Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

CTRP4: a new member of the adipocytokine family

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 14, pages 868–870 (2017)Cite this article

We first reported the cloning of CTRP4 through bioinformatic analysis and high-throughput screening in 2011.4 Using a NF-κB luciferase reporter gene screening, we found that CTRP4 was a potent activator of NF-κB in 293T, HeLa and HepG-2 cells. CTRP4 contains a classical N-terminal signal peptide, suggesting that it may be secreted as a cytokine. In support, recombinant CTRP4 can effectively activate both NF-κB and IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathways and promote the secretion of IL-6 and TNF.

In contrast to a single C1q globular domain in other members of the CTRP4 superfamily, two such domians are found in CTRP4. They share 51% homology to each other, while the similarity is only 27–30% between them and the complement component C1q.5 CTRP4 appears to be well conserved in evolution since human and mouse CTRP4 share over 90% homology in amino-acid sequence. As much as its expression pattern is concerned, CTRP4 is mainly detected in brain, fat and bone marrow stem cells. In addition, it is present in the blood as a circulating protein.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Wong GW, Wang J, Hug C, Tsao TS, Lodish HF . A family of Acrp30/adiponectin structural and functional paralogs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004; 101: 10302–10307.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Kishore U, Gaboriaud C, Waters P, Shrive AK, Greenhough TJ, Reid KB et al. C1q and tumor necrosis factor superfamily: modularity and versatility. Trends Immunol 2004; 25: 551–561.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Schaffler A, Buechler C . CTRP family: linking immunity to metabolism. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2012; 23: 194–204.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Li Q, Wang L, Tan W, Peng Z, Luo Y, Zhang Y et al. Identification of C1qTNF-related protein 4 as a potential cytokine that stimulates the STAT3 and NF-kappaB pathways and promotes cell survival in human cancer cells. Cancer Lett 2011; 308: 203–214.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Mei J, Gui J . Bioinformatic identification of genes encoding C1q-domain-containing proteins in zebrafish. J Genet Genomics 2008; 35: 17–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Huang H, Wu X, Cao L, Wang L . Preparation and identification of monoclonal antibody against C1q/TNF-related protein. Monoclon Antib Immunodiagn Immunother 2016; 35: 280–284.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Tan WF, Wang LL, Li Q, Luo Y, Na DX, Ma Z et al. Prokaryotic expression and polyclonal antibody preparation of human novel gene CTRP4. Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi 2012; 28: 614–617.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Da-xiang N, Zhuang M, Yang L, Qi L, Wei-feng T, Lan-Lan W et al. Estalisment of adipocytokine CTRP4 transgenic mouse. Chin J Comp Med 2014; 24: 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Bel S, Elkis Y, Lerer-Goldstein T, Nyska A, Shpungin S, Nir U . Loss of TMF/ARA160 protein renders colonic mucus refractory to bacterial colonization and diminishes intestinal susceptibility to acute colitis. J Biol Chem 2012; 287: 25631–25639.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Cougnoux A, Dalmasso G, Martinez R, Buc E, Delmas J, Gibold L et al. Bacterial genotoxin colibactin promotes colon tumour growth by inducing a senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Gut 2014; 63: 1932–1942.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Luo Y, Wu X, Ma Z, Tan W, Wang L, Na D et al. Expression of the novel adipokine C1qTNF-related protein 4 (CTRP4) suppresses colitis and colitis-associated colorectal cancer in mice. Cell Mol Immunol 2016; 13: 688–699.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Byerly MS, Petersen PS, Ramamurthy S, Seldin MM, Lei X, Provost E et al. C1q/TNF-related protein 4 (CTRP4) is a unique secreted protein with two tandem C1q domains that functions in the hypothalamus to modulate food intake and body weight. J Biol Chem 2014; 289: 4055–4069.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Roukos DH . Spatiotemporal diversification of intrapatient genomic clones and early drug development concepts realize the roadmap of precision cancer medicine. Drug Discov Today 2017; 22: 1148–1164.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology (Ministry of Health), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, China

    Lu Wang

Authors
  1. Lu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lu Wang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, L. CTRP4: a new member of the adipocytokine family. Cell Mol Immunol 14, 868–870 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2017.83

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2017.83

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links