The CD100 Receptor Interacts with Its Plexin B2 Ligand to Regulate Epidermal γδ T Cell Function

Summaryγδ T cells respond rapidly to keratinocyte damage, providing essential contributions to the skin wound healing process. The molecular interactions regulating their response are unknown. Here, we identify a role for interaction of plexin B2 with the CD100 receptor in epithelial repair. In vitro blocking of plexin B2 or CD100 inhibited γδ T cell activation. Furthermore, CD100 deficiency in vivo resulted in delayed repair of cutaneous wounds due to a disrupted γδ T cell response to keratinocyte damage. Ligation of CD100 in γδ T cells induced cellular rounding via signals through ERK kinase and cofilin. Defects in this rounding process were evident in the absence of CD100-mediated signals, thereby providing a mechanistic explanation for the defective wound healing in CD100-deficient animals. The discovery of immune functions for plexin B2 and CD100 provides insight into the complex cell-cell interactions between epithelial resident γδ T cells and the neighboring cells they support

cDNA Sequence and Fab Crystal Structure of HL4E10, a Hamster IgG Lambda Light Chain Antibody Stimulatory for γδ T Cells

Hamsters are widely used to generate monoclonal antibodies against mouse, rat, and human antigens, but sequence and structural information for hamster immunoglobulins is sparse. To our knowledge, only three hamster IgG sequences have been published, all of which use kappa light chains, and no three-dimensional structure of a hamster antibody has been reported. We generated antibody HL4E10 as a probe to identify novel costimulatory molecules on the surface of γδ T cells which lack the traditional αβ T cell co-receptors CD4, CD8, and the costimulatory molecule CD28. HL4E10 binding to γδ T cell, surface-expressed, Junctional Adhesion Molecule-Like (JAML) protein leads to potent costimulation via activation of MAP kinase pathways and cytokine production, resulting in cell proliferation. The cDNA sequence of HL4E10 is the first example of a hamster lambda light chain and only the second known complete hamster heavy chain sequence. The crystal structure of the HL4E10 Fab at 2.95 Å resolution reveals a rigid combining site with pockets faceted by solvent-exposed tyrosine residues, which are structurally optimized for JAML binding. The characterization of HL4E10 thus comprises a valuable addition to the spartan database of hamster immunoglobulin genes and structures. As the HL4E10 antibody is uniquely costimulatory for γδ T cells, humanized versions thereof may be of clinical relevance in treating γδ T cell dysfunction-associated diseases, such as chronic non-healing wounds and cancer

Soluble CD36 Ectodomain Binds Negatively Charged Diacylglycerol Ligands and Acts as a Co-Receptor for TLR2

BACKGROUND:Cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in many biological processes, such as platelet biology, angiogenesis and in the aetiopathology of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the most important receptors of the innate immune system. Their main function is the recognition of conserved structure of microorganisms. This recognition triggers signaling pathways that activate transcription of cytokines and co-stimulatory molecules which participate in the generation of an immune response against microbes. In particular, TLR2 has been shown to recognize a broad range of ligands. Recently, we showed that CD36 serves as a co-receptor for TLR2 and enhances recognition of specific diacylglycerides derived from bacteria. METHODOLOGY/ PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here, we investigate the mechanism by which CD36 contributes to ligand recognition and activation of TLR2 signaling pathway. We show that the ectodomain of murine CD36 (mCD36ED) directly interacts with negatively charged diacylglycerol ligands, which explains the specificity and selectivity of CD36 as a TLR2 co-receptor. We also show that mCD36ED amplifies the pro-inflammatory response to lipoteichoic acid in macrophages of wild-type mice and restores the pro-inflammatory response of macrophages from mice deficient in CD36 (oblivious), but not from mice deficient in cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) (heedless). CONCLUSION/ SIGNIFICANCE: These data indicate that the CD36 ectodomain is the only relevant domain for activation of TLR2 signaling pathway and that CD36 and CD14 have a non-redundant role for loading ligands onto TLR2 in the plasma-membrane. The pro-inflammatory role of soluble CD36 can be relevant in the activation of the immune response against pathogens, as well as in the progression of chronic diseases. Therefore, an increased level of soluble forms of CD36, which has been reported to be increased in type II diabetic patients, could accelerate atherosclerosis by increasing the pro-inflammatory response to diacylglycerol ligands

Structure prediction and automated modeling of HL4E10.

<p>Cartoon representation of the superimposition of the experimentally determined HL4E10 heavy and light chain variable domain structures and the three top scoring heavy (1W72, 2G75, 1ADQ) and light chain (1A7P, 1GIG, and 1DL7) computational models. Heavy and light chains are shown in dark and light gray, respectively. The CDR loops of HL4E10 are color coded as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019828#pone-0019828-g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1</a>&<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019828#pone-0019828-g002" target="_blank">2</a>: CDR L1 yellow, CDR L2 cyan, CDR L3 orange, CDR H1 blue, CDR H2 pink, CDR H3 green. The Cα atoms of the experimentally determined HL4E10 structure and the computational models superimpose well, with an average r.m.s.d. of 0.68 Å for the heavy chains and 0.77 Å for the light chains, respectively. The largest deviations are observed, as expected, in the CDR loops, namely L1, L3 and H3.</p

Hierarchical clustering of the HL4E10 protein sequence with known immunoglobulins.

<p>Distances were calculated between protein sequences of (<b>A</b>) heavy chains and (<b>B</b>) light chains as the number of amino acid substitutions per site. Scale bar indicates distances. GenBank accession numbers of sequences included in the analysis are indicated within branch labels. Hierarchical clustering was performed on distance matrices generated from protein sequences with removed signal peptides.</p

Amino-acid sequence alignment of the HL4E10 hamster IgG light chain with those of other hamster antibodies.

<p>The HL4E10 lambda light chain is aligned with H28.710 (Genbank accession no. U17165 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019828#pone.0019828-Whitters1" target="_blank">[32]</a>), 145.2c11 (U17870 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019828#pone.0019828-Alegre1" target="_blank">[31]</a>), and 1F4 (S80615 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019828#pone.0019828-Mallender1" target="_blank">[30]</a>). Identical residues are in red and homologous exchanges are in green. Signal peptides are underlined, CDR loops are shaded: CDR L1 is in yellow, CDR L2 is in cyan, CDR L3 is in orange-red, and residues which are rarely observed in antibodies at particular locations are shaded gray. Kabat numbering is used throughout, as well as the definition of CDRs.</p