IL-4 inhibits the biogenesis of an epigenetically suppressive PIWI-interacting RNA to upregulate CD1a molecules on monocytes/dendritic cells

X Zhang, X He, C Liu, J Liu, Q Hu, T Pan… - The Journal of …, 2016 - journals.aai.org
X Zhang, X He, C Liu, J Liu, Q Hu, T Pan, X Duan, B Liu, Y Zhang, J Chen, X Ma, X Zhang…
The Journal of Immunology, 2016journals.aai.org
The discovery of PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) revealed the complexity of the RNA world.
Although piRNAs were first deemed to be germline specific, substantial evidence shows
their various roles in somatic cells; however, their function in highly differentiated immune
cells remains elusive. In this study, by initially screening with a small RNA deep-sequencing
analysis, we found that a piRNA, tRNA-Glu–derived piRNA [td-piR (Glu)], was expressed
much more abundantly in human monocytes than in dendritic cells. By regulating the …
Abstract
The discovery of PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) revealed the complexity of the RNA world. Although piRNAs were first deemed to be germline specific, substantial evidence shows their various roles in somatic cells; however, their function in highly differentiated immune cells remains elusive. In this study, by initially screening with a small RNA deep-sequencing analysis, we found that a piRNA, tRNA-Glu–derived piRNA [td-piR (Glu)], was expressed much more abundantly in human monocytes than in dendritic cells. By regulating the polymerase III activity, IL-4 potently decreased the biogenesis of tRNA-Glu and, subsequently, td-piR (Glu). Further, we revealed that the td-piR (Glu)/PIWIL4 complex recruited SETDB1, SUV39H1, and heterochromatin protein 1β to the CD1A promoter region and facilitated H3K9 methylation. As a result, the transcription of CD1A was significantly inhibited. Collectively, we demonstrated that a piRNA acted as the signal molecule for a cytokine to regulate the expression of an important membrane protein for lipid Ag presentation.
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