• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1529-1537
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• 2009

To elucidate further the antitumor effects of a natural L-arginine analogue, L-canavanine, the mechanism underlying apoptogenic activity of L-canavanine and its modulation by protein tyrosine kinase $p56^{lck}$ was investigated in human Jurkat T cells. When the cells were treated with 1.25 to 2.5 mM L-canavanine for 36 h, several apoptotic events including mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta\Psi}m$) loss, activation of caspase-9, -3, -8, and -7, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) degradation, and DNA fragmentation were induced without alteration in the levels of Fas or FasL. These apoptotic changes were more significant in $p56^{lck}$-deficient Jurkat clone JCaM1.6 than in $p56^{lck}$-positive Jurkat clone E6.1. The L-canavanine-induced apoptosis observed in $p56^{lck}$-deficient JCaM1.6 cells was significantly reduced by introducing $p56^{lck}$ gene into JCaM1.6 cells by stable transfection. Treatment of JCaM1.6/lck cells with L-canavanine caused a transient 1.6-fold increase in the kinase activity of $p56^{lck}$. Both FADD-positive wild-type Jurkat T cell clone A3 and FADD-deficient Jurkat T cell clone I2.1 exhibited a similar susceptibility to the cytotoxicity of L-canavanine, excluding involvement of Fas/FasL system in triggering L-canavanine-induced apoptosis. The L-canavanine-induced apoptotic sub-$G_1$ peak and activation of caspase-3, -8, and -7 were abrogated by pan-caspase inhibitor (z-VAD-fmk), whereas L-canavanine-induced activation of caspase-9 was not affected. These results demonstrated that L-canavanine caused apoptosis of Jurkat T cells via the loss of ${\Delta\Psi}m$, and the activation of caspase-9, -3, -8, and -7, leading to PARP degradation, and that the $p56^{lck}$ kinase attenuated the ${\Delta\Psi}m$ loss and activation of caspases, and thus contributed as a negative regulator to L-canavanine-induced apoptosis.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.266-272
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• 2006

Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models were developed for 67 molecules of 2-amino-benzothiazole-6-anilide derivatives against lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (P56 LCK). The molecular field analysis (MFA) and receptor surface analysis (RSA) were employed for QSAR studies and the predictive ability of the model was validated by 15 test set molecules. Structure-based investigations using molecular docking simulation were performed with the crystal structure of P56 LCK. Good correlation between predicted fitness scores versus observed activities was demonstrated. The results suggested that the nature of substitutions at the 2-amino and 6-anilide positions were crucial in enhancing the activity, thereby providing new guidelines for the design of novel P56 LCK inhibitors.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2009

Protein kinase D2 (PKD2) is a member of the PKD serine/threonine protein kinase family that has been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cellular processes including proliferation, survival, protein trafficking and immune response. In the present study, we report a novel interaction between PKD2 and Lck, a member of the Src tyrosine protein kinase family that is predominantly expressed in T cells. This interaction involved the C-terminal kinase domains of both PKD2 and Lck. Moreover, co-expression of Lck enhanced the tyrosine phosphorylation of PKD2 and increased its kinase activity. Finally, we report that PKD2 enhanced T cell receptor (TCR)-induced nuclear factor of T cell (NFAT) activity in Jurkat T cells. These results suggested that Lck regulated the activity of PKD2 by tyrosine phosphorylation, which in turn may have modulated the physiological functions of PKD2 during TCR-induced T cell activation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1995.04a
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• pp.81-81
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• 1995

It is well known that Src Homology 2(SH2) domain in many intracellular signal transduction proteins is very important. The domain has about 100 amino acid residues and bind phosphotyrosine-containing peptide with high affinity and specificity. Lck SH2 domain is a Src-like, lymphocyte-specific tyrosine kinase. An 11-residue phosphopeptide derived from the hamster polvoma middle-T antigen, EPQp YEEIPIYL, binds with an 1 nM dissociation constant to Lck SH2 domain. And it is known that the phosphotyrosine and isoleucine residues of the peptide are tightly bound by two well-defined pockets on Lck SH2 domain's surface. To investigate the conformational changes during complexation of SH2 domain with phosphopeptide we have performed the molecular dynamics simulation for Lck SH2 domain with peptide and peptide-free form at look in aqueous solution. More than 3000 water molecules were incorporated to solvate Lck SH2 domain and peptide. Periodic boundary condition has been applied in molecular dynamics simulation. Data analysis with the results of that simulation shows that the phosphopeptide makes primary interaction with the Lck SH2 domain at six central residues, The comparison of the complexed and uncomplexed SH2 domain structures in solution has revealed only relatively small change. But the hydrophilic and hydrophobic pockets in the protein surface show the conformational changes in spite of the small structural difference between the complex and peptide-free forms.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.200-206
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• 2007

