Alternative splice variants of the human PD-1 gene

PD-1 is an immunoregulatory receptor expressed on the surface of activated T cells, B cells, and monocytes. We describe four alternatively spliced PD-1 mRNA transcripts (PD-1Δex2, PD-1Δex3, PD-1Δex2,3, and PD-1Δex2,3,4) in addition to the full length isoform. PD-1Δex2 and PD-1Δex3 are generated by alternative splicing where exon 2 (extracellular IgV-like domain) and exon 3 (transmembrane domain) respectively are spliced out. PD-1Δex3 is therefore likely to encode a soluble form of PD-1. PD-1Δex2,3 lacks exon 2 and 3. These three variants have unaffected open reading frames. PD-1Δex2,3,4 lacks exon 2, 3, and 4 (intracellular domain) and contains a premature stop codon in exon 5. Activation of human PBMCs with anti-CD3 + anti-CD28 monoclonal antibodies induces an increased level of each PD-1 transcript. A parallel increase in the expression of PD-1Δex3 and flPD-1 upon activation suggests an important interplay between the putative soluble PD-1 and flPD-1 possibly involved in maintenance of peripheral self-tolerance and prevention of autoimmunity.