HERC6 regulates STING activity in a sex-biased manner through modulation of LATS2/VGLL3 Hippo signaling

Ranjitha Uppala, Mrinal K. Sarkar, Kelly Z. Young, Feiyang Ma, Pritika Vemulapalli, Rachael Wasikowski, Olesya Plazyo, William R. Swindell, Emanual Maverakis, Mehrnaz Gharaee-Kermani, Allison C. Billi, Lam C. Tsoi, J. Michelle Kahlenberg, Johann E. Gudjonsson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Interferon (IFN) activity exhibits a gender bias in human skin, skewed toward females. We show that HERC6, an IFN-induced E3 ubiquitin ligase, is induced in human keratinocytes through the epidermal type I IFN; IFN-κ. HERC6 knockdown in human keratinocytes results in enhanced induction of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) upon treatment with a double-stranded (ds) DNA STING activator cGAMP but not in response to the RNA-sensing TLR3 agonist. Keratinocytes lacking HERC6 exhibit sustained STING-TBK1 signaling following cGAMP stimulation through modulation of LATS2 and TBK1 activity, unmasking more robust ISG responses in female keratinocytes. This enhanced female-biased immune response with loss of HERC6 depends on VGLL3, a regulator of type I IFN signature. These data identify HERC6 as a previously unrecognized negative regulator of ISG expression specific to dsDNA sensing and establish it as a regulator of female-biased immune responses through modulation of STING signaling.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number108986
JournaliScience
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 16 2024

Keywords

  • Bioinformatics
  • Cell biology
  • Molecular biology
  • Omics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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