Interleukin-32δ interacts with IL-32β and inhibits IL-32β-mediated IL-10 production

There is growing evidence for multifunctional properties of IL-32. We previously demonstrated that IL-32β upregulates IL-10 production through the association with PKCδ. In this study, we examined the effects of other IL-32 isoforms on IL-10 production. We found that IL-32δ decreased IL-10 production and investigated the inhibitory mechanism of IL-32δ. We showed that IL-32δ suppressed IL-32β binding to PKCδ by interacting with IL-32β. The inhibitory effect of IL-32δ on IL-32β association with PKCδ was further verified by immuno-fluorescence staining. The co-localization of IL-32β and PKCδ around the nuclear membrane was disrupted by IL-32δ. Our data therefore indicate that IL-32δ plays an inhibitory role against IL-32β function, which also suggests that IL-32 may be regulated by its own isoform.