In addition to engagement of the T cell receptor-CD3 complex, T lymphocytes can be activated by a variety of cell surface molecules including the ϳ50-kDa surface receptor CD2. While the majority of biochemical signaling elements are triggered by either CD2 or TcR-CD3 receptors, a small number of proteins are engaged by only one receptor. Recently, p62 dok (Dok1), a member of the Dok family of adapter molecules, has been reported to be activated by CD2 and not by CD3 engagement. Here we have examined the role of p62 dok in CD2-dependent signaling in Jurkat T cells. As previously reported, we find that ligation of the CD2 molecule by mitogenic pairs of anti-CD2 mAbs led to phosphorylation of p62 dok . While CD2-induced p62 dok tyrosine phosphorylation was independent of both the p36/38 membrane adapter protein linker of activated T cells (LAT) and the ZAP70/Syk family of kinases, it was dependent upon the Src family of kinases including Lck and Fyn. We find further that CD2 engagement induced the association of tyrosine-phosphorylated p62 dok to Crk-L. The CD2-dependent association of p62 dok to Crk-L was independent of expression of the ZAP70/Syk family of kinases. Of note, while T cell receptor-CD3 engagement did not induce either p62 dok phosphorylation or Crk-L association in Jurkat T cells, it did inhibit CD2-dependent p62 dok -Crk-L complexes; this TcR-CD3-mediated regulation was dependent upon ZAP70 kinase activity. Our data suggest that phosphorylation of p62 dok and its interaction with other signaling proteins may depend upon integrated signals emanating from the CD2 receptor, utilizing a ZAP70/LAT-independent pathway, and the TcR-CD3 receptor, which is ZAP70/Syk-dependent.
T cell antigen receptor (TCR)1 engagement by specific antigen embedded within MHC proteins or by anti-CD3 mAb triggers a complex network of biochemical signal transduction events that direct the functional program of the T cell (1). Early T cell biochemical signaling involves Src (Lck and Fyn)-related tyrosine kinase activity leading to ZAP70 kinase activity (2-5). Engagement of TcR-CD3 complexes leads to the recruitment of adaptor molecules and enzymes (protein tyrosine and serine/ threonine kinases and phosphatases) in a multicomponent signaling complex in specialized membrane domains termed lipid rafts (6, 7). Signal transduction culminates in transcriptional activation leading to cytokine production and cellular proliferation.The canonical early biochemical events that follow TcR-CD3 engagement may be mimicked by ligation, via mitogenic combinations of mAbs, of the CD2 molecule, a 50 -55-kDa glycoprotein expressed on the surface of essentially all human T and natural killer cells (8 -10). Pairs of anti-CD2 mAbs induce activation of the Src (Lck/Fyn) kinases, ZAP70 kinase, the adaptor molecules LAT and Cbl, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, inter alia, leading to transcriptional activation of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and cytokine (e.g. interleukin-2) production (11-20). Indeed, the remarkable similarity between t...