title: Characterisation of soluble murine CD137 and its association with systemic lupus.
abstract: CD137 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, and is involved in the regulation of activation, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of T cells, B cells, monocytes, dendritic cells, natural killer cells and granulocytes. Here report that soluble forms of murine CD137 (sCD137) are generated by differential splicing and are released by activated T cells. Levels of sCD137 correlate with cell activation and the extent of cell death but not with cellular proliferation. While CD8+ T cells express significantly more cell surface CD137 than CD4+ T cells, both T cell subsets express similar levels of sCD137, resulting a twofold increased ratio of soluble to cell surface CD137 for CD4+ T cells. sCD137 exists as a trimer and a higher order multimer, can bind to CD137 ligand, and inhibits secretion of IL-10 and IL-12. sCD137 is present in sera of mice with autoimmune disease but is undetectable in sera of healthy mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, and Immunology Programme, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Centre for Life Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117456, Singapore.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Dow Rhoon
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schwarz
mesh_terms: D053330:4-1BB Ligand / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000276:immunology; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000276:immunology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D053330:4-1BB Ligand; C505975:Tnfsf9 protein, mouse; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9; D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12