SLAM-Family Receptors: Immune Regulators with or without SAP-Family Adaptors
- 1From the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Clinical Research Institute of Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- 2Department of Medicine, University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- 3Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Correspondence: veillea{at}ircm.qc.ca
Abstract
The signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) family of receptors and the SLAM-associated protein (SAP) family of intracellular adaptors are expressed in immune cells. By way of their cytoplasmic domain, SLAM-related receptors physically associate with SAP-related adaptors. Evidence is accumulating that the SLAM and SAP families play crucial roles in multiple immune cell types. Moreover, the prototype of the SAP family, that is SAP, is mutated in a human immunodeficiency, X-linked lymphoproliferative (XLP) disease. In the presence of SAP-family adaptors, the SLAM family usually mediates stimulatory signals that promote immune cell activation or differentiation. In the absence of SAP-family adaptors, though, the SLAM family undergoes a “switch-of-function,” thereby mediating inhibitory signals that suppress immune cell functions. The molecular basis and significance of this mechanism are discussed herein.
Footnotes
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Editors: Lawrence E. Samelson and Andrey Shaw
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Additional Perspectives on Immunoreceptor Signaling available at www.cshperspectives.org
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