 autophosphorylation was not required for the regulation of IL-7 responsiveness and cell surface phenotype changes in differentiating pre-B cells, or for peripheral B cell differentiation. However, expression of the Y223F-Btk transgene could not fully rescue the reduction of lambda L chain usage in Btk-deficient mice. In contrast, transgenic expression of kinase-inactive K430R-Btk completely reconstituted lambda usage in Btk-deficient mice, but the defective modulation of pre-B cell surface markers, peripheral B cell survival, and BCR-mediated NF-kappaB induction were partially corrected. From these findings, we conclude that: 1) autophosphorylation at position Y223 is not essential for Btk function in vivo, except for regulation of lambda L chain usage, and 2) during B cell development, Btk partially acts as an adapter molecule, independent of its catalytic activity.

Bruton's tyrosine kinase cooperates with the B cell linker protein SLP-65 as a tumor suppressor in Pre-B cells (Article)

2003-01-01T00:00:00Z

Expression of the pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR) leads to activation of the adaptor molecule SLP-65 and the cytoplasmic kinase Btk. Mice deficient for one of these signaling proteins have an incomplete block in B cell development at the stage of large cycling pre-BCR+CD43+ pre-B cells. Our recent findings of defective SLP-65 expression in approximately 50% of childhood pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemias and spontaneous pre-B cell lymphoma development in SLP-65-/- mice demonstrate that SLP-65 acts as a tumor suppressor. To investigate cooperation between Btk and SLP-65, we characterized the pre-B cell compartment in single and double mutant mice, and found that the two proteins have a synergistic role in the developmental progression of large cycling into small resting pre-B cells. We show that Btk/SLP-65 double mutant mice have a dramatically increased pre-B cell tumor incidence ( approximately 75% at 16 wk of age), as compared with SLP-65 single deficient mice (<10%). These findings demonstrate that Btk cooperates with SLP-65 as a tumor suppressor in pre-B cells. Furthermore, transgenic low-level expression of a constitutive active form of Btk, the E41K-Y223F mutant, prevented tumor formation in Btk/SLP-65 double mutant mice, indicating that constitutive active Btk can substitute for SLP-65 as a tumor suppressor.

Bruton's tyrosine kinase regulates the activation of gene rearrangements at the lambda light chain locus in precursor B cells in the mouse (Article)

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase involved in precursor B (pre-B) cell receptor signaling. Here we demonstrate that Btk-deficient mice have an approximately 50% reduction in the frequency of immunoglobulin (Ig) lambda light chain expression, already at the immature B cell stage in the bone marrow. Conversely, transgenic mice expressing the activated mutant Btk(E41K) showed increased lambda usage. As the kappa/lambda ratio is dependent on (a) the level and kinetics of kappa and lambda locus activation, (b) the life span of pre-B cells, and (c) the extent of receptor editing, we analyzed the role of Btk in these processes. Enforced expression of the Bcl-2 apoptosis inhibitor did not alter the Btk dependence of lambda usage. Crossing 3-83mudelta autoantibody transgenic mice into Btk-deficient mice showed that Btk is not essential for receptor editing. Also, Btk-deficient surface Ig(+) B cells that were generated in vitro in interleukin 7-driven bone marrow cultures manifested reduced lambda usage. An intrinsic defect in lambda locus recombination was further supported by the finding in Btk-deficient mice of reduced lambda usage in the fraction of pre-B cells that express light chains in their cytoplasm. These results implicate Btk in the regulation of the activation of the lambda locus for V(D)J recombination in pre-B cells.