Cell surface receptors Ly-9 and CD84 recruit the X-linked lymphoproliferative disease gene product SAP

X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP) is a rare immune disorder commonly triggered by infection with Epstein-Barr virus. Major disease manifestations include fatal acute infectious mononucleosis, B-cell lymphoma, and progressive dys-gammaglobulinemia. SAP/SH2D1A, the product of the gene mutated in XLP, is a small protein that comprises a single SH2 domain and a short tail of 26 amino acids. SAP binds to a specific motif in the cytoplasmic tails of the cell surface receptors SLAM and 2B4, where it blocks recruitment of the phosphatase SHP-2. Here it is reported that Ly-9 and CD84, 2 related glycoproteins differentially expressed on hematopoietic cells, also recruit SAP. Interactions between SAP and Ly-9 or CD84 were analyzed using a novel yeast 2-hybrid system, by COS cell transfections and in lymphoid cells. Recruitment of SAP is most efficient when the specific tyrosine residues in the cytoplasmic tails of Ly-9 or CD84 are phosphorylated. It is concluded that in activated T cells, the SAP protein binds to and regulates signal transduction events initiated through the engagement of SLAM, 2B4, CD84, and Ly-9. This suggests that combinations of dysfunctional signaling pathways initiated by these 4 cell surface receptors may cause the complex phenotypes of XLP.