title: p49, a putative HLA class I-specific inhibitory NK receptor belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily.
abstract: NK cells display several killer inhibitory receptors (KIR) specific for different alleles of MHC class I molecules. A family of KIR are represented by type I transmembrane proteins belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily (Ig-SF). Besides cDNA encoding for these KIR, additional cDNA have been identified which encode for Ig-SF receptors with still undefined specificity. Here we analyze one of these cDNA, termed cl.15.212, which encodes a type I transmembrane protein characterized by two extracellular Ig-like domains and a 115-amino acid cytoplasmic tail containing a single immuno-receptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) which is typical of KIR. cl.15.212 cDNA displays approximately 50 % sequence homology with other Ig-SF members. Different from the other KIR, cl.15.212 mRNA is expressed by all NK cells and by a fraction of KIR+ T cell clones. cl.15.212 cDNA codes for a membrane-bound receptor displaying an apparent molecular mass of 49 kDa, thus termed p49. To determine the specificity of the cl.15.212-encoded receptor, we generated soluble fusion proteins consisting of the ectodomain of p49 and the Fc portion of human IgG1. Soluble molecules bound efficiently to 221 cells transfected with HLA-G1, -A3, -B46 alleles and weakly to -B7 allele. On the other hand, they did not bind to 221 cells either untransfected or transfected with HLA-A2, -B51, -Cw3 or -Cw4. The binding specificity of soluble p49-Fc was confirmed by competition experiments using an anti-HLA class I-specific monoclonal antibody. Finally, different cDNA encoding for molecules homologous to cl.15.212 cDNA have been isolated, two of which lack the sequence encoding the transmembrane portion, thus suggesting they may encode soluble molecules.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Scientifico Tumori and Centro Biotecnologie Avanzate, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantoni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verdiani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falco
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pessino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cilli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pende
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ponte
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mikaelsson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moretta
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biassoni
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D019556:COS Cells; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012995:Solubility; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; C113001:P49 natural killer cell receptor; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic