The dimerization or clustering of receptor signaling chains brings the JAKs into close proximity, causing phosphorylation of each JAK on a tyrosine residue that stimulates its kinase activity. The activated JAKs then phosphorylate their associated receptors on specific tyrosine residues. This phosphotyrosine, and the specific amino acid sequence surrounding it, creates a binding site that is recognized by SH2 domains found in other proteins, in particular members of a family of transcription factors known as signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) (Fig. 3.26).
There are seven STATs (1–4, 5a, 5b, and 6), which reside in the cytoplasm in an inactive form until activated by cytokine receptors. Before activation, most STATs form homodimers, due to a specific homotypic interaction between domains present at the amino termini of the individual STAT proteins. The receptor specificity of each STAT is determined by the recognition of the distinctive phosphotyrosine sequence on each activated receptor by the different SH2 domains within the various STAT proteins. Recruitment of a STAT to the activated receptor brings the STAT close to an activated JAK, which can then phosphorylate a conserved tyrosine residue in the carboxy terminus of the particular STAT. This leads to a rearrangement, in which the phosphotyrosine of each STAT protein binds to the SH2 domain of the other STAT, forming a configuration that can bind DNA with high affinity. Activated STATs predominantly form homodimers, with a cytokine typically activating one type of STAT. For example, IFN-γ activates STAT1 and generates STAT1 homodimers, whereas IL-4 activates STAT6, generating STAT6 homodimers. Other cytokine receptors can activate several STATs, and some STAT heterodimers can be formed. The phosphorylated STAT dimer enters the nucleus, where it acts as a transcription factor to initiate the expression of selected genes that can regulate growth and differentiation of particular subsets of lymphocytes.
Since signaling by these receptors depends on tyrosine phosphorylation, dephosphorylation of the receptor complex by tyrosine phosphatases is one way that cells can terminate signaling. A variety of tyrosine phosphatases have been implicated in the dephosphorylation of cytokine receptors, JAKs, and STATs. These include the nonreceptor tyrosine phosphatases SHP-1 and SHP-2 (encoded by PTPN6 and PTPN11), and the transmembrane receptor tyrosine phosphatase CD45, which is expressed as multiple isoforms on many hematopoietic cells. Cytokine signaling can also be terminated by negative feedback involving specific inhibitors that are induced by cytokine activation. The suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins are a class of inhibitors that terminate the signaling of many cytokine and hormone receptors. SOCS proteins contain an SH2 domain that can recruit them to the phosphorylated JAK kinase or receptor, and they can inhibit JAK kinases directly, compete for the receptor, and direct the ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of JAKs and STATs. SOCS proteins are induced by STAT activation, and thus inhibit receptor signaling after the cytokine has had its effect. Their importance can be seen in SOCS1-deficient mice, which develop a multiorgan inflammatory infiltrate caused by increased signaling from interferon receptors, γc-containing receptors, and TLRs. Another class of inhibitory proteins consists of the protein inhibitors of activated STAT (PIAS) proteins, which also seem to be involved in promoting the degradation of receptors and pathway components.