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Suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 is an IL-4-inducible gene in macrophages and feedback inhibits IL-4 signaling

Genes & Immunity volume 8, pages 21–27 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Interferon-γ and interleukin-4 (IL-4) induce distinct gene expression profiles in macrophages by differentially activating signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT)1 and STAT6, respectively. The role of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1 as a negative regulator of IFN-γ signaling is well established. However, its potential role as a negative regulator of IL-4 signaling has not been explored. We found that IL-4, like IFN-γ, induces rapid de novo expression of SOCS-1 in primary macrophages. Induction of SOCS-1 gene expression by IL-4 is STAT6-dependent, whereas induction of SOCS-1 by IFN-γ is STAT1-dependent. Unlike their common ability to induce expression of SOCS-1, IL-4 also induced expression of SOCS-2 but not SOCS-3 in macrophages, whereas IFN-γ induced expression of SOCS-3 but not SOCS-2. Forced expression of SOCS-1 or SOCS-3, but not SOCS-2, inhibited activation of STAT6 by IL-4. Moreover, SOCS-1 appears to serve as an endogenous regulator of IL-4 signaling in macrophages because the magnitude and duration of STAT6 activation as well as IL-4-mediated gene expression were much greater in SOCS-1-deficient (SOCS-1−/−) macrophages than in wild-type macrophages. Our findings demonstrate that, like IFN-γ, IL-4 also induces expression of SOCS-1 in macrophages, and SOCS-1 feedback inhibits expression of STAT6-responsive genes.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Drs Mark Song and Ke Shuai (UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA) for sharing their SOCS gene-transfected HeLa cell lines and Dr William Paul (NIAID, Bethesda, MD, USA) for providing STAT6 knockout mice. This study was supported in part by NIH Grant AI059638 to JJR and AI062921 to PJM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Therapeutic Proteins, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, MD, USA

    H Dickensheets, N Vazquez, F Sheikh & R P Donnelly

  2. Department of Biochemistry, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    S Gingras

  3. Department of Infectious Diseases, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    P J Murray

  4. Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    J J Ryan

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  1. H Dickensheets
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Correspondence to R P Donnelly.

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Dickensheets, H., Vazquez, N., Sheikh, F. et al. Suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 is an IL-4-inducible gene in macrophages and feedback inhibits IL-4 signaling. Genes Immun 8, 21–27 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6364352

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6364352

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