title: Allergy-driven alternative splicing of IL-13 receptor alpha2 yields distinct membrane and soluble forms.
abstract: IL-13 is a key mediator of allergic inflammation. Its diverse functions are mediated by a complex receptor system including IL-4Ralpha, IL-13Ralpha1, and IL-13Ralpha2. IL-4Ralpha and IL-13Ralpha1 form a high-affinity signaling heterodimer. IL-13Ralpha2 binds IL-13 with high affinity and has been found to exist in membrane and soluble forms. Soluble IL-13Ralpha2 has been postulated as a critical endogenous modulator of IL-13 responses. However, the mechanism of generation for the soluble form remains unclear. We present the initial study that a mechanism for generation of the soluble form is alternative splicing and that alternative splicing yields a distinct form of soluble IL-13Ralpha2. We found that several mouse organs expressed two IL-13Ralpha2 transcripts, the 1152-bp transcript encoding the full-length protein and the 1020-bp transcript lacking exon10, which encodes the transmembrane region. Deletion of exon 10 (DeltaEx10) caused a frameshift resulting in a different amino acid sequence from position 327 to position 339 and early termination. Constructs encoding both splice variants were transfected into WEHI-274.1 cells. Transfectants expressing the full-length transcript had IL-13Ralpha2 on the cell surface but produced minimal soluble IL-13Ralpha2 in the supernatants. In contrast, transfectants expressing the DeltaEx10 transcript displayed no membrane IL-13Ralpha2 but secreted high levels of soluble IL-13Ralpha2 capable of inhibiting IL-13 signaling. Both variants bound IL-13, but the DeltaEx10 variant displayed approximately 2-fold increase in IL-13 binding activity. Expression of the two IL-13Ralpha2 transcripts was differentially regulated in vivo in an experimental allergic asthma model. Thus, alternatively spliced variants of IL-13Ralpha2 may have a distinct biologic function in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy and Immunology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tabata
authors.forename: Weiguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Manoj R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Warrier
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Michael O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Daines
authors.forename: Gurjit K Khurana
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Hershey
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000235:genetics*; D053663:Interleukin-13 Receptor alpha2 Subunit / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050800:STAT6 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053663:Interleukin-13 Receptor alpha2 Subunit; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D050800:STAT6 Transcription Factor