WSB-1, a novel IL-21 receptor binding molecule, enhances the maturation of IL-21 receptor

Hidetoshi Nara1, Tadashi Onoda, Mizanur Rahman

  • 1Department of Immunology, Yamagata University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-nishi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan.

Cellular Immunology
|April 6, 2011
PubMed

Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is a pleiotropic cytokine that regulates T-cell, B-cell, NK-cell, and myeloid-cell functions. IL-21 binds with its cognate receptor complex, which consists of the IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) and the common gamma chain. We identified a novel IL-21R-binding molecule, WSB-1, which contains WD-40 repeats and a SOCS-box domain. WSB-1 associates with the middle part of intracytoplasmic region of IL-21R and enhances the maturation of IL-21R from N-linked glycosylated form to fully glycosylated mature form. Furthermore, WSB-1 moderates IL-21R degradation. Taken together, our present study suggests that WSB-1 has a role in the tuning of the maturation and degradation of IL-21R.

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