Nuclear Import of Janus Kinase 1 Is Mediated By Multiple Alpha Importins and Is Required for the Survival of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Janus kinases (JAKs) are non-receptor tyrosine kinases that are generally found bound to cytokine receptors. JAKs have well established roles in activating signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) in response to cytokine stimulation in the cytoplasm. However, the epigenetic regulation of gene transcription by nuclear JAK2 through phosphorylation of tyrosine 41 on the histone protein H3 has recently been discovered. Our very recent work demonstrated that this histone targeting mechanism applies to another member of the JAK family, JAK1, which is activated by the autocrine cytokines IL6 and IL10 in activated B-cell-like diffuse large B cell lymphoma (ABC DLBCL). Genome-wide mapping of the H3Y41p histone mark revealed 2956 potential JAK1 target genes, 91% of which do not have a STAT motif in their promoter region. Here we investigated the JAK1 nuclear transfer mechanism in ABC DLBCL. Using cell fractionation and immunofluorescence assays, we detected a nuclear pool of JAK1 in both HEK 293T cells and ABC DLBCL cell lines. In searching for a putative nuclear localization signal (NLS) of JAK1, we identified a basic amino acid enriched sequence (KRKK…KHKK, starting from amino acid 342) that was reminiscent of a classical bipartite NLS. Immunofluorescence with GFP-tagged JAK1 truncations and full length JAK1 with mutations in putative NLS revealed that the first group of amino acids (KRKK) was the NLS that was responsible for the nuclear transport of JAK1. Our results, however, indicate that the active transport of JAK1 into the nucleus is independent of its activation status, since nucleocytoplasmic distribution did not change either in HEK293T cells when constitutively activated JAK1 was expressed or in ABC DLBCL cells with IL-6 stimulation or in GCB DLBCL cells that lack cytokine signaling.

To identify potential importins that recognize the NLS of JAK1 and subsequently transport JAK1 into the nucleus, we used immunoprecipitation and GST pull down assays. We found that importin a4, a5 and a7 (encoded by KPNA3, KPNA1, and KPNA6 respectively) physically interacted with the NLS of JAK1 and these interactions were abolished when the 4 amino acids in the NLS were mutated to alanine, suggesting these alpha importins recognize the NLS of JAK1 (KRKK) and mediate the nuclear transport of JAK1. To test whether the NLS-mediated nuclear transfer that allows JAK1 to function in the nucleus is important for the fitness of ABC DLBCL cells, we performed JAK1 knockdown and rescue experiments in TMD8 and OCI-Ly10 cells, in which endogenous JAK1 was knocked down by an shRNA and an shRNA-resistant cDNA of either wild type or NLS-defective JAK1 was constantly expressed. The results revealed that knockdown of JAK1 led to reduced viable cells in the culture, suggesting that JAK1 expression is required for cancer cell survival. As expected, overexpression of wild type JAK1 completely reversed the toxicity due to knockdown of endogenous JAK1. However, overexpression of the NLS-defective JAK1 did not rescue the toxic effects of JAK1 shRNA. Thus, the findings suggest that nuclear transport of JAK1 is an essential process to maintain the survival of ABC DLBCL, and targeting the JAK1 NLS might be a potential targeted therapeutic strategy.