A transglutaminase that converts interleukin-2 into a factor cytotoxic to oligodendrocytes.
Regenerating optic nerves from fish produce a factor that is cytotoxic to oligodendrocytes. The cytotoxic factor is recognized by antibodies to interleukin-2 (IL-2) and has the apparent molecular size of a dimer of IL-2. An enzyme, identified as a nerve transglutaminase, was purified from regenerating optic nerves of fish and was found to catalyze dimerization of human IL-2. The dimerized IL-2, unlike monomeric IL-2, is cytotoxic to oligodendrocytes from rat brain in culture. The results suggest that posttranslational modification of a cytokine can alter its activity. Under conditions in which oligodendrocytes inhibit neuronal regeneration, dimerization of IL-2 might provide a mechanism to permit nerve growth.
Eitan
S
S
Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Schwartz
M
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005399:Fishes; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
D007376:Interleukin-2; D011503:Transglutaminases