Reconstitution of Btk signaling by the atypical tec family tyrosine kinases Bmx and Txk

J Biol Chem. 1999 May 7;274(19):13577-85. doi: 10.1074/jbc.274.19.13577.

Abstract

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is mutated in X-linked agammaglobulinemia patients and plays an essential role in B cell receptor signal transduction. Btk is a member of the Tec family of nonreceptor protein-tyrosine kinases that includes Bmx, Itk, Tec, and Txk. Cell lines deficient for Btk are impaired in phospholipase C-gamma2 (PLCgamma2)-dependent signaling. Itk and Tec have recently been shown to reconstitute PLCgamma2-dependent signaling in Btk-deficient human cells, but it is not known whether the atypical Tec family members, Bmx and Txk, can reconstitute function. Here we reconstitute Btk-deficient DT40 B cells with Bmx and Txk to compare their function with other Tec kinases. We show that in common with Itk and Tec, Bmx reconstituted PLCgamma2-dependent responses including calcium mobilization, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation, and apoptosis. Txk also restored PLCgamma2/calcium signaling but, unlike other Tec kinases, functioned in a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-independent manner and failed to reconstitute apoptosis. These results are consistent with a common role for Tec kinases as amplifiers of PLCgamma2-dependent signal transduction, but suggest that the pleckstrin homology domain of Tec kinases, absent in Txk, is essential for apoptosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis
  • Cell Line
  • Enzyme Activation
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction*

Substances

  • Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell
  • BMX protein, human
  • Bmx protein, mouse
  • Tec protein-tyrosine kinase
  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
  • Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase
  • BTK protein, human
  • Btk protein, mouse