期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2005
卷号：102
期号：18
页码：6356-6361
DOI：10.1073/pnas.0500226102
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Although aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are essential for protein synthesis, they also function as regulators and signaling molecules in diverse biological processes. Here, we screened 11 different human ARSs to identify the enzyme that is secreted as a signaling molecule. Among them, we found that lysyl-tRNA synthetase (KRS) was secreted from intact human cells, and its secretion was induced by TNF-{alpha}. The secreted KRS bound to macrophages and peripheral blood mononuclear cells to enhance the TNF-{alpha} production and their migration. The mitogen-activated protein kinases, extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and G{alpha}i were determined to be involved in the signal transduction triggered by KRS. All of these activities demonstrate that human KRS may work as a previously uncharacterized signaling molecule, inducing immune response through the activation of monocyte/macrophages.
