Lymphocyte-specific Protein Tyrosine Kinase
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Tyrosin-protein kinase Lck (or lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase) is a 56
kDa The dalton or unified atomic mass unit (symbols: Da or u, respectively) is a unit of mass defined as of the mass of an unbound neutral atom of carbon-12 in its nuclear and electronic ground state and at rest. It is a non-SI unit accepted f ...
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
that is found inside
lymphocytes A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte) in the immune system of most vertebrates. Lymphocytes include T cells (for cell-mediated and cytotoxic adaptive immunity), B cells (for humoral, antibody-driven adaptive immunity), and ...
and encoded in the human by the ''LCK'' gene. The Lck is a member of Src kinase family (SKF) and is important for the activation of
T-cell receptor The T-cell receptor (TCR) is a protein complex, located on the surface of T cells (also called T lymphocytes). They are responsible for recognizing fragments of antigen as peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. ...
(TCR) signaling in both naive T cells and effector T cells. The role of Lck is less prominent in the activation or in the maintenance of memory CD8 T cells in comparison to CD4 T cells. In addition, the constitutive activity of the mouse Lck homolog varies among memory T cell subsets. It seems that in mice, in the effector memory T cell (TEM) population, more than 50% of Lck is present in a constitutively active conformation, whereas less than 20% of Lck is present as active form in central memory T cells. These differences are due to differential regulation by SH2 domain–containing phosphatase-1 (Shp-1) and C-terminal Src kinase. Lck is responsible for the initiation of the TCR signaling cascade inside the cell by phosphorylating
immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif An immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) is a conserved sequence of four amino acids that is repeated twice in the cytoplasmic tails of non-catalytic tyrosine-phosphorylated receptors, cell-surface proteins found mainly on immune ce ...
s (ITAM) within the TCR-associated chains. Lck can be found in different forms in immune cells: free in the cytosol or bound to the
plasma membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extr ...
(PM) through myristoylation and palmitoylation. Due to the presence of the conserved CxxC motif (C20 and C23) in the zinc clasp structure, Lck is able to bind the cell surface coreceptors CD8 and\or CD4. Bound and free Lck have different properties: free Lck has more pronounced kinase activity in comparison to bound Lck, and moreover, the free form produces a higher level of T cell activation. The reasons for these differences are not well understood yet.


T cell signaling

Lck is most commonly found in
T cell T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their cell ...
s. It associates with the
cytoplasm The cytoplasm describes all the material within a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, including the organelles and excluding the nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The material inside the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell a ...
ic tails of the
CD4 In molecular biology, CD4 (cluster of differentiation 4) is a glycoprotein that serves as a co-receptor for the T-cell receptor (TCR). CD4 is found on the surface of immune cells such as helper T cells, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic c ...
and
CD8 CD8 (cluster of differentiation 8) is a transmembrane protein, transmembrane glycoprotein that serves as a co-receptor for the T-cell receptor (TCR). Along with the TCR, the CD8 co-receptor plays a role in T cell Cell signaling, signaling and aid ...
co-receptors on
T helper cells The T helper cells (Th cells), also known as CD4+ cells or CD4-positive cells, are a type of T cell that play an important role in the adaptive immune system. They aid the activity of other immune cells by releasing cytokines. They are considere ...
and cytotoxic T cells, respectively, to assist signaling from the
T cell receptor The T-cell receptor (TCR) is a protein complex, located on the surface of T cells (also called T lymphocytes). They are responsible for recognizing fragments of antigen as peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. ...
(TCR) complex. T cells are able to respond to pathogen and
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
using T-cell receptor, nevertheless, they can also react to self-antigen causing the onset of
autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...
s. The T cells maturation occurs in the
thymus The thymus (: thymuses or thymi) is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, T cells mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. The thymus ...
and it is regulated by a threshold that defines the limit between the positive and the negative selection of thymocytes. in order to avoid the onset of autoimmune diseases, highly self-reactive T cells are removed during the negative selection, whereas, an amount of weak self-reactive T cells is required to promote an efficient immune response, therefore during the positive selection these cells are chosen for maturation. The threshold for positive and negative selection of developing T cells is regulated by the bound between the Lck and co-receptors. There are two main pools of T cells which mediate adaptive immune responses: CD4+ T cells (or helper T cells), and CD8+ T-cells (or cytotoxic T cells) which are MHCII-and MHCI restricted respectively. Despite their role in the immune system is different their activation is similar.
