Casitas B-Lineage Lymphoma b Inhibits Antigen Recognition and Slows Cell Cycle Progression at Late Times during CD4+ T Cell Clonal Expansion

Optimal clonal expansion of CD4(+) T cells during the primary response to Ag requires prolonged TCR recognition of peptide Ag/MHC complexes. In this study, we investigated the capacity of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma b (Cbl-b) to counter-regulate late TCR signals necessary for continued cell division in vivo. During the first 24 h of a primary response to Ag, Cblb(-/-) 5C.C7 CD4(+) T cells demonstrated no alteration in CD69, CD25, and CD71 up-regulation or cell growth as compared with wild-type cells. Nevertheless, beyond 24 h, both the expression of CD71 and the rate of cell division were increased in the genetic absence of Cbl-b, leading to an augmented clonal expansion. This deregulation of late T cell proliferation in the absence of Cbl-b resulted in part from an inability of Cblb(-/-) T cells to desensitize Akt, PLCgamma-1, and ERK phosphorylation events downstream of the TCR/CD3 complex, in addition to their failure to undergo a growth arrest in the absence of Ag. These observations now suggest a novel role for Cbl-b in triggering the exit from cell cycle at the end of a CD4(+) T cell clonal expansion.