Homodimerization attenuates the anti-inflammatory activity of interleukin-37.
Ellisdon, A.M., Nold-Petry, C.A., D'Andrea, L., Cho, S.X., Lao, J.C., Rudloff, I., Ngo, D., Lo, C.Y., Soares da Costa, T.P., Perugini, M.A., Conroy, P.J., Whisstock, J.C., Nold, M.F.(2017) Sci Immunol 2
- PubMed: 28783685 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.aaj1548
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
5HN1 - PubMed Abstract: 
Dysregulation of the inflammatory response underlies numerous diseases. Although most interleukin-1 family cytokines are proinflammatory, human interleukin-37 (IL-37) is a powerful, broad-spectrum inhibitor of inflammation and immunity. We determined the crystal structure of IL-37 to establish the anti-inflammatory mechanism of this key cytokine in view of developing IL-37-based therapies. We found that two β-trefoil fold IL-37 molecules form a head-to-head dimer that is stable in solution. IL-37 variants mutated to convert the cytokine into an obligate monomer were up to 13-fold more effective than the dimer in suppressing proinflammatory events both in primary human blood cells and in vivo in murine endotoxic shock. Therapeutic exploitation of the powerful anti-inflammatory properties of monomeric IL-37 may prove beneficial in treating a wide range of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia.