title: Structural requirements for gp80 independence of human herpesvirus 8 interleukin-6 (vIL-6) and evidence for gp80 stabilization of gp130 signaling complexes induced by vIL-6.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 8 interleukin-6 (vIL-6) displays 25% amino acid identity with human IL-6 (hIL-6) and shares an overall four-helix-bundle structure and gp130-mediated STAT/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling with its cellular counterpart. However, vIL-6 is distinct in that it can signal through gp130 alone, in the absence of the nonsignaling gp80 alpha-subunit of the IL-6 receptor. To investigate the structural requirements for gp80 independence of vIL-6, a series of expression vectors encoding vIL-6/hIL-6 chimeric and site-mutated IL-6 proteins was generated. The replacement of hIL-6 residues with three vIL-6-specific tryptophans implicated in gp80 independence from crystallographic studies or the A and C helices containing these residues did not confer gp80 independence to hIL-6. The N- and C-terminal regions of vIL-6 could be substituted with hIL-6 sequences with the retention of gp80-independent signaling, but substitutions of other regions of vIL-6 (helix A, A/B loop, helix B, helix C, and proximal half of helix D) with equivalent sequences of hIL-6 abolished gp80 independence. Interestingly, the B helix of vIL-6 was absolutely required for gp80 independence, despite the fact that this region contains no receptor-binding residues. Point mutational analysis of helix C, which contains residues involved in physical and functional interactions with gp130 domains 2 and 3 (cytokine-binding homology region), identified a variant, VI120EE, that was able to signal and dimerize gp130 only in the presence of gp80. gp80 was also found to stabilize gp130:g130 dimers induced by a distal D helix variant of vIL-6 that was nonetheless able to signal independently of gp80. Together, our data reveal the crucial importance of overall vIL-6 structure and conformation for gp80-independent signaling and provide functional and physical evidence of the stabilization of vIL-6-induced gp130 signaling complexes by gp80.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, 1650 Orleans Street, Room 309, Baltimore, MD 21231,USA.
authors.forename: Daming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nicholas
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D050822:Cytokine Receptor gp130 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019281:Dimerization; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C113250:interleukin-6 receptor alpha; D050822:Cytokine Receptor gp130