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Bertolio MS, La Colla A, Carrea A, Romo A, Canziani G, Echarte SM, Campisano S, Barletta GP, Monzon AM, Rodríguez TM, Chisari AN, Dewey RA. A Novel Splice Variant of Human TGF-β Type II Receptor Encodes a Soluble Protein and Its Fc-Tagged Version Prevents Liver Fibrosis in vivo. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:690397. [PMID: 34568316 PMCID: PMC8461249 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.690397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe, for the first time, a new splice variant of the human TGF-β type II receptor (TβRII). The new transcript lacks 149 nucleotides, resulting in a frameshift and the emergence of an early stop codon, rendering a truncated mature protein of 57 amino acids. The predicted protein, lacking the transmembrane domain and with a distinctive 13-amino-acid stretch at its C-terminus, was named TβRII-Soluble Endogenous (TβRII-SE). Binding predictions indicate that the novel 13-amino-acid stretch interacts with all three TGF-β cognate ligands and generates a more extensive protein–protein interface than TβRII. TβRII-SE and human IgG1 Fc domain were fused in frame in a lentiviral vector (Lv) for further characterization. With this vector, we transduced 293T cells and purified TβRII-SE/Fc by A/G protein chromatography from conditioned medium. Immunoblotting revealed homogeneous bands of approximately 37 kDa (reduced) and 75 kDa (non-reduced), indicating that TβRII-SE/Fc is secreted as a disulfide-linked homodimer. Moreover, high-affinity binding of TβRII-SE to the three TGF-β isoforms was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis. Also, intrahepatic delivery of Lv.TβRII-SE/Fc in a carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis model revealed amelioration of liver injury and fibrosis. Our results indicate that TβRII-SE is a novel member of the TGF-β signaling pathway with distinctive characteristics. This novel protein offers an alternative for the prevention and treatment of pathologies caused by the overproduction of TGF-β ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcela Soledad Bertolio
- Laboratorio de Terapia Génica y Células Madre, Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Anabela La Colla
- Departamento de Química y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alejandra Carrea
- Laboratorio de Terapia Génica y Células Madre, Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ana Romo
- Laboratorio de Terapia Génica y Células Madre, Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Canziani
- Drexel U-Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson U S200 Biosensor Shared Resource, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Stella Maris Echarte
- Departamento de Química y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sabrina Campisano
- Departamento de Química y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - German Patricio Barletta
- Molecular Physics and Biophysics Group, Department of Science and Technology, National University of Quilmes, CONICET, Bernal, Argentina
| | | | - Tania Melina Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Terapia Génica y Células Madre, Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Andrea Nancy Chisari
- Departamento de Química y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ricardo Alfredo Dewey
- Laboratorio de Terapia Génica y Células Madre, Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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