A variant in <i>IL6ST</i> with a selective IL-11 signaling defect in human and mouse.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32566365.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41413-020-0098-z and PMC identifier 7289831.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The GP130 cytokine receptor subunit encoded by <i>IL6ST</i> is the shared receptor for ten cytokines of the IL-6 family. We describe a homozygous non-synonymous variant in <i>IL6ST</i> (p.R281Q) in a patient with craniosynostosis and retained deciduous teeth. We characterize the impact of the variant on cytokine signaling in vitro using transfected cell lines as well as primary patient-derived cells and support these findings using a mouse model with the corresponding genome-edited variant <i>Il6st</i> p.R279Q. We show that human GP130 p.R281Q is associated with selective loss of IL-11 signaling without affecting IL-6, IL-27, OSM, LIF, CT1, CLC, and CNTF signaling. In mice <i>Il6st</i> p.R279Q lowers litter size and causes facial synostosis and teeth abnormalities. The effect on IL-11 signaling caused by the GP130 variant shows incomplete penetrance but phenocopies aspects of <i>IL11RA</i> deficiency in humans and mice. Our data show that a genetic variant in a pleiotropic cytokine receptor can have remarkably selective defects.