Distinct structural requirements for interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13 binding to the shared IL-13 receptor facilitate cellular tuning of cytokine responsiveness

Ito, Takachika*; Suzuki, Shoichi*; Kanaji, Sachiko*; Shiraishi, Hiroshi*; Ota, Shoichiro*; Arima, Kazuhiko*; Tanaka, Go*; Tamada, Taro; Honjo, Eijiro*; Garcia, K. C.*; Kuroki, Ryota; Izuhara, Kenji*

Both IL-4 and IL-13 can bind to the shared receptor composed of the IL-4 receptor chain and the IL-13 receptor -1 chain (IL-13R1); however, the assembly mechanisms of these ligands to the receptor is different, enabling the principal functions of these ligands to be different. We have previously shown that the N-terminal Ig-like domain in IL-13R1, called the D1 domain, is the specific and critical binding unit for IL-13. However, it has still remained obscure which the amino acid has specific binding capacity to IL-13 and why the D1 domain acts as the binding site for IL-13, but not IL-4. To address these questions, in this study, we performed the mutational analyses for the D1 domain, combining the structural data to identify the amino acids critical for binding to IL-13. Mutations of Lys76, Lys77, or Ile78 in c' strand in which the crystal structure showed interact with IL-13 and those of Trp65 and Ala79 adjacent to the interacting site, resulted in significant impairment of IL-13 binding, demonstrating that these amino acids generate the binding site. Furthermore, mutations of Val35, Leu38, or Val42 at N-terminal -strand also resulted in loss of IL-13 binding, probably from decrease structural stability. None of the mutations employed here affected IL-4 binding. These results demonstrate that the hydrophobic patch composed of Lys76, Lys77, and Ile78 is the IL-13 recognition site and solidify our understanding that the differential requirements of the D1 domain in IL-13R1 allows the shared receptor to respond differentially to IL-4 and IL-13.