Control of B cell production by the adaptor protein lnk. Definition Of a conserved family of signal-modulating proteins.
Takaki S, Sauer K, Iritani BM, Chien S, Ebihara Y, Tsuji K, Takatsu K, Perlmutter RM.
Department of Immunology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108, Japan.
Lnk is an SH2 domain-containing adaptor protein expressed preferentially in lymphocytes. To illuminate the importance of Lnk, we generated lnk(-/-) mice. Whereas T cell development was unaffected, pre-B and immature B cells accumulated in the spleens. In the bone marrow, B-lineage cells were proportionately increased, reflecting enhanced production of pro-B cells that resulted in part from hypersensitivity of precursors to SCF, the ligand for c-kit. Hence, Lnk ordinarily acts to regulate B cell production. Further characterization of lnk(-/-) mice also revealed that full-length Lnk is a 68 kDa protein containing a conserved proline-rich region and a PH domain. Lnk is a representative of a multigene adaptor protein family whose members act, by analogy with Lnk, to modulate intracellular signaling.
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PMID: 11114373 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]