ABSTRACT
Interleukin-3 (IL-3) is a cytokine secreted by mast cells and activated T-cells known to be an important regulator of differentiation, survival, proliferation and activation of a range of haemopoietic lineages. The effects of IL-3 on target cells are mediated by a transmembrane receptor system composed of a cytokine-specific α-subunit and a ß-subunit, the principal signalling entity. In the mouse, two ß-subunits have co-evolved: a common ß-subunit (ßc) shared between IL-3 and the related cytokines IL-5 and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF); and an IL-3-specific ß-subunit (ßIL-3). ßIL-3 differs from ßc in its specificity for IL-3 and its capacity to bind IL-3 directly in the absence of an α-subunit, and, in the absence of structural information, the basis for these properties has remained enigmatic. In the present study, we have solved the crystal structure of the ßIL-3 ectodomain at 3.45 Å (1 Å=0.1 nm) resolution. This structure provides the first evidence that ßIL-3 adopts an arch-shaped intertwined homodimer with similar topology to the paralogous ßc structure. In contrast with apo-ßc, however, the ligand-binding interface of ßIL-3 appears to pre-exist in a conformation receptive to IL-3 engagement. Molecular modelling of the IL-3-ßIL-3 interface, in conjunction with previous mutational studies, suggests that divergent evolution of both ßIL-3 and IL-3 underlies their unique capacity for direct interaction and specificity.
Subject(s)
Cytokine Receptor Common beta Subunit/chemistry , Interleukin-3/chemistry , Animals , Crystallography, X-Ray , Cytokine Receptor Common beta Subunit/metabolism , Evolution, Molecular , Interleukin-3/metabolism , Mice , Models, Molecular , Protein Conformation , Protein Multimerization , Protein Structure, Tertiary , Recombinant Proteins/chemistryABSTRACT
The cytokine interleukin-3 (IL-3) is a critical regulator of inflammation and immune responses in mammals. IL-3 exerts its effects on target cells via receptors comprising an IL-3-specific alpha-subunit and common beta-subunit (beta c; shared with IL-5 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) or a beta-subunit that specifically binds IL-3 (beta(IL-3); present in mice but not humans). We recently identified two splice variants of the alpha-subunit of the IL-3 receptor (IL-3R alpha) that are relevant to hematopoietic progenitor cell differentiation or proliferation: the full length ("SP1" isoform) and a novel isoform (denoted "SP2") lacking the N-terminal Ig-like domain. Although our studies demonstrated that each mouse IL-3 (mIL-3) R alpha isoform can direct mIL-3 binding to two distinct sites on the beta(IL-3) subunit, it has remained unclear which residues in mIL-3 itself are critical to the two modes of beta(IL-3) recognition and whether the human IL-3R alpha SP1 and SP2 orthologs similarly instruct human IL-3 binding to two distinct sites on the human beta c subunit. Herein, we describe the identification of residues clustering around the highly conserved A-helix residue, Glu(23), in the mIL-3 A- and C-helices as critical for receptor binding and growth stimulation via the beta(IL-3) and mIL-3R alpha SP2 subunits, whereas an overlapping cluster was required for binding and activation of beta(IL-3) in the presence of mIL-3R alpha SP1. Similarly, our studies of human IL-3 indicate that two different modes of beta c binding are utilized in the presence of the hIL-3R alpha SP1 or SP2 isoforms, suggesting a possible conserved mechanism by which the relative orientations of receptor subunits are modulated to achieve distinct signaling outcomes.