Pyrin binds the PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 protein, defining familial Mediterranean fever and PAPA syndrome as disorders in the same pathway

Pyrin, the familial Mediterranean fever protein, is found in association with the cytoskeleton in myeloid/monocytic cells and modulates IL-1β processing, NF-κB activation, and apoptosis. These effects are mediated in part through cognate interactions with the adaptor protein ASC, which shares an N-terminal motif with pyrin. We sought additional upstream regulators of inflammation by using pyrin as the bait in yeast two-hybrid assays. We now show that proline serine threonine phosphatase-interacting protein [PSTPIP1, or CD2-binding protein 1 (CD2BP1)], a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein involved in cytoskeletal organization, also interacts with pyrin. Recently, PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 mutations were shown to cause the syndrome of pyogenic arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum, and acne (PAPA), a dominantly inherited autoinflammatory disorder mediated predominantly by granulocytes. Endogenous PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 and pyrin are coexpressed in monocytes and granulocytes and can be coimmunoprecipitated from THP-1 cells. The B box segment of pyrin was necessary and the B box/coiled-coil segment sufficient for this interaction, whereas the SH3 and coiled-coil domains of PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 were both necessary, but neither was sufficient, for pyrin binding. The Y344F PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 mutation, which blocks tyrosine phosphorylation, was associated with a marked reduction in pyrin binding in pervanadate-treated cells. PAPA-associated A230T and E250Q PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 mutations markedly increased pyrin binding as assayed by immunoprecipitation and, relative to WT, these mutants were hyperphosphorylated when coexpressed with c-Abl kinase. Consistent with the hypothesis that these mutations exert a dominant-negative effect on the previously reported activity of pyrin, we found increased IL-1β production by peripheral blood leukocytes from a clinically active PAPA patient with the A230T PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 mutation and in cell lines transfected with both PAPA-associated mutants.