Pharmacophore models for lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (P56 LCK) were developed using CATALYST HypoGen with a training set comprising of 25 different P56 LCK inhibitors. The best quantitative pharmacophore hypothesis comprises of one hydrogen bond acceptor, one hydrogen bond donor, one hydrophobic aliphatic and one ring aromatic features with correlation coefficient of 0.941, root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 0.933 and cost difference (null cost-total cost) of 66.23. The pharmacophore model was validated by two methods and the validated model was further used to search databases for new compounds with good estimated LCK inhibitory activity. These compounds were evaluated for their binding properties at the active site by molecular docking studies using GOLD software. The compounds with good estimated activity and docking scores were evaluated for physiological properties based on Lipinski's rules. Finally 68 compounds satisfied all the properties required to be a successful inhibitor candidate.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.347-351
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• 2002

Transgenes in HSY-TK gene driven by the lck promoter was tested for the expression in immune cells (Jurkat cells) to apply xenotransplantation of human cells into transgenic animals for the potential use of the proliferation or differentiation of human stem cells in the large animal such as an pig. Also, lck-CFP gene was used for transfection experiment into Jurkat cell to confirm the proper regulation of lck promoter for transgene expression in the T cells. Transfection of lck-GFP gene into Jurkat ceils induced CFP expression in transfected cells. The expression of Ick-TK and Ick-CFP genes was confirmed by RT-PCR using RNAs extracted from Jurkat cells, When Jurkat cells transfected with TK and CFP genes were selected against G418 or gancyclovir treatments, Jurkat cells transfected with TK gene were not proliferated in G4i8 and gancyclovir medium while intact cells or cells transfected with CFP gene could grow in gancyclovir medium. However, Jurkat cells transfected with TK or GFP gene were proliferated in G418 medium probably due to Neo$^{r}$ gene in the vector. Gancyclovir treatment destroyed Jurkat cells expressing TK gene indicating that T-cells expressing TK gene can be selectively eliminated by TK gene expression driven by lck promoter.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.664-666
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• 2003

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.225-231
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• 2003

Transgenic mice containing Diphtheria Toxin-A (DT-A) gene fused to proximal lck promoter sequences was used for analysis of DT-A gene expression and thymocyte development. The diphtheria toxin gene was expressed in thymus, spleen and liver of transgenic mice confirmed by RT-PCR and Northern blotting. A FACS analysis with thymocyte cell surface antigens antibodies (CD4 and CD8) showed that the number of peripheral mature single positive thymocytes ($CD4^{+}\;and\;CD8^{+}$ cells) T-cells was severely reduced in transgenic mice compared to that in the non-transgenic littermates. A relative portion of $CD8^{+}$ single positive thymocytes was about 33.2% in transgenic peripheral T-cells while 50.6% in wild type. Reduction of $CD4^{+}$ cell numbers in transgenic mice was observed (5.9% in transgenic versus 10.3% in non-transgenic). The data from analysis of these transgenic mice indicate that the proximal lck promoter regulated the expression of DT-A gene at high level in developing thymocytes and the DT-A disrupted developing thymocytes in transgenic mice.

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.575-580
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• 2008

Thymocyte-specific transcriptional regulatory systems can be used to better understand the relationship between transcription and V(D)J recombination during early T cell development. In this study, we generated transgenic mice expressing the transactivator Gal4-VP16 or the Gal4 DNA binding domain (Gal4-DBD) under the control of the lck proximal promoter, which is only active in immature thymocytes. From these studies Gal4-VP16 and Gal4-DBD expression was shown to significantly alter thymic cellularity and differentiation without significantly changing the $CD3^+$ thymocyte distribution. Furthermore, the presence of Gal4-VP16 or Gal4-DBD in the transgenic thymocytes retarded the mobility of the Gal4 DNA binding motif as determined by a gel mobility shift assay, suggesting that the developmental alteration did not affect the functional property of the transgenic proteins. These results indicated that lck promoter-driven Gal4-VP16 or Gal4-DBD expression did not affect $CD3^+$ mature thymocytes, thus this system can be applied to study transcriptional regulation of transresponder genes in bigenic mouse model thymocytes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.370-376
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• 1998

Src-Homology 2 (SH2) domains have a capacity to bind phosphotyrosine-containing sequence context and play essential roles in various cellular signaling pathways. Due to the specific nature of the binding between SH2 domains and their counterpart proteins, inhibitors of SID domain binding have drawn extensive attention as a potential candidate for therapeutic agents. Here, we describe the binding assay system to screen for the ligands or blockers of the SH2 domains with an emphasis on the $p56^{lck}$ SH2 domain. In our assay system, SID domains expressed and purified as fusion proteins to Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were covalently attached to 96-well microtitre plates through amide bond formation, which were subsequently allowed to bind the biotinylated phosphotyrosine (pY)containing synthetic pep tides. The binding of biotinylated pY peptides was detected by the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated streptavidin. Using the various combinations of SH2 domain-pY peptides, we observed that: (1) The binding of pY-peptides to its counterpart SH2 domain is concentration-dependent and saturable; (2) The binding is highly specific for a particular combination of SH2 domain-pY peptide pair; and (3) The binding of Lck SH2-cognate pY-peptides is specifically competed by the nonbiotinylated peptides with expected relative affinity. These results indicate that the established assay system detects the SH2-pY peptide interaction with reproducible sensitivity and specificity and is suitable for screening the specific inhibitors of $p56^{lck}$ SH2 function.