An acidic loop within the human soluble CD23 protein may direct the interaction between sCD23 and the αXß2 integrin.

CD23 is involved in a myriad of immune reactions. It is not only a receptor for IgE, but also functions in the regulation of IgE synthesis, isotype switching in B cells, and induction of the inflammatory response. These effector functions of CD23 arise through its interaction with another leukocyte-specific cell surface receptor - the ß2 integrin subfamily. It has been shown that CD23 is also capable of interacting with the ß3 and ß5 integrin ß-subunit of integrins via a basic RKC motif in a metal cation-independent fashion. In this study the interaction was probed for whether or not the RKC motif governs the interaction between CD23 and the αXß2 integrin as well. This was done by performing bioinformatic docking predictions between CD23 and αXß2 integrin αI domain and SPR spectroscopy analysis of the interaction. This revealed that in the absence of cations, the RKC motif is involved in interaction with the integrin αI domain. However, in the presence of divalent metal cations the interaction showed the involvement of a novel acidic motif within the CD23 protein. This same pattern of interaction was seen in docking predictions between CD23 and the ß3I-like domain. This study thus presents an alternative site as a possible contributor to the CD23-integrin interaction exhibiting cation-dependence.