Previous work has demonstrated that SLP-76, a Grb2-associated tyrosine-phosphorylated protein, augments Interleukin-2 promoter activity when overexpressed in the Jurkat T cell line. This activity requires regions of SLP-76 that mediate protein-protein interactions with other molecules in T cells, suggesting that SLP-76-associated proteins also function to regulate signal transduction. Here we describe the molecular cloning of SLAP-130, a SLP-76-associated phosphoprotein of 130 kDa. We demonstrate that SLAP-130 is hematopoietic cell-specific and associates with the SH2 domain of SLP-76. Additionally, we show that SLAP-130 is a substrate of the T cell antigen receptor-induced protein tyrosine kinases. Interestingly, we find that in contrast to SLP-76, overexpression of SLAP-130 diminishes T cell antigen receptor-induced activation of the interleukin-2 promoter in Jurkat T cells and interferes with the augmentation of interleukin-2 promoter activity seen when SLP-76 is overexpressed in these cells. These data suggest that SLP-76 recruits a negative regulator, SLAP-130, as well as positive regulators of signal transduction in T cells. Engagement of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR)1 results in the activation of protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) and the subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation of numerous proteins in T cells (1). Our efforts to characterize substrates of the TCRinduced PTK activity led to the cloning of SLP-76, a tyrosinephosphorylated hematopoietic cell-specific protein that associates with the SH3 domains of Grb2 (2, 3). A possible function of SLP-76 in T cells was suggested by experiments showing that overexpression of SLP-76 augments TCR-mediated signals that lead to the induction of IL-2 gene promoter activity (4, 5). We have shown that the activity of SLP-76 requires engagement of the TCR and that overexpression of SLP-76 results in increased activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade following TCR ligation.2 Interestingly, three distinct regions of SLP-76 that are responsible for protein-protein interactions in T cells are required for its ability to augment IL-2 promoter activity when overexpressed (6, 7).2 These data suggest that SLP-76 functions as a link between proteins that regulate signals generated by TCR ligation.To investigate the function of SLP-76 in T cells further, we and others have begun to characterize SLP-76-associated proteins that may participate with SLP-76 in transducing signals from the TCR to the nucleus. These proteins include Vav, which associates with the amino-terminal acidic region of SLP-76 in a phosphotyrosine-dependent manner (5,8,9); the adapter protein Grb2, which interacts with a proline-rich motif of SLP-76 via its SH3 domains (3, 4); and two unidentified tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins of 64 and 130 kDa and a serine/threonine kinase, all of which associate with the carboxyl-terminal SH2 domain of SLP-76 (4). In this study, we report the cloning of the cDNA encoding a 130-kDa protein (SLAP-130 for SLP-76 associated phosphoprotein of 130 kDa) that as...

Interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) is a cytoplasmic cysteine protease required for generating the bioactive form of the interleukin-1 beta cytokine from its inactive precursor. We report the identification of ICH-2, a novel human gene encoding a member of the ICE cysteine protease family, and characterization of its protein product. ICH-2 mRNA is widely expressed in human tissues in a pattern similar to, but distinct from, that of ICE. Overexpression of ICH-2 in insect cells induces apoptosis. Purified ICH-2 is functional as a protease in vitro. A comparison of the inhibitor profiles and substrate cleavage by ICH-2 and ICE shows that the enzymes share catalytic properties but may differ in substrate specificities, suggesting that the two enzymes have different functions in vivo.

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The mechanism by which the products of the v-rel oncogene, the corresponding c-rel proto-oncogene, and the related dorsal gene of Drosophila melanogaster exert their effects is not clear. Here we show that the v-rel, chicken c-rel, and dorsal proteins activated gene expression when fused to LexA sequences and bound to DNA upstream of target genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have defined two distinct activation regions in the c-rel protein. Region I, located in the amino-terminal half of rel and dorsal proteins, contains no stretches of glutamines, prolines, or acidic amino acids and therefore may be a novel activation domain. Lesions in the v-rel protein that diminished or abolished oncogenic transformation of avian spleen cells correspondingly affected transcription activation by region I. Region II, located in the carboxy terminus of the c-rel protein, is highly acidic. Region II is not present in the v-rel protein or in a transforming mutant derivative of the c-rel protein.Our results show that the oncogenicity of Rel proteins requires activation region I and suggest that the biological function of rel and dorsal proteins depends on transcription activation by this region.