P. Bufler et al., SOLUBLE LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE RECEPTOR (CD14) IS RELEASED VIA 2 DIFFERENT MECHANISMS FROM HUMAN MONOCYTES AND CD14 TRANSFECTANTS, European Journal of Immunology, 25(2), 1995, pp. 604-610
The receptor for lipopolysaccharide LPS (CD14) exists in a membrane-as
sociated (mCD14) and a soluble form (sCD14). Previous studies indicate
that monocytes produce sCD14 by limited proteolysis of the membrane-b
ound receptor. In this study we demonstrate that human monocytes also
produce sCD14 by a protease-independent mechanism. To investigate the
molecular nature of this second pathway we studied sCD14 formation in
the monocytic cell line Mono Mac 6 (MM6) and in CD14 transfectants. Bo
th MM6 and the CD14 transfectants constitutively produce sCD14 by a pr
otease-independent mechanism. Structural analysis of sCD14 produced by
the CD14 transfectants reconfirmed the presence of the CO OH terminus
predicted from the cDNA. Since glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor at
tachment is associated with the removal of a hydrophobic C-terminal si
gnal peptide, our finding demonstrates that the transfectants secrete
sCD14 which escaped this posttranslational modification. Identical res
ults obtained for sCD14 derived from peritoneal dialysis fluid of a pa
tient with kidney dysfunction show the in vivo relevance of this pathw
ay for sCD14 production.