Lysophosphatidylserine suppresses IL-2 production in CD4 T cells through LPS₃/GPR174

Lysophosphatidylserine (LysoPS) has been shown to have lipid mediator-like actions to induce mast cell degranulation and suppress T lymphocyte proliferation. Recently, three G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), LPS₁/GPR34, LPS₂/P2Y10, and LPS₃/GPR174, were found to react specifically with LysoPS, raising the possibility that LysoPS exerts its roles through these receptors. In this study, we show that LPS₃ is expressed in various T cell subtypes and is involved in suppression of Interleukin-2 (IL-2) production in CD4 T cells. We found that LysoPS suppressed the IL-2 production from activated T cells at the mRNA and protein levels. In addition, LysoPS did not have such an effect on the splenocytes and CD4 T cells isolated from LPS₃-deficient mice. In LPS₃-deficient splenocytes and CD4 T cells, anti-CD3/anti-CD28-triggered IL-2 production is somewhat increased. Interestingly, LysoPS with various fatty acids was up-regulated upon T cell activation. The present study raised the possibility that LysoPS exerts its immunosuppressive roles by down-regulating IL-2 production through a LysoPS-LPS₃ axis in T cells.