title: Rat interleukin-18 binding protein: cloning, expression, and characterization.
abstract: Interleukin-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) is a constitutively expressed and secreted protein that lacks a transmembrane domain. IL-18BP binds specifically to mature IL-18 and inhibits its activity. To study the immunomodulating role of IL-18BP in models of autoimmune diseases in rats, we cloned and characterized rat IL-18BP. Rat IL-18BP has 193 amino acid residues and is highly homologous to human and mouse IL-18BP. Recombinant rat IL-18BP binds to rat IL-18, reacts with antibodies to human or mouse IL-18BP, and inhibits IL-18-dependent interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production in vitro. Thus, rat IL-18BP can be employed to antagonize the proinflammatory responses induced by endogenous IL-18 in rat models of autoimmune diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Sin-Hyeog
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Im
authors.forename: Soo-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Azam
authors.forename: Natarajan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Venkatesh
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Dinarello
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Miriam C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Souroujon
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000494:pharmacology; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D020382:Interleukin-18; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C118370:interleukin-18 binding protein; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma