Cloning and characterization of a mouse IL-12 receptor-β component

Using DNA cross-hybridization, we have isolated and characterized cDNA clones encoding a mouse (mo) IL-12R beta component. Two forms of cDNA were found. The first form encodes a receptor protein that has an overall structure very similar to that of the known human (hu) IL-12R beta with 54% amino acid identity, whereas in the second type of mouse cDNA, the equivalent of the transmembrane region has been deleted. This presumed alternative splicing event also gives rise to a frame shift that results in a receptor with an identical extracellular domain but a different C-terminal sequence. Whether this alternative C terminus is capable of signaling is not yet known. Both types of receptors when expressed in COS-7 cells are membrane associated and bind moIL-12 with an affinity of 1 nM, similar to the affinity of huIL-12R beta for huIL-12. The monomeric size of both moIL-12R beta proteins is about 100 kDa. Similar to huIL-12R beta, moIL-12R beta is expressed at the surface of COS-7 and Ba/F3 cells as a dimer/oligomer whose formation is independent of IL-12 binding. When expressed in Ba/F3 cells, moIL-12R beta binds moIL-12 with two affinities of 50 and 470 pM, corresponding to the medium and high affinity IL-12 binding sites previously identified on mouse Con A lymphoblasts. Despite the higher affinity displayed by the moIL-12R beta in Ba/F3 cells, this receptor alone is not sufficient to transduce a signal, suggesting that another subunit is probably required to generate a functional moIL-12R complex.