Cytotoxic T cell A cytotoxic T cell (also known as TC, cytotoxic T lymphocyte, CTL, T-killer cell, cytolytic T cell, CD8+ T-cell or killer T cell) is a T lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell) that kills cancer cells, cells that are infected by intracellular ...
s are directly involved in the individuation and in the removal of infected cells, whereas
helper T cells The T helper cells (Th cells), also known as CD4+ cells or CD4-positive cells, are a type of T cell that play an important role in the adaptive immune system. They aid the activity of other immune cells by releasing cytokines. They are considere ...
modulate other immune cells to supply the response. The initiation of immune response takes place when T cells encounter and recognize their cognate antigen. The antigen-presenting cells (APC) expose on their surface a fraction of the antigen that is recognized either from CD8+ T cells or CD4+ T cells. This binding leads to the activation of TCR signaling cascade in which the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAM) located in the
CD3-zeta T-cell surface glycoprotein CD3 zeta chain also known as T-cell receptor T3 zeta chain or CD247 (Cluster of Differentiation 247) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''CD247'' gene. Some older literature mention a similar protein called ...
chains (ζ-chains) of the TCR complex, are phosphorylated by Lck and less extended by Fyn. Both coreceptor-bound and free Lck can phosphorylate the CD3 chains upon TCR activation, evidences suggest that the free form of Lck can be recruited and trigger the TCR signal faster than the coreceptor-bound Lck Additionally, upon T cell activation, a fraction of kinase active Lck, translocate from outside of
lipid raft The cell membrane, plasma membranes of cells contain combinations of glycosphingolipids, cholesterol and protein Receptor (biochemistry), receptors organized in glycolipoprotein lipid microdomains termed lipid rafts. Their existence in cellular me ...
s (LR) to inside lipid rafts where it interacts with and activates LR-resident Fyn, which is involved in further downstream signaling activation. Once ITAM complex is phosphorylated the CD3 chains can be bound by another
cytoplasm The cytoplasm describes all the material within a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, including the organelles and excluding the nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The material inside the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell a ...
ic
tyrosine -Tyrosine or tyrosine (symbol Tyr or Y) or 4-hydroxyphenylalanine is one of the 20 standard amino acids that are used by cells to synthesize proteins. It is a conditionally essential amino acid with a polar side group. The word "tyrosine" is ...
kinase In biochemistry, a kinase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule don ...
called
ZAP-70 ZAP-70 (Zeta-chain-associated protein kinase 70) is a protein normally expressed near the surface membrane of Lymphocyte, lymphocytes (T cells, natural killer cells, and a subset of B cell, B cells). It is most prominently known to be recruited u ...
. In the case of CD8+ T cells, once ZAP70 binds CD3, the coreceptor associated with Lck binds the MHC stabilizing the TCR-MHC-peptide interaction. The phosphorylated form of ZAP-70 recruits another molecule in the signaling cascade called LAT (Linker for activation of T cells), a
transmembrane protein A transmembrane protein is a type of integral membrane protein that spans the entirety of the cell membrane. Many transmembrane proteins function as gateways to permit the transport of specific substances across the membrane. They frequently un ...
. LAT acts as a scaffold able to regulate the TCR proximal signals in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. The most important proteins recruited by phosphorylated LAT are Shc-
Grb2 Growth factor receptor-bound protein 2, also known as Grb2, is an adaptor protein involved in signal transduction/ cell communication. In humans, the GRB2 protein is encoded by the ''GRB2'' gene. The protein encoded by this gene binds recepto ...
-SOS,
PI3K Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks), also called phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases, are a family of enzymes involved in cellular functions such as cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, motility, survival and intracellular trafficking, which i ...
, and
phospholipase C Phospholipase C (PLC) is a class of membrane-associated enzymes that cleave phospholipids just before the phosphate group (see figure). It is most commonly taken to be synonymous with the human forms of this enzyme, which play an important role i ...
(PLC). The residue responsible for the recruitment of phospholipase C-γ1 (PLC-γ1) is Y132. This binding leads to the Tec family kinase ITK-mediated PLC-γ1 phosphorylation and activation that consequentially produce
calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...
(Ca2+)
ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
s mobilization, and activation of important signaling cascades within the lymphocyte. These include the Ras- MEK- ERK pathway, which goes on to activate certain
transcription factor In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription (genetics), transcription of genetics, genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding t ...
s such as
NFAT Nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) is a family of transcription factors shown to be important in immune response. One or more members of the NFAT family is expressed in most cells of the immune system. NFAT is also involved in the developme ...
,
NF-κB Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) is a family of transcription factor protein complexes that controls transcription (genetics), transcription of DNA, cytokine production and cell survival. NF-κB is found i ...
, and AP-1. These transcription factors regulate the production of a
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