Structural highlights
Disease
IL6_HUMAN Genetic variations in IL6 are associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis systemic juvenile (RASJ) [MIM:604302. An inflammatory articular disorder with systemic-onset beginning before the age of 16. It represents a subgroup of juvenile arthritis associated with severe extraarticular features and occasionally fatal complications. During active phases of the disorder, patients display a typical daily spiking fever, an evanescent macular rash, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, serositis, myalgia and arthritis. Note=A IL6 promoter polymorphism is associated with a lifetime risk of development of Kaposi sarcoma in HIV-infected men.
Function
IL6_HUMAN Cytokine with a wide variety of biological functions. It is a potent inducer of the acute phase response. Plays an essential role in the final differentiation of B-cells into Ig-secreting cells Involved in lymphocyte and monocyte differentiation. It induces myeloma and plasmacytoma growth and induces nerve cells differentiation Acts on B-cells, T-cells, hepatocytes, hematopoietic progenitor cells and cells of the CNS. Also acts as a myokine. It is discharged into the bloodstream after muscle contraction and acts to increase the breakdown of fats and to improve insulin resistance.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Protein:protein interactions are fundamental in living organism homeostasis. Here we introduce VHH6, a junctional epitope antibody capable of specifically recognizing a neo-epitope when two proteins interact, albeit transiently, to form a complex. Orthogonal biophysical techniques have been used to prove the "junctional epitope" nature of VHH6, a camelid single domain antibody recognizing the IL-6-gp80 complex but not the individual components alone. X-ray crystallography, HDX-MS and SPR analysis confirmed that the CDR regions of VHH6 interact simultaneously with IL-6 and gp80, locking the two proteins together. At the cellular level, VHH6 was able to alter the response of endothelial cells to exogenous IL-6, promoting a sustained STAT3 phosphorylation signal, an accumulation of IL-6 in vesicles and an overall pro-inflammatory phenotype supported further by transcriptomic analysis. Junctional epitope antibodies, like VHH6, not only offer new opportunities in screening and structure-aided drug discovery, but could also be exploited as therapeutics to modulate complex protein:protein interactions.
Discovery of a junctional epitope antibody that stabilizes IL-6 and gp80 protein:protein interaction and modulates its downstream signaling.,Adams R, Burnley RJ, Valenzano CR, Qureshi O, Doyle C, Lumb S, Del Carmen Lopez M, Griffin R, McMillan D, Taylor RD, Meier C, Mori P, Griffin LM, Wernery U, Kinne J, Rapecki S, Baker TS, Lawson AD, Wright M, Ettorre A Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 30;7:37716. doi: 10.1038/srep37716. PMID:28134246[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Adams R, Burnley RJ, Valenzano CR, Qureshi O, Doyle C, Lumb S, Del Carmen Lopez M, Griffin R, McMillan D, Taylor RD, Meier C, Mori P, Griffin LM, Wernery U, Kinne J, Rapecki S, Baker TS, Lawson AD, Wright M, Ettorre A. Discovery of a junctional epitope antibody that stabilizes IL-6 and gp80 protein:protein interaction and modulates its downstream signaling. Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 30;7:37716. doi: 10.1038/srep37716. PMID:28134246 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep37716
