Involvement of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor type 1 and type 4 in migratory response of mouse T cells toward S1P.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a pleiotropic lysophospholipid, regulates signal transduction pathway via G-protein-coupled receptors termed S1P1-5 in several types of the cells including lymphocytes. Higher levels of S1P4 mRNA as well as S1P1 mRNA are expressed in lymphoid tissues such as the spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, and Payer's patches. In contrast to S1P1 that plays an essential role in lymphocyte egress, little is known about the role of S1P4 in immune system. In this study, we found that S1P at 10 to 100 nM significantly induced the cell migration and the significant levels of S1P1 and S1P4 mRNA were expressed in mouse CD4 T cells, D10.G4.1 mouse Th2 cells, and EL-4.IL-2 mouse thymoma cells. In D10.G4.1 and EL-4.IL-2 cells, S1P-induced migration was almost completely inhibited by pretreatment with pertussis toxin, Clostoridium difficile toxin B, and (S)-enantiomer of FTY720-phosphate, a potent agonist at S1P1 and S1P4. The members of the Rho family small GTPase, Cdc42 and Rac were activated by S1P stimulation in these cells. The transfection with dominant negative or constitutively active forms of Cdc42 and Rac revealed that the activation of both Cdc42 and Rac is essential for S1P-induced migration of these cells. The immunoprecipitation assays using CHO cells co-expressing both S1P4 and S1P1 receptors indicated that S1P4 and S1P1 are associated on the cell surface. These results suggest that the association of S1P4 and S1P1 plays an important role in migratory response of mouse T cells toward S1P.