Quite a few regulatory proteins, including transcription factors, are normally maintained in a dormant state to be activated after internal or environmental cues. Recently, a novel strategy, requiring proteolytic cleavage, was described for the mobilization of dormant transcription factors. These transcription factors are initially synthesized in an inactive form, whereas "nesting" in integral membrane precursor proteins. After a cleavage event, these new active factors are released from the membrane and can migrate into the nucleus to drive regulated gene transcription. This mechanism, regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP), controls diverse biological processes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes in response to a variety of signals. The MHC class II chaperone, CD74 (invariant chain, Ii), was previously shown to function as a signaling molecule in several pathways. Recently, we demonstrated that after intramembranal cleavage, the CD74 cytosolic fragment (CD74-ICD) is released and induces activation of transcription mediated by the NF-B p65/RelA homodimer and the B-cell-enriched coactivator, TAF II 105. Here, we add CD74 to the growing family of RIP-processed proteins. Our studies show that CD74 ectodomain must be processed in the endocytic compartments to allow its intramembrane cleavage that liberates CD74 intracellular domain (CD74-ICD). We demonstrate that CD74-ICD translocates to the nucleus and induces the activation of the p65 member of NF-B in this compartment.
INTRODUCTIONQuite a few regulatory proteins, including transcription factors, are normally maintained in a dormant state and are activated by internal or environmental cues. Recently, a novel strategy (regulated intramembrane proteolysis [RIP]), based on proteolytic cleavage, was discovered for the mobilization of dormant transcription factors. These transcription factors are synthesized initially as inactive, membranebound precursors. Once triggered, RIP proteins are cleaved within the plane of the membrane, and their cytosolic fragment migrates into the nucleus to drive transcription.In general, in most RIP cases reported, cleavage proceeds through a two-step sequential proteolytic process. The first step involves the cleavage of the extracytoplasmic segment to shorten the ectodomain to Ͻ30 aa. This seems to be a requirement for the second proteolytic event, which occurs at the transmembrane domain. The initial shedding prepares the substrate for the intramembrane proteolysis such that the transmembrane region becomes accessible to the second protease, which then releases the product from the lipid bilayer. The released cytosolic fragment then migrates into the nucleus. Intramembrane cleaving proteases (I-CLiPs) catalyze peptide bond hydrolysis in the plane of cellular membranes. These proteases are thought to mediate RIP (Brown et al., 2000), and the reactions they catalyze are, in most cases, part of highly controlled processes. The family of I-CLiPs is growing, and at present, three distinct protease families have been shown to catalyze intramem...