An alternatively spliced CXCL16 isoform expressed by dendritic cells is a secreted chemoattractant for CXCR6+ cells

Robbert Van Der Voort, Viviènne Verweij, Theo M. De Witte, Edwin Lasonder, Gosse J. Adema, Harry Dolstra*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

DC are professional APCs that initiate and regulate adaptive immune responses by interacting with naïve and memory T cells. Chemokines released by DC play an essential role in T cell recruitment and in the maintenance of antigen-specific T cell-DC conjugates. Here, we characterized the expression of the T cell-attracting chemokine CXCL16 by murine DC. We demonstrate that through alternative RNA splicing, DC not only express the previously characterized transmembrane CXCL16 isoform, which can be cleaved from the cell surface, but also a novel isoform lacking the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. Transfection of HEK293 cells shows that this novel isoform, termed CXCL16v, is not expressed on the cell membrane but is secreted as a protein of ∼10 kDa. Quantitative PCR demonstrates that CXCL16v is broadly expressed in lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues resembling the tissue distribution of DC. Indeed, CXCL16v mRNA is expressed significantly by spleen DC and BM-DC. Moreover, we show that mature DC have increased CXCL16v mRNA levels and express transmembrane and soluble CXCL16 proteins. Finally, we show that CXCL16v specifically attracts cells expressing the chemokine receptor CXCR6. Our data demonstrate that mature DC express secreted, transmembrane, and cleaved CXCL16 isoforms to recruit and communicate efficiently with CXCR6+ lymphoid cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1029-1039
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Leukocyte Biology
Volume87
Issue number6
Early online date24 Feb 2010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2010
Externally publishedYes

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