title: Alternative splicing of mRNA of mouse interleukin-4 and interleukin-6.
abstract: Interleukin-4 and interleukin-6 are multifunctional regulatory proteins, which participate both in haemopoiesis and in immunopoiesis. The alternative splicing of these interleukins in humans is known to proceed in a tissue-specific manner. Additionally, changes in splicing can also be dependent on tissue pathology. In this work, we report on the presence of alternatively spliced mRNA (IL-4delta2mRNA), lacking exon 2, in mouse bone marrow and spleen cells. We find that in unstimulated cells IL-4mRNA levels strongly dominate over IL-4delta2mRNA levels. Both increase in response to stimulation, with the concentration of the alternative variant rising earlier and faster than that of the full-length variant. In all other tissues studied dominance of IL-4delta2mRNA over the full-length variant was not observed. In addition, we find expression of three forms of IL-6 mRNA: the full-length IL-6 mRNA, IL-6Delta3 mRNA, and IL-6Delta5 mRNA in the second and third trimester placenta tissue and in the spleen of mice immunized with a high dose of sheep erythrocytes. It is anticipated that translation of these mRNA variants can generate proteins capable of binding to some subunits of the IL-6 receptor, thus possessing effector function. Alternative splicing is discussed as a source of cytokines with new regulatory properties.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Institute of Clinical Immunology, 14 Yadrintsevskaya, Novosibirsk, 630099 Russia.
authors.forename: Olga P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Yatsenko
authors.forename: Maxim L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Filipenko
authors.forename: Eugene A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Khrapov
authors.forename: Elena N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Voronina
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kozlov
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Sennikov
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003208:Concanavalin A; D015847:Interleukin-4