Mechanism for Removal of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 1 from the Cell Surface by the Adenovirus RIDα/β Complex

Proteins encoded in adenovirus early region 3 have important immunoregulatory properties. We have recently shown that the E3-10.4K/14.5K (RIDα/β) complex downregulates tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) expression at the plasma membrane. To study the role of the RIDβ tyrosine sorting motif in the removal of surface TNFR1, tyrosine 122 on RIDβ was mutated to alanine or phenylalanine. Both RIDβ mutations not only abolished the downregulation of surface TNFR1 but paradoxically increased surface TNFR1 levels. RID also downregulates other death receptors, such as FAS; however, surface FAS expression was not increased by RIDβ mutants, suggesting that regulation of TNFR1 and that of FAS by RID are mechanistically different. In the mixing experiments, the wild-type (WT) RID-mediated TNFR1 downregulation was partially inhibited in the presence of RIDβ mutants, indicating that the mutants compete for TNFR1 access. Indeed, an association between RIDβ and TNFR1 was shown by coimmunoprecipitation. In contrast, the mutants did not affect the WT RID-induced downregulation of FAS. These differential effects support a model in which RID associates with TNFR1 on the plasma membrane, whereas RID probably associates with FAS in a cytoplasmic compartment. By using small interfering RNA against the μ2 subunit of adaptor protein 2, dominant negative dynamin construct K44A, and the lysosomotropic agents bafilomycin A1 and ammonium chloride, we also demonstrated that surface TNFR1 was internalized by RID by a clathrin-dependent process involving μ2 and dynamin, followed by degradation of TNFR1 via an endosomal/lysosomal pathway.