Human interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase-2 is essential for Toll-like receptor-mediated transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern-recognition receptors that recognize microbial ligands and subsequently trigger intracellular signaling pathways involving transcription factors such as NFκB and MAPKs such as p38. TLR signaling can regulate both transcriptional and post-transcriptional events leading to altered gene expression and thus appropriate immune responses. The interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) family comprises four kinases that regulate TLR signaling. However, the role of IRAK-2 has remained unclear, especially in human cells. Recent studies using cells from in-bred Irak2(-/-) mice showed that murine IRAK-2 was not required for early TLR signaling events but had a role in delayed NFκB activation and in cytokine production. IRAK-2 in mice has four splice variants, two of which are inhibitory, whereas human IRAK-2 has no splice variants. Thus IRAK-2 in mice and humans may function differently, and therefore we analyzed the role of IRAK-2 in TLR responses in primary human cells. siRNA knockdown of IRAK-2 expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed a role for human IRAK-2 in both TLR4- and TLR8-mediated early NFκB and p38 MAPK activation and in induction of TNF mRNA. These data conflict with findings from the in-bred Irak2(-/-) mice but concur with what has been seen in wild-derived mice for TLR2. Moreover, human IRAK-2 was required for regulating MyD88-dependent TNFα mRNA stability via the TNF 3'UTR. Collectively, these data demonstrate for the first time an essential role for IRAK-2 in primary human cells for both transcriptional and post-transcriptional TLR responses.