Sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin 8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SIGLEC8 gene. This gene is located on chromosome 19q13.4, about 330 kb downstream of the SIGLEC9 gene. Within the siglec family of transmembrane proteins, Siglec-8 belongs to the CD33-related siglec subfamily, a subfamily that has undergone rapid evolution.
Initial characterization Siglec-8 was first identified by CD33 homology screening of ESTs from a cDNA library generated from a patient diagnosed with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome and was originally termed SAF-2 (sialoadhesin family 2). At the tissue level, Siglec-8 mRNA was found to be most highly expressed in lung, PBMCs, spleen, and kidney.
Expression Siglec-8 is expressed by human eosinophils, mast cells, and, to a lesser extent, basophils. It has thus garnered attention as a molecule that is uniquely expressed by immune effector cells involved in asthma and allergy. In both eosinophils and mast cells, Siglec-8 is expressed late in development. Siglec-8 transcript and protein are detectable at day 12 during the in vitro differentiation of eosinophils from cord blood precursors, whereas the transcription factor GATA-1 peaks at day 2 and the secondary granule protein MBP-1 peaks at day 4 in this differentiation system. In mast cells generated from CD34+ precursors, Siglec-8 expression peaks at 4 weeks of differentiation, in parallel with FcεRIα surface expression. Consistent with the concept that Siglec-8 is a late differentiation marker, Siglec-8 has not been detected on the surface of relatively undifferentiated eosinophilic cell lines, such as EoL-1, AML14, AML14.3D10, or K562, the basophilic leukemia cell line KU812, nor on cells such as HL60 or EoL-3 that have been differentiated towards an eosinophil-like lineage. Only low levels are detected on the human mast cell sub-line HMC-1.1; however, the HMC-1.2 cell line, which bears a second KIT mutation (D816V, in addition to the V560G mutation found in both HMC-1.1 and HMC-1.2 cells) that may induce further differentiation, expresses Siglec-8 at the cell surface. However, based on a small sampling of patients, all eosinophils from patients with chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL), hypereosinophilic syndrome, or chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), all basophils from patients with CEL or CML, and all bone marrow mast cells from patients with indolent systemic mastocytosis or aplastic anemia express Siglec-8, providing a potential target for these cells in the context of these hematologic malignancies. In addition, baboon eosinophils as well as monocytes, a subset of lymphocytes, and neutrophils express on their cell surface a protein or proteins that are recognized by polyclonal human Siglec-8-specific antibody, consistent with genetic analyses indicating the existence of a Siglec-8 ortholog in this species. However, the 2C4, 2E2, and 7C9 monoclonal antibodies against human Siglec-8 were not found to bind to targets on baboon cells, indicating that these particular epitopes are not conserved.
Structure Two splice variants of Siglec-8 exist. The initially characterized form contains 431 amino acid residues in total, 47 of which comprise an uncharacteristically short cytoplasmic tail compared to most CD33-associated siglecs. Subsequently, a longer form of Siglec-8, initially termed Siglec-8L, that contains 499 amino acid residues was identified. This longer form of Siglec-8 shares the same extracellular region but includes a longer cytoplasmic tail with two tyrosine-based motifs (an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif [ITIM] and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motif [ITSM]). Both forms of Siglec-8 are found in eosinophils and contain a V-set domain with lectin activity and two C2-type Ig repeat domains in the extracellular region. Given that the longer version is felt to be the normal version, the term Siglec-8 is best used to refer to the 499 amino acid version, while the 431 amino acid version is best referred to as the "short form" of Siglec-8.
Ligand binding Potential glycan ligands for Siglec-8 have been screened by glycan array. The glycan NeuAcα2–3(6-O-sulfo)Galβ1–4[Fucα1–3]GlcNAc, also known as 6′-sulfo-sialyl Lewis X, binds with high affinity to both Siglec-8 and to a mouse siglec, Siglec-F, which appears to have acquired a similar but not identical function and pattern of expression to human Siglec-8 through convergent evolution (the two siglecs are not orthologous). Rescreening on a more expanded glycan array reconfirmed this finding, but also identified a second closely related ligand in which the fucose is absent (NeuAcα2–3(6-O-sulfo)Galβ1–4GlcNAc, or 6′-sulfated sialyl N-acetyl-D-lactosamine. These interactions are quite specific; no binding could be detected between these siglecs and unsulfated sialyl Lewis X or sialyl Lewis X sulfated at carbon 6 of GlcNAc (6-sulfo-sialyl Lewis X) rather than carbon 6 of galactose as in 6′-sulfo-sialyl Lewis X. Similarly, no other siglecs bind effectively to these Siglec-8 ligands, as demonstrated by selective binding to eosinophils in human blood of a polymer decorated with 6′-sulfo-sialyl Lewis X. The natural ligand or ligands for Siglec-8 have not yet been positively identified, but ongoing studies have determined that there are sialidase-sensitive glycoprotein ligands for Siglec-F in mouse airways that require the activity of the α2,3 sialyltransferase 3 (ST3Gal-III) enzyme for their generation. There is also evidence that Siglec-8 on eosinophils interacts with sialylated cis ligands. Treatment of human eosinophils with sialidase increases the extent to which a high-avidity glycan ligand (1-MDa polyacrylamide ribbon decorated with 6′-O-sulfo-3′-sialyl-LacNAc) binds to these cells by about 50%. Indeed, removal of α2,3-linked sialic acid from the cell surface not only enables Siglec-8 to bind ligand in trans to a greater extent (i.e., unmasks Siglec-8) but also impacts Siglec-8 function upon antibody engagement, which itself is not impeded by Siglec-8 interactions with cis ligands. The precise identities of the glycan ligands to which Siglec-8 binds in cis or the carrier molecules bearing them have not been determined.
Signaling and function
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