Interleukin 37 promotes angiogenesis through TGF-β signaling

Mengmeng Zhao, Yongguang Hu, Jiayi Jin, Ying Yu, Shanshan Zhang, Jingjing Cao, Yuanfen Zhai, Rongbin Wei, Juanjuan Shou, Wenping Cai, Shangfeng Liu, Xiaoping Yang, Guo Tong Xu, Jianhua Yang, David B. Corry, Shao Bo Su, Xialin Liu, Tianshu Yang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    28 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    IL-37 is a novel pro-angiogenic cytokine that potently promotes endothelial cell activation and pathological angiogenesis in our previous study, but the mechanisms behind the pro-angiogenic effect of IL-37 are less well understood. Extending our observations, we found that TGF-β interacts with IL-37, and potently enhances the binding affinity of IL-37 to the ALK1 receptor complex, thus allowing IL-37 to signal through ALK1 to activate pro-angiogenic responses. We further show that TGF-β and ALK1 are required in IL-37 induced pro-angiogenic response in ECs and in the mouse model of Matrigel plug and oxygen-induced retinopathy. The result suggests that IL-37 induces pro-angiogenic responses through TGF-β, which may act as the bridging molecule that mediates IL-37 binding to the TGF-β receptor complex.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number6113
    JournalScientific Reports
    Volume7
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Dec 1 2017

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General

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