title: The mechanism of IL-5 signal transduction.
abstract: Cytokines are important regulators of hematopoiesis. They exert their actions by binding to specific receptors on the cell surface. Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is a critical cytokine that regulates the growth, activation, and survival of eosinophils. Because eosinophils play a seminal role in the pathogenesis of asthma and allergic diseases, an understanding of the signal transduction mechanism of IL-5 is of paramount importance. The IL-5 receptor is a heterodimer of alpha- and beta-subunits. The alpha-subunit is specific, whereas the beta-subunit is common to IL-3, IL-5, and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) receptors and is crucial for signal transduction. It has been shown that there are two major signaling pathways of IL-5 in eosinophils. IL-5 activates Lyn, Syk, and JAK2 and propagates signals through the Ras-MAPK and JAK-STAT pathways. Studies suggest that Lyn, Syk, and JAK2 tyrosine kinases and SHP-2 tyrosine phosphatase are important for eosinophil survival. In contrast to their survival-promoting activity, Lyn and JAK2 appear to have no role in eosinophil degranulation or expression of surface adhesion molecules. Raf-1 kinase, on the other hand, is critical for eosinophil degranulation and adhesion molecule expression. Btk is involved in IL-5 stimulation of B cell function. However, it does not appear to be important for eosinophil function. Thus a clear segregation of signaling molecules based on their functional importance is emerging. This review describes the signal transduction mechanism of the IL-3/GM-CSF/IL-5 receptor system and compares and contrasts IL-5 signaling between eosinophils and B cells.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas Medical Branch, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Galveston, Texas 77555-0762, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000502:physiology; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006801:Humans; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000502:physiology*; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000378:metabolism; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D053649:Receptors, Interleukin-5; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015848:Interleukin-5; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin; D053649:Receptors, Interleukin-5; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases