Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 3;12(1):1903. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05954-w.
Xenopus laevis tadpoles possess high regenerative ability and can regenerate functional tails after amputation. An early event in regeneration is the induction of undifferentiated cells that form the regenerated tail. We previously reported that interleukin-11 (il11) is upregulated immediately after tail amputation to induce undifferentiated cells of different cell lineages, indicating a key role of il11 in initiating tail regeneration. As Il11 is a secretory factor, Il11 receptor-expressing cells are thought to mediate its function. X. laevis has a gene annotated as interleukin 11 receptor subunit alpha on chromosome 1L (il11ra.L), a putative subunit of the Il11 receptor complex, but its function has not been investigated. Here, we show that nuclear localization of phosphorylated Stat3 induced by Il11 is abolished in il11ra.L knocked-out culture cells, strongly suggesting that il11ra.L encodes an Il11 receptor component. Moreover, knockdown of il11ra.L impaired tadpole tail regeneration, suggesting its indispensable role in tail regeneration. We also provide a model showing that Il11 functions via il11ra.L-expressing cells in a non-cell autonomous manner. These results highlight the importance of il11ra.L-expressing cells in tail regeneration.
非洲爪蟾的蝌蚪具有很强的再生能力，在截肢后可以再生出功能性的尾巴。再生的早期事件是诱导未分化细胞形成再生的尾巴。我们之前报道过白细胞介素-11（il11）在尾巴截肢后立即上调，以诱导不同细胞谱系的未分化细胞，表明 il11 在启动尾巴再生中起着关键作用。由于 Il11 是一种分泌因子，因此认为表达 Il11 受体的细胞介导其功能。非洲爪蟾在染色体 1L（il11ra.L）上有一个注释为白细胞介素 11 受体亚单位α的基因，这是 Il11 受体复合物的一个假定亚单位，但尚未研究其功能。在这里，我们表明 Il11 诱导的磷酸化 Stat3 的核定位在 il11ra.L 敲除培养细胞中被消除，强烈表明 il11ra.L 编码 Il11 受体的一个组成部分。此外，il11ra.L 的敲低会损害蝌蚪尾巴的再生，表明其在尾巴再生中不可或缺的作用。我们还提供了一个模型，表明 Il11 通过 il11ra.L 表达细胞以非细胞自主的方式发挥作用。这些结果强调了 il11ra.L 表达细胞在尾巴再生中的重要性。
