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Title: Structural basis for IL-12 and IL-23 receptor sharing reveals a gateway for shaping actions on T versus NK cells

Journal Article · · Cell

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-23 are heterodimeric cytokines that are produced by antigen-presenting cells to regulate the activation and differentiation of lymphocytes, and they share IL-12Rβ1 as a receptor signaling subunit. In this paper, we present a crystal structure of the quaternary IL-23 (IL-23p19/p40)/IL-23R/IL-12Rβ1 complex, together with cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) maps of the complete IL-12 (IL-12p35/p40)/IL-12Rβ2/IL-12Rβ1 and IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) complexes, which reveal “non-canonical” topologies where IL-12Rβ1 directly engages the common p40 subunit. We targeted the shared IL-12Rβ1/p40 interface to design a panel of IL-12 partial agonists that preserved interferon gamma (IFNγ) induction by CD8+ T cells but impaired cytokine production from natural killer (NK) cells in vitro. These cell-biased properties were recapitulated in vivo, where IL-12 partial agonists elicited anti-tumor immunity to MC-38 murine adenocarcinoma absent the NK-cell-mediated toxicity seen with wild-type IL-12. Thus, the structural mechanism of receptor sharing used by IL-12 family cytokines provides a protein interface blueprint for tuning this cytokine axis for therapeutics.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Institutes of Health (NIH); Mathers Foundation; Ludwig Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; R01-AI51321; DGE-1656518; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1781662
Journal Information:
Cell, Vol. 184, Issue 4; ISSN 0092-8674
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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