A mouse with a loss-of-function mutation in the c-Cbl TKB domain shows perturbed thymocyte signaling without enhancing the activity of the ZAP-70 tyrosine kinase

The unique tyrosine kinase binding (TKB) domain of Cb1 targets phosphorylated tyrosines on activated protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs); this targeting is considered essential for Cb1 proteins to negatively regulate PTKs. Here, a loss-of-function mutation (G304E) in the c-Cb1 TKB domain, first identified in Caenorhabditis elegans, was introduced into a mouse and its effects in thymocytes and T cells were studied. In marked contrast to the c-Cb1 knockout mouse, we found no evidence of enhanced activity of the ZAP-70 PTK in thymocytes from the TKB domain mutant mouse. This finding contradicts the accepted mechanism of c-Cb1-mediated negative regulation, which requires TKB domain targeting of phosphotyrosine 292 in ZAP-70. However, the TKB domain mutant mouse does show aspects of enhanced signaling that parallel those of the c-Cb1 knockout mouse, but these involve the constitutive activation of Rac and not enhanced PTK activity. Furthermore, the enhanced signaling in CD4(+)CD8(+) double positive thymocytes appears to be compensated by the selective down-regulation of CD3 on mature thymocytes and peripheral T cells from both strains of mutant c-Cb1 mice.