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The Balance of Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-6·soluble IL-6 Receptor (sIL-6R), and IL-6·sIL-6R·sgp130 Complexes Allows Simultaneous Classic and Trans-Signaling

The Balance of Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-6·soluble IL-6 Receptor (sIL-6R), and IL-6·sIL-6R·sgp130 Complexes Allows Simultaneous Classic and Trans-Signaling

Paul Baran, Selina Hansen, Georg H Waetzig, Mohammad Akbarzadeh, Larissa Lamertz, Heinrich J Huber, M Reza Ahmadian, Jens M Moll, Jürgen Scheller

J Biol Chem. 2018 May 4;293(18):6762-6775.

PMID: 29559558

Abstract:

Interleukin (IL-)6 is the major pro-inflammatory cytokine within the IL-6 family. IL-6 signals via glycoprotein 130 (gp130) and the membrane-bound or soluble IL-6 receptor (IL-6R), referred to as classic or trans-signaling, respectively. Whereas inflammation triggers IL-6 expression, eventually rising to nanogram/ml serum levels, soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R) and soluble gp130 (sgp130) are constitutively present in the upper nanogram/ml range. Calculations based on intermolecular affinities have suggested that systemic IL-6 is immediately trapped in IL-6·sIL-6R and IL-6·sIL-6R·sgp130 complexes, indicating that sIL-6R and sgp130 constitute a buffer system that increases the serum half-life of IL-6 or restricts systemic IL-6 signaling. However, this scenario has not been experimentally validated. Here, we quantified IL-6·sIL-6R and IL-6·sIL-6R·sgp130 complexes over a wide concentration range. The amounts of IL-6 used in this study reflect concentrations found during active inflammatory events. Our results indicated that most IL-6 is free and not complexed with sIL-6R or sgp130, indicating that the level of endogenous sgp130 in the bloodstream is not sufficient to block IL-6 trans-signaling via sIL-6R. Importantly, addition of the single-domain antibody VHH6, which specifically stabilizes IL-6·sIL-6R complexes but did not bind to IL-6 or sIL-6R alone, drove free IL-6 into IL-6·sIL-6R complexes and boosted trans-signaling but not classic signaling, demonstrating that endogenous sIL-6R has at least the potential to form complexes with IL-6. Our findings indicate that even though high concentrations of sIL-6R and sgp130 are present in human serum, the relative ratio of free IL-6 to IL-6·sIL-6R allows for simultaneous classic and trans-signaling.

Chemicals Related in the Paper:

Catalog Number	Product Name	Structure	CAS Number	Price
IAR42413414	IL-6 human			Price

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