WDR34 is a novel TAK1-associated suppressor of the IL-1R/TLR3/TLR4-induced NF-κB activation pathway

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) act as sensors of microbial components and elicit innate immune responses. All TLR signaling pathways activate the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), which controls the expression of inflammatory cytokine genes. Transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that is critically involved in the activation of NF-κB by tumor necrosis factor (TNFα), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and TLR ligands. In this study, we identified a novel protein, WD40 domain repeat protein 34 (WDR34) as a TAK1-interacting protein in yeast two-hybrid screens. WDR34 interacted with TAK1, TAK1-binding protein 2 (TAB2), TAK1-binding protein 3 (TAB3) and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) in overexpression and under physiological conditions. Overexpression of WDR34 inhibited IL-1β-, polyI:C- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced but not TNFα-induced NF-κB activation, whereas knockdown of WDR34 by a RNA-interference construct potentiated NF-κB activation by these ligands. Our findings suggest that WDR34 is a TAK1-associated inhibitor of the IL-1R/TLR3/TLR4-induced NF-κB activation pathway. D. Gao and R. Wang contributed equally to this work.